My '93 has OEM tires on it.  They're in good shape with only 3000 miles on them (and the rest of the bike).  But obviously they need to be replaced.  Searched and read a lot of tire threads here but little of it recent.

I don't put huge miles on so I don't need a long wearing tire and I'm willing to spend a bit of money.  I'd like to lean more toward performance including in the wet, but I don't need hyper-performance.  Sticking with stock size.

So what tires would you get?  I don't care about the tires you have or could afford at the time.  Which would you buy for I love YOU using someone else's money?

Secondarily, where would you order them from (in the US) if you couldn't find them at a local shop?

If I have to order them I'll mount and balance them myself.  If I can get them locally, I'll pay the extra few bucks to have it done.

If you have a local CycleGear talk to them.  They will either have something in store or can order it at a competative price.
Your local shop *should* offer a wheels-off mount/balance service for $25/wheel, too, which may save you some headache, but the BIGGER thing is they will offer you a road hazard warranty for $30 that could potentially get you free replacement tires if you pick up a nail or otherwise have an issue.

Options for tires are rather limited in stock sizes.  Realistically I think it's down to either Pirelli Sport Demons or Michelin Pilot Street Radials.
The Pirellis cost more and will last longer, the Michelins are bound to be stickier and they're cheaper.
Being a Mich fan I would wholeheartedly suggest going with the PSR, especially if longevity isn't a concern but grip is.

Continental and Metzeler have tires available in those sizes as well, but I never personally thought highly of Conti (typically lower priced than everyone else, with performance to match, but I'll recommend them over Shinko) and the Metzeler Sportec Klassik tire just seems all wrong for a GS...


Of course if you went just 10 mil wider on the rear you could use Power RSs.  You'll slightly change the handling characteristic of the bike, but you'll be on Power RSs!

Quote from: WatcherRealistically I think it's down to either Pirelli Sport Demons or Michelin Pilot Street Radials.
The Pirellis cost more and will last longer, the Michelins are bound to be stickier and they're cheaper.

About longevity, all the reviews I read suggest the opposite, the PSR are reported to last up to twice as long as the sport demons. 

Is it worth noting that the pirellis are bias ply and Michelin are radial?

Fwiw I just ordered a 140 rear pilot street radial to mismatch with my front pirelli sport demon.  Doing it wrong, I know.

Quote from: mr72 on September 14, 2018, 05:07:58 AM
Fwiw I just ordered a 140 rear pilot street radial to mismatch with my front pirelli sport demon.  Doing it wrong, I know.

I've always heard that its dangerous to mix radial and bias ply tires like that.

Consider Metzeler Sportec M5... (110 front, 140 rear - are the closest options available, at least here in Brazil)

I used to have on my bmw.. and I use now on my GS...

Very grippy and works (very) well on wet.. due to a lot of silica in it composition...

If you research .. you going to fing that is one of the best options... is aimed for spirited riding and eventual track days.

http://mototirereviews.com/metzeler-m5/

https://www.visordown.com/reviews/kit/tyres/metzeler-sportec-m5-interact

I had sports demons... it was a bit old...(came with the bike)... too hard for me.. is meant to longevity for sure.

On M5s depending your riding style.. You can get 7000 Km to 10.000 km.

I don't think they are that expensive... at least when you compare with big bike tires (120/180)... 

Quote from: qcbaker on September 14, 2018, 05:13:58 AM

Quote from: mr72 on September 14, 2018, 05:07:58 AM
Fwiw I just ordered a 140 rear pilot street radial to mismatch with my front pirelli sport demon.  Doing it wrong, I know.

I've always heard that its dangerous to mix radial and bias ply tires like that.

Well, from the research I can find, it's only "dangerous" to put a radial in front with bias ply in the rear, but the other way around may actually be anything from "ok" to "better, depending". Triumph puts this combination on many of their new bikes as does H-D.

In any case, to me it was a compromise for numerous reasons, chief among them the low expectation life from the Pirelli S-D on the rear. In the end it came down to price and a spur of the moment decision. I think for the way I ride, it won't make any difference. Longevity will be more important. Remember I'm not out canyon carving.

And I am offering virtually no value to the OP here. I can't recommend any tires for the GS since I have only experience with the Shinko front I had (wore quickly and performed poorly), the Sport Demon I replaced it with on front (which was night and day better immediately and so far I like a lot), and the rear Michelin Pilot Activ whatever it is that's on there now (seems to have worn quicker than I expected and acts funny if the pressure is not perfectly dialed in). By the time I collect enough miles and knowledge of which tires are best on a GS500, the most appropriate tire will be whatever came from the factory since the few remaining GS500s will be trailered to shows and ridden 100 yards across a grass field en route to the ribbon competition.

When my tires got to be 14 years old I replaced them for safety even though they only had 2000 miles on them.  I should have replaced them earlier, as what I have read since is that they really are unsafe past about 8 years old.  Looking around for reviews on the original sizes, I went for bias ply Bridgestone BT45 tires.  They were a compromise of service life and performance that almost all reviewers were very happy with (4.7 out of 5 stars with over 100 reviews), as I have been. 

