Phil : Maybe that's why you have made it to this point / are still respirating and have accumulated all the miles on your bikes.
Need new tires = NEED HELP
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Uncle Phil
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Come to the BRG and see ;-)... BTW, my 02 ST1100 which I bought brand new had radials on it from the factory, BT054s IIRC. AFAIK, Honda made no changes to the suspension/frame to speak of except on the ABSII models where they increased the fork size from 41mm to 43mm. Don't know if radials were ABSII only deal or if the standards came with radials in the later years also.
ST1100Y
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...I suspect that crowd's largest percentage of riding is just 'cruising' down the road without the occassional adrenaline rush 'pushing' things a bit in the twisties, as THAT's when mis-matched tires and modern frame designs WILL rear their ugly head.
...never tried mis-match, never will...
++++1! They last forever,are cheap and handle well enough I was scraping the sidestand this week doing a test ride on a new set without trying.They take longer to warm up than modern radial tires but once there will grip just fine and last forever.If you do high mileage and don't want to change tires twice a year they are the way to go.I leave the softer bias ply ST tires for my lighter,sportier bikes.Ducati ST,Moto Guzzi V11,VFR....
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Uncle Phil
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Yes. Round and slick can apply to both tires and oil .... and we haven't mentioned those real crazy people who run CAR TIRES in the twisties :shock: ........
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Car tires in the twisties do fine, ride behind Fireman Mike sometime.
(I've done it on the 1100 but not worth the bother. With the 1300, there is no down side I'm aware of as correct car tires are readily available and generally cheaper than bke tires. Too many on 1300s, FJRs, and GL-1800s to any longer have any concern. YMMV. )
(I've done it on the 1100 but not worth the bother. With the 1300, there is no down side I'm aware of as correct car tires are readily available and generally cheaper than bke tires. Too many on 1300s, FJRs, and GL-1800s to any longer have any concern. YMMV.
)
Uncle Phil
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My point exactly - It ain't so much the tires as the feller that's in the seat ...Car tires in the twisties do fine, ride behind Fireman Mike sometime.
YMMV.
To assume those who run mixed Bias/Radial combos and/or car tires only poke along means you don't get out much with other folks, I reckon! I've seen some pretty interesting 'combos' at the BRG, where there are a few roads that aren't straight and a few folks that have a good grasp of the throttle. ;-) I remember at the Gap, when Rob ran the store/shop (he used to have an ST1100 and stock ST1100 tires) and he would run the Gap on his little 250 that looked like it had bicycle tires on it. But there were not many that could keep up with him, if my memory serves me correctly.
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I tried to follow a Derbi 50 (with a 70cc kit installed) thru the gap very early one morning. Never even saw his tail light after the first turn. And I was on a VFR at the time.
Thanks for all the input. The amount of knowledge on this site is truly amazing, maybe confounding. Lol. I ordered up a set of OE bstone exedras. Should be here tomorrow. I am removing the rims myself and taking into shop for mounting. Since I have front off, cleaning and replacing fork oil. Don't worry, I have read ALL the front suspension posts.
Wade.
Wade.
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Wade, sharing info about the ST is how the STOC was formed. It's what we do. Have you read the thread at the top of the Introductions thread?
Phil:
The big advantage of a ST1300 over a ST1100 is you can easily fit a CT on a ST1300 !!!
I saw a UTube video of the contact patch on a CT ( mounted on MC ) vs. a MC tire. The guy had a camera mounted real low down at tire level. There really isn't much difference. And Darksiders swear by the CT. Of course much better mileage , AND better handling in the rain and much better rear wheel braking. And then there are the Double Darksiders....... CT on the rear and rear MC tire on the front. Some guys reverse the rotation on the MC tire mounted on the front. Most of these Riders do a lot of LD Riding and need the extra mileage.
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Uncle Phil
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But Jim, your engine will explode and your hair will turn purple if you mix radial and bias tires or run a car tire and go quickly on a regular basis in the twisties ... I saw it on the internet so it must be true
I have several Darksiders show up at the BRG and they do a mighty fine job of negotiating the technical stuff we ride over. As I said in an early post, it's not the tires as much as it is the rider. My preference is radial/radial because I believe it gives you the best traction from my riding experience - but that's not always an option. I've seen a lot of experienced riders in the mountains run pretty quick on all sorts of tire combinations. I've been doing the BRG for 10+ years and searching out the most technical roads I can come up with, so I've formed my 'tire' opinions based on experience and observation. ;-)
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Phil : And there is a psychological component to consider .... .... some of us just need to be (a little ? ) different than the crowd. Just my non-professional 2 cents - no charge.
BTW, A friend of mine rides a KLR with street/off road (semi knobbie) tires. He is a little guy and I sometimes have a hard time keeping up with him in the twisties. But I'm not about to find where my traction limit is in the turns.
BTW, A friend of mine rides a KLR with street/off road (semi knobbie) tires. He is a little guy and I sometimes have a hard time keeping up with him in the twisties. But I'm not about to find where my traction limit is in the turns.
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Uncle Phil
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No, that is not a very pleasant place to find yourself! However, I find the STs (1100 and 1300) are far more capable motorcycle that those of us who ride them.
I know a lot of ST pilots in a lot of places and very few of them can put the bikes to their limits and come back in one piece on a regular basis. A good portion of those that can live across the Pond! ;-)
And .... since I installed a set of MC Larry footpeg lowering kits on my ST1100 , my traction limit is lower now than before I installed the kits. I have to make sure the toe of my inside boot is up when making a turn onto the freeway entrance. But it's surprising how more comfortable I am on LD rides by only lowering the pegs about 3/4 inch.
Really Phil ? .1 go to this site and you won't have to guess at your math http://www.bridgestonemotorcycletires.com/2015databook/#5/z
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Uncle Phil
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Al - That looks good for Bridgestones. Just wonder if it is the same for other brands like Michelin or Avon. I know an ST1100 rider that got some Shinkos in the 'correct' size and the rear rubbed. And ME880 fronts were notorious for rubbing the front fender under speed years ago (one guy melted his fender through). Even in that list of BStones, the rear diameters for 160/70 17s appear to vary from 25.7 to 25.8 mm and the 170/60 17s from 25.0 to 25.1 mm, not that .1 mm matters too much. I guess it depends on tire construction and tread thickness at the end of the day as to the tire diameters. Thanks for another good link. And really, having run several sets of the 170/60s rears in various flavors, I still have not noticed a big difference - my hair is still gray and my ST1100s have not blown up .... BTW, the difference from the axle to the ground between the 160/70 and the 170/60 would be .0137 inches (.35 mm) if Mr. Bridgestone says the diameter differences is .7 mm ... So my tire calculator was not off by much ;-)
BTW, the difference from the axle to the ground between the 160/70 and the 170/60 would be .0137 inches (.35 mm) if Mr. Bridgestone says the diameter differences is .7 mm ... So my tire calculator was not off by much ;-)
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Any one tried a Dunlop RoadSmart II on the ST1100 ? Just found out they come in 160/70-17 size.
Uncle Phil
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Seems like I may have one on the front of Redbird that I won at WeSToc. I'll have to check when I get home. I know it's a Dunlop radial of some type and I don't recall any issues so far. And I'm running a BStone BT020 BMW version bias 160/70 on the back.