Suzuki V-Strom (VStrom) Owners Club DL250, DL650, DL1000 & DL1050
Oily Rag - Dedicated to Pat, Greywolf. 26/06/45 - 04/06/18 => Tyres => Topic started by: KLV-Rider on February 17, 2009, 14:38:55
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What's everyone using?, I can't seem to deviate from the Battlewings. Never had a problem with them but may be missing out on better/grippier/longer lasting tyres....any thoughts, opinions and recommendations???
The new Dunlop Roadsmarts look good as do the Conti Road Attacks....but I really like the look of the more dual sport chunky tyre.... :shrug:
Too many choices.... :GRR:
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Avon Distanzias on mine but then again that's what was on it when I bought it. I quite fancy going to a more road biased tyre when I have to change. :thumb:
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Never had a problem with them but may be missing out on better/grippier/longer lasting tyres....any thoughts, opinions and recommendations???
"If they work and you're happy then stick with them". Well that's the advice I was given by SPOD in Warrington who know a thing or two about motorcycles.
And personally if you go to a road biased Sports/Tourer tyre and mix that with the torque of the litre twin we all love so much, you ain't going to get half the mileage you do now on the Battlewings, and besides you can't drop it any lower than the pegs so what's the point :neen:
PS It's expensive to change a set of tyres to find you were happy on the original OE tyres you had.
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Sound advice from the TiGGer there! Thanks.
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BT021 front Avon Storm ST rear
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Michelin Pilot Road haven't reached the limit yet and they seem to wear well
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Michelin Pilot Road haven't reached the limit yet and they seem to wear well
and the mileage for front & rear so far is.............??
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The Pilot Roads are definitely the favourites for the UK'ers over on VSRI. When attending meets the majority are on them, must be OK.
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I've got Michelin Anakee they are the right shape and the right colour :grin: :grin:
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After a lot of reading and German translations I've pretty much decided on these....
Continental TrailAttack
(http://www.amotostuff.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/continental_trail_attack.jpg)
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Would appreciate your thought process on the choice, and what info you've discovered :thumb:
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Would appreciate your thought process on the choice, and what info you've discovered :thumb:
Will do mate, I'll write something proper later but to put it briefly now, it's essentially the road/sport tyre the Conti Road Attack but with 'loads' more tread depth, I think 4mm extra but the same rubber compounds and the same profile. So it's a big tread street tyre with the longevity of a trail tyre but the grip of a sport tyre.... :clap:
Sounds perfect, ain't tried them yet though.... :grin:
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Would appreciate your thought process on the choice, and what info you've discovered :thumb:
Will do mate, I'll write something proper later but to put it briefly now, it's essentially the road/sport tyre the Conti Road Attack but with 'loads' more tread depth, I think 4mm extra but the same rubber compounds and the same profile. So it's a big tread street tyre with the longevity of a trail tyre but the grip of a sport tyre.... :clap:
Sounds perfect, ain't tried them yet though.... :grin:
Any idea on prices?
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So essentially a road tyre that 'Looks' like a dual sport tyre so we don't harm the look of our bikes but get decent grip??
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After a lot of reading and German translations I've pretty much decided on these....
Continental TrailAttack
(http://www.amotostuff.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/continental_trail_attack.jpg)
Ebay £146 a pair +£6.95 p&p Item number: 290279350160 :thumb:
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you need some monster sized spoons though to swap them at home :neen:
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So essentially a road tyre that 'Looks' like a dual sport tyre so we don't harm the look of our bikes but get decent grip??
Yep, exactly, in theory.... :grin:
They look comparable to the Battlewings....certainly not like pure road tyres.
(http://vstrom.info/vsri-gallery/gallery/d/74216-1/Conti_Tail_Attack.jpg)
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Ebay £146 a pair +£6.95 p&p Item number: 290279350160 :thumb:
That's a good price, but as Tigger said I'd have trouble fitting them....plus don't really want to get out of favour with my tyre supplier who treats me very good.
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Used to have Conti road attacks on my SV. Superb tyres ... just need to watch for when they're really at the end of their life they go pretty quickly (I had only a few hundred miles from just about legal to almost canvas).
Still, these look a slightly different tread pattern (deeper too), but if they're a similar compound you won't go too far wrong with them.
some do find that because they're a slightly harder compound that some of the 'feel' of the road is lost ... can't say I ever noticed though.
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some do find that because they're a slightly harder compound that some of the 'feel' of the road is lost ... can't say I ever noticed though.
