Testing 705 Adventure Sport tires on my ST

JPKalishek

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51,700 miles on the bike.
Looking for a reduction in RPM at cruise and hits to my wallet, I decided to try running the 705 tires on my TwoTone.
I went with a 120/80 front, and the cheaper 150/70 rear. The front really fills the fender:



The front is marked tube use, but I have in the past run tubeless a good fitting tube type tire. The bead on he front seated with a mild pop and the structure of them was not much lighter than the bead on the BT45 I had run on the front before I added a dose of Slime for sealing and balance.

Oddly I took a ride with the Garmin attached and the speedo was still quite optimistic but closer looking like about 3-4 mph off at 70 and the odometer after a longer ride than the first comes out to 1.5% off.
Wednesday night, coming home from work I fired up the Garmin again, and lo, the speed was almost spot on, and after getting most of the way home it had changed to a 2-3mph difference at 70mph indicated on the Garmin. Twas a bit cold compared to the first ride Sunday. The mileage is still showing 1.5% so my initial figures there are fine. with the variables of the speedo though, when not on the Garmin I shall stick close to going off the indicated speed with the knowledge changes even during a ride.Thursday night it was the same way ... basically spot on at the start, about 2 mph off at 12 miles into the trip.

At 50-55mph the tires are rather loud. I knew that was going to happen so no surprise. Traction seems fine, and even with the added ground clearance I still touch the pegs easily with the MCL brackets being on the bike. No rain yet so no word on wet traction.
After straightening the frame of the bike, I installed a set of Shinko Verge 011 in 120/70 and 160/60 (the size rear that Doghouse had in a PR2) intending to move these to the Nekkid bike once it was back together. This caused a bit of a weave/headshake. I rode to Memphis, and it felt like a rode a fish swimming the whole way. The 705 pairing does not do this, and the others now on the Nekkid stopped so it was the combination and not the tires.
 
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JPKalishek

JPKalishek

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We shall see. I was hoping for some long term savings, but was actually looking for a more short term with good long term benefits situation. This set up ran $144 for the pair.
I got a bit over 10,000 miles off the PR2 Front Mellow and Doghouse had installed and the G548 I used got around 8,000 bounced back and forth between this and the nekkid.
My last Shinko Verge tires were swapped before they were 3/4 worn but I was getting comparable, perhaps a bit better, wear to the Avon Storm II sets I had before those.
From poking around, and a few discussions I learned that for best life keep the 705s at max air pressure. They heat less and the handling isn't that affected.
 
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The bt020 bias would probably be about as cheap given the greater mileage. Less need to change the tar and it should run lower rpm than your 150/70/17
 

Throttlejockey

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Maybe the GC combo would be better for mileage, but now he's ready for some off-road action!
 
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JPKalishek

JPKalishek

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4000 miles and so far so good. Wear is still decent and wet traction is alright. Not in the league of the PR2 or Storm2 but is better by a bit than the Bridge 548 I had. Cold temps the tires still grip fine for me. Warm temps and traction is good enough the Chicken Strips are almost nonexistent on the rear.
The bt020 bias would probably be about as cheap given the greater mileage. Less need to change the tar and it should run lower rpm than your 150/70/17
The installed overall height on the 705 is actually a hair taller than the 160/70 Bridgestones as I find the Shins run a hair large for size and the 705 has so much extra rubber. I am still getting a few less RPM at cruise.
The taller front is a minor issue.
this is the brace under the fender:


and the underside"


and the fender:


I've not had an issue since these pictures. When I put it back on I lifted it to the limits of the play in the installation and so far the fender hasn't been melted. Either it ate enough of the fender or it moved away just enough. Before anything over ... ahem ... 85mph, especially into a wind, and there were signs the fender rubbed (a crust looking like tar on the front of the fender). If I go Dual again on the front I will try a Kenda as they have a tubeless in 110/80-18.
 
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For purely a reduction in the cost per mile, I think the combo of the BT45 front (double dark, ie. rear tire on the front) and darkside on the rear (Hankook or GYTT should end up similar per mile, with the Hankook cheaper up front, and the GYTT lasting longer but costing more).

On the other hand, I'm very interested in how that front is holding up. If I can somehow manage to hang onto the bikes, that might be an interesting tire to combo with a studded darkside tire in the rear for winter use- I bet I could stud that tire. There was another tire I found that might work as well, I'll see if I can dig up my notes.
 
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JPKalishek

JPKalishek

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I have a BT45 I was running on the front. It is in great shape and will soon reside on the XL as the front tire it had was getting dry rot. It was miss-ordered by the shop in my home town when I needed to replace my first set of Shinko Verges (not overly worn, but the black bike was just too buzzy with the set up) so I went with it anyhow as it didn't bother me it being a rear, and didn't feel like waiting for a replacement replacement.
There is a ton of rubber on the 705 so if you made the holes or used the screws method, I'm sure it would stud out nicely ... if there was clearance. The 1100 doesn't have it.
 