I don't recall finding any radials in the exact stock sizes then, but I see those Michelin Pilot Streets are now available.  Bike Bandit has them also with 4.7 out of 5 stars, but only 7 reviews, so it seems they are pretty new. 

Quote from: Watcher on September 13, 2018, 11:54:07 PM
If you have a local CycleGear talk to them.  They will either have something in store or can order it at a competative price.
Your local shop *should* offer a wheels-off mount/balance service for $25/wheel, too, which may save you some headache, but the BIGGER thing is they will offer you a road hazard warranty for $30 that could potentially get you free replacement tires if you pick up a nail or otherwise have an issue.

Options for tires are rather limited in stock sizes.  Realistically I think it's down to either Pirelli Sport Demons or Michelin Pilot Street Radials.
The Pirellis cost more and will last longer, the Michelins are bound to be stickier and they're cheaper.
Being a Mich fan I would wholeheartedly suggest going with the PSR, especially if longevity isn't a concern but grip is.

Continental and Metzeler have tires available in those sizes as well, but I never personally thought highly of Conti (typically lower priced than everyone else, with performance to match, but I'll recommend them over Shinko) and the Metzeler Sportec Klassik tire just seems all wrong for a GS...


Of course if you went just 10 mil wider on the rear you could use Power RSs.  You'll slightly change the handling characteristic of the bike, but you'll be on Power RSs!

Thanks for that!  I think I'll probably go with the Michelin and there's a Cycle Gear about 2 miles from here. 

Thanks all for the input!

I just put a set of Kenda K671 Cruiser's on my GS. I think I paid $55/ea for them....very cheap. They look good and have great reviews all over the web for being an all around good preforming tire. I've only put a few miles on them so far. They handle well. I can't tell a difference between them and the old Brigstone BT45's I had on it. The have a little smoother ride than my old ones but that could be because they are new and have more tread.

Quote from: pliskin on September 14, 2018, 10:49:13 AM
I just put a set of Kenda K671 Cruiser's on my GS. I think I paid $55/ea for them....very cheap. They look good and have great reviews all over the web for being an all around good preforming tire. I've only put a few miles on them so far. They handle well. I can't tell a difference between them and the old Brigstone BT45's I had on it. The have a little smoother ride than my old ones but that could be because they are new and have more tread.

I've seen those and thought their tread might be better for some of the unpaved roads I seem to find as well as wet roads.  The price is certainly attractive but I want to keep that factor out of the equation as much as possible.  Performance and suitability are my main concerns.  But I'm not racing so no need to go nuts.

Out of what has been mentioned here, I got 19,6xx kms out of a Pilot Street Radial rear and a couple of months ago I just replaced a pirelli sport demon rear after 10,2xx kms.

I did find the pilot street radial front a lot more reassuring as there has been multiple times on the Pirelli S-D front that I've felt like the front was pushing / on the limit of its grip where I didn't think I was going all that fast.

Sent from my F8132 using Tapatalk

Quote from: 1018cc on September 14, 2018, 12:57:16 PM
Out of what has been mentioned here, I got 19,6xx kms out of a Pilot Street Radial rear and a couple of months ago I just replaced a pirelli sport demon rear after 10,2xx kms.

That sounds about like what most of the reviews I read indicate. Glad to hear someone on our forum confirming it. This is the main reason I went with a PSR rather than an SD for the rear when the time came.

Quote
I did find the pilot street radial front a lot more reassuring as there has been multiple times on the Pirelli S-D front that I've felt like the front was pushing / on the limit of its grip where I didn't think I was going all that fast.

This is interesting. I wonder how much of this is a difference in feel between a radial and bias-ply? Or put differently, I wonder how much this about feel vs. grip?

It doesn't matter much since I am reasonably sure that the Sport Demon I have on the front will be the last front tire I buy for my GS, this will be a problem for the next owner to sort out. But if I wind up with another bike that needs tires, I would really like to know more from someone who has actually ridden both tires on the same bike.

Quote from: qcbaker on September 14, 2018, 05:13:58 AM

Quote from: mr72 on September 14, 2018, 05:07:58 AM
Fwiw I just ordered a 140 rear pilot street radial to mismatch with my front pirelli sport demon.  Doing it wrong, I know.

I've always heard that its dangerous to mix radial and bias ply tires like that.

I've been using the exact same rear PSR, front SD set-up as mr72 for months now and the only times I've had any grip issues at all have been a couple of times when I was a bit too enthusiastic accelerating whilst cornering sharply. In general this combo makes me feel pretty confident in my grip on the road, and I ride most days and in all weathers.

Plus, there are plenty of bikes which come from the factory with a rear radial and front bias-ply - if it were all that dangerous I doubt a manufacturer would even consider it.

I mounted up the Pilot Street Radial yesterday, rode for he first time today. BTW I went with a 140/70-17. The tire I was replacing is a Michelin Pilot Activ in 130/70-17.

I think that old Activ must have been dried out and beyond its useful life. It was within a mm of the wear indicators in the middle of the tire.

Anyway, new tire is night and day. Obviously bigger both in appearance and in feel on the bike. And it's definitely much more supple feeling, like a softer ride. Even without breaking it in, it clearly has a lot more grip than the old tire. 6 miles in, so far I like it, a lot.