Has anyone bought tires for their 900 this year and if so what did you get??
i have the option to do the 17" swap on the front which i bought last year, but a quick look shows that there are still company's making the 130/70 zr16" tires..
i'm just curious of what anybody's recent experiences might be if any..
it'll will def help me decide which direction to go in.. and at this point money is no object.. i like the feeling of knowing my 400 hundred pound machine is going to stay under me when cornering..
for some reason i doubt anyone is going to reply,but by chance i might get lucky..
jay

 

I went with the Metzler M3's and I am happy with them. The previous owner used these as well. I got about 9,000 miles out of them or so including the previous owners 3,000 miles.

I put on a new pair about a month or so ago, after searching on a bunch of websites.
I've got no issues in the corners so far, but I run them at race pressures (30~ in front, 27-29~ in rear). That will make them wear a bit faster, but give you the best tread patch.
Would I have liked to get a pair of dunlop's or pirelli's? Sure... but not worth the hassle of converting the front to a 17"

 

I'm running Avon 3D ultras. Still have the 16 inch front and love the tires. Previously always had dunlops but I would buy these again for my 900.

Nick

 

Dunlop Q3's here. 17" conversion. Aprilia wheels and swingarm, RC51 forks



So far I like them a lot. I'll be going to the 200 size rear once my 180 wears out since I now have a 6" rear wheel to support it.

 

thanks fellas for chiming in ..
somewhat surprised as well, its been somewhat of a graveyard in here lately..
so I ended up making a purchase yesterday and I bought the Bridgestone Battlax Hypersport S-20's and I'm looking forward to slapping them on..
I'm planning on buying another set as well in the next couple of weeks for my fighter..
and a spare set so im not caught with my pants down next time it comes to getting my sticker..
inferno: my god, almost 10,000 miles. I'd like to see a picture of those.. thanks for your input..


motelyfan: I was one sec away from hitting the button on the Avon's , I ended up going on youtube and found some videos on tire reviews and dave moss had brought Bridgestone's on the track and and gave them pretty good praise , otherwise I was going with metzeler one time..

 

I know the choices are somewhat slim if you stay with the 16" front. I have always run Dunlops except when I bought my first 900rr new. Came with Battleaxes. They were ok until about 2 years out. Road it on a Monday fine... went out of town for work and when i road it agaim on Thurs. it felt like someone had greased the tires (even though they hadn't). I would never buy Bridgestone again.

I was unsure on the Avons, but after riding them for awhile they are great tires (at least the 3D ultras). I put Q3's on my RC51 and VFR but would put Avon's on again the 900 due to 16" tire availability.

Nick

 

I don't have any pics since I took them to the gun range and did away with them haha.
They weren't showing any bands, but they were pretty flat and didn't pass inspection.

Here's the only pic I could find

 

tomzilla:: killa bike and killa mods.. you have yourself one sweet 900..


motley: I'm def going to buy the 3d's next week..i know exactly what you mean by greasy feel.. but im going to ride the Bridgestone's first and report back.. ill keep the thread alive till I put both experiences up, at least if someone does a search on just tires they'll find something.


inferno: im still a little bit curious about your set, they seem to have def lasted longer than your average tire, were they a sticky and confident tire to ride??

 

It's my first bike, so I've never ridden anything different. The rear will lock up if it's cold out and I hammer on the brake. The only issue I had was in sand, but if it's dry pavement, I've never had an issue with traction. Now that I'm pushing my lean angles, they seem to hold true. On the new ones I have, I have the pressures low for more grip but it will make it wear out faster. I may bump it up a bit to try to make them last more than a season if I put a ton of miles on

From what I understand, Pirelli owns them now.

 

well this looks like this is going to turn out to be the summer of tire testing for me.. i was checking craigslist on my phone while in 5 mph traffic and came across dunlop Q2"s brand new for a hundred and fifty and basically made the call and went and got them.. now i know they're not the 3D's but i wont hold that against them if they're not all that!!
the guy lived up the street so i could hardly resist.