Stock tyres are shit but lots of tread left, upgrade or nah?

[notbike]

I've lost trust in my tyres today after luckily saving a highside on the way to work, and then later on I nearly lost the front at less than 10mph with barely any lean at all exiting a carpark.

They're cheap shitty stock tyres called "Road Winners" but they have shit loads of tread left on them. Admittedly the first incident was probably too much throttle in a low gear while leaned over too far on cold tyres, but I have no fucking idea why my front tried to slip out at slow speed and has generally been feeling a bit slippery overall. They used to be alright last year (not great still).

Should I get winter tyres? I heard Pirelli Diablo Rosso IIs are good for wet despite not lasting very long.

[stinkwheel]

Bin the fuckers.

It's one of lifes little ironies that shit tyres are also massively hardwearing. You'll be stuck with them for ever and a day if you wait for them to wear out.

If you're worried about it potentially being you and not the tyres. Change them but keep them in the garage/shed. If it's equally crap on a well known and decent make of tyre, it's probably you and you can have them put back on again next time. If the new tyres are a revelation (and I suspect they will be), most council tips take small numbers of old tyres. Or an old rear tyre is somewhere safe to rest your fuel tank if you ever need to remove it for servicing
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[notbike]

[kawakid]

I binned nearly new Mitchelin tyres on my ER6.


I'm considering doing the same with some continentals with my car.


Tyres that come with bikes and cars are shot.
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I've a twin and a 4.

[deadwolf]

My Ninja 250R came stock with them too. The manufacturer is IRC, some Japanese brand. Seems like every Kawasaki out there is shod with them.

They're made from a hard compound that sacrifices grip for loads of tyre life. I guess with current tyre technology these two qualities are mutually exclusive.

I had plenty of tread left on my front but they weren't very trustworthy in the wet. Swapped for Michelin Pilot Streets, never looked back.
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Motorsapien Art

[Northern Monkey]

My MSX came with some Vee-Rubber ditch finders. After a few interesting moments on roundabouts I got rid of them and it was a completely different bike
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Fisty: after polishing the tank with the glistenng beads of sweat from my full hot scrotum, I filled the headrace bearings with 10cc of my manmilk

[Slacker24seve...]

The answer is always PR3/4s
____________________
Triumph Daytona 675 track bike + girlfriend's Honda Hornet 600
Selling a hack/winter bike for less than a grand? PM me.
Banger rallies are ace

[waffles]

It depends, do you like riding your bike or do you enjoy sliding around?

It's going to get wet and slippery on the roads with leaves to add a touch of adventure. If you are going to keep riding you need to have confidence in your tyres and you don't, you need to ditch them fast.
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Theory test - 19/8/09, CBT - 11/10/09, MOD 1 - 16/8/10, MOD 2 - 27/10/10
Past rides Yamaha XT125X, Triumph TT600, Honda XR250
Current rides Suzuki GSXR 600, Honda MSX125

[c_dug]

[MarJay]

[Slacker24seve...]

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

[RedPanda]

Bin them. A couple of hundred on new tyres is cheaper and easier than a crash and claim. You’ll notice a huge difference handling and be a lot more confident on the bike as well.

By the way what happened to your evil twin nicking your lamppost?
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CBF125 (2013) -> CBR600F (2001) -> 'Ninja' 300 (2014)

[Nexus Icon]

No one ever comments on Dunlop Qualifiers. What's the general feeling about them? I've had a pair on for 3000 miles and they seem grippy and hard-wearing.

I'm not ashamed to say they don't see much in the way of wet roads though. Usually only on MOT day when it's guranteed to be a monsoon.
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Greetings from Shitsville!

[MarJay]

[DrDonnyBrago]

Whilst I'm not entirely convinced, rumour has it that there can even be a difference between the tyres fitted to new bikes and the same make/model tyres sold separately.

[MarJay]

[.Bishbash.]

No, no, no no, never bin tyres, use them for fun, do a burn out or create a makeshift tyre wall to give your garden that 'trackside' feel.
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Current bike - GSX-R1000 k8

[bikertomm]

+1 for bin them but do a massive burnout and lulz about beforehand.
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07' Honda Hornet now full powaah! My guide on performing an oil change!

[stinkwheel]

I wonder if they put tyres with a low rolling resistance on new bikes to make the fuel consumption (and CO2 output) figures look good?

It would make sense, I bet having low-friction tyres pumped up hard makes a sizeable difference on a rolling road.

I'm really liking my Metzeler M7RRs. Wet and dry.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[monkeybiker]

[MCN]

Road Winners?

***MCN Googles Tyreleader.co.uk for his S1000RR track bike***


I would swap them out for a performance brand.

As stinkers suggests, you only get wot you pay for.

But if you are only pootteling then you maybe don't need to over-spec the tyre.

I had Metzeler (competition) style tyres fitted to my S1000RR last year. I got about 4mths out of them until they were down to the wire/rayon. Over specked the style for the use.
I have since fitted a more 'for road use' Metzeler and they have been perfect for street legal duty. And a couple of hundred scary laps of the race track.
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Disclaimer: The comments above may be predicted text and not necessarily the opinion of MCN.

[Acemastr]

[monkeybiker]

[Stewie]

I've just shod the Blackbird with some Avon Storm 3D x-m's really good feed back, so can't wait to try them in the dry