| Author | Message | ||
     Kootenay |
OK, spent most of today removing the wheels from my 'Bolt, spooning on some new rubber, and rebuilding the bike again, learning as I went. After getting everything bolted up again, I took 'er out for a shakedown ride. Wow! The new Diablos make the bike sooo much nicer to ride, even as I was taking it easy to scrub 'em in! Standup from corner braking is virtually gone, the bike turns in much easier, and just feels more "frisky" all around. I'm sure glad I made the change! Oh, and yes I did the change myself,--now that I've got all the tools (either bought or homebuilt) and some experience, I feel quite confident about it. | ||
| Bake |
Wow, you have way more ambition than me, I took my wheels off and on and got a shop to put on a new Metzler. Did you cook your Dunlops or are you just getting more ridding than me? We leave for Manitoba tuesday, that should get my mileage #'s up. | ||
| Hattori_hanzo |
Way to go Geoff! I know it doesn't seem possible that going away from the OEM tire could make that much of a difference but it is SOOOO true! I've changed to Diablos and haven't looked back. | ||
| Kootenay |
Bake, my stockers were gone at 4500 km--after the last trip through Kaslo-New Denver and home, the rear center strip was pretty much completely bald (way beyond the wear strips) and the front was worn into a weird V-shape, almost bald on either side of the front groove. I was up to Kaslo and back this morning (a great Sunday morning ride), and the bike feels much more confident--I found myself carrying about 10% more speed through the corners than before, without trying to at all (I'm still kinda "taking it easy"  . ) On one stretch where I always had a bit of rear-end squirm from the Dunlops, the bike now rails. I also had the opportunity to put my braking practice to use--coming up a hill on a rather twisty piece of road, I had a deer jump out of the bushes and scrabble across the road in front of me. I did some emergency braking, hauling down from about 130 km/h (80 mph) to 80 km/h (50 mph) in short order--with my rear wheel completely in the air (came up at least 6", felt like 2'). Missed the deer by about a meter (3') or maybe a bit more--I got a good view of his rear end! The Pirellis performed very well through all this--at no point did I feel at all out of control... | ||
| Pinball |
I think anything would be better than the dunlops. I just put on Bridgestone Battleaxe BT014`s,after stretching the dunlops out to 6800 kms. If I had known the difference would be so great ,I would have roasted those dunlops months ago!! | ||
| Hammer71 |
Ok here comes an interesting ?. 05 xb9r and I ride the •••• out of it, Slide rear whenever possible and hit curves faster than I should. Basically ride hard whenever possible. No pro here but my tires look new still even after all the abuse I give them. I have experienced the stand up condition but have easily remedied the problem with a few riding adjustments. Now the question at hand is why do we seem to get different mileage from a set of tires? By that I mean one rider to another given the same riding style? Could I have a "good" set of Dunlops or what. Whats the average for the Dunlops (in miles) I'm not a calculator and am obviously in the U.S. Keep the rubber side down and be safe. Hammer | ||
| Kootenay |
Hammer, I've wondered the same thing--my bike was an 03 leftover, bought it this spring--and the stock tires just didn't last well at all! I also don't seem to get quite the fuel mileage some other guys get (I get 40 - 45 mpg, a lot of guys claim over 50). I don't think I ride all that much harder than anyone else--I certainly don't do burnouts or wheelies (at least not intentionally), but I seem to go through both fuel and tires! The best guess I have is differences in elevation (I live in the mountains) and road surfaces (can you say, "chipsealed?" . | ||
| Ponytail |
I've got a little more than 1300 miles on my '05 12R and the tires are showing the wear. I'm no where near the experienced sport bike rider that some of these other guys are, but I was shocked at the 1000 mile ticker and a 250 mile weekend (200 in one day) how much wear the Dunlops are showing. I can't wait to wear these puppies out to try the Diablo's. (Message edited by ponytail on July 18, 2005) | ||
| Buelluk |
Geoff, Mine was the same, an 03 XB9S, the back was worn out at 2500 miles ( 4000 K ), I switchcd to Diablos , the difference as you have noticed is amazing. I don't do wheelies / burnouts/ stoppies either ! My Diablo's are now on 2400 miles, the wear is about 1.5 mill on the back, negligible on the front. They just get better and better ! | ||
| Taxman |
i got just a hair under 5k out of my dunlops. i put them back on the second time around also. a friend of mine has a different model bike (yamaha fz6) and he has just over 7400 miles on his. i think the reason they wear differently is a combination of riding style and proper maintenence. and i'm sure that road terrain makes a diff. bad road surfaces will eat a tire i bet. | ||
| Fullpower |
yes, i ride a lot of gravel, and my stock dunlops were toasted pretty bad at 2700 miles. first 1000 were VERY GENTLE MILES, break-in, and seldom above freezing temps so i was taking it real easy. have given a thoroughly exuberant flogging to Two rear metzeler Z6's and each was good for 6000 miles of fun. |
