tires

[livetoride1234]

I have a street bike-I'm just wondering what brands are preferable to riders. I'm looking for something sticky, but something that lasts for awhile.

[gsJack]

What street bike? Stickier than what tire? Last longer than what tire?

All major brands have some very good tires.

[livetoride1234]

suzuki bandit 400 - stickier than most, but not racing tire sticky (they're too soft & wear fast) what brands would you recommend?

[gsJack]

That's a real fun bike, not a lot of those around. I've always favored the smaller bikes for fun rides on public roads. Your 3x17 and 4x17 wheels, assuming they're stock, give an almost unlimited choice of tires so I'm sure price will come into consideration quickly.

I rarely see such a wide choice of tires for a bike as the tire makers suggest in their fitment guides for the Bandit 400. Sport touring tires in bias and radial types and supersport radial tires too. I tend to favor Metzeler/Pirelli tires when price doesn't matter as much or some of the Avon tires for good tires at a good price.

Metzeler suggest their new Sportec M-3 tires for your bike and they would be near the top of the performance and price range. I've used Metzeler Z4/Z2 sport touring radials and got good performance/life from them but don't use the supersports which are stickier but shorter lived. Same with the AV45/46 Avon sport touring radials I used. But for the Bandit 400, Avon suggests their new Roadrider bias tires which are more like half the price of the new Sportecs. I'm trying the Roadriders right now.

The Ninja 500 guys seem to prefer the bias Pirelli Sport Demons or radial Michelin Pilot Power supersports for street performance tires, I've not used either but I've used the Metzeler Lasertecs which are made by the same people and similar to the Demons. Interestingly, Michelin suggests their bias Power Activs or sport touring radial Pilot Roads, quite a difference in types, it's a price choice.

You might want to look thru one of the better priced online suppliers like AMT to compare tire prices and types for a start:

http://www.americanmototire.com/

[flynrider]

Sticky and long life are mutually exclusive. You have to trade one for the other.

The tires currently on my CB750 are Bridgestone Battlax BT-45s. They are dual-compound tires. Harder compound in the middle of the tread for longer road life, softer compound on the sides for stickieness in the curves. I've been very happy with them. They grip fine in the twisties and both still have a lot of tread left after 7,500 miles.