Just replaced old tires with some Pilot Roads!

[automag928]

Just replaced both front and rear Avon's with some Pilot Roads. First experience is excellent tire, nice riding and fairly sticky, although haven't hit the twisties too hard yet. Can't wait to see how long they last!

 

[Scab]

Careful. They aren't as sticky as some. I bit the dust on a cold day with a pair of those. Now, my blue Devil wears Strada.

 

[automag928]

Careful. They aren't as sticky as some. I bit the dust on a cold day with a pair of those. Now, my blue Devil wears Strada.

I was reading your post about that...Glad you're alright! Do you think that a stickier tire would have changed anything? I am definitely more conservative in my riding style, especially coming from a cruiser. Hence my choice of a more conservative tire. I wanted something with some longevity but decent traction while I get to know my new ride. Not sure how much a difference temps play, but I can't remember the last time it was in the 20s here in Tampa

 

[HaulinAshe]

I was reading your post about that...Glad you're alright! Do you think that a stickier tire would have changed anything? I am definitely more conservative in my riding style, especially coming from a cruiser. Hence my choice of a more conservative tire. I wanted something with some longevity but decent traction while I get to know my new ride. Not sure how much a difference temps play, but I can't remember the last time it was in the 20s here in Tampa

Q1. How much do you weigh?

Q2. Are you running stock suspension settings or have you tweaked them any?

Q3. When the yellow sign says "20" what is your typical entry speed?

I'll PM my reply to your answers, so as to avoid being flamed hotter than the sun!

 

[Scab]

Do you think that a stickier tire would have changed anything? I am definitely more conservative in my riding style, especially coming from a cruiser. Hence my choice of a more conservative tire. I wanted something with some longevity but decent traction while I get to know my new ride.

I sure a stickier tire would have helped, but I can't say it would have saved my mistake(s) that day. We were cookin' pretty fair that day, so the single biggest factor was excess speed and deficiant skills. If you are planning to ride "conservatively" while getting to know the feej, then you're fine. This machine's capabilities are so far past a cruiser that you can literally thrill yourself riding while still remaining safely in the conservative arena of this bike and just about any tire. I have over 22k "tickled-shitless" miles on this thing with 4 different tire brands and this is the only incident with a traction problem. And remember, it was too cold, too much air pressure, and too much speed for me. But, I never was a big fan of that tire. I dunno, maybe I had a bad one. I never liked the way the front handled.

But ultimately, you will be much better served listening to the advice of the likes of Jeff "Haulin" Ashe. He knows his shit. Flamers be damned, I have an extinguisher.

 

[automag928]

Q1. How much do you weigh?Q2. Are you running stock suspension settings or have you tweaked them any?

Q3. When the yellow sign says "20" what is your typical entry speed?

I'll PM my reply to your answers, so as to avoid being flamed hotter than the sun!

Q1: Do I really have to tell you!??! 220lbs :blink:

Q2: Suspension settings have been adjusted to the hard side

Q3: Yellow sign says 20 = I say 35ish

Feel free to reply here...Flame away!!

 

[Bounce]

Just replaced both front and rear Avon's with some Pilot Roads. First experience is excellent tire, nice riding and fairly sticky, although haven't hit the twisties too hard yet. Can't wait to see how long they last!

+1. on my 3rd set of PR's. I find they turn in a little slower that the Avon ST45/46 but trade that for a little less twitchiness. Grip seems similar for the kinds of riding and roads I see. Longevity for the PR (9000+ miles) is significantly better over the STs (7500 miles).

I can't say it [stickier tire]would have saved my mistake(s) that day. We were cookin' pretty fair that day, so the single biggest factor was excess speed and deficiant skills.

I read this comment and your use of this experience to knock the PR and it makes me wonder. Wouldn't it be more appropriate to assign your admitted "excess speed" and "deficient skills' (I'd even say to add "for conditions" given your comment about it being cold) as the areas to address instead of dumping on the PRs?

 

[automag928]

If you are planning to ride "conservatively" while getting to know the feej, then you're fine. This machine's capabilities are so far past a cruiser that you can literally thrill yourself riding while still remaining safely in the conservative arena of this bike and just about any tire.

I think that is the perfect definition of where I am now in the riding envelope...I've taken corners on the OLD tires, way quicker than I ever did on the VTX and just knew there was a lot more in the bike than I was using. I have yet to really push it...I wanted to wait until I got new rubber and more experience before doing anything pushing "my" envelope to meet up with the bike's performance envelope.

But ultimately, you will be much better served listening to the advice of the likes of Jeff "Haulin" Ashe. He knows his shit. Flamers be damned, I have an extinguisher.

