Best Tires???

I would like to get the groups opinion regarding general tire quality. I understand that different riding requires different requirements but because of the limited options for our bikes I'd like to stay kind of general.
Having said that I'd like to put the tires in 3 different categories:
Group A: Best of the best. Don't care about price or anything. Just the Rolls Royce of classic bike tires.
Group B: Good tire. Could MAYBE be in group A but it lacks something.
Group C: Cheap, crappy tire that gets the job done.

Thanks
Mr. SECA

 

theres a fourth group, C plus, i.e.
Cheap tyre that gets the job done, (omitting the crappy bit)
dunno whats available over there but Maxis, Cougar, Vee Rubber, ect do the job ok
remember a puncture in a (Best of the Best) tyre is just the same as a puncture in a cheap tyre, you should sling it, just costs you half as much

 

A: Bridgestone battleaxe.
B: Metzler

Well they are the only 2 I've used on the XJ.
I used the battleaxe on Suzuki gs1000 and gs750s back on the day.
They stick, wet and dry, and they last a long time due to the dual compound.

 

1) Michelin Classic if you're willing to mortgage your house and sacrifice your first born child

2) Bridgestone Battleax BT46 (best I've ever used)
Shinko 230&712 rear Shinko 733 front (best . bang for the buck)

3) Anything made by Kenda (Absolutely horrible in the wet, on tar snakes and manhole covers)

 

I think describing C without a D leaves gaps.
I would think C would be inexpensive and bang for the buck average performance?
Is that not where the Shinko would go? How about Dunlop 404
D would be the DO NOT BUY category.

I got a durometer gauge to do stuff at work and applied them to my newer tires as well as 2 bikes this year that had tires 6-12 years old.

New tires were in the 75-80 range and all 4 used tires I got with bikes this year were in the 90 range. as it hits 90+ I have read that the meter becomes less accurate.
I have to go and do some measurements again but I believe a set of 4 year old Dunlop 404 tires were 2-3 points higher than the new ones.
Lower # is better.
My meter is not a specific one for tires but it showed me I don't want to run old tires even if they "LOOK" good.
I'd like to take the meter to cyclegear to look at tire softness. I'm eyeballing some Commander III tires for my scout.

 

On this side of the pond, my personal preference is to not be held over a barrel by Michelin.
So, I often go Maxxis on front and rear, sometimes even Duro front, but currently there's an Avon AM26 up front, which is pretty good.
I've found the sheer weight of the GS is good at making sure a tyre behaves itself.
Several years ago I began experimenting with radials on the rear and was quite convinced by the results.
On the rear now is a Nankang CX668 145r15 car tyre, which does all that I ask of it and more besides. Plus, it will well outlast the previous inhabitants of that position.

 

New, black, and round.

 

Yep, I put Michelin Classics on the XJ650LJ, and Bridgestone Battleax on the CBX. I almost put the Classics on the CBX, but wanted to try the Bridgestone's.

 

where are you getting the tires? Ordering online and installing yourself/Shop or getting from a shop and they do everything?

 

I've intentionally ordered different brands each time to test them out. I have D404's, Shinko 777's and IRC RS-310. I'm definitely not an aggressive rider and I don't particularly enjoy riding in the rain, so my grip/durability/price algorithm is probably different than most. These 3 brands are all on the mid-low end of the price spectrum. Maybe the C++ category? Or I might just be programmed to believe that. I don't have enough miles to discern differences yet.

They've all had different quirks when mounting them, though. The Dunlops were a fight to keep both beads in the wheel dip, the Shinko's were the opposite and needed help spreading them and the IRC's were the biggest struggle to get them to finally seat the bead. I've bought all of them online through the major bike parts stores.

 

I used to buy all my tires at RevZilla, but I bought both sets of these at https://www.motosport.com/ They have combos where you pick the sizes and get both the front & rear tires.

I do all my own work now. Back in the day when I was racing, I had a fantastic mechanic. That was back in the late '70's early 80's. Lol Wrenching is what gets me through the winter.....

 

i also fit and ballance my own tyres, i've noticed when i get a tyre off the internet, its always wrapped in cling film, this squashes the tyre in, and makes it difficult to seat it on the rim, so when i get my new tyre i put a good innertube inside the tyre ,and blow it up so it expands about half as much again bigger than the rim, then leave it for a week to "set" itself wider,
i then have no trouble setting it onto the rim.

 

Interesting on the D404. I have that on my XS650 and cyclegear put on the front. Guy had heck of a time seating the bead w/ a tube in it. I then took it home, checked air, next day I forgot to check air and took it out, well schrader valve was not tight and it went low. bead lost its seat and had to take it back in.
Shinko 777 white wall on my 82 XJ650, its bead set w/o any effort, I pulled schrader valve and don't think I got past 20PSI before it seat nice.

I"m not an agressive rider either but think about stopping ability more than tight curves.

 

Thanks for the link. I was unaware of that retailer.

 

I generally unwrap it and let it set in the sun for a hour or so. Gets it right back into as-made shape. Of course that requires that the sun be out and unobstructed.

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I generally unwrap it and let it set in the sun for a hour or so. Gets it right back into as-made shape. Of course that requires that the sun be out and unobstructed.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
not much chance of that over here for a few m0nths

 

I also mount and balance my own tires, living on the road full time makes carrying a balancing stand out of the question. I've used the old school method of balancing them right on the bike and also have used balancing beads. Since then I've moved on to this stuff, there's an awful lot of shops going with this stuff too now a days.

https://www.ride-on.com/us/support/tire-types/motorcycle-formula

 

After not being happy with my Battlax tires, I tried Dunlop Sport Demons and liked them a lot more. It's not all that easy finding tires that fit these days.

 

tell us more about what you did not like?

 

What model Battlax, I used the BT45 and they were awesome to the point of winning Pre82 races in the rain on, Sport Demon is a Pirelli tyre, haven't used them but meant to be very good

 

I need some new tires. The two sets I can find that match and are reasonable in price are:

1) Bridgestone Battlax BT46
$300 shipped + tax.

2) Shinko
$174 shipped + tax
I think they match. 735 for the front & 712 for the rear..


Difference is $126. Not a huge amount in the grand scheme…. But on the flip side, this bike is probably only worth $1k on a good day

I’ve heard all good things regarding the battlax tires.

For those that have had them - how are the Shinko’s?

 

Shinko's are OK. Run and wear well on my Maxim X (777 front, 230 rear).

 

Pretty sure I ran shinko on my gs 750 and 1000 way back and they worked well.
The battleaxe definitely stayed round in comparison though after a lot of Ks and I love em on my xj.

Michelin was kinda scary to use. Sidewalls cracking within a year etc. I was told it was the ozone in Australia causing it. Whatever that is supposed to mean.

 

Thanks Gents.

I like the Shinko 230 tour master for the rear. I’m not too excited about the Shinko 735 for the front though. It’s a front/rear combo tire deal in my size 110/90-16 and that just doesn’t seem right

I guess I could get the Shinko rear and the battlax front, but that just seems wrong.

I’ll figure it out soon. I’ve got my rear wheel off the bike as I replace the bearings. The current rear tire is from 2004 AND it has over 40k miles on it. I’m going to put a new tire on before I put it back on the bike.

 

I just bought the BT46 Battlax tires for $260 shipped. The best deal I could find was from mxpowerplay.com
They don’t charge tax which helped a lot.
Also found a 5% off coupon 5OFFNOW

Looking forward to these tires!

 

Rear tire already showed up!



Since I had the rear wheel off the bike I decided to replace the bearings. I got an “all balls” set that should be here tomorrow. Hopefully the front tire will arrive tomorrow too.