I am replacing the tyres on my ST4S and would like your advice / experience. I have used Continental Road Attack and Road Attack 2 tyres for some time but found the 2's rear hard to gauge wear due to no tread in the middle. The front also wore out on the sides more than the middle so am thinking of something else. The original RA tyres were great but technology has moved on. Reading magazines and a recent MCN test and I have a few options: Metzeler Roadtec Z8 Michellin Pilot 3 Bridgestone BT023 Pirelli Angel ST Continental Road Attack 2 GT What do you think? It is hard to judge because some tests don't show how well they last and also don't show how well they perform on a V twin. Any advice - good or bad - appreciated. :smile: Phil
Using PR 3's on the Multi Still looking really good even after 2500 miles two up around Europe. Definitely worth a look.
Z8 roadtecs, you will wonder why anyone bothers with tyres that wear out in 2-3000 miles and realize what a road tyre can be like in the wet, even when they have 5000 or more miles on them. Also ignore comments like, "I just had xxxxx fitted and they are really great", you can't tell how good they are until you have to replace them, unless they are really crap.
Ive been using Angel STs on my CB1300 for work, riding in all weathers. Been getting 6.5k miles from a rear and 9k from a front. I find that these tell you whats going on in terms of grip better than the Dunlops they replaced. Trouble with them is that they wear in the very center of the tyre. There are 2 grooves that run round the centre but have about 2 or 3 cms of tyre in between. The wear indicators are in those grooves i mentioned. Twice now ive worn through to the wire as the wear indicators still had room to go, but the very centre was knackered. The front gets a bit of a step on the right shoulder too, camber and breaking on a heavy bike im told. For that reason im now using the BT023. Only obvious thing so far is that turn in isnt as quick as with the STs - and on the big ole girl this is noticed. Ive opted for the GT variant for heavier bikes - and that stiffer sidewall also means you feel the bumps more - so i'll be going for the normal ones next time. Z8's and PR3's were well recommended with decent mileage returns too. I just thought id go with the Bridgestone's this time. M&P had some good deals on Metzler Z6's which 2 yrs ago were supposed to be great - so still will be me thinks? Something like £140 a set. All the others you mention are £200+ as im sure youve spotted. All modern tyres are bloody good i reckon (better than me). And its pretty much personal preference or you had a really good/bad ride once on a particular tyre. If there really was one that was so much better than all the others, all the others would go out of business?
I have gone through various bridgestone and michelins on my st4s,I defo prefer the grip the michelins offer,I actually found the PR2s had better grip than PR3s when you are right on the limits,and the PR3 rear went right off in handling dept even though there was plenty of tread left,generally getting about 5000 per rear,now running michelin pures which are very neutral and have a much quicker front turn in than most tyres and i find they need a damn good warm up which then makes them very good in the fast longish bends which the sts excel at especially accelerating hard out of bends.Really not too fussed about wear rates as most tyres with good grip are quite similar,and lets face it i change the tyres about twice every 18 months so wear is not critical.What is critical is tyre pressures,and i run them at 36 front and 40 to 41 rears,i find alot better than say 32 front 36 rear which my previous duke prefered.Happy hunting and let us know what you get.
Ps - Why not try Maxxis? I ran them on my R1 and the were brilliant. Very sticky with good wear properties and cheap compared to the "big" brands. I definitely recommend them.
Thanks for the advice and I was mulling over the options before a recent holiday to europe and eventually decided on Pirelli Angel ST after two bike shops that specialise in Ducatis recommended them. My reasons were: Metzeler Roadtec Z8 - I was advised of uneven wear on Ducatis - these were my first choice after reading an mcn test Michellin Pilot 3 - similar to above but RIDE mag love them Bridgestone BT023 - a good tyre that friends use but never quite got to the top of my list Pirelli Angel ST - as above Continental Road Attack 2 GT - loved the original road attacks but not the 2 which wore badley and were hard to gauge wear, denting my confindence in them - even for trying the GT I have done about 2k on the Pirellis two up with luggage for two weeks on a mixture of main and very twisty roads in France and Spain, some in very hot weather, but all in the dry so far - not complaining though! The tyres have worn well although they did seem to loose a bit of 'skin' after about 400 miles which was weird but this may just be scrubbing in but I have not seen it before. After that they have worn well and not squared off so we will see! They handle and turn in well (maybe a bit slower than the road attacks) as you would expect from the current spec of tyres but I will need to see what they handle like in the wet before I am convinced. I will let you know how they wear and how they handle when worn but please keep sending in your views.
Doesn't seem that way unfortunately. I've got a 3 but only got it this year and haven't done enough miles to wear out the new Conti on the back to try anything else. Having said that I've never had a bike that inspired such confidence when tipping into corners and the tyres must take a lot of credit for that. I must admit that so far I'm looking to stick with the Conti's when I need to change for this reason alone.
Road Attack,s, just been out to confirm that. No idea of which mark as nothing on them to identify if they're 2 or 3 or whatever. Will need a new front over the winter though as its getting close to the limits, back has only done about 1k since it was put on
The original road attack read has V tread all over the tyre, whereas the road attack 2 has no tread in the middle of the tyre. I used road attacks on my 916 for several years and found them great but used road attack 2 on my ST4S but found the rear wear hard to guage - see top thread. I then changed the rear to an original road atatck until the front wore out then changed the pair for Pirelli Angel ST's and they have been fine so far. Let me know how you get on with yours.
From that I guess mines a 2 on the rear as there's no groove in the centre of the tyre. As I'm going to need another front soon I'll probably put another road attack on there and then see what happens. I'm thinking I will need to replace the rear again before that front wears out, so I could be a while before I get to try something different. Will be interested to see how long yours last.
Yes, sounds like a RA 2 rear. There are 2 wear markers I think on the circumference near to the central strip so keep an eye on these to gauge wear. I used the RA 2 front and it was good but wore the sides more than the centre in the end - a good tyre though. Pirelli's have done a 2000 mike trip in europe (all two up with luggage) and about 300 miles back home two up. I will post on here again when the rear starts to get worn out and also when I have tried them in the wet properly.
Grateful for all this historical information. Just about to replace the Bridgestone BT21s on my ST4s. Any updates appreciated before I put credit card to internet. Wear is not too much of an issue but I tour occasionally. Can never have too much grip and I would lose a bit of longevity to gain grip if necessary. Then again I am hardly reaching the limits of the current tyres.
Pilot Road 5 are good but maybe they have overdone the dual compound as sides ware a lot even for my pace. Maybe Pilot 4 if you can get them.
Thanks for responding. As we have the same bike it is really useful to know your experience. I see there is a 5 GT designed for heavier bikes. The ST2 is on the list. I guess the ST4s is a touch lighter and I am angling slightly more towards the sporty side but maybe 5 GT would be the right compromise. Did you opt for 5 or 5 GTs? Cheers Greg