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I would drill and use automotive studs for better street handling. I cringe at the thought of riding on pavement with screw style studs...I think the traction would be almost as bad as a rubber tire on ice.
 
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shall work on that tomorrow.
Had an interesting non-tire issue going to work today. The trunk fell off the bike and I didn't notice until I stopped at work.
Which trunk were you using? Can you tell what failed on the attatchment point? Inquiring minds want to know. Just checking, I have heard of this happening before, Dont want to loose mine. Also, my girlfriend is back there. I dont want to loose them and not find out til the next stop. It was a big job to paint my trunk to match the candy red of the fast year ST.
 
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JPKalishek

JPKalishek

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Which trunk were you using? Can you tell what failed on the attatchment point? Inquiring minds want to know. Just checking, I have heard of this happening before, Dont want to loose mine. Also, my girlfriend is back there. I dont want to loose them and not find out til the next stop. It was a big job to paint my trunk to match the candy red of the fast year ST.
it was a TMS cheapo from Ebay. The plastic holding the lock plate in place is gone. Pictures of that will be forthcoming as well. I had some weatherseal foam over it to give it some cushion and it likely hid any cracks from view.
 
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My Shad top box is failing. In the fall I noticed the part of the cover where the latch holds was broken, and last week I noticed the base of the box where it mounts has a lot of cracks. I don't dare to put anything but a pair of gloves in it now. That box will be coming off as soon as the weather warms up enough to strip the bike. The Garmin antenna needs to come off the box, and the Garmin is coming off the bike for sale, but its too cold to do plastic removal outside.
 
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JPKalishek

JPKalishek

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Hmm. Had a post with some pictures and it seems not to have posted.
My trunk did this:


I wired it on to get home from work:


Some self tappers and fender washers are now in place until I decide what to do.
 
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JPKalishek

JPKalishek

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Too tired to remember all I wrote earlier today so here are the pics:



close fits:



rear:

Little chicken strip. The MCL bracketed pegs hit around this angle.


 
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JPKalishek

JPKalishek

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Cost analysis and comments on this tire combo:
During the cold months the wear was minimal. I thought to get close to 10,000 miles from this rear tire, but once we got warm, I noticed the tire wear faster.
I was doing some cost analysis and right now if I changed the tire the cost equals a Bridgy 023 if I got 10,500 miles or a Storm2 Ultra going 13,800 (these two being the stock size) or a similar sized PR3 (150/70, the cheaper close size they offer) going 12.800 miles. For my next tire, I think I will try the 150/70 705 radial and see if (at a sale price of $93 which is $4 more than I paid for the Bias) if I get close to the same from it this summer.
Handling has been good. I easily scrape pegs and until recently wet performance was alright. It wasn't like the PR2 or Storm2 in the wet, but was better than the OEM 548.
The night of the tornadoes I noticed the traction on the rear under acceleration had dropped off equal to what I remember from the 548, but cornering still felt alright. I think I have reached a harder portion of the tire, or the tread left is too thin to move the water fast enough.
Tip in has also gotten a bit less confidence inspiring as the squaring lately has given the just off the center a feel of squirm that then goes away as the contact patch moves to the side. I've felt worse, and I only notice it on the first few corners when off the bike for a bit. Either I get used to it, the tire warms and it goes away/gets less, or a combo of both.
So a new tire is on it's way. I will post a few pics and milage/$ totals once I do the swap likely Sunday (got this saturday's RTE to Temple in store, but I think I want it swapped before a trip to Memphis next friday).

Oh yeah...front tire:
Wear? What wear? We will see if the cool Texas summer will give it any issues, but it so far wears like iron and sticks just fine.
 
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JPKalishek

JPKalishek

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I've never run the 023. I had Storm2s on the black twice (it came with them, and I really didn't pay close attention to mileage on the replacements, but estimate 9-10,000), and then Shinko Verge (changed early so no good numbers, the black has them again, but I ride it like a hooligan so it likely won't be great numbers) and this set is a start of the project. The current miles are 7100+ with more to come. After saturday's run I will determine if I think they will make a Memphis run. I'm tempted to set out with the new radial tied on the bike just to get a final total.

P.S. right now (and the above numbers for the other tires were figured on) the cost per mile is $0.0126746478873239
 
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JPKalishek

JPKalishek

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no, the current is the bias. The Radial on the way was on sale as they normally go for around $110.00. I'm going to add a Tire/Cost section to my mileage spread sheet that I will put the regular cost in as well as what I actually paid, so the next tire will get two sets of numbers.
 
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JPKalishek

JPKalishek

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hope so,
I should also try to find a average temp for the time period, too. When it was cold out the bias wore like iron, but grip was pretty good
 
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