TIRE TALK - when the rubber meets the road

Thanks Ed. I remember those tires looking pretty good on your 650. I've got a more retro looking tire on the front and rear (both Dunlop K70s).

The front is still good. But the rear is gone and I'd really like a tire that's going to last more than 3000 miles. I'm going to try a Continental K112 as it has a similar tread pattern to the tire on the front.

If the Conti goes as fast as the Dunlop, both are coming off and I'll try something new.

Continental used to make some tough tires depending on which compound that you got,i know i used to run a set of conti tours on one of my ltds years ago that i could smoke em off forever and the tread never seemed to wear.
Conti blitz was a totally differant soft compound beast! :woohoo:

wireman wrote: Dunlop/Dont lap/Dont Grip.........
Ive run some really cheap tires in the past on bikes I wasnt beating really hard and Ill be the 1st to admit even chen shins and kendas give a more assuring grip/ride than the old dunlops that came stock on most of these bikes

Got Kendas on my '75 Z1-B 900. Have about 4K miles on them, they are around 2 1/2 years old, have good traction and what I see plenty of wear left! :huh: Only complaint I had was was a pain to get them balanced right.
Regards
Tennessee Z ED

I remember the old ads for the Conti Twin (RB2 / K112) with owners claiming 20,000 miles for a set. Usually, more life means less grip, but not always. I've gotten everything from 2000 to 6000 miles out of rear tyres, fronts often lasting 50% more. I've used the Twins and they worked OK. Rear lasted 4k miles.

I used the conti tours on that ltd in all kinds of weather,hell I even ran over a log on the interstate that came off a truck in front of me at 60mph with no place to go but over it! :sick: :sick: :sick: :sick: :sick: :woohoo:
Blew the fork seals out of the front end but was able to ride it home,didnt hurt the tires! :woohoo:
The conti blitz was kind of like continentals version of metzelers comp k compound,they would stick to wet glass! :woohoo:

I used to use Shinko Speed masters on the GPz1100.
But then Pirelli Sport demons dropped in price to match them.
Both brands are very grippy and last a decent amount of miles.
Before the Shinko i used Metzeler CompK on the Front and ME99 rear. Very very good but also triple the price of the shinko.

One thing to remember is if your bike was designed for crossply tyres that is what you should use. Radials will fit but you can get handling issues.