Waiting on him now Let anyone flame away, cause I know one thing for sure: pretty much everyone on here knows alot more about these bikes than me! :drinks:

 

[HaulinAshe]

Q1: Do I really have to tell you!??! 220lbs :blink: Q2: Suspension settings have been adjusted to the hard side

Q3: Yellow sign says 20 = I say 35ish

Oh what the hell! I have a Kevlar suit ordered that I can wear while posting on this forum.

First, I should have also asked about your height. Because when it comes to suspension settings and tire loading, height and weight factor together. But strictly for tire loading, rider weight is the biggest factor.

The reason I asked about your weight is because riders over 200 lbs. seem to do fine with less-sticky rubber on the FJR. Of course a rider that weighs 220 and is 6'4" will have more issues with a harder compound rubber than one that is 220 lbs. 5'8".

Sorry, almost forgot to type "IMHO".

Grumpy (Jim) will ride your ass off on Mich PRs in the twisties. Under the same conditions, put me on a set of PRs and you will see me struggling.

Here come the flames...

IMHO - At your rider weight, as long as you do not add shims to the stock rear preload, as long as you do not set the front forks stiffer than two lines visible on preload, as long as you do not deviate more than 4-6 clicks on compression or rebound from stock settings, AND until your typical corner entry speed exceeds 2.0 times the posted (i.e. 40 into 20), IMHO (notice I keep typing it) you will enjoy and be happy with the Mich PRs.

If for some reason you decide to lose a bunch of weight and drop under 200 lbs. and then also decide to start pushing the bike and yourself hard in twisties, or running really fast in sweepers, well IMHO, buy some stickier tires. Example: Iris (HerFJR) on Mich PRs would be suicide. But Iris is about as big around as my little finger, and she LOVES high-speed sweepers.

SCAB Grab the extinguisher! I'm on fire!

Jeff

 

[Scab]

I read this comment and your use of this experience to knock the PR and it makes me wonder. Wouldn't it be more appropriate to assign your admitted "excess speed" and "deficient skills' (I'd even say to add "for conditions" given your comment about it being cold) as the areas to address instead of dumping on the PRs?

Fair enough. I cannot in blame the PR's for this incident. However, this incident aside, I am no fan of the handling characteristics of the particular set of PR's that I had. And in making a judgement based on the vast majority of comments concerning PR usage, it is quite possible that I had a "bad" front. Can't say for sure as I have no experience with any PR's except the two I owned. But from day one I did not like the tires. As the tire aged, I liked even less. The bike had a peculiar "dance" to it. It would not even hold a straight line when in any kind of "dirty" air. (side winds, draft air, etc.) As the miles ticked by, I wondered many things. Perhaps my suspension had degraded to a point of being the cause, perhaps the VStream gave the wind an unusual ability to "lever" the bike. In any account, those tires are gone and the bike has returned to the normal handling that I remember. No changes to suspension and the VStream still there. So, I still say; "Be careful."

 

[automag928]

Jeff - makes sense - I'm 6'2" fwiw. I should have put that before... I am pretty sure there is a shim on the rear suspension. Previous owner had done that and mentioned it when I bought the bike. He was probably close to my size. Rear shock was already set to hard as well, I'd have to double check what the front forks / compression / rebound is set to, because I can't recall offhand. Actually even messing with all this suspension crap is new to me...I need to go over it and do some more reading. I definitely admit I'm a suspension noob! Shoot, I've really only had it two weeks. But it sure has been fun so far!! B)

And if it was up to my wife, then yeah I would be under 200 lbs...but I'm workin on that too...

 

[automag928]

The bike had a peculiar "dance" to it. It would not even hold a straight line when in any kind of "dirty" air. (side winds, draft air, etc.)

Scab - In my particular case, I haven't noticed anything you describe. The next day after getting the tires, I probably went out for about 100 miles or so, in varying types of riding, and never noticed any pulling or dancing, including going over the Sunshine Skyway bridge which is huge. Granted the tires were brand new for me, but maybe you just got a bad tire?

Sunshine Skyway Bridge --

 

[HaulinAshe]

Jeff - makes sense - I'm 6'2" fwiw. I should have put that before... I am pretty sure there is a shim on the rear suspension. Previous owner had done that and mentioned it when I bought the bike. He was probably close to my size. Rear shock was already set to hard as well, I'd have to double check what the front forks / compression / rebound is set to, because I can't recall offhand. Actually even messing with all this suspension crap is new to me...I need to go over it and do some more reading. I definitely admit I'm a suspension noob! Shoot, I've really only had it two weeks. But it sure has been fun so far!! B)
And if it was up to my wife, then yeah I would be under 200 lbs...but I'm workin on that too...

My advice is to enjoy the Mich PRs around the Florida flats. You and I are in similar climates and have similar roads around home. But at 6'2"/220, I would be concerned about the PRs performance in mistake situations, i.e.

