What tires?

[matt87951]

Like the topic states, what tires should I go with? Here are a few tires that I have looked into so far, and the best prices I have been able to find:

Pirelli Angel Sport Touring - $245 / Shipped
Pirelli Diablo Rosso II - $230 / shipped
Michelin Pilot Power 2CT - $235 / Shipped
Michelin Pilot Power - $217 / Shipped

I'm leaning more towards the Michelin's based on what I have read in other posts on here, and other reviews. Can I really go wrong with any of them? Obviously the price on the Pilot Powers is very entertaining, but my budget will allow for any of them, as they are not all that different in price anyways.

Keep in mind I will not be doing any track days on the tires, and most of my ridding will be less aggressive ridding, with a lot of highway ridding, with some cornering.

This will be my first set of tires, as my new to me XB9r has just turned over 3700 miles, and is in need of new tires.

Also - where do you all get your tires mounted and balanced? I am in North West Ohio, and I currently don't have stands or any way to pull the wheels off my bike and just take them in, so I will need a shop to do everything. How much would I be looking at spending to have this done? I called the nearest shop to me, and they quoted around $150-175 to mount and balance the tire, including un-install and re-install. Is that a good price? Seem high to me, but I'm new to the bike world, so it may be about right.

Thanks in advanced!
-Matt

 

[newbueller91]

well Matt i have a set of Pirelli Rossa II's and i do alot of highway getting to and from work and have about 1500 miles on these tires and they have held up great, i also ride very aggresive on the weekends on twistie country roads and i have full faith in the traction of these tires after puttin about 200 miles on them they seemed wear off that new tire film and stick like chewed gum to the road. But as for the other tires on your list i can't say much, this is the only set i have put on since buying the bike in august and i just put what the last owner had on it. As for price for unstall and install that sounds reasonable, i paid 60 for Harley to balance my new set and had my local car shop do the tire mount and i did the unstall and install of both tires so i got off cheap, eaither way i think your right when you say all these tires are good tires.

just my thoughts,
good luck,
Kody

 

[buellbradski]

Had the rosso2 and got 4500 miles till the steel belt peeked out i just replaced with a angel and love it so far. As far as the power 2ct ive heard nothing but good things. So if you can save a little id try them . I only went with the angel cause i have pirreli on the front. As far as looks i think the angel looks the coolest!

 

[Draxsonimy]

Roadsmarts or pilot roads they are meant for mileage for the less aggressive driver.
Pilot road 3 had some really good write ups supposed to be really good in wet conditions too. Crazy looking tread pattern.

 

[mowgoli84]

Regular pilot powers will more than handle everything you are gonna throw at them on the street.

I've always ran mich tires but will be trying out a set of metzeler m5's after much reading, just wanna see how they are...

 

[buellman09]

ive got at least 1500 miles on my regular piolt powers and there still going great, really impressed with how they held up riding the dragon this last year.

 

[B09xb12r]

Hey check out motorcycle superstore. com, they are having a tire sale and they ship for free.

 

[Bad Karma]

When I got my bike it had a slightly used Michelin Pilot Power 2 on the rear. I've put 4xxx miles on it since and half the tread is still there. I will be buying the same tire when I need a new one.

Oh...And yes that is the common price of a mount and balance.

Make sure you use a reputable place for mounting. I had a friend that took his to a hole in the wall place to save ten bucks. He has a wheel weight stuck in between the bead and rim and it leaks air now. They told him they'd charge again to remount and balance and it was there fault. Pricks!

 

[GAXB9R]

I know they are not on your list, but I have the Dunlop Q2 and I am very very pleased with these tires. they definetly give you the confidence to lean and lean hard. I just bought a set from sportbiketrackgear.com for 218 shipped and am very pleased.[cool]

EDIT* the Dunlop Q2 is also a dual compound tire and is only a dollar more than the pilot power which is a single compound. I owned the pilot power before and they were good tires, but I do like the Dunlop Q2 better.

 

[captain chaos]

For the riding you describe, the smart money is on a sport-touring type of tire (such as the Angel you listed). Anything else is a complete waste (such as all of the other tires you listed). If you're not dragging knee every other day there is no need for a pilot 2CT or anything similar.

