Categories: all aviation bicycle gadgets misc motorcycle theater

Fri, 04 Nov 2005

I spent some time recently researching new tires for the Z750s.
It's been really wet in Seattle lately, and I've found the stock Bridgestone BT012s to be a little on the slippery side. Well, that's what I initially thought, but after reading about tires, and how the 012s seem to be reasonably regarded as wet weather tires, I'm giving them a second chance to see if I was just being nervous, or if they're really marginal tires for me.

The problem is, what do I possibly replace them with? There are literally dozens of choices out there, at least 5-10 of which come highly recommend and reviled depending on who you talk to. Generally, the contenders seem to be the Bridgestone BT020s (which I already have on the Le Mans, and know I like), the Continental Road Attacks, a few Pirelli models, the Dunlop D220, Avon Azaros... Are you confused yet? I sure am.

I had initially settled on the Conti Road Attacks after reading only good things about it (a rare thing on the diverse Intarweb), but when I started calling to find prices locally, every shop I called said, "oh, I wouldn't go with those..." When pressed, they couldn't explain their reasoning beyond "I haven't heard good things about them," or "we've never sold one of those [so it must be no good]." That was kind of weird.

I'd just go with the BT020s, since I already know them and like them, but then I read all these people saying things like, "and when I replaced those stone-like BT020s with an XYZ tire, it was so much better!" Although I like them, what if there's something that much better out there?

Someone I respect a lot, Ian on the Ninja 250 board, absolutely raved about the Avon AV49/50s (aka Azaros) on his Honda Hawk. I liked the looks of them until I read another review, and the reviewer described them as having a twitchy lean-in, where they would suddenly fall into the corner. No actual problems, they held just fine, but it felt like they pulled you into the lean. This is probably the behavior I most hate in motorcycle tires, so that leaves them out (even looking at the picture, I could see they were fairly peaked in the center).

So, after a bit of thought, I decided it would make more sense to just hang out and see what I can see with the stock tires. Maybe I was just nervous from the initial falling-over incident I had with the bike. Since I made that mental shift, I haven't felt them being nervous at all, but I also haven't been in any of the situations that caused the problem in the past.

I guess I'll just ride on. A few hundred more miles should give me enough information (now that I'm paying attention) to know whether they're really slippery in wet conditions or not.

Posted at 10:22 permanent link category: /motorcycle

Categories: all aviation gadgets misc motorcycle theater

Written by Ian Johnston. Software is Blosxom. Questions? Please mail me at reaper at obairlann dot net.