Tyres tyres tyres - opinions on gixer tyres..

An truicear tochasach

As the title suggests, looking for opinions on the most suitable tyres for an old (99) gixer 750. Picked this up last November after a long absence from the bikes. Got shot of the 2nd car & picked it up fairly cheap (for economical reasons). Hated it at first but absolutely love it now. I'll be using it all next winter & it's finally time to change the 15+ year old Michelin Macadem? Tyres. They're a bit on on the hard side for my liking & don't half stick to the road enough (Kicked out on me a couple of times).

I'm in North Cork so a mixture of motorway & LOTS of country roads.

Michelin pilot road 3 seem to be a 'popular' choice in Cork apparently but opinions are welcome. I personally have a preference towards a softer compound over mileage (without getting rediculous about it).

blade1

An truicear tochasach wrote: »

As the title suggests, looking for opinions on the most suitable tyres for an old (99) gixer 750. Picked this up last November after a long absence from the bikes. Got shot of the 2nd car & picked it up fairly cheap (for economical reasons). Hated it at first but absolutely love it now. I'll be using it all next winter & it's finally time to change the 15+ year old Michelin Macadem? Tyres. They're a bit on on the hard side for my liking & don't half stick to the road enough (Kicked out on me a couple of times).

I'm in North Cork so a mixture of motorway & LOTS of country roads.

Michelin pilot road 3 seem to be a 'popular' choice in Cork apparently but opinions are welcome. I personally have a preference towards a softer compound over mileage (without getting rediculous about it).

Pilot road 3 or 4,perfect for what you want.

arybvtcw0eolkf

I'd say if you're losing the back end on a Gixxer 750 then the Pilot 3 or 4's ain't for you.

I'd Pilot 3's fitted to my BMW R1100S and found the front wore horribly, there was loads of thread left in the middle (seems the rubber is very hard here) and wore to sh*t on the sides resulting in a horrible handling bike.

I got advice from Aidan Lynam who suggested I went over to Micheline T-30's (Ron Haslem uses them on his track school bikes) and tbh I wouldn't touch a Pilot 3 or 4 after using these.

b_mac2

Romeo Gray Science wrote: »

I got advice from Aidan Lynam who suggested I went over to Micheline T-30's (Ron Haslem uses them on his track school bikes) and tbh I wouldn't touch a Pilot 3 or 4 after using these.

Think you mean Bridgestone T30's...

arybvtcw0eolkf

b_mac2 wrote: »

Think you mean Bridgestone T30's...

I do of course, my apologizes.

An truicear tochasach

Romeo Gray Science wrote: »

I'd say if you're losing the back end on a Gixxer 750 then the Pilot 3 or 4's ain't for you.

I'd Pilot 3's fitted to my BMW R1100S and found the front wore horribly, there was loads of thread left in the middle (seems the rubber is very hard here) and wore to sh*t on the sides resulting in a horrible handling bike.

I got advice from Aidan Lynam who suggested I went over to Micheline T-30's (Ron Haslem uses them on his track school bikes) and tbh I wouldn't touch a Pilot 3 or 4 after using these.

Interesting - I take it that your riding the T-30's with no complaints? Like I said, ive been away from bikes but when I was riding, I wasn't a fan of Michelin. Out of interest, have you or anyone else here ridden Metzeler☺

arybvtcw0eolkf

An truicear tochasach wrote: »

Interesting - I take it that your riding the T-30's with no complaints? Like I said, ive been away from bikes but when I was riding, I wasn't a fan of Michelin. Out of interest, have you or anyone else here ridden Metzeler☺

I've a T-30 front and waiting for the Pilot 3 rear to wear a little more before replacing it with the T30.

I've a soft spot for Metzeler's ~ I used them for a long time back in the 90's but haven't in the last few years, although I've been tempted.

Wonda-Boy

Honestly I cannot fault any PR version tyre, I have had the 2s & 3s and on my PR4s now. Wet grip is unbelievable and getting another set fitted on sat on new bike.

thelawman

Wonda-Boy wrote: »

Honestly I cannot fault any PR version tyre, I have had the 2s & 3s and on my PR4s now. Wet grip is unbelievable and getting another set fitted on sat on new bike.

That's good to hear, I'm getting PR4 fitted on Saturday, never used any PR's before, btw what is your new bike?

b_mac2

My PR4 front tyre got to this stage and there was still loads left in the rear.

landmarkjohn

An truicear tochasach wrote: »

Out of interest, have you or anyone else here ridden Metzeler☺

In a different era... in the early 90's I changed from OE Dunlops to a Metzeler ME99 rear and ME33 Laser? (I think) on Kawasaki GPZ600R. Loved them, they were grippy and inspired confidence.... the OE Dunlops were horrible in the wet, too hard, no grip.

corkgsxr

Ah Michelin macadams are downright useless 8 years ago I had grip issues with them on a hornet 250.

Sporty go for Bridgestone s20
Bit longer milage Bridgestone t30s

szatan84

An truicear tochasach wrote: »

Out of interest, have you or anyone else here ridden Metzeler☺

I got a bad puncture in my rear bridgestone bt016 pro and it damaged the sidewall. Since I was stuck I got the dealer fo put in something else as nobody stcoks 016 pro. He gave me a Matzeler M5. Its €50 cheaper than bridgestone and I haven't noticed much defference (front is still on old bt016 pro). I would get them again but they don't do matcbjng front for me (130/70/16). All in all very good tire in wet and dry with excellent grip (almost rival that of bridgestone which is softer). Good bang for buck and they look sweet.

fenris

The older Gixers needed a narrow tyre (150 -160) with a high v section to corner, my 86 G model loved to go in straight lines but you really hard to throw it into corners to get around, it was always funny at traffic lights when misguided souls thought it was a 250 or 400 based on the rear tyre :-)
Bridgestone and Metzler were the only real options, I tried pirelli dragons to see if a bit of extra grip would give me more scope but the back tyre was knackered after a month.

