Sport touring tires.

Alright, here it is, first blog post...

Alright one of the things I have know a little about is tires, maybe it's something about going through a set every other month, or maybe I just geek out on them because they are such a crazy mix of technology, that still feels like some kind of guessing game.

Alright, I'm going to go through the tires that I've run on my 2009 Kawasaki Concours 14.  YMMV, IMHO, FWIW, etc.

Bridgestone Battlax BT021, first up is the stock tires:
Quite possibly the worst tires I have ever run.  Definitely the worst tires I have run on the Connie.  Since these were the stock tires on the bike, I just thought the wear on the front tire was horrible.  I was still feeling out the bike when I killed the sides of the front tires in less than 4000 miles.  I just recently put the rear back on to hold me through some commuting miles, and I'm reminded how horrible it is.  In the wet, the BT021 just wanted to spin up, and in the dry, they get really squirrely at anything approaching a lean angle.  They are also down to cords after another 1000 miles.
Summary: Front lasted 3800 miles, rear lasted 4800.  They didn't feel particularly good during those miles either, and most of them were gentle.




Michelin Pilot Road 2, the second, third, and fourth set of tires:
Maybe you can tell be the fact I went through three sets of these guys, that I really like them.  Just a great all around tire that is capable of so much more than I am.  They have a very neutral profile that helps to tame the normally poor low speed handling characteristics of the Concours.  I initially went to the PR2 because of my experience with them on my Buell Ulyesses; they were far and away the longest lasting tires I ran on that bike, and I had a long trip coming up.  Wear on the slab was amazingly impressive.  I mounted them and almost immediately afterwards headed to Denver, CO from Washington, DC.  After almost 1500 miles of slab, they had a flat spot in the middle which was barely detectable by feel, but definitely not visually.  All in all, I put more than 6500 miles on the first set of PR2, and the only time they really showed signs of wear was the last leg of my journey up the length of the Blue Ridge Parkway.  The PR2 handled the wet exceptionally well, never much of anything to make me the least bit nervous.  M only real complaint about the PR2 is the end of life: for roughly the last thousand miles they were skittish.  They never broke traction on me, but they felt like they were on the verge of going flying out from under me.
Summary: impecable tires all around, until the end.  I was seeing right around 6500 miles to a set with the rear going first.




Pirelli Angel ST, I read lots of hype so I had to give them a shot:
In the beginning they felt great, in the end they felt great, but in the middle, they were very floppy and far from confidence inspiring.  In the rain, the rear was frightening, and I could never push the bike hard enough to get the front to do anything.  The first sign that not all was well with these tires when they completely spun up on the first white line that I hit at a stoplight; the bike went wheeeEEEEE and the rear end went sideways.  Even on the superslab in the rain, the rear end would wander at seemed like random intervals.  To top things off, cords started showing after less than 4000 miles, and that was with the full tread profile still viewable.
Summary: UGGH!  Won't fall for the hype again!  Horrible in the rain, miserable to ride for the majority of it's short life.





Michelin Pilot Road 3, while getting ready to order another set of PR2, these popped up for not a whole lot more money.
I mounted the PR3, took them around the block, and the next morning, I had to go to work in a torrential rain.  I was absolutely blown away by the performance of this tire in the rain, just unbelievable.  Even at speeds, lets just say, in excess of the speed limit, through heave rains and standing water, they never missed a beat.  They felt incredibly well connected to the road through the worst conditions that I could throw at them.  Even at less than 2/32" tread depth, still nothing but grip in the wet.  I have only two issues with these tires.  They started to cup after a fairly aggressive break-in, and this in turn made them a little squiggly at light inputs; as soon as the tire is pushe a little harder, it locks and and is solid once again.  My other gripe, although not really a gripe, is that the tire life is not quite that of the PR2; they made it to approximately 6200 miles, but at that point, they were pretty thoroughly slick.  Even when the tires were done, they still felt great.
Summary: These tires are made of magic, end of story.  I've never met anything better.




As an addendum, these aren't my only experiences with sport touring tires.  On other bikes I've run Metzeler Z6, Metzeler Z6 Interact, Pirelli Diablo Strada, Avon Storm AV55/AV56, Continental Force, Continental Road Attack, and Dunlop Roadsmart.

Keep it on two.