Tyres!!!

Need new tyres. Not happy with whats on it (Metzelers?!) so looking at bridgestone BT014's (i think?)

Has anyone got these fitted? How are they? DO they have a good (slow) wear rate (specialy on the center part)? What about grip in wet and greasy conditions? Im getting all sorts of slides at the moment

Matt

I'm running Dunlop Qualifiers atm awesome grip wet or dry they warm up very quickly as for mileage not sure yet, I've put about 1500 miles on them and there's still loads of tread left and no sign of squaring off

[mattSV]

Which Metz have you got at the moment - Z6 Roadtecs or Conti Roads are great all round tyres - loads of grip wet or dry, and good wear.

I can recommend diablo strada's. Excellent tyres.

[fizzwheel]

What sort of Metzler ? Its important. The MEZ4 that were fitted as standard to the curvey SV are by all accounts made of plastic and utterly useless. If you've got these then wear them out and then replace with something else.

The latest generation Metzler Z6 are a great IMHO tyre for the SV. Also have a look at the Continental Road Attack they also seem to suit the bike well. But I havent tried these.

Now onto the 014, remember this is just my experience of them tyres are a very personal choice. Also remember my experience of the 014 is on my GSXR which has a little more power than your SV does.

The 014 is a sporty soft tyre, the dont wear well. They also wear down really quickly in the middle and loose their shape and become square quite fast if your doing a lot of dual carriageway / motorway work. I havent tried them on a SV, but I had a set on my GSXR when I first got it and the rear was toast when I say toast I mean illegal after 1800 miles. They are unbelievably soft, I'm not a riding god, but I do when its safe like to have a play, I remember coming back from one such ride in the summer and the tyre having little "marbles" of rubber on the edges and when I rubbed my hand over the back tyre the rubber was rolling off it on the palm of my hand. They were good on scorching hot days or when I could ride the bike hard to keep the heat in them, but the real thing that put me off them was if I got stuck in traffic or it was a warm day instead of hot and the tyres didnt have much heat in them god they were horrible, really vague and I couldnt get any feeling from them. They are IMHO utter rubbish when its wet. They really robbed me of my confidence. I had a few fornt end slides and also a couple of spin ups of the rear without any warning that the tyre was going to let go whatsoever.

If you want stickyness with long life, then have a look at the Michellin Pilot Power 2CT, I've got 3000 plus miles out of a rear on my GSXR on one of these. also the Dunlop Sportmax Qualifer seems to get good reviews as well.

Remember this is just MY experience of the tyres your looking to fit, I know alot of people who like the 014 tyre but I've also spoken to people who have had simialr experiences to me. The only way your going to know if you like them or not is to try them. Also remember its very very slippery at the moment so you might find different tyres also slip and slide to.

HTH

bt-14's are great sporty, summer tyres, but not so good in the cold/wet. they're pretty soft too, so you're going to square them off pretty rapidly

if you want some winter bridgestone's, get bt-20's

Ah, thanks everyone! I'll change my desicion then. I think i got MEZ4's at the moment, crappy crap crappididy do.

Fizz - many thanks, that was a good comprehensive reply! I think i'll go with the mich or dunlops then; i dont have a great deal of money so cant be changing tyres every 5mins!

Off i go to raid the piggy-bank...

Matt

[fizzwheel]

TBH I'd get a pair of Metz Z6's, they really are bloody brilliant and they are a damn site cheaper than the Dunlops or Michellins are going to be. The continental road attacks are cheaper again and either set of tyres is probably going to last longer that the Michellins or Dunlops will.

IMHO having sticky rubber on your bike at this time of year is a total waste of time you'll wont enjoy the extra grip they can give as you will I expect struggle to get heat into them. IMHO you'd be better off with something like the Z6 or Road Attack and save your money for sticky tyres in the summer when you can really get the benefit from them.

I've got a pair of Conti's on my SV and, to be honest I find they are far from grippy in the wet (not rain, just wet roads)

I've played around a bit with pressures and it helped a bit, however I would hope that changing to another brand of tyre would improve the grip in the wet. Could just be they are squared off a bit - dosent look like it though. I've just bought the bike recently so dont know what they were like when new (rear is approx 1/4 worn and front is almost new)

They are so bad, that on my last outing I thought I had a flat rear.. it was all over the place.

I'm not saying dont buy Continental's - just ask around a bit before parting with your hard earned.

Pete

[mattSV]

Originally Posted by fizzwheel

TBH I'd get a pair of Metz Z6's, they really are bloody brilliant and they are a damn site cheaper than the Dunlops or Michellins are going to be. The continental road attacks are cheaper again and either set of tyres is probably going to last longer that the Michellins or Dunlops will.

IMHO having sticky rubber on your bike at this time of year is a total waste of time you'll wont enjoy the extra grip they can give as you will I expect struggle to get heat into them. IMHO you'd be better off with something like the Z6 or Road Attack and save your money for sticky tyres in the summer when you can really get the benefit from them.

I would fully agree with Fizz - I have used Z6s for the past 2 1/2 years on my SV1000 and have been very happy with them - as those on the Norf/Sarf run last year might remember, I don't exactly hang around either I would be more than happy to do a track day on them - IMHO they give the best mix of grip/feedback/wear for me both in the wet and dry

I had the Mez Z4s on my old curvy and they were absolute ****e - I had absolutely no confidence with them at all.