Tyres (sorry) for fast A roads/ motorways

LochLaddie

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Done a forum search on tyres and surprised by the few responses. However here goes:

I ride a R1200GS daily, covering 90 miles round trip per day and I'm looking for hard wearing with good wet/ winter performance. I'm not a knee down sunny weather rider and willing to sacrifice some of this performance.

From the high mileage'rs, what are you on at the moment and how do you find them. I'm currently on Michelin road 5's front & rear and I've been happy with their performance.

Cheers in advance.
 
Ive switched from road 5 to trail attack 3, for me they are equally as good in the wet/ dry as the 5s but noticed they do seem to turn quuicker which i like and do look a bit more substantial on the GSA.
 
CTA3 for me too. Rear lasted 6k miles, and still had tread but I changed it before heading to Portugal. Front lasted 11k miles!!! Just put CTA3 on again yesterday. There's a shortage though, I was lucky to find a front CTA3 on a shelf, the distributors don't have stock just now

I have CTA3 on my GS and my V85TT and they're brilliant on both bikes, in winter and summer
 
I'm also a recent happy convert from Michelin Road 5 Trails to Continental Trail Attack 3.

I haven't yet ridden in heavy rain (which is now forecast for next weekends four-day riding around Wales) or on unpaved surfaces, but so far the dry cornering grip, incredibly quick warm up, straight line stability, low noise and compliant carcass on typical roads seem an improvement over the previously impressive Road 5's which felt a bit stiffer.

The Road 5's were impeccable in the wet, the CTA3's high silica content are hopefully just as good.
 
Dunlop road smart

so much more complaint than off road ones, makes the bike much safer especially over cat eyes, with massive strides in ride comfort to boot
last longer, grip better and the steering improvement is massive

I'd never run Michelin road stuff they have gone the route of squidgy sidewalls - it makes for a massive negative change in vehicle dynamics, with dangerous vague and hideous wandering understeer and where the back wheel is continuously in the air under braking - move to Dunlop road smarts - ride far faster, and much safer.... they take a huge effort to get the rear off the ground

naff flex on front sidewalls is why rossi got slow, and they now need superglue compounds on the front tyres, and indeed why poly pocket racers with no brains have to have clever electronics to win races - one manufacturer knows how to make bikes go round corners - check which tyres win at the IOM
 
closest type of fast road use, on road bikes


DUNLOP Official Tyre Partner to the Isle of Man TT Races, Dunlop has competed at every event held since the first race in 1907.

Arguably the most successful tyre manufacturer in the history of the event Dunlop has helped riders to not only win races during that 114-year period, but also to break countless records along the way.

Of the 18 single rider current lap records and race records, Dunlop tyres have carried an impressive 16 of those men and women in to the record books, including four fastest sector times. With legendary riders including John McGuinness and the late Joey Dunlop having shod their bikes with Dunlop tyres, the manufacturer has claimed more TT wins than any other tyre brand, with riders on the top spot of the Senior TT podium for 13 consecutive years.

Of the five major categories at the Isle of Man TT – Dunlop riders will be shod with KR106 and KR108 slick tyres in the Senior and Superbike races while in the Superstock, Supersport and Lightweight classes, riders will use the (road-legal) D213 GP Pro tyres, which incorporate Dunlop’s extensive experience around the Mountain Course.

Dunlop's range of motorcycle tyres, such as the GP Racer D212 and all-new SportSmart TT , are developed as a direct result of racetrack innovations, utilising technologies developed for track and road racing in events such as the Isle of Man TT. Dunlop strives to win in open tyre competition and the TT offers no better challenge.


https://news.goodyear.eu/dunlop-tyres-win-every-solo-race-at-isle-of-man-tt/
 
thanks for all the responses, I knew about the tyre shortages but now it might bite me :(
 
I was after a road smart 4 for the front - been in USA for 18 months and they started to review in the UK 3 months ago but hard to come by
 
On the Hexhead GSA just for comparison I got 11k front and 14k rear from Michelin Anakee/Panaky 3, not the best for wet grip but happy enough as mainly dry summer use that year. Avon trail riders seem to get around 8k-9k and I feel are a better all round tyre for the blend of wear, handling, grip blah blah.
 
On a second set of Conti Road Attack 3 on my KTM 1290 Adventure. The third rear is going on today for the upcoming trip. Nothing wrong with the one on the bike right now, just that it is half worn and changing it as a precaution, due to full luggage and a pillion for 10 days in France.

