Radial vs bias

[rphillips]

Weather on my "05" bandit 1200, "00" Kaw ZRX 1100, "84" GS 1150, or the "83" Honda CB 1100 F, The radial tires feel like they are completely worn out when half of the tread is still there. It takes a lot of pressure to get the bikes to lay over in curves & if you ease off the pressuer they want to straighten back up by themselves. With the old bias ply tires, you could ride them to,or past, the wear indicators & still have a reasonable good feel, but with the radials, to me, they get terrible, a loooong time before the wear indicators. I've played with air pressures & suspension settings, but nothing helps. While the radials are new they feel just as good as the bias ply tires, but for the rest of their useful lives, the handling is terrible. Is it just me??, or is there a reason this is happening??

 

[Guest]

I have not noticed that, but I have never ran radials on anything older than a '97 ZX-9. The only thing I have noticed is that they are more sensitive to flat spotting the rear tire, resulting in quirky handling while straight up and down, but it feels like normal once the bike is leaned over onto the less worn area of the tread.


Mark

 

[Guest]

Weather on my "05" bandit 1200, "00" Kaw ZRX 1100, "84" GS 1150, or the "83" Honda CB 1100 F, The radial tires feel like they are completely worn out when half of the tread is still there. It takes a lot of pressure to get the bikes to lay over in curves & if you ease off the pressuer they want to straighten back up by themselves. With the old bias ply tires, you could ride them to,or past, the wear indicators & still have a reasonable good feel, but with the radials, to me, they get terrible, a loooong time before the wear indicators. I've played with air pressures & suspension settings, but nothing helps. While the radials are new they feel just as good as the bias ply tires, but for the rest of their useful lives, the handling is terrible. Is it just me??, or is there a reason this is happening??

I will agree with that , some what.
Yes they start to feel worn sooner , but a radial is generally wider than a bias ply tire and a wider tire will take more to lay over . I also seem to get better mileage out of my bias ply tires than my radials.

 

[rphillips]

Didn't get around to mentioning the mileage, Like you I've not noticed "ANY" improvement in mileage. Really I'm still looking for something to show me the radials are a better choice.