tire question

[dvelasq]

How much should a set of reasonable tires cost for my 91 bandit?

[JackBlack]

i'm using Bridgestone BT-45's and they're fine for me. This is taken from the website "
BATTLAX BT-45 is a touring type tire offered in both H and V rated speed symbols. BATTLAX BT-45 gives all-round street performance, with the emphasis on riding comfort, long mileage, wet performance, all designed by the latest tire developing technologies of Bridgestone. With the comprehensive tire sizes, BATTLAX BT-45 replace BATTLAX BT-35 and BT-17V."
If you want a more sporty tyre a lot of people go for the BT-10's/BT-20's. Check on the bridgestone website for prices. They're about £160 a pair in england

[Herr Tod]

Michelin Pilot Power about $220 and Pirelli Supercorsa (SC1 front & SC2 rear) about $260. eBay prices...

Oh and I wouldn't run Bridgestone if I were you. I've had BT45 when I bought the bike, I was glad when I got a new set of MPP. A friend of mine had a set of BT090... and crashed because the tire tore apart My world consists of Michelin and Pirelli

[PitterB4]

How much depends on whitch tire.  Which tire depends a lot on your riding style.  

Unfortunately, not all manuf's make sizes to fit the B4 (Dunlop and Conti to name a couple).  

Sport touring?  Metzeler Z6s and Diablo Stradas are great tires that I think come in B4 sizes.  

Sport/agressive canyon carving?  Michelin Pilot Powers are, by all accounts, the shit.  Mezeler M3s are very new but look incredibly similar.  Pirelli Diablo Corsas have a good rep (I've been cautioned against Supercorsas and other track/race tires for the street but they're a great track tire).  

I also know people in both categories that swear by Avons.  I don't know their different models or size availability, tho.  

There are deals to be had out there.  I found a guy on ebay selling a 150/60 Power (I like the lower than stock profile) for $100.  I emailed him asking if he had a 110/70 front at a similar price.  Got 'em both delivered to my door for two bills.     Shop around.  I've done well at Motorcycle Superstore.  Lots of guys get tires from AZ Motorsports.  Ron Ayers (or is it Dennis Kirk?) will beat anybody's internet price by a buck or two and has reasonable shipping charges.  

Good luck!

[Boom-Boom]

dvelasq,

Your profile shows you're in TX.  I live in North Dallas and took my '91 B4 to a shop close to my house.  They had Pirelli Sport Demons on sale.  This is Pirelli's sport touring tire with good all weather capabilities and long tread life.  Not as high performance as the Pilot Powers, but for my riding it fits the bill.

~$270 for both tires and ~$100 for installation.  Probably do better if you shop around, but I was willing to pay for the convenience of taking it somewhere close.

If you wanna go cheap, buy the tires online and find a shop close by to mount and install them for you.

[BrianM]

I'm one of those Avon geeks...  been hooked on them since 1998 when we got an Avon sponsorship for our roadracing 'team' (if you can call a bunch of friends who carpooled, a team..  lol).  At the time, the tires were NOT track capable, got slicker than snot (overheated) in a short time because we didn't know they required more air pressure.  So we bought a load of Dunlops for our racebikes and just put the Avons on our street bikes (or rather, *I* did because I was broke, and they were sitting in a pile next to my only means of transportation..  a motorcycle).  

Once I played around with the tire pressure and got that sorted, and noticed I was getting 8~10k from a set on Hard street riding and daily commuting, the others snapped up their shares.  :P

I keep trying other brands, but nothing compares (for me and my style of riding) to the Avons (first the 35/36, now the 45/46) and I keep going back to them.  And they do have 110/17 and 150/17's available....

But tire choice is personal...  I *HATED* M1's, didn't get even 3k out of them before they were trash, paid more for them and noticed absolutly NO difference in traction/confidence/ability.  They were the darling child of the sportbike world just a few years ago (and I was well flamed on the ZRX forums for my comments about them).

[stormi]

Oh and I wouldn't run Bridgestone if I were you. I've had BT45 when I bought the bike, I was glad when I got a new set of MPP. A friend of mine had a set of BT090... and crashed because the tire tore apart

Hmm,.. it seems the reviews on tires are almost a holy war.  

I have Bridgestones on 1.5 of my bikes, with no problems whatsoever.  How does a tire suddenly tear apart?  How old was the tire?  properly inflated?

My 919 comes stock with BT-020s.

