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Recommend me a sport touring tyre

17K views 77 replies 31 participants last post by  Cthulhu 
#1 ·
Im just about due for a new set of tyres..

Ive narrowed it down to sport touring tyres because I do a lot of kilometres mines a 2013 and I'm 41,000ks already.

T30 evo
Angel GT
Pilot road 4

anything else I should consider?
 
#2 ·
I like my pilot road 2s :)

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#10 ·
I'm sort of moving over to Pirelli. Got an Angel front on my Speedy, which improved the steering no end, and a rear on my VFR. It's done about 3,000 miles and is just showing a little squaring off, although I do a lot of highway on this bike. Anything would square off. Never ridden PR4 but will certainly give mileage. Read a few comments about the fronts going off about halfway worn. Dunno, I'll likely stick to Angels throughout now as I wear others out. :smile2:
 
#13 ·
This isn't probably apples to apples but I put Angel GTs on my last motorcycle and loved them. Once the street triple is up for a change I'm going to the Angel GTs again.

I remember the first ride on them after the change I kept saying "wow" in my helmet. Turn in was easier and smoother and I had a ton of confidence on them. Seemed to do really well in the rain. Unfortunately I can't speak too much on the wear - I traded the bike in after I had just a few thousand miles on those tires. They still looked brand new though at the time.
 
#23 ·
I ran PR4s on my Sprint 1050, which I sold about 2 months ago. I had about 8000 miles on the rear (it was a GT model), and I bet there were a good few thousand miles left on it. Everything I've read says they are the best ST tires as far as tread life, and wet weather riding. As for grip, I've heard the Angel GTs are better, but I never had any confidence issues with PR4s.

Just picked up a 09 StripleR, with Avon Storm 2 Ultras. I'm still getting used to the bike, and tire feel... so far so good.
 
#27 · (Edited)
I ran PR4s on my Sprint 1050, which I sold about 2 months ago. I had about 8000 miles on the rear (it was a GT model), and I bet there were a good few thousand miles left on it. Everything I've read says they are the best ST tires as far as tread life, and wet weather riding. As for grip, I've heard the Angel GTs are better, but I never had any confidence issues with PR4s.
I run PR4s on my Tiger 1050SE, with probably 5k miles on them and they still look great. With highway, mountain roads and canyon rides. They are an excellent rain tire and great in the dry. I got caught in flooding thunderstorms on vacation with the wife and they worked awesome, even with an emergency stop (damn cagers). I want to try the Angels next, due to better dry grip. But the PR4s have been so great, not sure I will. But, I will.

For your bike, I would get the Angels. You may lose a little on wear, but the added grip will pay off.
 
#26 ·
Running touring tyres or for that matter anything too similar in the sport touring segment just never felt good on the street triple, the chassis is too aggressive for lazy feeling tyres IMHO. The Metzler m7rr are good, the rosso corsa are also at the top of the list but I'm sure the diablo rosso 2-3 would also be a solid choice, I think tyres like the T30 belong on something more like a sprint gt than a hooligan machine....

Although, it's always down to the individual.
 
#33 ·
But, does he not also have to provide a high quality and safe riding experience to those who pony up not insignificant sums of money for his course? I'm certainly no Cal Crutchlow - not only do I not have 1/10,000th of his skill, I'm also quite a bit more averse to crashing than he appears to be - but in dry conditions, I feel no difference between the stock Corsas and the T30s.

Probably, I'm just not good enough to feel it, if it's there. :dunno At the end of the day, I'm not trying to convince anyone looking for ultimate grip to switch to sport touring tires, I'm just answering the question "recommend me a sport touring tyre."
 
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#34 ·
It's probably the profile. A sport touring tire will have a slightly larger radius in the center which helps mileage and stability at the expense of response. If you find that offensive, you can drop the front end a bit to get some response back.

I'd like to test the theory that a sport touring tire is "lazy" on a Street Triple. When I had my Angels (ST and GT) they were only on the FZ6. I've only had sport tires on my Triples.
 
#35 ·
I think it's a combination of bike and tyre, I had Angel GT on the street and thought they were horrific, a friend also had the same tyre on his daytona and he'd them so much he swapped them out after 500miles and he really isn't fussy with tyres. Yet using them on a sprint st they felt absolutely perfect for the bike.... suggesting more of a combination problem than a tyre issue.

I think of it this way... I love mushy peas and I also love tea.... but I wouldn't want them together. Sports tyres worked for me both on the street triples I've had and the speed triple but sports touring was the only choice worth making with some of my other motorcycles.
 
#37 ·
I've been running PR4s quite happily on my Sprint for a couple years now. So, I put a set on my street rims for the Streety. I didn't put any miles on the OEM Pirelli's, so I can't compare, but the PR4s feel just fine on the Streety, and I'm not known for being gentile with tires. With the lightness, and extra leverage of the tube bars, I can't see how the small profile difference could really be THAT bad between sport and sport-touring tires, for most of us.

