Stupid Tyre Question?

[Mr P]

Have had the SV coming up to a year now and after all this time of not messing with it, am going to make some changes, and one of the areas I'm thinking of is the tyres.

I can tell from reading on here what the preferred tyre models are but my question really is, what will I actually notice / feel by swapping over the tyres?

I've read all about the better grip, more confidence, better ride in the wet etc, but short of actually tipping the bike to sliding condition to test this, what are the practical day to day improvements I'll notice?

Thanks.

[adam]

I just put some continental road attacks on my K4 S and find the main benefits are a slightly more nimble bike and most importantly feel A LOT more confident than I did on the stock tyres.

[rictus01]

well you don't say which model you have or if you are on the original tyre, or your experience level but I'm guessing you are on original rubber (Dunlops) and probably on a K3?

the stock tyres are OK, and if you have ridden on them from new you know no better, they are a price and performance compromise.
they heat-up slower and retain the heat less well (tyres for bikes work on compound and operating temperature).

The Dunlops give more of a stepped lean in on cornering, where as something like a z6 or bridgestone return a more linier roll in, just about everyone who has changed agrees the other popular options are far better.

I'd advise you get the front springs and oil done at the same time, with the new tyres you won't believe the difference, and wonder why Suzuki didn't do this in the first place.

Cheers Mark.

[Mr P]

Thanks for the replies. Yes the bike is a K3 with the standard Dunlops.

[jonboy]

what are the practical day to day improvements I'll notice?

Probably very little to be honest. It's not until you start to push the bike a little that you notice the different characteristics. It's mostly about some undefinable quality called "feel" which is different things to different people and I'm convinced that there are a lot of riders out there just imagine it.

As for outright grip, yes this is interesting. So many people have new tyres fitted and say wow the tyres are so much grippier - but as their old ones didn't let go in the dry how can they tell? The only blatently obvious quality of a new tyre is that it's profile is not squared off like the tyre it's replaced and this certainly gives a more confident feel as you go round slowish bends and start to lean.

A track of course is a different kettle of fish but on a public road, riding without trying to kill yourself, you'll be hard put to find a bad tyre and also notice much in the way of difference between brands.


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[Mr P]

Thanks jonboy. It did occur to me how much of the supposed improvement was perceived rather than actual, especially when the current tyres aren't being pushed to the limit anyway.

But then again, in the mind or not, if new tyres give you more confidence and improve the riding experience, they're probably worth it.

[jonboy]

But then again, in the mind or not, if new tyres give you more confidence and improve the riding experience, they're probably worth it.

There is that of course ;).


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[SVeeedy Gonzales]

Yep, the original (D220 Dunlop) tyres definitely take a while to warm up. I had BT45's on my ER5 and they warmed up quite quickly. The D220's have poor grip for the first 10-15 mins of town riding. Caught me out a bit, since I figured bigger/better bike = bigger/better tyres. Looking forward to getting something more effective :D

[embee]

Just to explore this "feel" thing a bit more, don't dismiss it as "wishful thinking" or "imagined".

If you ride with all your senses in gear, you'll be getting huge amounts of feedback from every angle, but much of it will be taken in subcosciously.

When you walk down a street, you aren't thinking all the time about what angle the pavement is at or exactly where you step, though your brain is dealing with it continuously. The art of analysing how the bike (car etc) is behaving is to tap into this process. You must have seen clips of Schumacher etc talkng to their engineers and pit crew about subtleties of the handling.

What you find desirable will be slightly different to someone else, but all the finer nuances like tyre suppleness, how much you feel road graininess, how it tracks ridges, how it responds to step inputs etc will all go towards your "impression". It's not simply down to what happens at the ragged edge.

It's true that any new bike tyre will feel a lot better than a worn out one, but the difference between a tyre which is nervous and one which inspires confidence is in all the little bits of feedback, and tyre makes and models do vary tremendously. The more experienced you get, the more you'll learn to trust your own impressions.

I've only had original Mez4 and BT020s on my SV, but I can assure you there's a world of difference.

I'd second the advice from Rictus, sort the front fork oil and if necessary springs while you're about it. I've done just the oil and static sag, but even that put the bike up 2 notches in handling quality. Again, not at the ragged edge (not my style) but just how it behaves under normal give-and-take conditions.

Before fitting the BT020s I read a lot of reviews on here from experienced riders, and found I thought exactly the same having ridden the tyres. I'm happy to trust the advice put on here by those who know. Come replacement time it'll probably be Z6 or Road Attack, but that's a while off yet.