Total Motorcycle Community Forums

As I ponder new street tires, I thought I'd test the consensus of what you folks are buying. Please answer with street or dual use in mind, not track only or off-road only.

See if they have Bridgestone BT45's in the sizes you need. I have used these and find them to be a good compromise in grip and mileage. Work well in the wet, too.

Thanks for the note. A couple of folks have recommended those, and they do fit my bike, so they are high on the list.

Here is the current list for consideration:

Bridgestone BT45
Dunlop GT501 (successor to Dunlop K591)
Michelin Commander
Pirelli Sport Demon

I found these by browsing a discount tire website for tires that fit my CX500 (100/90-19 front, 130/90-16 rear). I've been researching them some, but there aren't a lot of comprehensive tire reviews on the web. On the other hand, I've consistently read that all comparable tires by the major manufacturers are good to excellent, so I am confident I will get something good.

I use Bridgestone SPitfires on my Seca, they are still round..and hold air.... w00t

I have the Pirellis on my wife's bike (86 VFR 750). Very good grip but you give up some mileage. She is very easy on tires so it's not bad for us. I am harder on tires but I don't get to ride that one much. She always has it out!.

I have the Dunlops on another smaller bike. Very slippery when cold but ok when warm.

I haven't tried that type of Michelin. In the past I have had some very bad experiences with Michelins and will never use them on a bike again. Your expwerience may vary. I found them to grip very well when they gripped but gave no warning of when they were going to let go. All or nothing with nothing in between.

Several tires are on the market now that are said to deliver better than average grip combined with fairly high mileage. These are tires that sport tourers want, especially if they tend to be on the sporty side fo touring. Pirelli Diablo Strada, Michelin Pilot Road, Avon Azaro ST 45/46, Continental Road Attack (named stock tire on one of BMW's new sport touring bikes), or Bridgestone 020's come to mind. Personally I've not ridden any of them, although I just received a set of Continental ContiForce (there other sport touring tire) and will provide feedback by the end of the summer. I wanted the Road Attacks but the front was on backorder and I didn't feel like waiting. I've read a lot reports and opinions about them all.

NorthernPete wrote:I use Bridgestone SPitfires on my Seca, they are still round..and hold air.... w00t

A check of the current Bridgestone fitment guide shows the Spitfire S-11 to be their recommendation for a 81CX500.

The tires mentioned by V4underme are all very good sport touring radials but don't come in sizes even close to fitting a CX500.

Dunlop suggests their GT501 or Elite 3. The GT501 bias ply tire is getting a bit dated as is the BT45. The latest in sport touring bias ply tires all of which would give better handling than the S-11 with less life would be:

Metzeler Lasertecs
Pirelli Demons
Michelin Actives

I'm running the Lasertecs now and they handle as good dry and wet as the Z4/Z2 and AV45/46 sport touring radials I've tried on the GS500's.

I'll second the spitfires as being good quality all-around tires. I've used them on two of my bikes for quite some time now...

I'm not even sure what kind of tires are on my bike at the moment. Nothing recognizable as a popular brand name though. They are the sport/tourer type though....

but I ride very sedately. If i ever find a job that will actually pay me something decent for tinkering with their computers, i'd like to try a set of the metzlers, or diablos.