New tires

[Rob S.]

On my way to order tires. My mechanic says he has a matching pair of Pirellis in mind for my Suzi. I told him I want sticky, sticky, sticky, traction, traction, traction. I don't care if they wear out in a few thousand miles.

Do I want a race compound or a street compound?

In the 1980's, I bought a race compound rear Dunlop for my Z1, and it never got hot enough to be sticky. Big mistake.

Now someone just told me I do want race compound, that they're stickier, even when cold.

Been told that my current sizes (Rear 130/90-17 Front 3.50 v19) are as large as I can go on the stock '82 wheels. I figure V rated dual compound would be best.

I was hoping for maybe Bridgestone Battleaxes, but it's not like I've never heard of Pirelli.

Are tires still offered in street and race compounds?

Money is not a big issue.

[mmattockx]

No to the race compound, they will never heat up properly on the street. You want high performance street tires that were meant to operate at street temps and to go through many heating cycles (race compounds aren't). If it were me, I would go with Pirelli Sport Demons, Bridgestone BT-45's or Avon's in order of preference.

I would stick with the stock tire sizes as well, you gain nothing by pinching a bigger tire onto a skinny rim. Its cross section gets distorted and performance is affected for the worse. I currently have a 140/80 BT-45 on my 1100E at the moment and will be replacing it with a 130/90 Sport Demon when the time comes.


Mark

[tkent02]

Pirelli sport demons or Avon Roadrider, anything else is not even in the same league.

If you care about price, Shinko 230 are good cheap tires.

[bwringer]

Pirelli Sport Demons or Avon RoadRiders

100/90-19
130/90-17

The Avon RoadRiders last a lot longer than the Pirellis.

Either way, they're far better than even the race tires of the '80s. And even if someone made them in the appropriate sizes, you wouldn't want race tires on a streetbike.

Need further proof? Google up some recent photos of active vintage roadracing (not old racebikes on static display). Lots of bikes are wearing Avon RoadRiders or Pirelli Sport Demons. RoadRiders seem most common.


Avons.




I think that's a Bridgestone BT45 (also an excellent modern tire) on the left, and an Avon on the right.

[Rob S.]

I went with the Pirelli Sport Demons.

Also got RaceTech .90 fork springs; plan is to run them without air.

[trevor]

I went with the Pirelli Sport Demons.

Also got RaceTech .90 fork springs; plan is to run them without air.

The Demons are the ticket Rob...have on my 1100 and love them. Good choice on the Sonic springs...I have those too.

[mrbill5491]

The Demons are the ticket Rob...have on my 1100 and love them. Good choice on the Sonic springs...I have those too.

He went with the Race Tech springs. I have the Sonic .95 in my forks, I was wanting the 1.00, though it was a print error on their website. When Sonic called me he said the .95 would be all I want, he was right on, they are pretty stiff. I believe the 1.0 would have been tooooooo much lol.

[Rob S.]

RaceTech makes from .8 to 1.0 for my bike. Their site recommends "1.02 or as close as possible" for my fully geared weight (175lbs).

My mechanic suggested .90, don't touch the anti-dive or air plumbing (except to let the air out), so that's what we'll try. The seals were recently replaced and are still good, as is the surface of the forks.

I asked about cartridge emulators, and was told it wasn't needed for my bike, that it would be overkill.

[wacky941]

Back in the eighties, I really liked the Dunlop Sport Elite, the only problem was that I was going through them like every month and a half. I finally ended up switching to the Touring Elite because I couldn't afford to keep buying those Sports on a young sailors pay with a wife and kids to feed.

Now I run the Pirelli Sport Demons, excellent tire! And they don't wear out quickly either, that might be partially because I don't ride as wild and aggressive as I did before too.

[tkent02]

I asked about cartridge emulators, and was told it wasn't needed for my bike, that it would be overkill.

He's wrong.
Unless you like a bumpy ride.

[bonanzadave]

Dunlop Touring Elite

I tried those for a few years. 391s and 491s. Good long wear but no grip and scary when wet.

[mmattockx]

Need further proof? Google up some recent photos of active vintage roadracing (not old racebikes on static display). Lots of bikes are wearing Avon RoadRiders or Pirelli Sport Demons. RoadRiders seem most common.

Careful with that. Avon make a race compound version of the AM26 and also an AM22/AM23 race tire combo that have very similar tread patterns to the RoadRiders. I'm not saying that the RoadRiders aren't excellent street tires, but be aware that the people racing with Avon's aren't using the street version of that tire.

I asked about cartridge emulators, and was told it wasn't needed for my bike, that it would be overkill.

Then your mechanic is a twit. Properly set up emulators will transform how the front end works, combining a firm, controlled ride with no harsh impact over nasty bumps. The only thing better is to retrofit actual cartridge damping into your forks. Either option is certainly not "overkill" for any motorcycle I have ridden.

He's wrong.
Unless you like a bumpy ride.

+1.


Mark

[wacky941]

I tried those for a few years. 391s and 491s. Good long wear but no grip and scary when wet.

Yep, I found out the same thing. Had the back tire break loose on me a few times when braking on those touring elites. Guess you could say someone solved the problem for me one night, they liked the bike so much, they took it home with them.

Dopey me, back then, I thought that because they had the same tread pattern, they would grip the same and last longer, boy was I wrong on that one! In fact, I was wrong about a lot of things back then.

[Missile99]

Good choice Rob. I will probably go with the Pirelli Sport Demons or Avon Roadriders next because research points me to those options and the advice here does too. I have Battlax BT-45's on mine now. They have performed good enough including some wet cornering and hard braking. The wear is average. The back tire suits the bike good. The front tire is ugly. The skinny tire looks weak but that tread pattern amplifies the wimpy look. It's amazing what a tread pattern can do for looks. How shallow I sound.

[greg78gs750]

i can scrape the footpegs on my 1100 with roadriders. to me, that is enough lean angle.