Sportmax on Pointy - best pressures?

My recommended pressure would just be to keep pumping air in until they explode and then buy something else!

I didn't get on with the oem tyres at all but that said ran them til they were as bald as a coot's toot due to hating the idea of replacing a serviceable tyre - aka miserly tendencies.

They were ok in warm dry conditions but twitchy and confidence sapping at all other times. Maybe other riders have a sterner constitution and can ignore the slippy feel and rely on the fact that most tyres will not lose grip in ordinary conditions

I would add that that i don't believe my riding skills are anywhere near the limits of any tyre. What i disliked most was the skittish response on low speed cornering where limits didn't come into it - they just seemed to be odd handling tyres. Some Others feel differently as i searched the same kind of thing when i first got my sv, but i know i'm not alone either. Much happier now having changed tyres.

Originally Posted by sputnik

Much happier now having changed tyres.

What did you get and in which ways did they improve your ride?

I went for Pirelli Angel STs. Got a pair fitted for £209 which seemed ok. They're only a couple of thousand miles in so time will tell how they bear up.

The differences? Just stuff like feeling like I could go round roundabouts and corners without the bike giving an alarming slip, twitch or drop. That said, the bike never actually went down, it just felt like it wanted to. I accept that when I binned the old tyres they were badly squared and had done about 9000 miles so by that time they were probably rightly crappy, but the handling characteristics had been like this since I got the bike with only 2000 miles on it. I found the tyre would also slip sometimes under acceleration and also on engine braking that I would not consider particularly excessive - I like a spirited ride but don't think I am especially aggressive.

At the time I seriously wondered if it was typical of the bike rather than the tyres but this went against everything I had read about the SV. In the past (on other bikes) I had been a bit wary of some dismissive views of particular tyres having generally found most tyres to be fairly adequate within reason. It never happens on SV.org of course but some sites have highly opinionated posters who are dismissive of all but the most expensive, race-spec kit!

The new tyres don't necessarily set my world on fire, they just behave like I expect tyres to behave which ultimately is all I am after (unless I am missing out on a world of rubber related fun [of the tyre type!]) I guess I like my tyres to be something that I don't really feel I have to continually think about whilst riding. I hated the fact that that the old tyres made riding in most conditions a bit of a buttock-clenching experience whereas new tyres meant I could just relax a bit and enjoy the ride and the bike a lot more.

Oh, one more thing, on the Dunlops although I never properly sorted my suspension (and still haven't), I did find that cranking up the front adjusters a couple of clicks really helped the bike turn in whereas on standard settings it always felt like it wanted to run wide. You may find it is worth experimenting. And for the avoidance of doubt, a couple of hundred quid is still a fair bit of dosh so if you are ok to keep the old tyres, then don't feel you have to change them - I didn't, despite everything said above!

Great write-up sputnik I might look into those front adjusters.

Originally Posted by GowerSV

I have Sportmax D220ST (stock) tyres on my 2011 SV. I am running recommended pressures 32/36. I want to improve my lean angle and wonder if higher pressure would help here - I know some go to 40 rear.

I have always prefered a slightly lower pressure than the one recomened, about 2 or 3 psi in both front and back.

If you ride hard then lower pressures will be a tad better as your tire will heat up more as psi increases more, if you just commute/twisties etc then stick to the standard pressures.