Stumpy, I don't want to argue with you mate (I'm in no position too) but from what I have read and opinions from other forums/owners/reviews I was under the impression that the rubber compound used was softer hence the more sportier performance of the tyre. Compared to the OEM Trailwing or the updated Battlewing most opinions is they are softer.
Is that wrong in your experience?, as I say I've never seen these in the flesh so I'm going on what others say.
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Compared to the Battlewings, I'm not sure to be honest ... compared the stock D208s on the SV though they are a considerably harder compound ... sorry, should have qualified that in my last post :)
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My personal worry is going back to the sub 3K miles for a rear tyre, had all that with the Bridgestone 021s on the CBR. And the 014s on the front needed so much work to warm up outside of Summer it was getting beyond a joke. And that was a lickle 600 inline four with 60% of the torque of the Vee
So I await you're reports KLV once you've got them bedded in, and thankfully I've been gentle on the throttle since I got my Battlewings they are almost new so a while to go yet .... until the tarmac warms up anyways :neen:
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I had Conti road attacks on last bike. Lasted longer than any other tyre I have ever had. 9.5 k rear front had done same and was 2/3 rds worn. Good grip and felt secure. I will go for them when the time comes :grin:
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Just ordered a pair of Maxxis Presa Detour Adventure tyres for mine. They are quite new and untested as yet on the forums. Will let you know the outcome hopefully soon. Will be getting fitted midweek hopefully.
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Michelin Pilot Road haven't reached the limit yet and they seem to wear well
and the mileage for front & rear so far is.............??
Finally got around to checking mileage and to date 5400 enthusiastic miles. Can't say how many mm left as I don't know where my depth gauge is :crazy: I'd guess around halfway worn. Like Mr KLV rider's choice of tyres these Michelin Pilots start out with extra tread depth.
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Just thought I would share a few pics of the new tyre for the Strom from Maxxis. This tyre has been out for about 3 weeks as I write.
(http://i579.photobucket.com/albums/ss233/notcurleyboy/PICT0001.jpg)
(http://i579.photobucket.com/albums/ss233/notcurleyboy/PICT0002.jpg)
(http://i579.photobucket.com/albums/ss233/notcurleyboy/PICT0003.jpg)
(http://i579.photobucket.com/albums/ss233/notcurleyboy/PICT0004.jpg)
(http://i579.photobucket.com/albums/ss233/notcurleyboy/PICT0005.jpg)
(http://i579.photobucket.com/albums/ss233/notcurleyboy/PICT0006.jpg)
(http://i579.photobucket.com/albums/ss233/notcurleyboy/PICT0007.jpg)
(http://i579.photobucket.com/albums/ss233/notcurleyboy/PICT0008.jpg)
don't know how they compare to the original Maxxis tyres, but the originals do seem to have had a decent writeup. The coin is a 5p piece in case the pics don't come out clear enough.
Had to have a new pair fitted as the originals had been on the bike for 4 yrs and were showing signs of squaring off and cracking . Just hope they do the business in terms of long life and grip etc. They only have about 8 miles on then so plenty of time to get used to them. Priced at £180 from M&S Newcastle, ride in ride out. The first 4 pics are from the rear tyre the other 4 from the front.
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Well, my new tyres have just arrived, getting them fitted tomorrow.
Continental TrailAtacks.
(http://i488.photobucket.com/albums/rr247/klv-rider/New%20Tyres/2.jpg)
(http://i488.photobucket.com/albums/rr247/klv-rider/New%20Tyres/1.jpg)
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Just coming up to the time to change mine... What do you think of the Conti Trail Attacks, KLV?
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I'm coming up for a new set and had a long think about this, and am going to take the advice of SPOD Warrington. "If you're happy with the Factory choice and have no issues then stick with them".
I love the Strom on the Battlewings and can happily crank it over all day long without any worries of the front letting go when the pegs touch the ground so I'll suggest the suspension being properly setup is more an important idea than the Tyres and leave things well alone, before spending £200 on a set of Tyres I may come to hate or fear
The factory suspension setup is bloody awful in my humblest opinion, for scooting around chasing Fireblades :thumb:
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If you're happy with the Factory choice and have no issues then stick with them[/I]".
If that was the case tigger we'd be on 'Trail' wings....aptly named 'death' wings.... :neen: ....Battlewings are a great tyre, they are not the factory supplied tyre....but....they bloody well should be.
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Just coming up to the time to change mine... What do you think of the Conti Trail Attacks, KLV?
