Tyres...argh, sticky this sticky that :( ;)

Originally Posted by Lissa

If the power 2ct's are as good as we're finding the Road 2's.................you'd love 'em

Don't have my SV anymore so I wont find out soon. The power 2cts are superb. Not sure if the power 2cts come in an sv rear size though - maybe someone could put me right? Quite fancy a shot of these road 2cts. Do they warm up as quick as the stradas? The powers take a bit of coaxing.

[Lissa]

According to the Michelin site they do a 160 rear in the Power 2cts

What we like is none of this '100 miles to scrub them in' rubbish. 50 k they reckon, so around 35 miles..................much better.

The Road 2's certainly warm up quickly. Never had so much as a twitch on wet roads on Sunday not even first thing

[northwind]

Yep, it's rubbish that... I did 100 miles the day after I fitted my last rear, to Glasgow and back along the M8. Just 2 heat cycles. How run in? Not very.

Originally Posted by Baph

Add a couple of thousand miles for the engine to wear in properly on the brand new bike, I think it was around the 4-5k miles mark. I was already pushing the bike so hard that the tyres were loosing grip & sliding. I felt like I could push the bike harder, but the limiting factor was grip (or rather lack thereof).

Yes, you could argue that after 5000miles the wear on the tyres would be affecting grip, and brand new 220's might not do that, but I wanted something that would last longer. So I stuck on Z6's.

Yes, I've got to the point where I can slide on the Z6's (even on freshly scrubbed in tyres), but that's quite a bit further than sliding on the 220's.

Baph, I believe you may be doing it wrong. 5,000 miles isn't that many to get really use to a bike. On an SV on the road, you can get the back sliding but it is not easy to do if you are riding anywhere near smoothly.

Now, there are two interpretations here:
1) you are feeling the tyre wall shifting/flexing slightly, and assuming its a full on slide.

2) Perhaps you are opening the throttle too quickly, i.e too much too quickly. If you are smoother, you will be able to get power down more quickly and more acceleration, as sliding will loose you acceleration time.

Seriously, there is more to being quick than being able to open the throttle. If you look at the lines you take, then you may gain a BIG advantage here. Now I don't mean taking race lines on the road, but with the help of a few advanced techniques, i.e off siding, knowing when to get on the throttle, vanishing points and lots of observation.

Anyway, slightly going off topic. I've always used sports touring tyres, even on my speed triple. I have managed to get my pegs on them, whist chasing an instructor through druids around brands hatch. That was plenty quick with enough grip and plenty of acceleration. Could I of opened the throttle and spun the back up, yes, but it wouldn't of given me any advantage.

Just my 2p's worth.
Dan

I still maintain that MEZ4's arn't very good tyres; they certainly didnt inspire any confidence for me....

Matt

I know we don't need the traction offered by the better tyres in MOST conditions/situations, but I want to know that if a situation suddenly develops I'll have the confidence in my tyres to brake hard or pull the bike lower in a turn that's caught me unawares, and make it through.
Jon

Originally Posted by ujoni08

I know we don't need the traction offered by the better tyres in MOST conditions/situations, but I want to know that if a situation suddenly develops I'll have the confidence in my tyres to brake hard or pull the bike lower in a turn that's caught me unawares, and make it through.
Jon

You not be needing the most top tyre to be do this. Trust me I riding Michelins and they not the best! (See Ducati + Bridgestone!)

Sudoxe, I'm fully aware that I could be smoother. As for vanishing point/observation, I am doing both to the fullest possible. Part of vanishing point is also road position. After last weekend, and seeing how Petevtwin650 positions his bike, I've taken on some of his riding style (mainly having the confidence to sit on the 'wrong' side of the road a lot more).

However, part of the fun for me during commute or pleasure rides is actually the sliding. I couldn't care less if I shave 5mins off my journey because I'm smooth, I'd rather enjoy the ride.

There have been times on the road where I've completely ballsed it up, and the only way I knew to get a handle on the situation was to make a tyre slide (yes, you could argue observation etc etc, but when you're in a situation sometimes there's nothing that observation can do for you, I'm talking getting out of situation, not avoiding it happening in the first place). There have also been times where I've simply hit first gear whilst heavily braking for a bend, and just a fraction too soon, so the rear has slid.

The point of my post was basically that it's a fair bit harder to get a Z6 to slide (under power or braking) for any given road condition than it is a D220. Therefore the choice of tyre certainly does affect riding, and it's definitely noticable. Granted I'm comparing one set of 220's to about 4 different sets of Z6s, but still.

Incidentally, other than first or maybe second gear, I don't think I've made my SV slide under power. Bikes with more power, certainly, but I'd be amazed to see an SV do it in 4th (for arguments sake).

black and round

[fizzwheel]

I cant tell the difference between the Diablo Corsa III I have on my GSXR and the Metzler Z6 I have on my SV.

I tried a set of 2CT's on my GSXR and whilst they made me feel confident in the dry I didnt like how they felt in the wet. The diablos are much better IMHO.

I've done plenty of miles in all weather on the stock D220 and I didnt think they were that bad to be honest. Yes there are better tyres, in terms of feel and feedback, but I never had them slip, slide or spin up. Liz is the same I've never heard her complain about the stock D220's well not until she had chewed up the back one to the point of no return by locking the back wheel on downshifts on purpose

The only tyre I have had that I have had spin up was the f*cking orrible BT014's my GSXR had on it when I bought it. Urgh... they really knocked my confidence, just couldnt get on with them I could never get any feel for what the front of the bike was doing.

I think thats the thing, different riders ride on different levels of feedback, so what feels great to one rider feels orrible to another. I dont believe theres such a thing as a bad modern tyre. But I think there are ones that suit different riders and different riding styles better than others.

You pays your money, you takes your choice.