I am keeping the OEM rims and tires for the streety's first trackday, though. I'll move up from there in that environment.
 
#39 ·


I bought the bike with power 3 installed already. Put 4.5k on the bike within three month with occasion canyon session. They seem to wear very well and provide good grip in the corners. This is compared to my past ninja 650 with bt016.

Another thing to note, I'm not the fastest in the canyon but they don't get gummed up like my friends PR4?
 
#40 ·
Anyone ever mixed tires? My pilot road 2 front still has plenty of life but I want to put the pp3 on the rear and try it out

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#41 ·
Anyone ever mixed tires? My pilot road 2 front still has plenty of life but I want to put the pp3 on the rear and try it out

You're better off spending the extra $110 to get the front as well. Cheap insurance. Would suck to have all that sweet traction on the rear and a worn tire with less grip in the front while leaned over.



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#42 ·
I typically replace one front for every two rears. Unless you are a highly skilled racer riding 10/10s everywhere, you probably won't even notice any difference in traction. I'm not familiar with the differences between Michelin models, but would imagine mixing them would be virtually transparent. There are probably a few people who have mixed tire brands to no ill effect. Just don't go to the "dark side."



:eek:
 
#43 ·
I'm sticking with the PR4s for my Speed Triple. They are the highest millage tire I've ever had, great in the rain, and I've never run out if grip in a corner in the Hill Country here.

Even so, I only get 5,000 out of them here in Texas because of the chip-seal they use on the roads instead of good asphalt. It's like riding on a cheese grater.
 
#45 ·
People mix up tires of different compounds all the time on the track. For a street rider who won't overcome the traction of even the "poorest" tire on the bike, buying them in sets when the front is not worn (or aged out) is silly unless you just want a change. It's not unsafe to mix tires. I have a set of S20 EVOs on my 2008 and will probably replace the rear with an S21 when it wears out as the S21 succeeded the S20 EVO.

That said, the Pilot Power 3 is a different class of tire and to "try them out" would require buying both front and rear.
 
#46 ·
I removed Pilot Power 2CT's from my 09 Street Triple and put on a set of Pilot Road 3s for my long trip. 3623 miles later with 2500 of those miles in the mountains of NC, TN, GA, VA, KY, and WV...they performed very well and much better than I expected. The steering was notably lazier on turn in, but once you were heeled over they gave great feedback and grip even loaded up with my traveling gear. Front looks almost new and rear has a bit of a flat spot starting to show due to flat, straight roads in Michigan and western ohio.
Wet grip was very good and dry grip was more than enough to ride very quickly each day. I don't like the front only due to the way it tips in and makes the bike feel heavy...but it performed just fine. I could do a trackday on these in intermediate class no problem and be very quick. In the end...for trips I like them...for hooning around I'll stick to sporty rubber.
 
#48 ·
Ah tyre debates...nearly as much "fun" as oil debates haha. For what its worth, when I picked up my ZX10, it had a Dunlop Roadsmart on the back. I am not a fan of sport touring tyres for my kind of riding anyway, but I am quite impressed with that one. Much better than the PR4, which to me is more a great wet weather tyre. The ZX puts bucketloads of torque through the rear and that tyre grips very well. Will see how it changes with wear (another thing I dont like about the PR series, they do degrade).

On the Triple I still run Sportsmart 2s, a great tyre they are. Maybe I am just a Dunlop man, I dont know...
 
#51 ·
I own an 09 STR, I've run Bridgestone BT016's, Dunlop Q2/3's, Michelin PR2's, Pirelli Rosso's, Metzeler Sportec M05's and M7RR's off the top of my head that's what I can recall, the sporty tires tend to last about 2500-3500 miles, the sport touring tires lasted around 5-7k miles. The sport touring tires will give a slightly heavier feel to the steering because they usually are profiled differently and weigh a bit more, they will still provide most street riders with all the grip they need plus they usually have good wet weather performance also. If you are using all the grip they provide on the street you are getting close to a track pace on the road. I also own a Tiger800 that I run sport touring tires on, ones that come in a 19" front, they provide plenty of grip, I've had the Bridgestone T30's and BT023's, plus a set of Continental Road Attack EVO 2's, they all have been grippy enough to run out ground clearance before you run out of traction. If you are looking for more tire life, I would consider sport touring tires, given the fact that a Street Triple steers so easily, I doubt that you would be losing too much feel. The new Metzeler Roadtec 01's are supposed to be really good tires, I bought a set for the Tiger, I have a set of the Angels for the STR when I finish off the M7RR's currently mounted up. Out of all the different tires I've used on the STR, I liked the M7RR's and if I didn't get a deal on the Angels I would run them again.
 
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