Great tyres, I'm a big Battlewing fan but the Conti's do have the edge if sporty riding is what you predominantly do....I'll stick with these for the time being....the only other tyre I'd suggest a good look at is the Dunlop Roadsmart which is now available in 'our' size.
Tyres are a personal thing....I wish we could 'try before we buy'.... :thumb:
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you pedantic tart ###
lol
The Battlewings are the result of R&D after the Trialwings which had something like 5 different versions for the GS, DL, Capanord etc etc
Also they work very well and are Bridgestones :neen:
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Pedantic, pedantic....lol.... lol lol .... :neen:
Andy, where is the 'Backtracking' smilie....we need one for Tigger.... :neen:
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ahhh shush!!! :GRR:
:grin:
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How about a hole digging one (http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/images/smilies/Hole.gif)
:haha:
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My bike came with the Michelin Anakee's on it - seem fine to me but I don't have the experience with any different tyre types on this bike - I had Michelin Pilot 2CT on my previous bike - they were a really good tyre in the wet - but they don't do these in the front V Strom front tyre size. I'll be keeping my eye on this thread for some suggestions for future Tyre choice so maybe the info an be summarised at some point. (just an idea).
Bye the way has anybody tried the higher ride height mod using "dog bones" and does it make any difference to the handling ?
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Hi, I've just fitted Avon Distanzia's to my 1000 K6 and they suit the bike fine - cheap too. I had a couple of sets of Avon's on my previous Varadero & Transalp's and they were spot on, good mileage and very grippy - all the way to the pegs ! Not the stickiest in the wet, but plenty of feel, so you know when you're pushing Your luck.
As for the dogbones, I've fitted some to mine ( + 25mm ) and the difference is staggering ! Much sharper, faster steering and better feedback, but no loss of stability (if anything it's LESS wobbly...). Coupled with some uprated fork springs it's FUN in the twisties !
Ride safe, Bry. :thumb:
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I'm a bridgstone type of bloke...I've run all the below tyres on big trailies
mileage rear
trailwings ....... :-x 600.000
tourance :thumb: 6000
battlewings :thumb: :thumb: 7000
pilot road :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: 9000 :shock:
conti road attack :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: 5500
bt o20s :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :grin: :clap: 7000
020s for outstanding wet weather grip by far the best when raining ..overbanding white lines ect ....swings it for me
interesting the same tyre on the wee strom gives me 4000 extra miles :shock:
road attacks look real cool very pretty patterns ,,well when new anyway
(http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/9818/jackedup.jpg) (http://img80.imageshack.us/my.php?image=jackedup.jpg)
By minkyhead (http://profile.imageshack.us/user/minkyhead)
020s
(http://img365.imageshack.us/img365/8120/bridgep.jpg) (http://img365.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bridgep.jpg)
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found this .bike trailie tyre test .....2007
the one thing missing is wet weather ...I still think the bridgstones are better in this depatrment
it seems a big ommission from any test of tyres to me ...but the track times are interesting ...all tyres shod on a 1200gs .....
(http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/7956/ttest3.jpg) (http://img17.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ttest3.jpg)
By minkyhead (http://profile.imageshack.us/user/minkyhead)
(http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/5372/ttest2.jpg) (http://img99.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ttest2.jpg)
By minkyhead (http://profile.imageshack.us/user/minkyhead)
(http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/4996/ttest.jpg) (http://img300.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ttest.jpg)
By minkyhead (http://profile.imageshack.us/user/minkyhead)
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found this .bike trailie tyre test .....2007
the one thing missing is wet weather ...I still think the bridgstones are better in this depatrment
Not what other tests have shown, the Road Pilots are always top of the tree for wet weather in group tests and from experience with the peeps I ride out with, the Pilots also give excellent mileage unlike the bridgestones which flat spot way too easy on the rear.
Track times are of course interesting but longevity is very important and the Battlewings work well and last for bloody ages
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I aggree pilots last a long time .......had them on the varadero .......near enough 10k on the rear ...
but not inspiring in the wet [ I ride 52 weeks a year all weathers 30k miles plus just at work ].
so I have a lot of experiance riding the same roads on different tyres when wet
most of them are fine in the dry
....OK for the work bike but would not fit them again ...pilot 2s still not in our size ..... :wtf:
battle wings were good fitted them when they came out but .....no I wouldn't fit them again ...you can feel the blocks moving ...... hard out of dry corners producing a rather nice wiggle on the exit ...
ill stick to road tyres for a road bike ..
its a personal thing but I would pay the 50 quid more and get less mileage from the 020s as I feel they are the better tyre ...?? everytime I cross a white line when raining I'm glad I spent the money ....
if it was possible I would shod the strom with 010s and sod the mileage ... :grin: :shock:
intersesing point t he tyres with the fastest times ...ie more grip seem to last less .
