Which tyre for long distance trip?

I have Avon viper supersports tyres on at the moment. I will be replacing them after the TT. Which tyres would be ok for a trip down to southern France then across into Italy to tour around the Italian lakes. I will be returning home by going over the Alps. The tyres will need to last the trip and for a thousand or so miles after returning home. I will then be taking the bike off the road for the winter and fitting new sticky tyres in the spring. I dont fancy fitting tyres that are going to be squared off by the time i get to Monaco. Mileage is more important than grip as i will be fully loaded up and carrying the Bird on the back.

Luckypants uses Avon Storms for his Eurotrips and praises them, but also finds the same problem as I do. The shoulders wear quicker than the centre. I have nothing but praise for them, but for the earlier wear on the shoulders of them.

PR2's are a recommended tyre also.

michy pilot road 2

[dizzyblonde]

Storms are my preference, but at my tyre shop today, we were discussing whats available....they seem to be being overtaken for Dunlop Roadsmarts. More expensive but last longer. I'm in no need for new tyres any time soon, but I might give em a try next time. I'm inclined to listen to Rob the tyre bloke, he don't like selling tyres willy nilly, he don't palm anything onto you like some places. Another customer has got the Roadsmarts on his SV, and its given him a big boost in confidence.

I have got Pilot Road 2s on the thou and I reckon it has done 4000 motorway miles and about 1500 normal miles and there is still plenty of life left in it. The motorway miles are nearly always 2up or luggaged cruising at 80-120mph.

Not sure how much total grip there is as the italian tarmac is fairly shocking but get some heat into them for a thrash around the mountains and they seem fine.

The storms sound good if the above is true but depends on braking grip on the front end if the tyre is very hard.

[Luckypants]

Originally Posted by gazza

I have Avon viper supersports tyres on at the moment. I will be replacing them after the TT. Which tyres would be ok for a trip down to southern France then across into Italy to tour around the Italian lakes. I will be returning home by going over the Alps. The tyres will need to last the trip and for a thousand or so miles after returning home. I will then be taking the bike off the road for the winter and fitting new sticky tyres in the spring. I dont fancy fitting tyres that are going to be squared off by the time i get to Monaco. Mileage is more important than grip as i will be fully loaded up and carrying the Bird on the back.

Well we fitted Avon Storms to Speedy Claire's SV before our euro trip last year and I had them on the VFR. We covered 3400 miles while away and the tyres have lasted very well. Speedy has done another 2000 miles on hers since coming back and there is still plenty of tread. Logevity is not an issue.

The Storms also perform well with spirited riding, handling the mountain passes with ease, including while loaded, solo and with pillion. These will certainly do the job for you and are normally well priced.

Originally Posted by hovis

michy pilot road 2

Seconded. 8K out of a rear on the Falco, you'll get 10K out of one on the SV! Great grip as well

[Bibio]

Avon Storms.. they have never put a foot wrong, rain or shine. i've done 2000mile and they are still like new... an average price of £180 fitted for the pair.

PR2s on my CBR. Did a trip to the South of France and I'm still using them. Probably covered 4,000 miles and there is plenty left in them (3k easily). They get pretty abused everytime I go out and there is plenty of grip when cranked over. I got the PR2s for the trip to France because I needed the milage. Prior to the PR2s I had Supercorsas which where awesomely sticky and had a profile which meant they fell into the corners as soon as you thought about it. If you are used to sticky race tyres you will find the PR2s a little slow steering in comparison. Once you get used to them though, they are great.

[Biker Biggles]

Z6s will do that nicely.Or the Stradas which are the same.