* Elevation/road surface changes during high speed sweepers,

* Unexpected hard, straight-line braking on cold (below 50F) surfaces,

* Out-of-center quick acceleration like rapid lane change and pass.

My reasoning is simple, Your height and weight combo gives you better-than-average influence over bike behavior. If your body is in the right spot then you are gold. If your body is in the wrong spot, say...

* suddenly sliding forward against the tank because the idiot pulled out in front of you, or,

* your torso lifted to the outside of the sweeper because you didn't see the elevation change coming in the apex, or,

* you have to dive into the space available ahead of the car you just passed because there's a really tight corner coming up and the bastard sped up as you were passing him,

then some extra-sticky grip to hold the bike in place under you might be good.

The more you shim the suspension preloads, the more you stiffen the compression and decrease the rebound dampening, the higher your body CG tends to become and the more important body position becomes to bike handling. You gain in control, but lose some in forgiveness.

For your next set of tires, and before you take the FJR for a long weekend on mountain twisties, my advice is to try a different tire and evaluate it for yourself. Everyone is different. What works for you may not work for me (actually I would bet money on that!). But I have to say that as you get more comfortable with the FJR and possibly become more aggressive in your riding habits, your particular combination of stats concerns me. Just remember, it's purely a judgement call and only my OPINION. We all know what those are like and how they smell.



On a side note, the original owner/purchaser of my FJR, actually put Metzler Z4s on. I almost sold the bike shortly after buying it because it cornered so poorly. My next set of tires were Mich PRs which I was very happy with, until I tried to keep up with Grumpy!

Jeff

 

[twowheelnut]

For sure, the PR's are a good selection for this bike. I've never had traction issues with this tire or any others except for Z6's. No matter the suspension or air adjustment, those sums-a-bitches just wouldn't stick and flopped into turns in a wholly unearthly way. On the other hand, they did provide great mileage.

Now, having put on about 2k on the new Storms, I think I've found a new fav in tires. I beat the snot outta 'em down in the Malibu canyon roads and they were superb, to say the least. Wear is looking good at this point, maybe an 8k tire for me. Funny thing though, I can't get them to the edges like the others. Musta redid the profile a bit. :dntknw:

 

[OrangevaleFJR]

For sure, the PR's are a good selection for this bike. I've never had traction issues with this tire or any others except for Z6's. No matter the suspension or air adjustment, those sums-a-bitches just wouldn't stick and flopped into turns in a wholly unearthly way. On the other hand, they did provide great mileage.
Now, having put on about 2k on the new Storms, I think I've found a new fav in tires. I beat the snot outta 'em down in the Malibu canyon roads and they were superb, to say the least. Wear is looking good at this point, maybe an 8k tire for me. Funny thing though, I can't get them to the edges like the others. Musta redid the profile a bit. :dntknw:

Did you notice they put little "STORM" letters out on the edge? Maybe the adjusted the profile so you wouldn't scrub em off

 

[twowheelnut]

Did you notice they put little "STORM" letters out on the edge? Maybe the adjusted the profile so you wouldn't scrub em off

[Jack Benny]

<slaps forehead>

Now why didn't I think of that, Rochester?

[/Jack Benny]

 

[HaulinAshe]

For sure, the PR's are a good selection for this bike. I've never had traction issues with this tire or any others except for Z6's. No matter the suspension or air adjustment, those sums-a-bitches just wouldn't stick and flopped into turns in a wholly unearthly way. On the other hand, they did provide great mileage.

Bet those damn Z4s I had sucked more!

 

[Grumpy]

Grumpy (Jim) will ride your ass off on Mich PRs in the twisties. Under the same conditions, put me on a set of PRs and you will see me struggling.

Jeff

Gosh Jeff, I don't know how to break the news to you......while it's true that I was running Mich PR on the front, I had a decidely not-sticky ME 880 on the rear.

Really good news!!! I can hardly wait to tell my wife that being a fatboy has greatly improved my cornering abilities.....well there must be something good about it? Actually, as far as tires go, I'm thinking that the 170 X 60 corners a heck of a lot better than does the 180 X 55 !

Whatever brand the next rear tire is I intend to put on a 170 X 60 to double check that I'm correct in my analysis!

Grumpy Jim

 

[HaulinAshe]

Gosh Jeff, I don't know how to break the news to you......while it's true that I was running Mich PR on the front, I had a decidely not-sticky ME 880 on the rear.
Really good news!!! I can hardly wait to tell my wife that being a fatboy has greatly improved my cornering abilities.....well there must be something good about it? Actually, as far as tires go, I'm thinking that the 170 X 60 corners a heck of a lot better than does the 180 X 55 !

Whatever brand the next rear tire is I intend to put on a 170 X 60 to double check that I'm correct in my analysis!

Well, can we at least take turns leading for testing? Pleeeeze! I don't want to be the one always evaluating from the rear.