Tyre summaries & reviews

So it gets asked all the time: which are the best tyres? And someone invariably says "depends on what kind of riding you're doing". So as part of my own research into tyres for my 81 XJ750R (Aussie Seca), I'll do a short summary of what I understand of some popular choices.
ADD YOUR OWN EXPERIENCE PLEASE!!! I have no experience with "street" or "sport" tyres, only dirt and dualsport. The rear on my XJ750 is 17 years old so offers little insight!!

Pirelli Sport Demon: Grippy and great for hard, fast riding. But wears quickly.

Bridgestone Battleax: Not quite as high performance as Pirelli's but last a lot longer.

Dunlop D404's: Good all round tyre, not as high performance as top 2 but better value.

Shinko: Cheap, don't know anything else about them.

Bridgestone Spitfire S11: Look super cool, but do they perform? Opinions please.

What have I missed? Please add to this guys!

 

Also Dunlop GT's: Been recommended but don't know anything about.

 

Which Dunlop GT, there are a few variations .. if it's GT501 Arromax I can say I wouldn't put them on my SRX600 again or anything else. My XJ has Metzeler Lasertec front and rear they are good for me..rarely ride in the rain, like to lean into corners but don't want to scrape the pegs and they wear well. I recently replaced the rear on the SRX with Lasertec and it has a much more stable feel. What's a good tire? is a bit like how long is a piece of string. My tuppence ha'penny.

 

80% of my driving is small town commuting/errands, etc. at 25-35 mph. I have Dunlop 404's and for this purpose they are a great value. While they handle/ride well at highway speeds, I suspect they will wear quicker than some other more expensive tires.

My previous rear tire was another model Dunlop. Wore forever, but I didn't realize how "hard" the ride was until I replaced last spring with the D404. I have had a D404 on the front for a couple years, with about 3-4K miles on it.

My next tires will be Spitfire, just because I like the white lettered look on a 80's bike. I had to paint the letters on my D404!

 

While I don't have much to add from my own experience, a lot of my friends like the continental conti go tire. I need to put tires on the girlfriends maxim and am trying to decide which to go with. Been looking at the Dunlop 404's, friends say don't waste my money but for the riding she will be doing I think they will be fine as the continental is more expensive. I will be following this thread to help determine which tire would be the best balance of performance, wear life, and price.

 

Maxxis Supermaxx get decent reviews if you can them. Got one on my 550 and it seems fine although i can't say i've pushed it to any limits.

 

Thanks for the input guys!! Keep em comin

 

I recently got Shinko 230 Tour Masters for my 650 Maxim, I am really liking them. Plenty of grip for throwing it around corners and they stick very well in the rain too. Lots of tread grooves to fling out water

 

any new tire is better than any worn out tire

 

Bridgestone Spitfire S11 is all I have run on the Maxim 650 since replacing the worn out dunlop D404. Plenty of grip on mountain twisties, good at higher speeds, feels like they get stickier when the road is wet. Only have been getting 4k out of a rear, and replacing the front ever other rear. Bad part about the front is that with its dual compound, the front tire will show a bit of cupping as you get towards replacement which can be a little uneasy feeling in tight corners. For the money and performance, good deal. I will admit that I will try out a set of Shinko 712 as my next set, they have performed well on my bmw k100rs and are liked by that community for price and performance.

 

I, too, have been running Spitfire S11 tires. I put a pair on in 2010. Replaced the rear two years ago and the front is due this winter. On a good year, I put 4,000 miles on the motorcycle. Recently much less. I've been happy with the tires, but also only had junk tires for comparison. The front doesn't have an anti-tracking pattern, so be aware it will hunt like crazy on grooved pavement. They've held through everything I've asked of them, which probably isn't much.

 

I have Michelin Commander 2's on my bike. I LOVE them, leaps and bounds better than the Dunlop 404's they replaced. For reference, I got about 9,500 miles out of the rear Dunlop before they were very bald, and it was always very easy for me to break traction. (I'm a fairly.. spirited rider lol)

I've put over 5,000 on them, sorry they're so dirty in the picture because it's hard to tell anything, but they look pretty much the same as they did new still. (my poor bike is filthy!)

I've been riding 50 miles a day, every day rain or shine, for the past few months, and I couldn't be happier with these tires. Superb grip and traction, I'm very happy with how they're wearing and how they ride, especially on our terrible Indiana roads, pot holes, rain grooves, gravel etc... Very confidence inspiring, especially in bad weather.

So far I'd definitely say they're worth the cost, especially if they last as long as they're supposed to. (Michelin claims up to 25,000 miles in tests on an H-D Electra Glide)

 

My Shinko 712 series tire experience:
Rear - 130/90/16
Front - 100/90/19
@12.4K on 2 rear tires
12.4K on 1 front tire
Where I live, roads are very smooth but extremely abrasive. It's in the type of road paving aggregate produced.
Very pleased overall with the tire performance.
My riding style is cruising, not abusing.
A set of these runs just over 100 bucks in USA.

My 650 Maxim is due tires now. 12.4K on the front, 6.7K on the rear. Neither are bald, but wear indicators are just about level with the tread. Very slight cupping on the front is starting to show too. I'm going to try a set of Shinko 230's next to see if I can get more mileage. It's only 20 bucks more for a set.

My bike came with D404's. They lasted less than 5K.