Look at it this way:
A Pilot Power will get you about 3-5000mi for a rear at about $110-120 a pop
A pilot Road 2 or Road 3 will get you 8-10000mi for about $30 more and will handle anything short of full race pace riding. That's 2x the mileage for only 20% more cash. Factor in the mount/balance costs of replacing a rear every 3000mi and the difference is huge.
I've personally owned the Road 2's and they are a fantastic tire. Plenty of grip all the way to the edge and they wear amazing. They are especially well suited for highway riding as they don't square off like a Pilot Power or other similar soft comppound tire (which results in some pretty crappy feel/handling as they transition from the flat center to the sides in a lean).
I liked the Road 2's enough that I bought another set for my Hayabusa.

As far as the mount/balance, you're getting ripped. You can buy everything you need to do it yourself for that kind of cash. I'd call around to other shops. Don't pay more than $100 total for everything and even that is a high number. Removing wheels from a Buell takes about 5min for a shop worth its salt and mounting/balancing isn't rocket science either. If you lived closer I'd gladly do it for $20 a wheel and that's easy money in my pocket. I'd feel guilty taking $175 from someone to mount/balance a set of tires.

 

[captain chaos]

Make sure you use a reputable place for mounting. I had a friend that took his to a hole in the wall place to save ten bucks. He has a wheel weight stuck in between the bead and rim and it leaks air now. They told him they'd charge again to remount and balance and it was there fault. Pricks!

Stupidity like this is why I do ALL of the work myself. There should not be a weight anywhere near the bead; it's not a car tire for crying out loud. Weight go inside the wheel and either stick on or clip in the rib in the center of the wheel.

 

[djohnk]

I recently purchased Shinko Raven's, and like them for the price:

http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/1/28/394/6186/ITEM/Shinko-009-Raven-Rear-Tire.aspx

Got both fronts and rears for the price you are talking above.

 

[willyam1]

I have the pilot powers and do about the same type of riding that you described. I think that they work great. I have almost 5,000 miles on both the front and rear and expect them to last another season.

 

[matt87951]

Based on the replies, it seems that in reality I need more of a sport touring tire. So the top choices in my opinion would be the Angel and the Pilot Road 2. Of course they are more expansive than all the others, simply due to the mileage they are supposed to last for. Below are the best prices I was able to locate on the Angels and the Pilot Roads.

Pirelli Angel Sport Touring - $245 / Shipped
Michelin Pilot Road 2 - $263 / Shipped

My only concern is I don't really put a ton of miles on the bike in the first place. I don't use it to commute, it's simply a pleasure vehicle for me. Here in Ohio, I am willing to bet I won't put more than 2k-3k miles per season if I'm lucky. I don't want the tires to dry-rot like the current tires on my bike are (2005 XB9R with factory tires, 3700 miles, and always stored climate controlled before I bought it - now its just in my garage) before they actually wear out. Will the Roads or Angels be more susceptible to dry-rot than the others because of the harder compound, or can I simply write that off as crappy factory tires?

I'll keep checking around to try and get more quotes for install, maybe I'll break down and call the few Harley Dealers and see how much they will be to install the new tires. I can't imagine they would be less, but who knows.

Thanks again everyone!
-Matt

 

[snrusnak]

Just want to throw this out there, I know it wasn't on your list, and many people will say I'm an idiot for buying retreads, but just something to look into. I've bought a few sets that I ran through on my old bike and I would get 5,000 miles out of each set(rear always went first, but still I replaced them in sets). I'll be buying them for the buell when I need new tires. They are made by Tomahawk which is a company by Desser Tire Co. May want to at least check them out. They are sticky tires, too. Very affordable and are good tires.

 

[Kuntreeboy]

Check with Chaparral I searched forever for tires for my new Hayabusa and they hands down had to have the best prices, also they have sales on tires all the times! I ended up going with Bridgestone 023's for 209 shipped with one of there sales

 

[icepop77]

For the riding you describe, the smart money is on a sport-touring type of tire (such as the Angel you listed). Anything else is a complete waste (such as all of the other tires you listed). If you're not dragging knee every other day there is no need for a pilot 2CT or anything similar.

I use Pilot Road 2CT, which is a sport touring tire. I'm not doing heavy sport riding, but I like to go for a spirited ride on occasion and I do a lot of commuting. The mileage and wet grip with these tires made it worth my while to go with a sport tourer instead of a pure sport tire like the Pilot Power 2CT, which can be about a 3k mile tire if you ride it like a sport bike.

