Tyred and confused

[Big-G]

Hi Guy's, I'm now so confused after reading all the tyre stuff I need help on picking my next tyres.
GS 1200, all year, all weather riding, A roads, B roads and some lanes, no off road.
1 & 2 up loaded.
Cheers
G

 

[Tom]

You thinking picking tyres is difficult, wait til you need to change your engine oil!

I have tried Bridgestone Battlewings, Metzler Tourances and Michellin Anakees

All worked fine for what you need. All lasted pretty much the same mileage, although people say Tourances last longest.

Go for the cheapest out of that lot won't go wrong!

 

[Bones]

You wont get a straight answer here as everyone has there own favourites - basically because none of the tyres available are bad. If you don't go off road, I would go for Dunlop Roadsmarts. That's my opinion, there are many others

 

[snerkler]

Unfortunately is personal preference. My bike came with Tourance EXP's on and so I'll probably stick with them as I'm used to them and happy with them. If they'd have come with a different tyre on I'd have probably said the same thing with those
As the GS is not a performance bike there's not so much need to worry about super sticky tyres and extreme lean angles. For me ( and probably due to the northerner in me) I'm more concerned about how long a tyre will last. My EXP's have done 5200miles so far and I'd imagine I'd get at least another 1k out of them. From what I've read on other posts this seems pretty reasonable

 

[Ravenbyrne]

Hi Guy's, I'm now so confused after reading all the tyre stuff I need help on picking my next tyres.
GS 1200, all year, all weather riding, A roads, B roads and some lanes, no off road.
1 & 2 up loaded.
Cheers
G

This might help.........

http://www.tyretest.com/motorcycle_tyres/index.html

 

[Martyn H]

You wont get a straight answer here as everyone has there own favourites - basically because none of the tyres available are bad. If you don't go off road, I would go for Dunlop Roadsmarts. That's my opinion, there are many others

I agree, in that in my experience (GSA & 1200RT) the Dunlops are an excellent choice, although I now run Conti Road Attacks & am delighted with them.

As was said above, all the main players make damn good tyres.

 

[Deleted account 210516001]

Its hard to be objective because I went from a well squared off set of bridgestones to the roadsmarts and the handling was like night and day. Much better in the wet and dry but probably useless in a wet boggy field.

I will be sticking with the roadsmarts for touring.

 

[Wapping]

The right size, inflated to the correct pressure is your best guide.

Anything else is simply personal preference, cost, estimated longevity and where bods can get them fitted on a Sunday in a hurry.

 

[Rasher]

Done about 1,000 miles on my Roadsmarts now, a mix of one up, two-up and touring (two-up and loaded)

I started on (admittedly quite worn) Battlewings and did not rate them, Tourance EXP's performed well but it looked like it would be easy to ride of the edge, and although I would bet it would not be so easy I fancied something with a better footprint as I will not do more than a gravel track myself.

The Roadsmarts inspire confidence, I am leaning further than ever before and they feel very planted, they also warm up quickly and feel sticky to the touch when warm, I doubt they will last much longer than the dual purpose tyres (as Dunlop claim) but they are typically a bit cheaper so not like you are losing out if they don't.

 

[red1]

Michelin Road Pilot 2 or 3

 

[bose]

Michelin Road Pilot 2 or 3

These wont fit standard GS1200 wheels ,no 19" front fittment

 

[Naim]

You should only fit road tyre's to the cast wheel gs, As it's not a real GS!
All proper GS have spoke type wheels,And as such be fitted with on/off road tyre's

 

[tigerjohn]

Conti Trail Attacks....nice and smooth on the road but will cope with the occasional lane. I had Annakees before but won't be going back to them.

 

[corsicandreamer]

You wont get a straight answer here as everyone has there own favourites - basically because none of the tyres available are bad. If you don't go off road, I would go for Dunlop Roadsmarts. That's my opinion, there are many others

+1 as above, for tarmac nothing sticks like a roadsmart, because of that mileage doesn't matter to me. Just my humble opinion

 

[oldnfat]

Got Anakee 2s on mine and boy what a mistake....great grip in dry and wet..not bad on the gravel BUT the noisiest tyre I have ever had. At the risk of being in the wrong place ..if anyone wants some nearly new Anakee 2s (some on here swear by them) with under 300 miles on them then they can have them for £100 as they will be coming off before my big trip at end of May.

 

[GSband]

I'm more interested in grip than mileage, so what follows is only about grip.

- Tourance and Trail Attack. What bothers me is the negative thread pattern in blocks. These tend to wear uneven, so that the tyre loses grip as it does more miles. This can then lead to wobbly behaviour on lean. Just as an example :

- Anakee has a longitudal negative thread pattern, with the same result from new, esp. when loaded : wobbly on angle.

- Battlewing doesn't have these blocks, and is an excellent performer as far as grip goes, but it has problems in the wet.

