Has anyone gone back to OEM tires?

[STony G]

I was given a new set of OEM tires for my birthday. The last 2 sets have been the Z6, front and rear. I have a couple of hundred miles on these tires and they feel much different. They do not seem to grip anywhere as good as the Z6 and the transition from straight up riding to a turn, the bike feels like it is falling into a lean :eek: , very weird. The tire pressure is 42 front and rear. I am thinking about lowering the pressure.

What does the list have to say?

[Killtimer]

I've gone back to the OEM 020's........ for now. They're on backorder Canada wide, none (fronts) to be had as of yesterday. Word is that there's a new 'Stone on the horizon that will replace both 020 variants. Watch for it mid-summer (I'm told by them)

[NormanPCN]

Tony, are they Dunlops or Bridgestones. Never tried the stones but I hated the D220 front. The rear seemed fine. I have been on Avons since the D220. I like 40psi up front. 42 always seemed a bit much. Manufactures typically set front tire pressures for maximum braking and therefore a ton of front weight transfer. The ST is a heavy bike so it transfers a bunch of weight. I will compromize a little braking for better feel.

[NormanPCN]

Charlie, what have you thought of the Me880 rear for handling. From the posts I have read you mostly do LD on the ST but I assume you have hot rodded some. Since you had a race bike I think you should be qualified to comment very accurately on tire feel and grip.

[STony G]

Norman,
Bridgestones, same as what came on the bike.

[crazykz]

I've run the OEM's the last 3 sets but I will probably try the Z6/880 setup like RC does on the next run. I like the 020's but I understand the feeling you're describing of falling over. A mechanic that rides on ST puts his tires at 46 and 46. I don't know if it works or not. I tend to run mine at 42/42. I've got about 10K per set out of the first two sets of OEM's.

Curt

[STPilot]

What's the difference in the ME880 and the Z6 for the rear??

[AgSTreak]

The ME880 is described as a cruiser tire. It's not as sticky as the Z6 but lasts longer. Because of this, if you ride hard the ME880 back tire should last as long or longer than the Z6 up front.

[NormanPCN]

A mechanic that rides on ST puts his tires at 46 and 46. I don't know if it works or not.

I over-pressure my rear Avon by a little. I run 44-45. Up front I run 40-41.

[GRN]

the bike feels like it is falling into a lean :eek: , very weird.

I'm not fond of the OEM's for this very reason. I had the same experience on the ST11... burned off the OEM's and switched to Metzlers, ran those for several rounds, about 40K I would guess, then tried some Dunlops... same thing, felt high on center, tracked like crap during high speed slab, and initial lean transitions were very akward - always pulling back up in gentle corners. Only put up with it for about 2K, then went back. I find the Metzlers I have run to have the most linear feel of anything I have had on any bike. I'm going strait there again as soon as I melt these OEM's off of :04biker: , will probably start by giving the Z6/880 combo a try.

[Clark]

Norman,

What kind of mileage do you get from the Avons?

Thanks, Clark

[NormanPCN]

What kind of mileage do you get from the Avons?

6500-7300. Front wears on the sides and the rear wears out in the center at near the same mileage. My bike only does joyrides. This last winter due to all our twisty road damage my front lasted to 11.5k before I decided to change it. This was because of all the vertical riding I was doing. If it were hot rod season I would have swapped the front at the same time as the rear. The front still had some left on the sides. 4k to scrub the last bit off the sides. Pathetic winter.

My local mom and pop shop told me that the Avons and Pilot Roads are the best wearing sporty rubber they have reports on. They had one guy on a beemer, a heavy bike, and he was going through tires fast since he was doing miles. He tried nearly all brands.

Bit of trivia. The Lake Isabella run we did was the last ride I did before I swapped out the rear.

[Putt]

My Battleaxe's had about 10.4 K miles on them when I swapped tires.
I was heading out to Colorado, so rather than taking a chance, I swapped
the Axes out for the Z6/880 combo... At 10.4k miles, the Axes still had plenty of tread left, not near the wear bars yet, but just did not want to take a chance...
For me, the Metzlers feel MUCH better than the Axes, more predictable in
the turns, a little less "wander" on the straights... With the Axe's it felt more
like you had to "drive" the bike, with the Metzlers, you can "ride" the bike.
Tire wear.. I have a little over 4k miles on the Metz's and they are
showing a bit less wear than the Axe's did at the same milage...

Next set of tires will be the Z6/880 combo again, unless someone comes out
with something better...

Put...