Tyre Advise for FJR1300...

Eye

Hey guys, looking for a bit of advise on a new set of tyres for my 2006 Yamaha FJR1300.

Bit of a long story but here goes...

Been driving 2 wheels for 10 years now but bought the FJR new in Feb 2006, now 3.5 year later I have just over 49,000k on the clock and have gone through 5 complete sets of tyres and need to get the next pair on shortly as these are buggered.

Lets look at the History:

Front
Tyre___________________Life (Km)_____Life (miles)
Metzler MEZ4_____________11862________7414
Bridgstone BT014___________8528________5330
Bridgstone BT021___________8167________5104
Bridgstone BT021___________8133________5083
Pirelli Strada______________12660________7913

Rear
Tyre____________________Life (Km)_____Life (miles)
Metzler MEZ4_____________11862________7414
Bridgstone BT014___________5938________3711
Bridgstone BT020___________8649________5406
Bridgstone BT021__________10241________6401
Pirelli Strada______________12660________7913


Hope that comes out right and makes sense.

On each occasion when I changed tyres it was because they were worn down to what I would deem an acceptable level and none were punctured.

I do tend to ride the bike relatively hard, particularly acceleration wise, and i do enjoy chucking it into corners wherever I can, however the FJR is really eating up the tyres on me. I was expecting something along the lines of 1 Front to 2 Rear but 1 to 1 just seems a bit odd.

The other Issue I have run into alot is very poor/uneven wear of the tyres, particularly the front tyre. Maybe its just the way I'm riding it but I tend to end up with a very prominent ridge just off center on both sides of the tyre, my guess is that the soft compound on the sides is wearing much faster that the harder compound in the center and its causing these ridges to wear into them. I can't say I ever noticed it to any great extent with the Original Metzlers that came with the bike or the BT014's but as they were so soft and I chewed threw them so quick it would have been hard to notice. the BT 020's, BT 021's and the Pirelli's have all suffered chronically bad wear towards the end of their life. So much so that I begin to loose all confidence in the handling of the bike, even in the dry as its no longer stable in a straight line.

Basically I'm looking for some advise regarding a couple of different options that I have. Having done some searching on various FJR sites and just other sites in general I am beginning to lean towards a set of Continental ContiRoad Attack's as my next set. Anyone used these before on and FJR? or even on any other bikes? would be curious to hear what kinda life span they had and how they felt and wore.

Other options I think I could try are Dunlop's, I know that 1 of the Garda FJR's in Waterford has Dunlop's (possibly the D209's) on it but dont yet know what the wear is like on them as the front was changed recently due to puncture
Also was thinking about a set of Michelin Pilot Road 2, anyone had any good/bad experiences with these tyres.?
And the final option would be a set of Avon Storm's. Seen them mentioned in one or 2 american sites, but nothing much said about here on those.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I'm not sure if it's the bike or my riding style that's chewing up the tyres but I could really do with a good set of tyres that will last without wearing so badly that I'm no longer comfortable on 2 wheels.

Run_to_da_hills

Just replaced the tyres on the Gixr with a harder compound Dunlop D207's Sportsmax, prefere a general purpose sports touring tyre rather than a more expensive soft compound sports tyre that will wear out quicker.

Interceptor

D209's have a taller profile and have to be forced into a turn - I have them on my Varadero 1000. A recent article in RIDE mag suggested that unless you are doing a lot of track days then there is no need for sports tyres - sports touring tyres are more than capable and last longer. The FJR is a heavy bike and if you are driving it 'flambouyantly' then you can expect tyres to get eaten fairly quickly. I'm not a fan of Continental or Maxxis but everyone has their favourites - I'd say Bridgestone or Pirelli and just go easy on the right wrist...

'cptr

slapper

2cts are great i have em on the firestorm 2 friends have em on a busa but mainly for you on a fjr 1300 too
great tyre cant fault them yet and i'm on 2nd set and due my third

seanybiker

them new pirelli angel's are supposed to be fairly decent. Sports tourer tyre. Read a few reviews online and they seem to be fairly decent. Also after a while when the thread goes down it changes from angel to devil on the tyre. Looks cool.

Bang Bang

Whatever you decide to go with then give crossans (the visorshop) a call. I brought up two rims a few days ago and got a pair of BT021's fitted, the rear being a 190 section, the full price supplied and fitted was £207. I don't know of anywhere that can beat that.

seanybiker

thats cheap. I just paid 300 for avon sports and i put em on meself

Eye

Thanks for the posts guys, I will probably be ordering a set of the continentals in the next couple of days from Crossans, but only because my local shop does not supply continental's, only for that I'd stick with them as they have taken good care of me over the years and always get a great rate.
They are one for the few places around that I know of around here that are aware of people heading up north or ordering online from Crossans and are actively doing what they can to compete against them on price, usually no more than a few euro's in the difference on many tyres I priced.

Slapper, what kind of milage did you get from your tyres?

Oryx

Speaking from within the trade, allow your local guys to at least attempt to compete with the North. Go in and ask em for a price. So many now assume shops here are not competitive, and dont bother, but a lot has changed in the last two years, and prices are much keener in the south than they have been in the past. If you dont, youll soon HAVE to go north for your tyres cos noone here will exist to supply em!

I wouldnt go with the Avons, Stradas are being phased out, so in Pirelli the Angel would be a good bet. No experience with Bridgestone.