If only I had known....

BroHay

BroHay

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Ok, so I was in need of some new tires and picked up some Michelin Pilot 2cts. They replaced the Sportmax tires that came with the bike and gave me about 5k of learning the ropes.

I just took a quick spin to start scrubbin 'em in, and all I can say is :jaw drop:.

Turn ins are amazing, what use to take some effort is now minimal to get the bike to respond. I may not be giving the Sportmax their chance for an equal evaluation, but I'm LOVIN' what I've experienced so far.

I'll report more when I have more feedback to give...

Adam
 
I've heard this several times from people who put the Road 2CT's on their bike. If I hadn't traded in the FZ6, that was what I was ordering to replace the stock Dunlops. But, when these stocks wear out, I will certainly be ordering the 2CT set!

The triple compound makes them a high wearing tire for touring to try and eliminate the center flattening but the sides get progressively softer as you lean the bike and give great grip like the Pilot Powers on the track. Most say these are the best all around tire by far.

Glad to hear another satified customer. Helps solidify my decision. :D
 
To add even another feather....just found an e-mail from Lee, Traxxion Dynamics, and gave the recommended settings based on present setup for Traxxion sprng 1.0 kg forks and the settings for a stock shock, to suffer until I get my Fox rebuilt.

Adam
 
ll I can say Adam that you got a deal and a half! CanonFuji just got his new set of BT-016's and paid $237.00 shipped to his door. He loves them. And thats coming from a diehard Metzler user. He never went with anything other than M3's on his FZ. I talked him into trying at least one set of Bridgestones. He's been raving about them for two days now. He is a much more aggresive rider than I am, going through at least 2 sets a year, sometimes 3. Let me know how you feel about the PR's once they have a few miles on them.
 
Brohay:: how do they compare to the Conti Road Attacks ??? Anyone experience the two? ive heard the Conti's are an good all around tire that dont wear too quickly
 
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You have me at a disadvantage b/c it has either been sportmax or less than 10 miles (today) on the Pilots 2ct.

Va_rider (Aaron) has tried many different tire combinations and would be a better source of info than myself. Although, I've got a bunch of meetings to run :wink: so I'll be better able to comment on the Pilots after tomorrow.

Adam
 
usmc84 said:
Brohay:: how do they compare to the Conti Road Attacks ??? Anyone experience the two? ive heard the Conti's are an good all around tire that dont wear too quickly
Click to expand...

the Road attacks are great tires... I don't think they lasted quite as long as the Pilot Road 2, but I liked the shape of the Road Attack a bit better... the turn-in was easier, but they look a little longer to warm up... the Road 2's I could have warmed up in 3-5 minutes... the Road Attack would take 10 minutes or so to heat up, but once heated, gripped every bit as well as the PR2...

It really depends on what kind of riding you do, and what you're looking for... be honest with yourself... do you tour mostly? sport tour? sport ride? can you destroy tires pretty easily?

Perhaps the Pilot Road would be a better choice than the PR2.

If you're rocking 1/2" chicken strips, that means that at the very edge of your lean, you're 1/2" off the edge.. that's the edge of the contact patch... not that there's any problem with this... if that's how you ride, well that's how you ride... and as long as you enjoy it... you're doing good...

The reason I'm saying regular PR is to save you some cash... The PR2 doesn't change compound until almost the very edge... about 1" or so... I regularly run my tires edge to edge, but because of the shape of the PR2, I had about 1/16" that wasn't worn... so.. for your riding style I think you'd be wasting money spending the extra cash for the 2 Compound technology... You really wouldn't be getting the benefits of the tire...

Now, we move to the next concern... certain tires lead to riding a certain style... with a Pilot Road, you'll be more apt to touring style riding... now even though you ride a certain way now, if you were to put... say a Pilot Power on your bike, you'll find that the bike will want to "fall" into turns easier.. you will probably be increasing your corner speed, because it will feel easier to lean the bike over heading into the corner...

To clarify, before I get jumped on.... different tires won't make you faster... they alone won't change your riding style... however, with different types of tires you'll see increased or decreased inputs needed to make the bike change direction... you CAN pretty much do the same thing on full-on sport tires as you can do on a touring oriented tire... if you do a bit of searching, you'll find that some folks on here have gone to the track and shredded a set of Pilot Roads (1, not PR2) on the track... is it the best tire for that environment? Ehhhh prolly not.. but you CAN do it....

So... what I'm getting at here... is certain tires can make your bike handle differently... some are oriented for touring.. some are oriented for sport... So, if I were you... I'd look at the type of riding that I do (being honest with myself) ... and choose a tire that suits that type of riding... If you're happy with how you're riding... stick with what you've got... if you want a little easier turn-in, you can go to a different shape in the same compound of rubber.... if you want a faster turn-in, grippier tire, etc, you make adjustments on what you're looking for to accommodate that... I've done a lot of playing with different tires over the years... I've run damn near everything on the market... each tire was good for a certain type of riding and served that purpose well... I've never had a "bad" tire.. I've had tires that didn't suit my riding style well... I'll never run a Avon Tire (Azaro) ever again... for me, it just wasn't a good fit... the PR2 was a good tire, and for a certain riding style... it does a great job... you crank up the speed and lean angle a bit... it doesn't do so great anymore in comparison.... if you tour a lot, a Pilot Power is a horrible tire... It wouldn't suit your needs...
 
Thanks for the writeup! You raised some very valid points when looking for tires....mine is an experiment for the moment and the price was too hard NOT to pass up and I was in the same category as more durable tires and a better deal was not being offered on those.

gotta pay to play....and it is half the fun of learning! (but I know which brain to pick so I am not completely wreckless!)

Thanks,
Adam
 
I go through a lot of tires.... I like to try different ones... I'm waiting for the Pirelli Angel to come to the US... I might have to give that one a shot...

pirelli_angel_devil_1.jpg
 
they're billed as a long lasting sport-touring tire.... which makes perfect sense....

here's another thing when you're looking at tires... the more tread cut into the tire, the more the tire will flex... flexing causes more tire wear, increased heat, and not as stable handling as a tire with less tread cut in...

that's why when the Michelin Pilot Power came out, the design was revolutionary... after that, the new M3 from metzeler came out... using a very similar design... and as a general rule, tires don't have as much tread cut into them as they used to...

I remember years ago, running the Metzeler M1 SportTec.... it was an awesome tire, SUPER sticky... but I would get 700-900 miles out of a rear, and it was DONE.. the tread would cup and turn nasty in no time... after a while, at full lean it felt like you were running on a washboard... you could actually feel the bumps created by the cupping, and it was interesting, as you would have to change your riding style as the tire wore out...

Tires have come a long way since then... and it's hard to go wrong with a tire these days... pretty much any tire you can pick offers more grip than you can use on the street... providing that you're being smooth with your lean-ins, and with your braking and throttle control... I've known people that have run Pilot Road tires on the track... it can be done... stickier tires allow for a little sloppier riding... but for the most part, they're not needed... when I get a tire... I look at the design, the shape, and things like that... as well as price... but... the innovative tire technologies around today... it's hard to pick a "bad" tire.
 
va_rider said:
here's another thing when you're looking at tires... the more tread cut into the tire, the more the tire will flex... flexing causes more tire wear, increased heat, and not as stable handling as a tire with less tread cut in...
Click to expand...

It's funny you said that because "CanonFuji" from FZ1OA just put his new Bridgestone 016's on his FZ1, and they have hardly any tread at all. They are the closest thing that I have seen to a slick. He loves them.
 
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