2019 tire replacement time

[Sojourner]

So my collector's item NT700VABS needs new shoes at 3500 miles.....not due to wear, but due to time.....
(I put 25k on my Suzuki Burgman, but things just haven't worked out well in the last few years with the NT......)
Anyhoo.....just my own searching, because there could be other folks looking, and for talking points.....

Fortnine is a little over-scripted, but I enjoy it. Their 2017 tire review is good:

As of 2/5/2019, price on Revzilla.com for my short list are, for a pair:
$331 Michelin Road 5
$333 Michelin Pilot Road 4
$325 Metzler Roadtec 01
$305 Bridgestone T30 Evo
$298 Bridgestone T31 - EDIT: per Brillot200, this replaces the T30 Evos.
$288 Dunlop Roadsmart 3
To me, the $45 range is pretty negligible, so I would go with whatever is the best for my riding style.

Summary: My leaning is toward the Metzler's. I'm a fair-weather rider that rarely rides in the rain, so adequate siping and long life for whatever the next few years have ahead is my bias. I hope to ride more than I have in the past few years!

Not reviewed in the Fortnine video, but due to comments on this forum (and it seems a natural fit for our bikes):
Michelin Road 5
* Touring-oriented.
* Long-wearing
* Uninterrupted center patch for better dry take-offs.
* One review mentioned that the large sipes caught and threw rocks

Michelin Pilot Road 4
* Great rain/wet performance due to the siping
* Best-in-class for treadlife
* Front tire is a bit 'tippy', falls into corners almost too easily
* OK dry grip
* 'Scallops' badly as the tires wear (cupping)

Metzler Roadtec 01
* Fortnine considers them 'best new tire of 2017'
* As long-lasting as the Michelin Pilot Road 4
* Tends to wear a bit more 'squarely'. For my non-twisty state of the lower peninsula of Michigan, this is not so much a problem.

Bridgestone T30 EVO:
* The successor to or OEM Bridgestone Battlax tires
* Stickier in the dry due less siping in the center, not as good as the Michelins in the wet
* Biased more towards dry riding, figuring riders will be more cautious in wet conditions
* Low front tire mileage, figure on replacing as sets, not 2 rears for each front

Not reviewed in the Fortnine review:
Dunlop Roadsmart 3:
I include this because my local small Honda dealer wasn't all that knowledgeable on Michelins, said that Dunlops were popular with them.
Overall seem much like the Bridgestones in design.

 

[junglejim]

No help here. I've had good luck with all premium tires. They are just too subjective to evaluate here. Every tire seems different with every bike, every rider, every road, every season.

Every time I replace tires on my motorcycle they feel great and every tire I've tired wore out, and the new ones (regardless of brand) felt better than the worn out ones.

A few years ago I took a trip to the west coast with a friend. We both put on a set of Bridgestone T30s before we started, me on my NT and he on his Versys 650. He thought they were great and I thought they were good, but not great. But with the sale price and the rebate at the time they cost about 60% of the rest of the premium tires.

I like the confidence of riding on the best tire rather than riding on the lowest cost tires. I never push the tires to their limit in speed, cornering, or tread life. Staying right-side-up is way more important to me.

 

[DirtFlier]

A new set of tires will always feel much better than the set replaced because they were worn and thin. And at least for me, it's difficult to remember what that worn set felt like xx-months ago when they were new so making a judgment about one tire vs another is usually moot unless you have a spare set of wheels with the other brand/model mounted and can make a valid comparison with both sets at the same mileage.

I did have one experience with tires on my NC700X that defies my statement "new tires will always feel better than worn tires." That bike came with Metzelers and at the time it was my "in town" bike that I never took on a long trips. They were done at about 8k miles and I decided to try some Shinko tires that were on sale at many different places. They were under $180 delivered to my door. After I mounted/balanced them, I took a short ride and knew they were a mistake. Right off the bat they felt non-compliant (too hard!) and provided only marginal traction. I started looking at user comments about them and they mostly agreed with my own feelings. I changed them with around 50% of tread life remaining so they weren't such a bargain! :-(

 

[Brillot2000]

FYI, the Bridgestone T30 EVO has been discontinued. The T31 replaces it. I was told that I got the last T30 EVO in the entire US a few weeks ago. Next tire will have to be a T31.

I have been running T30s on various different bikes for many years and I am pleased with the wear and performance. The NT does very well these tires. The T31 is supposed to be an improvement to T30 and claims to have much better wet-weather traction.

 

[Brillot2000]

A new set of tires will always feel much better than the set replaced because they were worn and thin. And at least for me, it's difficult to remember what that worn set felt like xx-months ago when they were new so making a judgment about one tire vs another is usually moot unless you have a spare set of wheels with the other brand/model mounted and can make a valid comparison with both sets at the same mileage.

I did have one experience with tires on my NC700X that defies my statement "new tires will always feel better than worn tires." That bike came with Metzelers and at the time it was my "in town" bike that I never took on a long trips. They were done at about 8k miles and I decided to try some Shinko tires that were on sale at many different places. They were under $180 delivered to my door. After I mounted/balanced them, I took a short ride and knew they were a mistake. Right off the bat they felt non-compliant (too hard!) and provided only marginal traction. I started looking at user comments about them and they mostly agreed with my own feelings. I changed them with around 50% of tread life remaining so they weren't such a bargain! :-(

My NC700X came with Metzelers Z80s. I lost traction several times when cornering at slow speeds. I actually went down immediately after making a right turn from a complete stop. Once I wore the rear tire down enough, I replaced both with Bridgestone T30s. The bike cornered a lot better and I was more confident when making low-speed turns.

 

[mikesim]

I have had very good service from Dunlop Roadsmart 2's and now 3's.

Mike