Quote from: alpo on June 19, 2018, 04:29:35 PM
Mixing tires is not uncommon, but for the best results replace both at the same time. Two new shoes can make the ol' girl feel new.

Yeah my front tire's nearly new, I'm only replacing the rear. So it's either mismatch with something like a Michelin Pilot Street Radial or match the front tire with a new Pirelli Sport Demon which purportedly won't last nearly as long and costs more to boot.

Just booked my bike in for the Michelins, to be fitted Friday. I put miles on decently quick nowadays so shouldn't take me long to get out of the break-in period and see what the mix is like.

I remember with my last GS, the rear wheel locked up so easily with the student-friendly (read, cheap) Avon tyre it had on. I was pretty shocked when I picked up my current GS that it wasn't just me having a lead foot - I could count the number of times I've locked the rear SD on one hand, it's almost like it's got ABS. (Although more recently that's partly been because the rear brake is in dire need of a service.)

Michelins have served me well on the street. They're often a little more expensive than other brands, but last longer. It's a shame they don't make Pilot Roads in GS500 sizes.

Quote from: alpo on June 20, 2018, 03:47:19 PM
It's a shame they don't make Pilot Roads in GS500 sizes.

Right?  That's the only thing keeping me from making a lengthy review of my experience with the Road5 so far.
Spoiler alert, it's good.  Basically fanboy levels of praise.

I put a new set of Bridgestone BT-45 (front and rears), on my bike a few weeks ago after noticing some circumferential cracking (the rear was a 2014 so not too bad, but the front was a 2003...).

Only reason being was that they were cheap (£150 for the pair), and I've never had an issue with them before even in the wet riding I do frequently, so might as well stick to what works!

I took the wheels off myself and brought them to a local garage. They charged £45 to change the tyres and balance the wheels.

I usually prefer to buy the tools and DIY it with the money saved not going to a garage, but I don't plan on doing this job again for at least a few more years so there was no point.

I really liked the Sport Demons on my Yamaha SR500--really held well, even in the rain. I now have Shinkos on my GS500--OK tires and really cheap (I need to please my wife.). I used the tie-wrap (zip tie) method to change my rear tire. It was not as easy as the video, but worked well. I balance the tire using the axle clamped in a vice.

Forgot the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=civ_pBrExA0

Just got my bike back today, with the new tyre. £130 pounds lighter. The lovely people charged me an extra labour charge because 'they had to drop the exhaust' - yeah, that's a load of rubbish.

So for that price, I could have bought the tyre and all the equipment to do the job (wheel stands and all) with cash to spare. Actually, it probably would've been a lot cheaper to buy the tyre myself and take it to a normal bike shop that doesn't sell tyres (and thus can't try to price you into buying from them with the enormous profit margins they add). I remember being quoted £15 for a tyre fitting with the wheel on the bike and £10 for the wheel alone by the garage I used to frequent.

Anyway, will let you know how that goes once I've got it out the break-in period.

Yeah I'm mostly concerned with how well a Michelin rear Pilot Street Radial will work with a Pirelli Sport Demon front tire.

However, it seems I am not going to be able to really find that information from the collective. I am about 95% sure I am just going to roll the dice and try it myself. Still 5% possibility I'll buy a Sport Demon rear tire.

With the tire pressure dialed the rear Michelin I have now (which is bias ply...) is ok. I'm sure the new Michelin would be just as good. They have a decent deal on them at Cycle Gear but not in stock, so if I have to order I might as well save $10 and order from elsewhere and get those tools to do it myself. Cheapskate sez I can get a new Michelin rear tire and the tools I need to install it plus a set of sonic springs (which I need) for the installed cost of the Pirelli rear tire... in the end that's probably the best plan.

Quote from: mr72 on June 22, 2018, 09:54:24 AM
Yeah I'm mostly concerned with how well a Michelin rear Pilot Street Radial will work with a Pirelli Sport Demon front tire.

Yeah, my front tyre is an SD and my new rear a PSR. It didn't feel anything particularly weird coming home today, but of course I took it easy.

Changing a tire with spoons will work, but it's tedious. Cut up a 2 liter bottle, or other plastic source, to use as rim protectors.

For shits and giggles, I just measured the tread depth in the very center of my PSR rear tyre that has done 12,600km. I measured 5.5mm, and above one of the middle-ish wear markers, I got 4.84mm above the top of the marker.
My original goal for these tyres was to get a years worth of commuting out of them (about 25,000km) so they seem to be on track at the moment.
Don't know if this is relevant at all, but might help someone who is wondering about the lifespan of Pilot Street Radials on a GS500.

zip tie method!  $5, takes about 30min