Current tyre profiles and opinions

[rcradical]

I have no doubt this has been covered properly in another thread, however I couldn't seem to find one thread that discussed it in one hit.

I'm looking for your current tyre profile choice, and how you find it. Have you switched between profiles? What differences have you found? Are you looking to try anything else?

I am in the middle of getting the bunky TRX project that I purchased to road legal condition. I am going to purchase new tyres in the next few days and am curious as to your tyre experiences. I have found varying (and sometimes conflicting!) opinions on people running different tyre profiles. People who are running 120/60 or 70 on the front, and same with varying sizes on the rear. I understand it will always come down to personal preference, but I digress.

So in this thread, tyre choices and experiences please.

Thank you!

[Wolfman]

I am running Dunlop Roadsmart's on my TRX, in the OEM sizes, and they are great, for a sports touring tyre, these tyres offer great levels of grip, cope with varied tyre pressures well, and work real well when you drop the pressures for the Twisty stuff on a cold day...no unusual wear patterns as yet...unlike what i experienced with my last set of tyres...Dunlop Q2's, which i found were pretty much trashed after 2000km's.

Have not tried any other tyre size options, like a 120/70 front, or 170 rear....but i too would be interested to hear what others are doing.

[cobbadiggabuddyblooo]

http://www.fireblades.org/forums/genera ... -70-a.html
http://www.svrider.com/forum/showthread.php?t=53851
Have a read here and this will give you a bit of a heads up on the difference on running the two different series. I had changed the dogbones and they are shorter 10mm and running std 120/60 17 and 170 on the rear...(michelin p/powers)
I found this could be a little unstable and was going to fit another pair of dogbones I had inbetween these and the std ones but I found by fitting a 70series tyre this balanced this out..
(forks still same length and 10mm shorter dogbones)
I could have easily just raised the forks to compensate with the 60 series ... or used the other 5mm shorter doglegs and left the forks where they are,,,,,,, but I went this way as the track wheels,dunlop tyres slick fitted have are a 120/70 and 170/60... so it just makes life easier for me....
So there are so many factors that come into play when you ask this question on how you choose to tune the bike to suit.. But this is all a part of the fun of it all..
Dunlop Q2's are produced in the U.S. where tyres are just a cheap throw away comodity. Dunlop Sportsmart/Roadsmarts are produced in France and are a different compound.. Unfortunately you can only get the SPORTSmart in a 180 rear but they will fit no problem on a trx rear rim.. great for a trackday/spirited riding type person...you will prob square it off if you do a lot of commuting traffic riding tho as that's why they make the ROADSmart
I've found michelin give me the choice of 60/65/70 series on the front and 160/170/180 on the rear in pilot powers and they are such a cheap tyre to purchase and I get good wear.. 8,000km out of the last pair as I always replace front and rear together and for $330pair fitted I'm happy with that..

[fung]

For many years my Red Rex had 120/60 front in a sport compound and 160/60 rear in a sports tour compound as i found with the std settings of fork height and std bones i didnt like the hard to turn in feel i got with the 70 profile front.
After many tweaks to ol'Red, i have settled on 15mm+ on the forks thru and Kayla bones to raise the bum 20mm.
With the 60 series front, i was using all the tyre to the edge and had a few 'almost tuck unders', so before our last trackday at QR i fitted a 120/70 power pure.
What a difference 10% makes.
So much better on the side grip.
It all made sense when i set up my new 'miss blackie' as Red Rex is set up, but i had to run a 120/60 power pure front initially.
When Alex and i went out on saturday i rode the Black girl and i had a couple of those 'almost tuck unders' .
So this thursday she is in for a 120/70 sportsmart to match the 160/60 roadsmart II already fitted.
I have this combo on the TDM9er and its confidence plus
cheers
fung

[cobbadiggabuddyblooo]

Just over 9,000km's on the tyre on the left(it's actually a 160 p/power on spare rims) with a new one on the right ..... get a good 3000 solid k's out of it and by 5000 it starts to feel a little twitchy every now and then but still quite fine ... I was still have a lot of fun through the twisties on them when I took them off.... As for the front tyre...well I;m always throwing away a half worn good front tyre but it's so nice riding on new rubber front and rear....

