Okay, it's time for tires. Need some suggestions. I like qualifiers, what do you guys think? Lets hear it!

Im running the michelin pilot road 2's. This is my second set and I'm really pleased with them. Will be ordering another set here soon.

I would say pilot road 2's or avon storms

ErikR wrote :

With the original tires, I had worn a flat spot on the rear tire by 1200 miles.

Not sure this is the OEM tires' fault. Even though I go on twice monthly long rides with a club (at about half the speed I'd ride the roads we go on, but hey, its a social thing), I also ride solo and slightly aggressive on moutain roads enough with enough lean angle the stock tires didn't get flat spotted.

In fact, since I don't induce any rear wheel slippage (at least, not on purpose), I got 6k miles on the OEM stones, which is more than I expected. On 16s now, and like them very much, but thinking about 03s. All Bridgestone.

Just like I won't buy from Corbin, I haven't purchased a tire from Michelin in 20 years, not since they refused to warranty replace OEM tires on my Jeep Grand Cherokee due to a mistake in the inmbedded lettering compound causing sidewall cracking. In the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter, but its the principle of the thing.

Michelin Pilot Roads 2 recommended too

Using Diablo Stradas here.Around 5000 miles on a rear(aggressive accellerating,lots of sweepers as well)16/42 gearing.Front saw 6000+ this last change.Very good performance.Never slipped yet.

Can someone tell me more about Avon storms?

The Diablo's are working out very well for me as well. The price was right and they are realy holding up! Never slipped on me and I'm pretty hard on them.

I'm running an avon storm rear now Jason....I like it lots. It sticks and handles great, and is wearing like iron Prolly gonna last about 3 times as long as the stockers for me

to tell u the truth, the OEM bridgestone BT-014 tires have been running great, once they warm up they are perfect and have lasted me over 5k riding pretty hard, and it seems like they are halfway worn, I ride hard and max out the bike from time to time, but i don't do burnouts on them, and for the price that you can get them i'm not really complaining lol, and in the rain, they are one of the better tires that i have ever rode in the rain with

I got 3350 miles out of the stock tires. A lot of those miles were with a square rear tire. I replaced them with the PR2's. 700 miles on them so far, not a hint of wear and the handle great.

jason ive just ordered an avon storm for the back and avon vp2 sport for the front the guy i talked to gets 9-10,000 mi on the storms and 12-15,000 on the vp2 thats all i needed to hear and can get both with shipping off ebay for under $300

Anyone have experience or tried touring tires? Do you get more life? I've got almost 10k on the factory set - rear's are close to needing replacement.

Just put on my second set of Dunlop RoadSmarts.
Got Apprx. 8,000 out of the 1st set !!!(Front wore out 1st ??!!)
Great rain tire I put on last fall with intentions of switching to "stickier" tire for summer.
(I ride year round, lots of rain here)
Never felt the need as they handled everything I threw at them. About 4,000 miles touring and the other 4k chasing my motard buddies around the mountains.
Great tire, good price (under 300 a set at Motorcycle Superstore)

Very very pleased with this tires performance.
I abuse the hell out of my tires. I live where Seattle sportbike riders come to do twisties.
My "commute" to the nearest town is a rippin ride.

Will be doing a trip to San Diego from Seattle soon.
Its confidence inspiring knowing I can boil down the West Coast highways 1,200 miles, go to school a month with only the 14 for transportation and ride 1,200 miles back . All on the same tires and have tread left for the rest of the winter.
Ran the Pirelli Corsa IIIs before for track days and street.
Would get about 3,500-4,000 out of them.

* Last updated by: skiffman on 10/5/2009 @ 6:56 AM *

BT016's for sticky. They seem to have pretty good ware on the center tread as well. I have 4000 miles on mine and they are just starting to look not so round any more. Still a lot of miles befor they are to the ware markers. I think they will go about 7,000 miles safely for me.

Look at this. The poll seems to bare out what I have heard about popular tire choices over the last year. Avon Storms seem to be well liked for long ware but not so sticky.

http://www.zx14ninjaforums.com/messages.cfm?threadid=8440C675-1372-66AE-3B74400EFE77D4F4

* Last updated by: Rook on 10/5/2009 @ 8:15 AM *

I just mounted up some BT 021's yesterday morning. Only have 150 miles on em to date but so far I'm very impressed. Very neutral lean in tire, its supposedly a dual compound tire harder in the center for mileage and softer on the sides for the twisties. I hope I'm this impressed 3k miles from now!