..so it seems has it ever been ....
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So what we're saying here is: ' Round and black with blocky knobbly bits' doesn't cut it now then?
As an aside, when I was a washing machine engineer our wise fleet managersdecided to put our Escorts onto TOYO Tyres. The van handled like a pissed dog on wet lino!
Mewthinks I'll go for 020s as they seem a good mix, I want reasonable blend of grip and mileage.
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I was just looking at the Pirelli website and their new Scorpion Trail Tyres look really good and are supposed to offer good on/off road performance. I've no idea about the price or tread life but they could be a contender when the time comes.
They're listed in the Enduro on/off road section of their motorcycle pages.
http://www.pirellityre.com/web/catalog/ ... _TRAIL.xml (http://www.pirellityre.com/web/catalog/moto/moto_catalogo_schedaDescription.page?categoria=/catalog/moto/on_off_road/enduro_street&vehicleType=MOTO&product_id=163083&uri=/pirellityre/en_IT/browser/xml/catalog/moto/MOTO_MV_SCORPION_TRAIL.xml)
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I've been pricing up some replacements for the Wee in readiness for a ride down to Catalunya for the MotoGP. Those new Pirellis are flippin expensive - the rear is 91 quid trade !
I might go for the Contis - their ContiForce Supermoto tyres are great on my CCM.... and the price is pretty good.
Iggy
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Changed from stock tyres to Metzeler Tourance about 3000 mile ago. I'm 100% on road - very happy with them. Great road holding, very secure - would recommend
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Changed from stock tyres to Metzeler Tourance about 3000 mile ago. I'm 100% on road - very happy with them. Great road holding, very secure - would recommend
Excellent longevity too, as good or better than the Battlewings :thumb:
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Changed from stock tyres to Metzeler Tourance about 3000 mile ago. I'm 100% on road - very happy with them. Great road holding, very secure - would recommend
Excellent longevity too, as good or better than the Battlewings :thumb:
+1
Third rear and first front has just been fitted.
Changed from Exp front to a regular, the Exp give a tad more feel.
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After all my shenanigans with my local wheeler dealer, I have become the bald reared bike over to my shop of choice, Holland Engineering near MK. They too had trouble locating my chosen tyre, mich road pilot for the front. he has recommended Metz (I guess tourance?). He's a straight up bloke so worn down by the previous monkey I've gone with it, picking her up tomorrow, serviced and ready to do cat n fiddle over the weekend. Will report back on findings. If anyone is in or around Buxton, Tamworth, Witney or any places in between and see's a blue 1000 chugging along behind a lovely leather clad arse on a GS500 give us a wave. (she's more than just a lovely arse though, really she is)
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Well, they wern't Tourance, they are Roadtech. Gave them a good scrubbing in this weekend, quick 80 mile round trip yesterday and a 350 mile rounder up to the cat n fiddle and back today, and they've still got plenty of tread on em!, turn in really quick and seem to stick well.
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BT020 for me :thumb: fabulous tyre, great neutral feel , confidence giving in the rain etc etc
I've had Metz Tourance on a previous strom which were acceptable, much better then the 'death wings' Suzuki like to supply them with ###
May try the new Dunlop Roadsmart when my 020's are shot :shrug:
My brother rates Avon distanzia on his tigger 955 :grin:
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I replaced my trailmax with conti trail attacks for my thou gt, after 1500 miles on them in everything from monsoon to 28 degrees this week, I have to say they are superb. was mixing it yesterday wit a fireblade and a gs adv yesterday on the devils beef tub and could not fault them. the 9mm tread depth helped swing it for them in front of a pure road tyre. recommend. :grin:
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I put Road Pilots on for a trip to Italy and having got back after 2,700 miles, laden with wife and about 40kg of shoes, am very impressed with their minimal wear compared to the previous Battlewings which I usually had to chuck after 5k; and with the way they dealt with enthusiastic riding through the Alps with that sort of load on board. For me, a vast improvement on the Battlewings which I never could have complete faith in.
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I don't see much on here regarding the Michelin Anakee 2. Have any of you had any experience of these, as Yesterday I was advised by my local workshop to steer clear of the Michelin Pilot Road 2, "because of the set up of the bike, they won't last long at all" Any truth in this do you think, or is it just too much trouble for him to get them?