[rcradical]

Thanks for the replies, some useful insights here.

I ended up settling for a 120/70 front and 160/60 rear (funnily enough as you've gone fung).

I've read enough to want a slightly larger profile on the front, while keeping the rear stock.

Ended up going for the trusty Pilot Powers as well (as opposed to the Pures). Figured I'd go tried and true, and get a proper feel for the bike, before trying tyres I've not ridden with before.

Will keep you all updated as to the feedback I get.

[cobbadiggabuddyblooo]

you'll get the milage out of the powers where the pures will be chewed out and a few 1000 K's before. ultimately for just that tiny little more grip.. But ultimately when you weigh up the price difference .. why pay nearly $100 for something unless your racing... or your just rich and can just afford to ...maybe if I win the casket.... but ultimately the tyres will loose there performance earier too... so you may have that edge but not for long....
Look at the way they run long races with medium and harder compounds and the tactics involved...

[cobbadiggabuddyblooo]

I forgot to mention ultimately one more time

[Amonza]

I'm running a 120/60 Sportsmart front and a 170/60 Roadsmart rear with standard dogbones and 37mm of fork showing. Haven't had any "tuck under" feedback from the front with this setup, but I did get it a bit too often (a lot) when I was running a larger tyre on the back (labeled as a 170/60 but more like a 190).

Bike is stable at speed and even takes mid corner bumps well, shakes her head a bit, stays on line then gets on with business. Change line mid corner..no worries.

But then I've been known to get things A backwards.

[cobbadiggabuddyblooo]

sounds like a suspension gremlin especially if still with stock front springs .(there pretty soft to start with and a progressive so check your sag). try a heavier oil in the forks which affects your rebound, if the fronts already ok you may want to try go up one on the preload on the rear shock as the rear squats under acceleration.
I nailed that problem with emulators and linear springs in the forks, but the springs alone improved it 100% and the emulators just gave me that little bit more feel and cofidence to go all the way till I find the next boundry

[Amonza]

Think it was much more a mismatched tyre profile than anything else.

When I last fitted tyres I suspected that this might be the case and opted to return to standard sizes to establish a baseline, the guy at the tyre shop recommended that I go to a 170 on the back as it was a better fit on the 5 inch rim than the 160 in the Dunlops. His opinion was the 160 was a little narrow across the beads as it was designed for a narrower rim then the TRX's and would distort the tyre surface.

I just thought I would throw my experience out there as I have dropped the triple clamps quite a lot and run a 60 series tyre on the front and don't suffer that "about to lose the front feeling" that I had when I had a massive tyre on the back. The front actually feels very solid, even tipping in under brakes, but I am going to move to shorter dogbones and then raise the front a little to compensate in the near future.

[cobbadiggabuddyblooo]

I run a 170 rear and have had 60 and 70 series on the front .. Std, 6mm or 12mm shorter bones as long as you get that suspension balanced your on a winner.. The 170 will just give you a little more contact patch.. Under steer out of the corner has never been an issue . Unless on the gas too early and push the boundary

[Dan 850]

I run 120/70 and 160/60, my road tyres are maxxis diamonds. Good enough for mad road blasts.
On track in the dry I have the same sizes but in supercorsa pros, sc1 front and sc2 rear
Wet I had 120/600 front and 165/600 rear they was bridgestones.

Forks through 28mm, rear raised 25mm, handles really well for the weight of it, pretty agile in tight corners doesn't shake it's head or anything daft, it's stable at higher speeds and feels solid cranked over, such as scraping the belly pan and the end can, not a scratch on the gsxr but the look on people's faces amaze me when you still go up the inside, or round the outside,