I'm gonna give the NEW Pirelli "ANGEL ST"'s a shot this next time around.Hey Green-"NO",you can't use touring tires on your 14.(this is what the dealer told me).And BTW-HOW in the heck you get 10,000 miles out of yer tires!!?That's GOT to be a new first there!

* Last updated by: blue07 on 10/15/2009 @ 3:45 PM *

I'd be embarassed to say I got 10,000 miles out of a set of tires. After 2,000 miles I only go on curvy roads so I can wear out the rest of the tread.
I thought Dunlop Road Smarts were touring tires?
I always look foreward to getting new tires. They feel so good. I like to put the bike on a stand and use some sandpaper on them to reduce the break in period. I don't want to be tentative on my first knee draggers.
I've been doing my reading and I'm thinking I'll get Dunlop Qualifiers. I think I'll get a 200 on the back too.
I think worrying about wear mileage is a poor consideration when getting tires. If I really wanted to tour I'd get another BMW R1150RT. I commuted for years on that bike, only using the truck if it was heavy rain.
I'm looking for spending more time hanging off than running straight up. I usually use up a little more than half of the usable tread on a tire, then I want new ones. I had a friend in High School who got really messed up when he got a blowout on the front of his Vespa. I guess because of that I don't trust worn tires. The thing is... all the money you save on gasoline can be saved for tires when you need them. A flat on a bike can be a lot more than inconvenient!The only tire problems I've ever had was I used to get a lot of flats on Metzlers.
Sticky tires rule. Just not disposable race tires.

* Last updated by: Sharkey on 10/15/2009 @ 4:59 PM *

Hey Sharkey-Don't know about Dunlops-what they are.But yer "normal" touring tire is designed different-plus they don't have the properties of a sport tire. They certainly won't perform like your sport tires.The tread is definitely a different design.And the compounds are different as well.My dealer said "uh Uh".

* Last updated by: blue07 on 12/1/2009 @ 1:40 AM *

Sambeaux, you have to update us on those 021's...that's what I was looking at for next year. I commute a lot and those seemed to fit exactly what I need. I'm kinda torn between the 021's and the 016's.

* Last updated by: endorphine44 on 10/16/2009 @ 12:42 PM *

I'm kinda torn between the 021's and the 016's.

Me too. Can anybody who has used both give us some thoughts on this choice? -bg

BG - What did you think of the continental tires you tried?

Hey Blue07 ... 95% of the 1st 10k miles - all highway commute miles. Only "twisties" these tires saw was in and out of DC traffic (lol). Few trips on the back roads, but not enough to count.
- Green

BG - What did you think of the continental tires you tried?

I had 4300 miles on the Continental tires when the metal started showing through. I have almost 4000 miles on the BT-016's and there is still rubber left. I can probably get another 1000 miles on them, but I may change them sooner as they are starting to square off (too many highway miles, I guess).

As far as stickiness, I'd probably give the edge to the BT-016's also, but I may not ride close enough to the edge to have clear indication. They both seem good in that respect. -bg

Fitted Avon Storms to my old ZX12 and they transformed the bike - really suited the bike.

In the UK they have a first millimeter puncture free replacement guarantee. So much tread in the rear that I had a four inch nail stuck in sideways - pulled it out and it did not go down.

Just fitted Diablo Stradas to the ZZR as they were on offer and received a good review (equal really to the Roadsmarts) in a recent UK magazine Tyre Shootout.

To be honest I did not find much wrong with the original BT014s apart from the fact they are special fitment tyres (extra band in the rear tyre sidewall to handle the torque) which makes them expensive and they are pretty soft - one front and two rears in 5k miles.

PR2s and BT016 do not appear to have approval for use on the ZX14/ZZR1400 on their respective websites so I have steered clear of them for the moment - could be an insurance issue in the event of an accident.

* Last updated by: ninjabob on 10/20/2009 @ 4:41 PM *