Best tires I ever bought
- Thread starter Marty Chin
- Start date
W rated tires have a very thin carcass. You can feel it in the weight of the tire. I checked my tire on the back of my NC before riding 240 miles to my destination.....it appeared to have enough tread for that distance, and the return trip. When I got there, there was a 1" band of steel showing around the center of the tire. It was Sunday, and the bike shops were also closed Monday. My wife drove a spare tire I had in the garage and some tire irons over to me and I changed it out. I learned my lesson with W rated tires that day. From the wear bars to dangerously bald, happens quickly.
Frosty
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Just passing on a special rebate from Michelin.
Micheline Rebate
Micheline Rebate
The tires that came on my NC were Z rated. I have a pair of Dunlop 509 DP tires on there now, off a new NC 750. They are Z rated as well. I agree that H rated would be fine, but any 160/60 tires I have looked at are Z rated. I don't get it....Do you actually have a bike that needs W-rated (168 mph) tires? And if you do, it's certainly not an NC700 or even an NC750!
I don't think so. There's no reason to do that, since it costs more (I'd guess) to make molds for different sizes and change rubber compounds to vary the speed ratings than it's worth. I don't remember ever seeing any lower rated tires since I started riding my own (relatively) new bikes in '99.
Lighter bikes with low horsepower still require S rated tires. They are designed to heat up quicker than an H or higher speed rated tire would. If I was looking for street only tires for my Versys 300, I would get something S rated. Although the selection of S rated tires is somewhat limited.
I think you are right about sport tires.....they crank them out. The 160/60/17 is an inexpensive tire. The ZR140/70/17 I put on my CB-1, cost $30 more than the 160/60 for the NC. Both Conti Motions, and both from the same seller. I believe that most sport tires have no natural rubber in the them. This may contribute to the cheaper price compared to a more touring oriented tire. Natural rubber wears better according to the internet.
DirtFlier
Site Supporter
"...Lighter bikes with low horsepower still require S rated tires...Hondafan"
Perhaps symantics but recommend , rather than require would be more correct.
I'm sure they'd be OK if fitted with higher speed rated tires and my guess is that there wouldn't be much of any loss of traction with the tires cold. With only 300 cc, it's not as if you can do instant burnouts!
Perhaps symantics but recommend , rather than require would be more correct.
I'm sure they'd be OK if fitted with higher speed rated tires and my guess is that there wouldn't be much of any loss of traction with the tires cold. With only 300 cc, it's not as if you can do instant burnouts!
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I've always understood that WD-40 is not intended to be a lubricant. It'll be interesting to see how it compares.
DirtFlier
Site Supporter
From what I've read, WD-40 (WD = water displacement) was originally formulated to keep raw metal parts from rusting before they went to the next process. And one thing for sure, if you're on a long trip and need WD-40 you're likely to find it almost anywhere!
And in ref to the tire speed rating being way over the top, I would venture a guess that it's in some way related to the Firestone/Bridgestone law suit from the mid-90s with tire mfgs not wanting to be caught off guard again. Against the wishes of Firestone/Bridgestone, Ford lowered the tire pressure to make the ride softer on their SUV and those tires suffered lots of blowouts. Unfortunately, Bridgestone (parent company of Firestone) took the brunt of the financial blame.
During my working days and after that happened, I saw lots of paranoia over what was once considered small problems that only affected a tiny number of customers becoming full blown recalls. Originally the word Recall was only used to define a problem that could cause the vehicle to crash or stop running but now it's used for everything these days!
And in ref to the tire speed rating being way over the top, I would venture a guess that it's in some way related to the Firestone/Bridgestone law suit from the mid-90s with tire mfgs not wanting to be caught off guard again. Against the wishes of Firestone/Bridgestone, Ford lowered the tire pressure to make the ride softer on their SUV and those tires suffered lots of blowouts. Unfortunately, Bridgestone (parent company of Firestone) took the brunt of the financial blame.
During my working days and after that happened, I saw lots of paranoia over what was once considered small problems that only affected a tiny number of customers becoming full blown recalls. Originally the word Recall was only used to define a problem that could cause the vehicle to crash or stop running but now it's used for everything these days!
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