Metzeler sportec m-1

This is the best tyres i have ever tryed, they warm up really quick, and the grip is excelent wet and dry!! They have a very quick turn in = a little unstable at hard acceleration. When i bougth them, i whas told to expect 4-6000 km of them, but it seems like they are going to last longer
Only downside i can find on these tyres, is that they are very round ( i know that they are suposed to be, but i mean across the tyre ) meaning that even when cornering with sparkles flying from the footpegs, i still have about 8-9 mm chickenstrips

When I went to Spain I had to buy a new tyre whilst out there and ended up with a Sportec, the transformation was unbelievable. Suddenly my bike was very steady and sure round the 100+ corners, whereas before I thought I was going to get thrown off, it was bucking and sliding that much. (that was with standard METZ on though). The tyre gave me plenty of feedback and still stuck to the road like glue in the wet. Down side is, that its a very soft compound tyre and its only done 2500 miles and needs replacing. But if you can afford new tyres that often then thats what I would get every time. Unfortunalty I cant afford that so will be putting something else on instead.

Originally Posted by Anton

Only downside i can find on these tyres, is that they are very round ( i know that they are suposed to be, but i mean across the tyre ) meaning that even when cornering with sparkles flying from the footpegs, i still have about 8-9 mm chickenstrips

Those aren't the reason for your chicken strips! Actually, it's your suspension giving you problems, the rear bottoms out which is why you drag your footpegs but you have plenty of rubber left to go. It should be obvious, the SV doesn't have the greatest suspension in the world.

I have no chicken strips on the front but about 9 mm on the rear. Need to sort the suspension out.

[northwind]

Even with a good setup (Ohlins on the back, Ohlins springs in the front, now with sag, ride height and rebound all pretty much nailed) After a trip to Knockhill, I've finally got no chicken strips on the front of a Sportec pair, but still more than a cm on both sides of the rear... I'm sure it's possible to get to the edge of an M1 rear, but it's not going to be easy at all...

This is a Good Thing! People complain, as though the sign of a good tyre is that it's easy to get to the edge of it. With the Sportec, you can lean to the same angle that would see you run out of 010, and still have tyre remaining. Apart from the brag factor of having no chicken strips, that can only be an advantage...

I know the tyre will deform under cornering, but if you take a straight edge of the Sportec rear on an SV wheel, you'll find that it leaves at a much steeper angle than the front. I suspect this'd be different on a wider rim, and that the SV wheel pinches the Sportec's profile slightly.

if you ran lower pressures, you'd meet the edge of the tyre sooner as it'd deform more, but I don;t think I want to do that

With a stock metz 4 on the front and an m1 on the back I lost the chicken strips front and rear very quickly

Originally Posted by northwind

if you ran lower pressures, you'd meet the edge of the tyre sooner as it'd deform more, but I don;t think I want to do that

if you run lower pressure, when the tyre breaks loose it will do it more gently than a higher pressure one, reason why guys at the track lower theirs is on track the tyre will get a lot hotter and this will increase the pressure

[northwind]

Yup, but since practically all my riding is mid-distance dual carriageways, I don't think a race setup would be the best idea

What pressures are you guys running on the M-1s? I just had a set fitted on my 2000 non-"S". I weigh about 160 pounds with leathers, boots and helmet. My suspension is completely stock. Will the recommended F-33, R-36 work, or ...... ? Oh, I forgot to mention. I went with the recommended sizes of F - 120/60 17 R - 160/60 17.
Woody
Maryland, USA

[northwind]

I always rode 33/36, they never felt right at anything else- though I preferred them high than low.