Which tyre? - yet again.

[Chinn19]

Im looking for a good tyre for my sv650s 61 plate. ive done 3000 miles and its already gone down through the markings. i want something thats good value for money that will last and its got to be nice and grippy obviously ;) what would everyone reccomend ::)

[dkid]

Original pilot roads can be had for a good price these days since PR2's & now PR3's have been released. still plenty who rate them.
See this thread http://forums.sv650.org/showthread.php?t=172989&highlight=PR2%27s

[joshwalker094]

I rate the pilot roads :) got them few miles back, love them

[MJC-DEV]

Avon Storm Ultra 2. Dunlop RoadSmart 2 - Both very good tyres and made in England (Avon anyway :) )

[rictus01]

quantify "good tyres"/ "nice and grippy" & "value for money" and we'll take it from there, of course if you treat them poorly they won't last anyway.

Cheers Mark.

[Red Herring]

"3,000 miles and down through the markings" is going some on an SV, even if you are using soft track rubber. Do you spend your evenings at the traffic light Grand Prix or your days flat out on the Motorway?

Tyres are a very personal affair, 90% of them are brilliant 90% of the time, but that extra 10% is what can make the difference if you ride in a way that can exploit it. What do you use the SV for, how would you describe your riding style, what have you been using so far?

[DJ123]

Pilot roads original, 2 or 3. All a very good tyre. Originals are about £150 delivered and 3's about £230, not sure on 2's.

[andrewsmith]

PR2 + 3, and roadsmarts are retailing around £260 fitted atm

I rate roadsmarts as a good tyre got decent grip in the wet too, but sometimes to allow a little bit of a slide if your quick down the box.

Going a little bit older, Pirelli Diablo ST are good and not too bad value around £170 before fitting

[PyroUK]

I highly recommend Avon storm 2 ultras, had than on my last bike before it was killed and now on my new one. Really good grip even in the wet. Plus if fitted at a decent dealer they have a puncture and accidental damage warranty so a replacement is free as long as there is still 2.8 mm of tread left and they have a lot!

[NTECUK]

Pirelli 120/60ZR17 160/60ZR17 Diablo £159.99 + post and fitting.

[Mr Farley]

Pirelli 120/60ZR17 160/60ZR17 Diablo £159.99 + post and fitting.



Busters seem to be doing tyres cheap at the moment..

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Suzuki-SV650s-Motorbike-Pirelli-Diablo-Strada-Tyres-120-60ZR17-160-60ZR17-Pair-/300695681488?pt=UK_Cars_Tyres_RL&hash=item4602dbf9d0

As has been said tyres are a personal thing, and many of us have limited experience and can only speak about what we've tried. I always used Pirelli Diablos on my SV650 and found them to be hard wearing. I now use Bridgestone BT016 on my Hornet which seem to have more grip but are more expensive.

Not much help really :D, I reckon you can't really go wrong with diablos for a cheap tyre though.

[Bibio]

3000 on an OEM tyre. someone has been doing burnouts :-)

[SIII]

Did only 3500 on my OEM rear!

Storm Ultra II's sooooo much better then OEM's.

[dkid]

I always used Pirelli Diablos on my SV650 and found them to be hard wearing.

I reckon you can't really go wrong with diablos for a cheap tyre though.

+1. My current SV had diablos fitted when i bought it. The dealer fitted them brand new for the fresh MOT. Not a bad budget tyre and have lasted well without giving me any worrying moments. 6000 miles covered on them so far and still plenty left in them.
Good bang for your buck but i'll be trying smoething else when it's time to change them (roadsmart ll ?)

[alfa.rbt]

Did only 3500 on my OEM rear!

Storm Ultra II's sooooo much better then OEM's.

Don't know about oem but SU2 are awesome in the dry and in the wet as well

[NTECUK]

It's hard to find a rubbish tyre.
I tried contie tours .
They were ok. Step out in the wet, not brilliant,but were silly cheap .
didn't wear noticeable in 3,000miles

[p4uls]

I'm running continental road attack and they seem really good have locked the back end coming down the box too quick but it was in the wet so cant really blame the tyres. In the dry they more than handle what i can do with the bike and i've done 1200 miles from new are have plenty of life left in them.

paul :)

[Sid Squid]

Either RAB, or BRO - they're both great.

[NTECUK]

On ebay thers some cheap Mich pilots the first gen one admitadly
Every one speaks hily of thoes
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MICHELIN-PILOT-ROAD-TYRE-PAIR-120-60ZR17-160-60ZR17-/180719469115?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item2a13b8423b

Re did link to SV 650 size

[Mr Farley]

On ebay thers some cheap Mich pilots the first gen one admitadly
Every one speaks hily of thoes
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/120-70ZR17-190-50ZR17-MICHELIN-PILOT-POWER-Pair-New-/150405681001?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item2304e08f69

They're the wrong size though?
120/60 front, 160/60 rear I believe is the size :)

[NTECUK]

Ops sorry .
Looking at my size ,but there bound to have smaller and cheaper

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MICHELIN-PILOT-ROAD-TYRE-PAIR-120-60ZR17-160-60ZR17-/180719469115?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item2a13b8423b

[Jayneflakes]

I have used Continental Road Attacks since buying the bike and found that in clocking up 12K miles I have had to change the tyres twice, which was good going. Mind you I do not ride particularly fast or hard. Recently I needed to change them again and just could not afford the £240 to buy the tyres I wanted, so shopped around and bought a set of Conti-motions for £160.

I will admit that I did not expect very much of them and did think "Oh God, what have I done!"

However, my very first ride on these brand new tyres was in rain and to be honest they really impressed me. Right from the word go they have been very stable, provide all the grip I need and have performed exactly as they should.

If I am honest I cannot feel any difference between them and the Road Attacks, this leads me to the conclusion that I am just an average rider with love of pootling and let's face it, my favorite road has a speed limit of 25MPH on it!

Anyway, Conti-motion tyres are very nice and I would recommend them as good budget tyres, I did think about Maxxis, but just could not bring myself to try them.

[kaivalagi]

Pilot Road 3's all the way

[dkid]

OP wants value for money and proven longevity... Don't think PR3's qualify

[kaivalagi]

OP wants value for money and proven longevity... Don't think PR3's qualify
I think they're value for money considering their longevity and performance...

I had some conti sports on my bike, the rear lasted 3000 miles before it was completely squared off, my PR3 rear has done over 4000 miles and has still not started to square off at all...plus the PR3 is by far the best performing of all the pilot roads, it is awesome in the wet, read the reviews on the tyres ability...

A pair of PR3's might cost another £30-40 more than some other tyres on the hit list but I'd argue they are worth paying the extra for, especially if you ride in the wet, which unless you ride just a few months a year these days you will find yourself doing in the UK a lot!

If you want value alone then angels or storms...

[dkid]

Personally I havnt seen nearly enough decent feedback on them to suggest they have longevity in a broad sense of the word. I've read many reviews and yes they sound great, but not enough info out there to prove they'll do huge miles across a range of bikes and riders, yet...
Not knocking them as a tyre, but bearing in mind the OP's mandate, I'd suggest there are equally good choices out there for less money. £150 for pilot roads v £230 for PR3's is a big difference for a lot of people, especially considering most modern tyres capabilities far exceed their riders.
Great in the wet? Original roadsmarts are more widely experienced by a vast range of riders and cost less too.
What I'm getting at is covered in this thread http://forums.sv650.org/showthread.php?t=172989
Nobody seems to have long term feedback about them yet. Most say so far so good, but that's far from conclusive. Feedback on other tyres is much more extensive.