Pirelli Rally STR are also good and [mention]Arsey [/mention] Lowe’s them, had them on his Honda 1000 ATAS as well as Huski 701LR. I may go with them when due a full tyre set change.
 
in my experience the GS is very sensitive on road tyres to the carcass stiffness - its can result in very dangerous behaviour as the front telelever and the tyres don't seem to like each other

bridgestone matching road tyres - hideous death trap - fixed with roadsmart 1
michelin road tyres - hideous death trap - resolved much of the effect by running 2.7 bar in the front - but quickly threw it away and went to roadsmart 2s

been running road tyres for 8 years and 25k miles - all iterations of the roadsmarts (RS1, RS2, RS3), are round and black and don't try to kill me - although of interest on the RS3's being lazy the front dropped to 1.7bar over the summer, where I hadn't been using it for ages and I got the start of the same hideous vague steering and the back wheel flying up in the air - but to a far lesser degree than the death trap ones listed above running their recco pressures
 
My ‘21 gsa arrived with the noisy Bridgestones and the front cupped and wore out before the rear. Have been through two rear and one front of Conti TA3.

They are the best tyre if you’re sticking to roads.

Barry
 
Standard tourances on mine for 120.000 miles now. Usually last about 8-9.000 miles a pair. I've never felt the need to change to any other tyre except for a couple of off road trips when I've fitted TKC80's or Kenda big blocks.
I've never had a problem with them. Never had the rear wheel in the air (wtf)

up until recently I've paid about £140.00 a pair for them. Then got them fitted locally. Great tyres, wet or dry.
 
gazza12adv said:
I've never had a problem with them. Never had the rear wheel in the air (wtf)
Click to expand...

its when riding like your avatar, but when you're slowing down - not so much now the roads are full of idiots and potholes - but its always been an occupational hazard on any bike and Michelin pilots will do 10" of air at half the pace of a road smart, which only just begins to get a little light and squirrely at the back

was mentioning to my brother how nasty the Michelin stuff is (he's a bit of a scientist boffin type) - I expected him to take 10 mins and come up with some rubbish - but straight off the bat he said, naff sidwalls flattening out and the geometry change and unwanted weight transfer of the massive contact patch as the rim is trying to rest on the ground, causes the back to lift - exactly what I think is causing it - as high tyre pressures reduce the effect. but a when using a tyre from a manufacturer who understands things, it almost never happens

not understanding the characteristic is not much of a surprise if using concrete tourances - they have zero grip so you can't actually slow down, let alone apply a reasonable amount of braking to make the back get light
 
Another Conti fan here. Currently running a set of trail3s on my SuperTenere, done close to 6k so far, rears got 500-1000 left but is getting changed for a spanish trip in November. Fronts looking good for another rear atm.
 
botus said:
its when riding like your avatar, but when you're slowing down - not so much now the roads are full of idiots and potholes - but its always been an occupational hazard on any bike and Michelin pilots will do 10" of air at half the pace of a road smart, which only just begins to get a little light and squirrely at the back

was mentioning to my brother how nasty the Michelin stuff is (he's a bit of a scientist boffin type) - I expected him to take 10 mins and come up with some rubbish - but straight off the bat he said, naff sidwalls flattening out and the geometry change and unwanted weight transfer of the massive contact patch as the rim is trying to rest on the ground, causes the back to lift - exactly what I think is causing it - as high tyre pressures reduce the effect. but a when using a tyre from a manufacturer who understands things, it almost never happens

not understanding the characteristic is not much of a surprise if using concrete tourances - they have zero grip so you can't actually slow down, let alone apply a reasonable amount of braking to make the back get light
Click to expand...

I totally disagree. But I guess I don't ride around like a superbike racer braking as hard as I can every time I need to slow down.
My bike is only on its second set of brake discs after 126.000 miles. They are barely worn. I use the engine braking an aweful lot. These bikes don't need to use heavy braking to slow them down on swift riding. Tap down a gear or 2 to slow it on flowing roads. The brakes on mine are still working superbly at this mileage too. Still with a fully working servo and ABS system.
The tourances are a great tyre. Not many people I ride with can keep up when I'm on good roads or in the mountains. They have never let go wet or dry.
How often are you really braking that hard that you are lifting the rear wheel 10" in the air, I think you need to re-evaluate your riding style. Sounds bloody dangerous to me. :blast:D


Maybe I need to try another tyre, I could be even faster, though as I said I've never felt the need for anything else:nenau:green gri
 
as a driving instructor once said if you use engine braking to slow down during your test they will FAIL you these days - a set of disc and pads is so much cheaper than an engine, gearbox and axle destroyed through bad driving
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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