[PitterB4]

Brian - your experience with the M1s is why they weren't really on the market for long and the new Power-clone, the M3 is out.  (It's also why I have a set of M1s in good shape for sale pretty cheaply right now).  I liked the grip and predictability on the track but the profile is too round for my liking.  On the track, they seemed like they fell off too quickly at full lean if that makes any sense.  It's funny you were chewing them up.  They seem to wear well for me.

[Herr Tod]

I've been cautioned against Supercorsas and other track/race tires for the street but they're a great track tire

I wonder why. You can go all out crazy with these things under you, lacking ground clearance, with a raised tail and leaning so far you almost fall off, in each and every turn. Sliding, bouncing and even a two wheel drift is no problem. I absolutely love them

My 919 comes stock with BT-020s

That's because Honda is Japanese and Bridgestone is as well. I just don't have a lot of confidence in this brand.

[stormi]

My 919 comes stock with BT-020s

That's because Honda is Japanese and Bridgestone is as well. I just don't have a lot of confidence in this brand.

Aren't all of the Big 4 japanese?  I guess what I'm saying, is I can't see Honda, or any other manufacturer putting tires on a bike that were inherantly unsafe, just so they can say they bought local.  (Not good for repeat sales) Every company has a bad batch, or similar, perhaps that's what your friend got?

Of course proper care makes a huge difference as well.  Proper inflation especially.  

I'm not saying that they're the best tire out there, but they are a reasonably priced tire that performs reasonably well.  It's not a race tire by any stretch, but it's not advertised that way either.

[PitterB4]

I guess what I'm saying, is I can't see Honda, or any other manufacturer putting tires on a bike that were inherantly unsafe...

Not a bike but... Ford, I'd like for you to meet Firestone...

[BrianM]

I've been cautioned against Supercorsas and other track/race tires for the street but they're a great track tire

I wonder why. You can go all out crazy with these things under you, lacking ground clearance, with a raised tail and leaning so far you almost fall off, in each and every turn. Sliding, bouncing and even a two wheel drift is no problem. I absolutely love them

Because they're built different.  Slow to take on heat, quick to release it...   perfect for running a track (where tires get HOT, Quick and stay that way for the entire time you're using them), sucky for the streets where you run into traffic, a town with stops, and tend to lose the precious heat that makes the tires work right.  I've made race-tries work on the street in the past, but I was running at "Make a mistake and you're dead" speeds..  no room for error.  I'm older, wiser and more into self preservation now ~ I don't ride those speeds on the street.  I happen to like the Drastically lower insurance and less time and money in court that comes with riding more sanely now aswell.

[stormi]

I guess what I'm saying, is I can't see Honda, or any other manufacturer putting tires on a bike that were inherantly unsafe...

Not a bike but... Ford, I'd like for you to meet Firestone...

I didn't follow that case,.. was there reason for Ford to believe those tires were unsafe, prior to using them?  I heard of it, but didn't pay attention.  As I recall though, the blow outs happened in situations of excessive speed... no?

[Herr Tod]

Because they're built different.  Slow to take on heat, quick to release it...   perfect for running a track (where tires get HOT, Quick and stay that way for the entire time you're using them), sucky for the streets where you run into traffic, a town with stops, and tend to lose the precious heat that makes the tires work right.

That was 10 years ago. Current race tyres are heated up when you're out of your driveway as a figure of speech. They are quite warm when I arrive at work and I'm not in a hurry to get there. In fact, the SC's are a lot warmer than the MPP's.

I am not saying that Bridgestone is a bad brand, only saying that Michelin or Pirelli is a lot better. Of course there can be bad batches, that's not the brand's error but the factory that makes them. I've worked for about 3 weeks in such a factory. For example Pirelli had a bad batch of SC3's a while ago, they didn't provide any grip, just burned away. Lucky for them the SC3 is not very popular.

[masked_bandit]

I've had a set of super sticky Metzler ME-Z3's on my bike for the last 8k.  I had to order two different compounds, the regular (ME-Z4) for the front and the race compound (ME-Z3) for the rear to keep stock sizes, and the rear is finally starting to show some cord in the center (darn city drivin...)  I am thinking of the Road Tech Z6's ($205) or Pirelli Sport Demons ($209) for my next set (MAWonline.com has some great prices, BTW, $225 for a set of Pilot Powers, $230 for a set of Supercorsas.)  As much as I would love to get a set of Pilots,  I can't quite bring myself to support or trust a company that can't build a tire that doesn't blow on turn 13 of the Indianapolis Formula One circuit.  
Anyway, it seems to be right around $200 for a set of good tires.  You can probably get cheaper ones but depends on what your riding style is.