Tires for Standard

[dbbrian]

Ya, a Tire thread not just for idle fun, as I need new tires to get to XSSE to actually have fun. Looking to upgrade from last few sets of Shinko 230’s I have burned through.

Size for Standard: 130/90/17 rear, 100/90/19 front

Speed rating – V or H, V is ridiculous, H is good for 130MPH for an hour, not likley will I exceed 130km/h often...OK, maybe a little but not much more. H has more tread depth apparently, so longer life. Not finding much in an H.

Load Rating – does anyone know if the rating (eg. 68 or 694lbs) means the total weight of bike / load on one tire, or do you consider about half the bike weight and load? Rear tires are noted below

Metzler Roadtec 01 - V rated, load index 68 - 694 lbs.
Seems newer, recommended by my vintage bike shop guy

Pirelli Sport Demon - V rated, load index 67 - 677 lbs
Lowest load rating, what will that mean?

Avon AM26 Roadriders - V rated, load index 68 - 694 lbs
Thought there was a load rating issue, but same as other

Shinko 230’s - V rated, load index 74 - 827 lbs
BTDT, not going to do a cheaper Shinko

Michelin Pilot Active - V rated, load index 68 - 694 lbs
Anyone?

Continental ContoGo’s - H rated, load index 68 - 694 lbs
Mike – how are they?

Your personal experience on these or others is appreciated or any corrections.

Brian

[motoman]

Highly recommend your last choice listed. Conti-Go is on both front and rear of my Venturer(81H). Over a 38yr., have run bout every tire brand on market on my Venturer. The Continential Go have found to give best traction/stability/wear for the Standard(17in. rear/19in. front). The Go tires also come really close in demensions to the original size dementions, as other brands do not do that.

[speedlimit85]

I have Conti-go on mine. The rear tire wears quick. They are less expensive and feel good on the road.

I had Michelin Pilot before. They are more expensive, last longer, feel good on the road.

[bikerphil]

There is the Shinko Tourmaster 230, rear should last 6k miles, front 12k unless you're ripping it every second. Cost a few $ more than the 712.

[MaximPhil]

There is the Shinko Tourmaster 230, rear should last 6k miles, front 12k unless you're ripping it every second. Cost a few $ more than the 712.

Hi Phil,
Brian is trying to upgrade from the 230. We will do over 3k miles by the time we get back from XSSE this month.
Phil

[bikerphil]

Yep Phil, I missed that. Thank you.

[jetmechmarty]

I had Sport Demons on my Moto Guzzi. They were working very well, until I met that truck.

I have had some verbal feedback on the Conti Go. It's probably a great choice.

[Schming]

I've used Conti-Blitz tires on my '80G since '92 when I purchased the bike.

Great tires!

Few years back Continental discontinued the Blitzes and replaced them with the Go's and yep I am enjoying them on the full dressed '80G

[JeffH]

Brian,

Likely you probably purchased your tires already. Whatever you get will be great if they are round and hold air.

Tire handling and mileage is of course highly subjective. Weight, speeds driven, road surface and temperature are all highly variable. Folks that run 180kph on rough HOT pavement (Greg / Tod etc.) won't get the same mileage as maybe you will.

I've been running the Conti-GO's since Motoman suggested trying them based on my riding style. The set on my Pacifico xs11 has about 6,000 miles on them including a 4,300 mile hot & fast ride to Colorado Rally. Back tires still has an easy 2,000 to 3,000 miles left in them. Got about 9,000 out of the set before these. Have GO's on my other 11 also and the people that ride behind me say the handling looks to be good. V tires. 57V on the front 68V on the rear. One bike has tubes. The other bike is tubeless.

Lots of brand choices. Can't go wrong with round and holds 40psi.

Jeff

[dbbrian]

Nope, haven't bought them yet I get your point Jeff, guess I'm picky, and hate to make a regrettable choice. I also enjoy the research before buying anything. Once purchased some of the fun is over Might mean nothing in the end.

Besides, a tire thread is usually fun, although it is a lot more quiet on here than it was when I joined in 2016.

Thanks for the input guys. Hope to read more.

[Radioguylogs]

Load Rating

Nobody answered the question about load rating.

The rating is the weight on that individual tire, not the weight of the whole bike. The rear tire carries more weight than the front, but I don't know the accurate proportions offhand.

I believe the rating is limited by the strength of the sidewall under the recommended tire pressure, weight of load, and speed. The sidewall flexes more at high speed it and gets hot. If it gets too hot, the tire can separate.

[motoman]

Load rating of the tires IS inmaterial, as this is determined to be higher by manufacturer than necessary for liability reasons. BTW, same goes for speed rating, as this is determined at a CONSTANT speed tire is rated at.

[MPittma100]

Load Rating

Load rating is based per axle. Load ratings can be different per tire if they are running single or double _ I.e. dually. As in one ton truck. Yamaha specs a certain weight per axle. These combined are total bike weight rating.

[dbbrian]

Choose the Metzler Roadtec 01. put about 200km on them so far. On my way home tonight I was staying ahead of nasty thunderstorms approaching. It became my excuse to go a little faster. I went much faster through the curves than previously, and the bike did not show any sign of the "spagetti frame", "hinge frame" or whatever you call that wobble when you hit a bump in a high speed turn. So it looks promising!

I have an H rated rear tire, so we will see how they last, as there are mixed opinions out there on the H having more tread than a V and lasting longer.

Brian

[Radioguylogs]

Brian:

Regarding that wobble in the turns, I have experienced that before with my Vmax.

One contributor can be loose steering bearings.

In my case, there were loose steering bearings, really old tires, and a plugged pilot jet. If I hit a bump at 3k RPM in a curve, the front wheel would go into a big wobble. It's because the rear wheel skipped when I hit a bump as the needle jets opened up. It stimulated a resonance in the loose steering.

You might want to check your steering bearings. Some folks just jack up the front and pull the forks front/back and look for free play. Others use methods like the bounce test, or fall away test. Hard to go wrong with actual torque measurement.