What's your favourite tyres for an R65?

[Thorfinn]

 - Always a fruitful discussion on Bike forums (fora?)...

The tyres on my rescued R65 RT are about 17 years old so for safety's sake i need to replace them, shame as the treads indicate that they were barely used when the bike went into storage in 1990.

My preferences would be for stickiness and handling, durability isn't such an issue for me a s i don't cover colossal mileages.

What do we think? [smiley=undecided.gif]

Cheers,

Simon

[Semper Gumby]

WooHoo ADTT!

I have the H rated Macadams for longevity and comfortable ride.  If I was to build a Cafe R65 and press my luck deep into corners I would probably go with V rated Avon Roadriders (AM26).  

But either way, buy the best tire you can afford of one of the main brands for the reasons you think are important and be happy with your choice and then religiously maintain the tire pressure where you want it and inspect you tires for *FOD before every ride.

Sizes that work:  
90/90 - 18 or 3.25 - 18 (stock) 100/90 - 18 (first oversize) for the front.
4.00 -18 (Stock and easier to mount)  120/90 - 18 (first oversize - check for clearence with swingarm after in place) for the rear.

Now let the fun begin....

*Foriegn Object Dammage

[Bob_Roller]

I've been using Metzeler ME33/ME99, and now Metzeler Lasertec tires for the last 20 years, and if you live in a region that has mild winters, and no wet weather ( think Phoenix), they are good tires.  They need a good warm up before you ask them to get serious about cornering in temps below 45 F., wet weather is not overly confidence inspiring , but my OEM brakes are pretty bad in wet conditions, so I try not to get caught in any serious wet riding. But they stick like Velcro in hot weather. Average mileage is 8-9,000 miles on a rear, and 10-13,000 on a front. But they are pricey compared to other popular tires.

[nhmaf]

This thread:
http://suraklyn.com/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1183347780/6#6

which also has a link to yet another tire thread in it, should give you plenty of ideas/suggestions.

Enjoy !

[Justin B.]

This is fixin' to be moved to the "Rant" section!   [smiley=behead.gif]   [smiley=evil.gif]

[Semper Gumby]

Partypooper!

[dewjantim]

I would use any of the offerings from the major tire manufactures. They all offer bias belted sport tires. Just buy the cheapest and you will do fine....Dew.

[SCJJR65]

I've gotten really good mileage and performance out of Bridgestone BattlAx tires!  

[Paul]

I second the Bridgestone Battleax tires.  I switch from Metzeler ME99/ME33 to Metzeler Lasertec to Bridgestone BT-45 tires.  I am still on my first set of BT-45's and have ridden a few thousand miles on them.  The bike feels much better and handles better with the BT-45 tires.  The bike does not seems to get the wobbles in high speed corners, like it did with the Metzeler tires.  The setup of my bike has not changed, but that does not mean everything is working the way it should.

my two cents,
Paul

[Justin B.]

I prefer Dunlop Elite II for very long wearing (may be NLA due to labor issues) and for all-around I like the Macadam 50/50e combo...

[nhmaf]

Justin, I was thinking (always dangerous) that maybe we should put this thread into the either the tech tips
section or as a sticky in the tech forum  - that way (maybe ?) more of the new comers might more easily find
the info, and we have links to (2) other tire threads in this one, also.  Whadda ya think ?

[nhmaf]

So, this weekend I am getting some BT45s put on Tillie to replace the older, hardening
rubber Metzlers that have been on her since I bought her, and which appear to have been
on her for quite some time.   They're not even weather checked yet, but I can tell that the
rubber has developed a stiffness/slipperiness that is not normal for these tires.

Maybe I'll be able to drag some more exciting bits in the corners afterwards - will try to post
a before/after ride report after this weekend.

[Ed Miller]

Do more burnouts and stoppies.  It keeps the rubber supple.




Hah, like I would know!

[dewjantim]

Just got back from 1000 mile trip. I think the Metzlers on my bike came on it when new (5800 miles when purchased). They stuck like glue and didn't wear very much at high speeds on mountain roads. So much for tires getting hard with aging.......Dew.

[nhmaf]

Well, I've come down with a bad cold - which often happens this time of year after my wife
resumes teaching at the public school - so I've only ridden about 60 miles on the new
Bridgestone BT45 Battlax tires.   I went with the 100/90-18 on the front and the 110/90-18
on the rear.   I like the 100 on the front as I think it makes the bike a little bit more
stable in straight line/highway use, while the bike's geometry and wheelbase already make it
very easy to turn in.  With the 100 instead of a 90 on the front, it still can turn in a bit but
is pretty close to neutral steering.   I went with the 110/90 on the rear as that seemed the closest
to the original 4.00 H 18 stock size, and it is easy to get on/off.

The rubber on these tires is DEFINITELY softer and more pliable than the 5+ year old Metz's that were
on there.   While I know that new Metzlers would have been an improvement too, these BT45s seem to
ride a little quieter/smoother, and they seem to stick very well even though I'm still scrubbing the nubbies off.
So far, I am very please - hopefully this soft sticky rubber won't wear itself out too quickly - I'm expecting
less mileage life from these as compared to the metzlers, but this bike is so lightweight maybe there won't be
much of a difference.