Wonda-Boy

thelawman wrote: »

That's good to hear, I'm getting PR4 fitted on Saturday, never used any PR's before, btw what is your new bike?

Suzuki GSX1250FA....

An truicear tochasach

Thanks to all- there's a wealth of experience there to draw & ponder on.... next I just have to wait for the next pay cheque. ....and the next..☺

arybvtcw0eolkf

b_mac2 wrote: »

My PR4 front tyre got to this stage and there was still loads left in the rear.

Mine wore the very same, identical in fact. An absolute pox of a tyre.

An truicear tochasach

Romeo Gray Science wrote: »

Mine wore the very same, identical in fact. An absolute pox of a tyre.

Seems to be a recurring theme here- got the same report from another friend riding an Aprilla- he reckons it's from hard breaking - I'm not entirely convinced now...

CJhaughey

Its the tyre construction.
The dual compound is designed for the way lots of....less sporty riders wear their tyres, worn out in the centre and lots of tread from 9 O'clock to 11 and 1 O'clock to 3
The harder centre is designed to last a long time when the bike is mostly upright and the soft edges provide a lot of grip.
Unfortunately if you spend a lot of time leaned over and with a fair bit of throttle then the sides will wear faster than the hard centre and the result is what you see in that photo.
I think the biggest difference is the sidewall stiffness, Michelins have very soft sidewalls and the Bridgestones are much stiffer.

Wonda-Boy

In fairness that is exactly what I am after TBH, plenty of grip on the sidewalls. I spend most of my time on very twisty roads so it suits my riding.

Wossack

pilot powers get my thumbs up

have pr4s on other bike, which replaced pilot road 2ct's - which I really liked. Not had much road time with the pr4s though unfortunately

Mesrine65

Metzeler RoadTec Z8's are the only tyre for me, I had RoadTec Z6's before & loved them, great grip especially in the wet.

Bit of a Metzeler fan boy in truth, always confident with them fitted.

Wossack

they're so feckin expensive, that its hard to be able to try them all - and one bad experience often sours peoples view of the entire brand

so it usually ends up with a case of; find ones that work for you, and stick with em religiously

Wonda-Boy

Mesrine65 wrote: »

Bit of a Metzeler fan boy in truth, always confident with them fitted.

That is what is so important....the confidence the tyre give you.

Wonda-Boy

Wossack wrote: »

they're so feckin expensive, that its hard to be able to try them all - and one bad experience often sours peoples view of the entire brand

so it usually ends up with a case of; find ones that work for you, and stick with em religiously

Yeah, but you cant really take chances either....or you might not get a chance to try anything ever again :eek:

arybvtcw0eolkf

Mesrine65 wrote: »

Metzeler RoadTec Z8's are the only tyre for me, I had RoadTec Z6's before & loved them, great grip especially in the wet.

Bit of a Metzeler fan boy in truth, always confident with them fitted.

I was going to try the Z8's, they get superb reviews too.

I think they've always had a great reputation for European roads.

Having used the PR3's and now a Bridgestone T30 on the front I'll never go back to PR anything's ~ and simply because of the horrendous wear pattern I experienced on the front (and my front spends a lot of time in the air :P ).

You have me curious about using Metzeler's again lol.

I'm sure you remember the old ME33's?.. They were my first decent tires after riding on Dunlop TT100's ~ Good God I felt like a 500 GP rider

An truicear tochasach

CJhaughey wrote: »

Its the tyre construction.
The dual compound is designed for the way lots of....less sporty riders wear their tyres, worn out in the centre and lots of tread from 9 O'clock to 11 and 1 O'clock to 3
The harder centre is designed to last a long time when the bike is mostly upright and the soft edges provide a lot of grip.
Unfortunately if you spend a lot of time leaned over and with a fair bit of throttle then the sides will wear faster than the hard centre and the result is what you see in that photo.
I think the biggest difference is the sidewall stiffness, Michelins have very soft sidewalls and the Bridgestones are much stiffer.

Oh dear- looks like I'm a 'sporty rider' - need to get out more! ! Your post makes complete sense though although I wouldn't have cons

An truicear tochasach

CJhaughey wrote: »

Its the tyre construction.
The dual compound is designed for the way lots of....less sporty riders wear their tyres, worn out in the centre and lots of tread from 9 O'clock to 11 and 1 O'clock to 3
The harder centre is designed to last a long time when the bike is mostly upright and the soft edges provide a lot of grip.
Unfortunately if you spend a lot of time leaned over and with a fair bit of throttle then the sides will wear faster than the hard centre and the result is what you see in that photo.
I think the biggest difference is the sidewall stiffness, Michelins have very soft sidewalls and the Bridgestones are much stiffer.

Oh dear- looks like I'm a 'sporty rider' - need to get out more! ! Your post makes complete sense though although I wouldn't have considered myself a particularly sporty rider😦. Sporty rider = expensive & dangerous = please visit me in CUH 😂😂