Just spent the last hour looking for tires myself.

Sportec M3's on Ebay for $250 shipped for the set. Excellent tires. On the SH now.

Bridgestone BT-021's on Ebay for $223 shipped. Excellent high mileage tires. Just bought another set for my friend's VFR.

Metzeler Z6's on Denniskirk.com for $275 shipped.

Pirelli Diablo Strada's on Ebay for $274 shipped.

So what type of riding do you do? I took the M3's to the track and they were great. Seem to be getting good mileage from them as well. The other tires I listed are agressive sport touring tires, so they would be good if you slab a lot or like straight lines.

 

lynchie ... it has been said recently that the old term ' heat cycle ' is a thing of the past ( from a dunlop rep ). i'm not sure if i totally agree with that but i do know, talking with old timers ( racers ), that tires do cycle a TON better than what they used to.

as far as heating up this is just a lack of understanding of what & how a tire heats up. i would agree that if your just an average rider putting around .. race takes offs are not for you.

a tire heats up by friction, road surface temp & carcus flex. there is a heat range that you'd like to hit but it's easier to just read tire pressure. from cold to hot you want to see about 4-5 psi change. if you under that reduce the tire pressure... & if you over then increase tire pressure.

too many people want to run take-offs at tire pressures that relate more toward a standard street tire. i run 30 psi up front on pretty much any tire & 26-28 rear depending on manufacturer. ( my dunlop rear was 23 psi at the track ) i will raise them a bit on days that are REALLY hot, like over 90.

a track tire will heat up SLOWER than a street tire & at the lower pressure will feel a little flat until it gets up to temp. both street & track tires get very greasy when they are done but i've always felt you need to continue to ball up a track tire to expose new rubber.

the plus to a track tire ( race take-off ) is the grip & the feedback. just like suspension... you only know the best you've riden on.

just some info for the small minority as most people do just fine on street rubber.


tim

 

I just replaced the rear with one of these....after a couple hundred miles, I like 'em!

$350 installed? I hope that was for front AND rear!

I would expect well under $300 at my local shop.

 

check the price on a set of shinko tires. I have 1200 miles on my rear one and it looks new. previously had conti-force, the rear lasted 6000 miles.

 

I had a set of Michelin Race that I rode on for a couple of thousand miles with Hotbrakes and they worked out really well, plus they had a lot of tread on them to begin with.

I replaced those with the Metzler M3, purchased online from Aloha Sports for $250 shipped, and I have really enjoyed the way the bike handles with them.

Good luck.

 

Dunlop road smart tires here put on 3000 miles ago and just a little bit of a flat spot in the front and rear(daily commuter 120+miles). Great grip up at Palomar the other day.

 

michelin road 2 a year ago on my gixxer1000.
a week ago i put a set on my vtr.
great tire.