Which tires do you buy?

Avons have been around as long as I can remember. Never tried them though. :whistle:
Steve

Steve, that is likely the cause of some premature wear, I read lots of reviews on those tires before deciding to go with them and was amazed at the mileages people were achieving, so unless you ride really hard all the time, they should last a long time on the relatively light and not massively powerful, by today's standards, KZ1000, I have the 120/90/18 rear on a 2.5" rim, I don't think a 130 would fit on there without some "pinching" that would alter the profile, which is why I went with a 120. The 230 Tourmasters seem quite generously sized compared to some other tires, including Shinko's own 712's which I have on my KZ650, so they fill the rims pretty well in the "stock" metric sizes, let alone going bigger.

The PO of my bike fitted Avon Venom tires in 2007, they have about 1,000 miles on them, but the front was cracking on the sidewalls, despite always being stored inside, not that I wouldn't have changed them any way after 8 years, but looking at the price of them on the invoices($300) he gave me for work he'd had done, I'd settle for Shinko's every time. I genuinely think they are a good tire and that you are not compromising much, if anything, by using them over more expensive brands, but definitely if you are not using your bike enough to wear them out, it makes changes for age related safety reasons more palatable with their pricing.

Had plenty of Avon Roadrunners back in the day, they were so much better than the stock tires that came on Japanese bikes in the 70's

Love Shinko tires.

Taking a ride to my daughters house saturday. I plan on stopping by Chaparral on monday to buy a new tire. Still torn between the 120 or 130 Shinkos. Got the tire 6/17/15 about 5000 miles on the 130. The track was thin for a while on the dirt road. :dry: Do you guys think I'll get more miles with the 120? Time to make the decision.
Steve

Shinko 712s on my bikes. Might switch to their touring tire this summer if I manage to get a good road trip planned.

those are a nice price, per set for my kz750 ltd. Will keep this in mind for the spring as i've put 4,000+ miles on my current set & they will eventually need replacement

swest wrote: I'm sold on them. Chaparral has free shipping over $100 and if you don't live in this left hanging state, there's no tax.
Steve

Will consider these as they seem relatively affordable and have good features. Thanks

David

Nessism wrote: Another vote for Avon Roadriders if you want more mileage. The Shinko 230's stick fine and are cheap, but the Avon's will yield about the same value when you consider the extra mileage. One issue though, the Roadriders tend to get sidewall cracks, particularly from guys that store their bike in a cold garage over the winter. The Sport Demon's are sticky, but mileage isn't up to the Avon level. Regarding BT45's, they stick well but a good many guys report cupping as the tires wear. On my latest bike I went with Conti Go's. No experience with them yet but Continental doesn't make junk and they can be found for decent prices. American Motorcycle Tire is my favor tire supplier (free shipping). Worst tires I've seen lately are Metzeler Lasertec's. This very much surprised me since Metzeler has an excellent reputation but the tires have proven to be very short lived and the sidewall's cracked all to crap. My friend using them hasn't experienced any riding issues with the cracks in the sidewall rubber, but talked him into switching to the Roadriders for the next go-round.

Another with Bridgestone Battlax here. Best tire I have tried so far, but since my previous classics have been superbikes like the FZR1000 Exup, it might just be my riding style and habit.

Another vote for Bridgestone BT-45's. I have them on my h2 750. They grip great (even on the track) and wear like iron!

My kz1000 has 17" sportbike rims so I went the extra mile and put Pirelli Diablo Rosso's on them. They are the stickiest tire I've ever ridden on, bar none! On the track, they're amazing! They do wear quicker though. I'm due to replace them this season.

Conti classic attacks. pretty sure they are the only modern sporting radials u can get for vintage sizes. pricey tho.

Just ordered from Motorcycle Super store on sale.

Buying my 3rd set , I get around 12,000 miles on a set.

The 3.25/19 works as both back or front tire

bluej58 wrote: I get 12,000 miles on Avon AM26 Roadriders and will be buying my third pair next year.
They are the only set that are made exactly for my rims.
3.25-19 front and 4.00-18 rear.
260 bucks delivered with Pirelli inner tubes included from Motorcycle superstore

+ 1 for Avon Roadriders. They're affordable, quality tires. Some guys tell me they are better for cornering than Bridgestone BT45's. I don't know, I'm not interested in grinding footpegs anymore. That's because I don't want to fall, especially on a 40+ year old bike using a 50+ year old body.

BT45's are great tires as well and they're affordable.