 

[captain chaos]

I use Pilot Road 2CT, which is a sport touring tire. I'm not doing heavy sport riding, but I like to go for a spirited ride on occasion and I do a lot of commuting. The mileage and wet grip with these tires made it worth my while to go with a sport tourer instead of a pure sport tire like the Pilot Power 2CT, which can be about a 3k mile tire if you ride it like a sport bike.

The Pilot Power 2CT is a TOTALLY different animal from the Pilot Road 2. I've never seen the Road 2 refered to as a "2CT" before, even though it it a dual compound tire. The Road 2 is a fantastic tire though and I'll whole heartedly reccommend it to anyone who wants an opinion.[up] Its pretty much perfect for street riding, even hard street use.

 

[captain chaos]

My only concern is I don't really put a ton of miles on the bike in the first place. I don't use it to commute, it's simply a pleasure vehicle for me. Here in Ohio, I am willing to bet I won't put more than 2k-3k miles per season if I'm lucky. I don't want the tires to dry-rot like the current tires on my bike are (2005 XB9R with factory tires, 3700 miles, and always stored climate controlled before I bought it - now its just in my garage) before they actually wear out. Will the Roads or Angels be more susceptible to dry-rot than the others because of the harder compound, or can I simply write that off as crappy factory tires?

Wow, I've already put almost 1/2 of your yearly miles on my bike this year, and I'm only 1 state west of you.
Given the LOW miles you ride and the conditions you stated earlier I'd say a ST tire is probably going to be a waste. It would wear out from age before you ever got around to putting enough miles on it.

Given your situation I'd say just buy any old cheap set and be done with it. A set of Shinko's will be plenty for what you need, will still last a couple of seasons for you, and can be had for well under $200/set. I've ran a few different Shinkos myself and have found them to be pretty good tires. My favorite was probably the "Podium". They were responsive, sticky and I got 5000mi from the rear; I never did wear out the front before I sold the bike they were on.
I've also ran the "Apex" and the "Raven"
The Apex has a nice round profile (turns-in fast) and seems to hold VERY well. It's a softer compound though and it's looking like I'm going to get about 4000mi from the rear (not bad but I ride 8000mi/year).
The Raven is a harder compound and a less round profile (turns-in slower). I had no complaints about the traction or anything of the Raven but I prefer a tire that really "falls in" when you lean into a corner. They also last a good while and are inexpensive. You'll probably get 3 seasons from a set of Ravens for about $185/set.

I've had no quality related issues from any of the Shinkos I've bought and they all mounted up and balanced easy. Lots of people seem to like to hate on them because their "cheap" but, in my experiance, they're a good tire for average street use and they are priced right.

 

[matt87951]

Wow, I've already put almost 1/2 of your yearly miles on my bike this year, and I'm only 1 state west of you.
Given the LOW miles you ride and the conditions you stated earlier I'd say a ST tire is probably going to be a waste. It would wear out from age before you ever got around to putting enough miles on it.

Given your situation I'd say just buy any old cheap set and be done with it. A set of Shinko's will be plenty for what you need, will still last a couple of seasons for you, and can be had for well under $200/set. I've ran a few different Shinkos myself and have found them to be pretty good tires. My favorite was probably the "Podium". They were responsive, sticky and I got 5000mi from the rear; I never did wear out the front before I sold the bike they were on.
I've also ran the "Apex" and the "Raven"
The Apex has a nice round profile (turns-in fast) and seems to hold VERY well. It's a softer compound though and it's looking like I'm going to get about 4000mi from the rear (not bad but I ride 8000mi/year).
The Raven is a harder compound and a less round profile (turns-in slower). I had no complaints about the traction or anything of the Raven but I prefer a tire that really "falls in" when you lean into a corner. They also last a good while and are inexpensive. You'll probably get 3 seasons from a set of Ravens for about $185/set.

I've had no quality related issues from any of the Shinkos I've bought and they all mounted up and balanced easy. Lots of people seem to like to hate on them because their "cheap" but, in my experiance, they're a good tire for average street use and they are priced right.

I wish I was home the last few weeks when it was unseasonably warm here, however I was on vacation, then had back to back business trips during the nice weather. When I got home, it was either raining or there was frost on the ground - awesome!

I work out of my home when I am actually in town, so no "commute" to and from work. I just ride when I have free time and the weather is nice. I'll definitely look into the Shinko's. It looks like they are about $180/shipped for the Podium's. As long as I can get 2-3 years out of the tires, I would be happy, but who knows - I may end up ridding more than I think this summer. I would be riding every day if I still lived in FL, but not so much anymore!

Thanks,
-Matt