Tire choices

[1967vmax]

. Wow sportbike tire have come along way since i bought a set . I am looking to put a new set of tires on my zx 14 so i am looking on ebay at tire packages and holy shit all the choice Road tec sport tec in the Metzler . pilot sport, pilot road 2,3,4 all different compound hard center soft side walls then there are the shinkos to . Im looking for at the bridgestone B23 battleaxes and the Metzler roadtec and im open to other choices to. Who here runs a sportbike with sport touring tires and what are the pros and cons to running this set up. Or should i just stick to the soft compound tires on the zx14?:ummm:

 

[customizedcreationz]

I have two sets of wheels for my ZX14. I ll have to take a look the tires came on the bike are Pilots 3's I believe and the other set I bought had tires on them and I think they are Pilot SR's. I have a set of Shinko tires waiting to put on the rims. They are the hook up for the rear and the stealth for the front. I ran the Stealth on the back of my Turbo Busa and it lasted around 800 miles or so ( maybe 1000 miles ) but that wasn't easy miles either. It was STICKY though that is for sure. But the next tire was a softer compound and it stuck even better, but they all still spun on the Turbo bike, even the Reactor slick I tried out ( it would spin at high rpm where the turbo was really boosting , in each gear ).

So I can't say touring I can give you the best info. But I can say for sticky street riding, the Shinko Stealth is hard to beat for price and longevity. The Shinko Tourmaster on my Vmax would last around 5000 miles. So I replaced it two to one compared to the front. I usually replaced the rear twice a year. I would replace the front and rear at the beginning of the season and and then halfway through I would put another rear on. Usually around 10,000 miles a season on a bike.

The ZX I am getting ready to ride to bike week in a few weeks. I will trailer to KY and then riding from there. I have around 4500 miles planned. for this ride. The tires I currently have will make the ride and when I get back I will probably swap out to my other rims and ride those on my next trip which is to Alabama in June, and should be another 3500-4500 mile trip.

When I hammer out those two sets of tires I will go to the Shinko Stealth tires for street use and then the Hook up for the track. I still have my slick and I might even toss that on a wheel and see how it does if I change the gear ratio's.

So I can't be much help with sport touring tires on the ZX14 since I haven't even ridden mine yet, but I can only say what I experienced with the other bikes. And Shinko is cheap and been super reliable for me. From low horsepower ( Vmax ) to higher horsepower ( Turbo Busa ) and in between.

I didn't go with the other tires because of the price difference between them and how often I like to change them.

Todd

 

[davesax36]

. From low horsepower ( Vmax ) to higher horsepower ( Turbo Busa ) and in between.
Todd

:rofl_200::rofl_200:

I'm pretty sure you meant from HIGH horsepower to WTF?!?!?!

Anyway. I've gotta vote for the Pilot Road 4. Unless you're going to the track to drag race all the time. Check out BaronVonGrumble on youtube. He took his GSXR1k on a trip from London to Catalunya, did a track day while there, and still ended up getting 12k miles out of his Pilot Roads. I know the 14 is a bigger and more powerful bike, but for proably double the mileage, I'd give them a try. Motorcycle-superstore.com has them on intro pricing right now, too. I would have gone for them had I not already ordered PR3s. Also they don't make an 18 that fits the stock front V-max wheel.