fitting road tyres

Strangely, my thoughts (with an '09 GSA) were that Conti trail attacks 'suit the bike' so much more than the Road Attacks that came on the bike when I bought it.

Almost too much grip as it were, not as easy to turn in and the roads not as good as the trail attacks in the wet..
 
Steve Wood? BT 023 as used by Ron Haslam. Think they changed supplier this year. The problem is not dry grip but grip in the wet. Not all of us are equally confident in the wet so different tyres will suit different people. Same can be said for the profile. Some will go for the look while others have wisen up and got road tyres to suit their use and needs. So will buy the cheapest on offer while others stick to a brand and some will try every tyre. Horses for courses.

No, road tyres would not put me off but I would like a spare set of wheels. It is a bastard to clean after a bit of mud got on it.
 
so in conclusion, which are the best all round road tyre for a standard 1200GS?
 
so in conclusion, which are the best all round road tyre for a standard 1200GS?

Michellin Pilot road 3 trail are one of the the current big sellers for adventure bikes and come with a free £25 fuel card this month. Quite a few threads of late so do a search...the link i posted above will give you a rough idea of prices fitted to loose wheels.
 
I've had Conti Trails, Battlewings, Roadsmarts and PR3's. All are good, the Roadsmarts were best in the dry and the PR3's in the wet although there's little in it. My personal opinion would be that a bike with off road tyres is more likely to have had a harder life than one with road only tyres.
 
If the bike has had a hard life off road it should be obvious from all the dinks and replaced bits.
If the bike has had a hard thrashing road only tyres it wont be obvious but the mechanics could be well past their best.

Mine has Metzeler Tourance both ends the back spins up so easily on wet grass *you* can do donuts without the front brake. *I* cant I'm not that good but there is certainly minimal grip on a slick surface. They are however perfectly good as road tyres.
 
??

Surely you buy tyres to suit *you*, not some potential, as yet unidentified future buyer? OK, If you are planning on selling the bike soon and it needs new tyres, fit the cheapest ones you can find, but otherwise WTF?
 
so in conclusion, which are the best all round road tyre for a standard 1200GS?

Whatever suits your riding style, ability and budget. Horses for courses.

One mans great tyre is another's not so good, more objective debates here on the forum about tyres than anything else except for "which oil".

I've only ever used original style Tourances myself and have never been able to outride them or find them wanting, despite "making progress". Can be bought from Busters/M&P for £155 a pair delivered.

EDIT: I did have a front Tourance suffer from sidewall cracking years ago, replaced by Metzeler without fuss even though it was half worn. No problems since, just one bad tyre I guess.
 
Michellin Pilot road 3 trail are one of the the current big sellers for adventure bikes and come with a free £25 fuel card this month. Quite a few threads of late so do a search...the link i posted above will give you a rough idea of prices fitted to loose wheels.

I had a pair of PR3s on my old Kawasaki Versys. They warm up quickly and you can treat wet roads like they're dry. If you are committed and brain-out (or in a panic emergency situation), they'll get you through.

Before the PR3s I had the OEM Dunlops and they had terrible ultimate grip, particularly in the wet, but when they did reach the limits, you could feel the tyre letting go. On slippy corners you could feel the grip going, drop it in another couple of degrees and it would scrabble, vibrate and shimmy though to the other side and you'd still end up roughly where you wanted to be on the exit.

The PR3s had FAR more grip and it was very hard to get them to let go, but grip was all or nothing. In the few times I accidentally got the front to slide on a roundabout, it was a half-metre side step and a proper brown trousers moment. If the rear stepped out, it slapped you on the return stroke. I never got any feel for when I was reaching the edge of adhesion. Maybe it's a Versys (or me) specific thing???

Also, the PR3 is very stiff (probably the reason they are all-or-nothing on the grip front), so you feel every wrinkle in the road. The Versys doesn't have the most supple suspension available, so again it might not be an issue on the GS...
 
PR3 has my vote had them on my Tiger Explorer and they were simply superb id put them on my GS today they are that good especially in the wet
 


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