- Tourance EXP : block pattern, but since the compound is softer (= best grip), it wears more even. Of all GS tyres my personal favourite.

The advantage of larger grooves on GS tyres is that it takes more time for them to fill up with mud/sand. If I'd really need to buy GS tyres, I'd buy Tourance EXP again, because of the excellent grip. I would definitely NOT buy Tourance, Anakee, Battlewing, Trail Attack.

The description of typical GS tyres is usually something like '80% road, 20% off road'. This indicates that they're close to 100% road tyres. The typical GS tyre is NOT suited for real off roading anyway, you'd need wobblies. The question then is : how close are road tyres to GS tyres ?

Last year I drove into a wood on EXP, hoping to bypass some roadworks. To my surprise I was followed by 3 non trail bikes that aren't supposed to go off road, on specific road tyres. One of them a Triumph 1150 Sprint. They coped well in these circumstances. The trail through the wood got worse and worse. Every time I thought 'surely they'll stop here', they were still right behind me. This made me realise that road tyres can do more than expected.

So I decided to buy road tyres. I was fed up with the uneven wear and loss of grip on GS tyres. I bought Dunlop Roadsmarts. They outperform the typical GS tyres on tarmac, have amazing grip anytime, dry or wet, and are far more comfortable. I'm on my third set now, and I'll stick with them till something better comes along.

But that's just what I decided I want from my tyres. There are so many considerations : high mileage is one of them, and another seems to be the 'look' on a GS.

To each their own .
Cheers !

 

[rodsharp]

Following up on OLDNFAT comment about noise with Anakees reminds me of Pilot Roads I had fitted last year. The noise was so bad, especially on european roads, I kept thinking there was something wrong with the gearbox or final drive. Also they were the worst tyres I have ever had, not because of grip which was ok but because they just didnt seem to suit the bike. They didnt "feel" good, very difficult to turn in and it just felt cumbersome. My previous tyres to the Michelins were Avons which didnt last as long but made the bike feel so much more agile,and gripped well enough for me.

 

[The Nutter]

I'm more interested in grip than mileage, so what follows is only about grip.

- Tourance and Trail Attack. What bothers me is the negative thread pattern in blocks. These tend to wear uneven, so that the tyre loses grip as it does more miles. This can then lead to wobbly behaviour on lean. Just as an example :

- Anakee has a longitudal negative thread pattern, with the same result from new, esp. when loaded : wobbly on angle.

- Battlewing doesn't have these blocks, and is an excellent performer as far as grip goes, but it has problems in the wet.

- Tourance EXP : block pattern, but since the compound is softer (= best grip), it wears more even. Of all GS tyres my personal favourite.

The advantage of larger grooves on GS tyres is that it takes more time for them to fill up with mud/sand. If I'd really need to buy GS tyres, I'd buy Tourance EXP again, because of the excellent grip. I would definitely NOT buy Tourance, Anakee, Battlewing, Trail Attack.

The description of typical GS tyres is usually something like '80% road, 20% off road'. This indicates that they're close to 100% road tyres. The typical GS tyre is NOT suited for real off roading anyway, you'd need wobblies. The question then is : how close are road tyres to GS tyres ?

Last year I drove into a wood on EXP, hoping to bypass some roadworks. To my surprise I was followed by 3 non trail bikes that aren't supposed to go off road, on specific road tyres. One of them a Triumph 1150 Sprint. They coped well in these circumstances. The trail through the wood got worse and worse. Every time I thought 'surely they'll stop here', they were still right behind me. This made me realise that road tyres can do more than expected.

So I decided to buy road tyres. I was fed up with the uneven wear and loss of grip on GS tyres. I bought Dunlop Roadsmarts. They outperform the typical GS tyres on tarmac, have amazing grip anytime, dry or wet, and are far more comfortable. I'm on my third set now, and I'll stick with them till something better comes along.

But that's just what I decided I want from my tyres. There are so many considerations : high mileage is one of them, and another seems to be the 'look' on a GS.

To each their own .
Cheers !

I'm considering Roadsmarts myself to replace my very square Battlewings. What kind of mileage do you get from these? I don't mind forgoing a bit of mileage if the grip is that much better.
Thanks

 

[Big-G]

Thanks Guy's. Brilliant straight information. Based on this I'll be going for Dunlop roadsmarts. Given I get 6k rear / 8k front I suppose I will lose milage but I'm looking forward to better wet grip and faster turning. Cheers G

 

[Tom]

Thanks Guy's. Brilliant straight information. Based on this I'll be going for Dunlop roadsmarts. Given I get 6k rear / 8k front I suppose I will lose milage but I'm looking forward to better wet grip and faster turning. Cheers G

If you are going for sports touring tyre rather than GS specific type tyres .. have you considered the Bridgestone Battlax 023s?

Or the Conti ROAD attacks?

Or Pilot Road 2s or 3s from Michellin?

OR the Avons?