South West Bikers | Motorcycle Forum

so then, just by the fact that your reading this thread I'm assuming you either own a sportsbike or have expereince of owning one.

what class of tyres do you recommend using on it, do you go for sports touring tyres, sports tyres or fast road/trackday tyres?






so, using my steed as an example bike, the Tuono, good as an example because its sort of mid weight & mid power between modern 600's and 1000's, what do we put on it and why?


if not a sport touring tyre why not?

It largely depends on what you want to do on your bike, recently sports touring tyres have been the recommendation as these days they are sticky enough for most road riding and give good life. If you want to ride the knackers off your bike you're best going for a sports tyre such as the BT014 or the diablo.

If you use the bike regularly and tend to go a bit more leisurely then go for a sports touring like the strada or BT020, they last longer too, which is also useful if you take pillions!

I've got Metzeler Rennsports on mine at the mo, that was because of Llandow and they lasted bloody well (until my engine went).

So it's not completely or at all about what type of bike you have, but more about how you use it.

Having tryed a couple of different tyres, I settled with Michelin Pilot Sports.

Great profile and are amazingly stable at any speed.

If you ride really hard and find yourself loosing traction they are remakably good at finding grip while you are going sideways.

They arent especially expensive either.

Oh and get a 180/55 rear tyre profile! Really sharpens the handling.

(I'm assuming your bike has a 6" rear rim)

Depends what you want to do. I've got Pirellis Diablo Corsa III's on my thou which are dual compound. So they're soft at the edges and hard in the middle.
A really good mix of longevity for motorway miles etc but also good when it gets twisty. And I have to say that them and the 2 CT's seem to be the most popular on GSXR's.

But if you want an out and out scratching tyre then the Avon Viper extreme seems to be a good choice. But they won't last as long as the Corsa III's.

But if most of your riding is bimbling around then go for a sport tyre like a Michelin power or power sport.

Horses for courses mate.

I want a sticky tyre that'll last. Hence I'm happy having my thou wear Corsas III's

Jonny wrote:Oh and get a 180/55 rear tyre profile! Really sharpens the handling.

(I'm assuming your bike has a 6" rear rim)

I'm not asking what tyres to fit to my Tuono,

I tried to word the question to ask what TYPE of tyre should be fitted to a sports bike to try and create a bit of a debate on here, I know what type of tyre I will and wont fit to my bikes but am curious as to attitudes of others.

Funky as knocked the nail on the head straight away, I have an 014/021 combination on at the moment so I'm happy using ST tyres and have found absolutley no issues with grip, infact it was the 014 that was sliding on track not the 021

Jonny wrote:Having tryed a couple of different tyres, I settled with Michelin Pilot Sports.

Great profile and are amazingly stable at any speed.

If you ride really hard and find yourself loosing traction they are remakably good at finding grip while you are going sideways.

They arent especially expensive either.

Have you tried the Michelin Pilot Road 2's? was thinking of getting them next time.

J_K wrote: But if most of your riding is bimbling around then go for a sport tyre like a Michelin power or power sport.

my riding is mostly 'spirited commuting' with no town work at all.


I was getting my knee down on D220's in February this year, what benefit would there be to using sport tyres such as the power/power sport?

Why not have the best you can??

J_K wrote:Why not have the best you can??

durability is logically far greater with an ST tyre with little compromise in grip, and it may be cheaper to buy in comparison to the sports tyre

If all your riding is "spirited commuting" then I agree that you should have an ST tyre. It "should" give you better mileage.
But if you do go on the odd major loon scratching session then I would suggest the sport tyre. The sport tyre will be working within it's heat tolerance whereas an ST tyre will be hotter than it's meant to be. Not good..

You also might find that you source sport tyres cheaper..

At the end of the day, would you rather save £20 on a set of tyres and get more mileage, or spend £1000's rebuilding your bike and possibly yourself if you take your tyres beyond their limit of adhesion?

J_K wrote:The sport tyre will be working within it's heat tolerance whereas an ST tyre will be hotter than it's meant to be. Not good..

good point and one that I hadn't considered, J_K

do you think its possible to get a tyre that hot then? bearing in mind everytime you catch up with a car or go through a village or slow down for any reason then wont you lose a fair bit of heat pretty quickly?

I've never had bobbling on my tyres from riding on the road like you get on track.

tafflade wrote:I've never had bobbling on my tyres from riding on the road like you get on track.

precisely,you'll never run out of tyre on the road,abilities yes but not tyres. tyres never get upto track/race speed on the road and you dont use the bike/engine/gearbox as harsh either so dont have the power/torque going through road tyres.

i am running pilot power 2cts and love them,would only change them for racetechs or the power race,i only ride on the roads because i have too and enjoy riding on the track more. i dont skimp on tyres,brakes or helmets and alway buy the best i can afford at the time.

Well, GP tyres run over 100° but we aren't GP riders.

Imagine you get up at 6am on a gorgeous sunny day and go to your favourite set of twisties. There isn't a breath of wind and the ambient temperature is 24°.
Your on the best form of your life and your feeling great. knee down round every corner. There is no way you could have ridden any faster.....

Every now and then, a few of the above things come together and we have a magical ride. It's not beyond the realms of possibility that you could overheat ST tyres on a tuono. And I don't know about you but I'm getting faster the older I get. Honest
I have got some bobbles hanging onto the very edge of my tyres and I haven't taken it on the track since I bought it...

deej wrote:
precisely,you'll never run out of tyre on the road,abilities yes but not tyres. tyres never get upto track/race speed on the road and you dont use the bike/engine/gearbox as harsh either so dont have the power/torque going through road tyres.

I have to disagree with you there matey.