Time to buy tires.

[JC Viper]

Looks like tiny cracks are appearing in my tires' sidewall so I guess now is the time to buy a new set even though the tread is still pretty deep.

I'm looking for store suggestions. Low prices, good tire selection, lower processing and shipping time and of course the site has to be reputable and secure.

I've been doing my shopping at bikebandit.com (takes a bit to process an order) and bing.com (so far #1 in my book) but I want to shop around some more as my tires still seem to have some life left in 'em. Thanks.

*I would use the search function but maybe some of you have updated experiences or what not.

[gsJack]

I've bought tires online from AMT, Chaparral, and Southwest with good service and prices but never bought tires from BikeBandit or Dennis Kirk but Dennis Kirk has been good on other items. I've bought them locally at Shadetree for the past few years which has competitive prices now. Many have been buying from Superstore recently at good prices and service. Check them all for what you want.

http://www.americanmototire.com/catalog/
http://www.chaparral-racing.com/Chaparr ... &navId=456
http://www.swmototires.com/
http://www.shadetreepowersports.com/
http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/12 ... Tires.aspx

I bought a new 97 GS500 in 99 that had small cracks in the tires from sitting on the showroom floor and used them up putting 8100 miles on them in 4 months. If they are more than 5 years old I say replace them. Check the dates of manufacture on your present tires.

[JC Viper]

Thanks, I'll check those out. I would buy locally but being NYC the prices are pretty high. One shop wanted $130 for a front 16" bridgestone tire.

There's no dates stamp on the tires. All I know is that they are decent shape Metzelers Lasers ME33 and the corresponding rear.

[gsJack]

On tires made since 2000 the last 4 digits of the DOT number are the week and year of manufacture ie 2709 would be the 27th weel of 2009. Before 2000 it was the last 3 digits ie 279 would be 27th week of 1999. I liked that ME33 which was usually used with a ME55 rear but those tires were superceeded a long time a go with Metzeler's newer Lasertec tires. Better check the age of yours.

[dean owens]

i shopped around and the best price i could get for the type of tires i wanted was from swmototires.com. they didn't have the best price on all tires. i narrowed my tires down to 3 "models". other places had 1 or 2 of the 3 cheaper... but the cheapest of all three were a set of bt-021's from swmototires.

[Johnj]

If somebody has your tires, you might want to get them from him. Does that include mounting and balance? OTD.

[JC Viper]

So far the Bridgestone BT-45 is the cheapest set of name brand tires I can get. Next would be the Dunlop GT501, and the most expensive goes to the Metzelers Lasertec which looks like the set on my bike right now. Granted I have an ME33 Laser front and ME99 Perfect rear which are quite old and probably can only last 100 - 200 miles or so (too paranoid about the tiny cracks in the sidewall) and still are sticky.

Would be nice if I could find a way to accommodate 17" rims and radial tires on this bike but the bike is fine the way it was designed rim sizes and all.

[fireguzzi]

My BT45's never disappointed me.

[JC Viper]

Okay, who and what are Duro tires? I found them on Bikebandit.com and both front and rear will cost me $110 and they seem to have positive reviews. Anyone else here give them a try?

They are H rated and though my bike tops out at 155MPH there's no way I'll break 100MPH street/ highway use and maybe an occasional track day.

[gsJack]

A couple of users tried the Duro HF918 tires over at gstwins.com and the opinions seemed to be decent performance but short life, would be even shorter on a bike with some power like yours. I would try the V rated Avon Roadriders, BT45, or GT501 if I had an older Ninja 900, all good choices. There are places in this world and even a few in the US that have vehicle inspections and wouldn't pass a bike that didn't have tyres suitable for it.

UK Bike magazine test worth a reading on bias tires:

http://www.ex-500.com/wiki/index.php/Tire_Comparison