Tires for the 900..
 

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"
http://i57.tinypic.com/2ynp8c0.jpg

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
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x...psfktyc1jb.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x...psvh2q2ocu.jpg
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 :icon_laugh:
https://scontent-a-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/...06869582_o.jpg

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.

16" Q2 JC? never sold in the US. 16" QII sold across the pond tho.
guess that means u've decided on the 17" conversion.
look forward to hearing your tire comparison.

yes splash, actually somewhere in this thread i mentioned my 17"vfr rim i bought last year and actually popped on the tire to the 17" rim this afternoon.. while i'm writing this i'm debating which tires to test out first..the whole reason i started the thread was mainly because of the lack of rubber for or beloved 16" blades and the whole 17"conversion was never really a big thing i wanted to change but was curious and when the right rim came along i snagged it..

so two weeks ago i needed to get a sticker for the bike and i failed for being down to the safety nubs and came home did a tire search and got mostly threads on the dam 17" conversion and less of what people currently use for 16" rubber, i've been riding these 900's off and on since 1992 and the front end has never been an issue for me, but i like sticky rubber and i'm less partial to a touring tire.. so i guess this thread will have it all, but i wanted it to be mainly for the 16" tire experiences and availability (current) from manufacturers and i'm still planning on buying the 3D's so i guess it will still be a majority 16" thread with the 17"wild card.. i paid a little over a hundred for the set.. i basically bought the rim just in case there was absolutely nothing left but a touring tire(which i dont care for) and then i was planning on moving to the 17" tire.. anyway a little bit long winded but i've put a lot of thought into this and have read lots and lots of threads and people running in circles with different opinions so by the end of the month i promise i'll be back with mine. and hopefully this will be useful to someone in next couple years..
and by the way splash what have you been using?? do you use your bike everyday or just the weekends to blow off steam.. hows you rubber held up? sounds like a personal question huh? :)
jay

I ended up with the S20F, but in all actually they sent a S20R. I got no complaints out of it. Had it on since Jan 2014. Only has 300 miles on it but it feels good. They do sell the S20 in a 16" for front. I wish they had those at my local dealership. I had to get the Bto 16 for front. Don't really care for it. Little bumpy. I hope to wear it out and get the s20 to match.

Vin i just got home from riding s20's, my god what a difference from the podiums. these remind me of how the blade is known for just falling into a turn..
i'm still just breaking them in and over the next couple days i''m going to start pushing them harder and harder, but so far man i like the new shoes.. after the first ten miles they felt better planted than the last set and was ultra smooth in and out of turns..
up here we have large rotaries basically like large sweeping turns just shaped like a circle of all different sizes.. man coolest purchase i've made in a while.. didn't expect my own reaction.. now i'm really curious to know what the Q2's feel like..

good to hear about the S20's JC. if I was ready for new tires I think I'd be looking at them, but not riding much these days so my tires still good for a long while. have M3's on and they seem to work well (had Metzelers on the FJ11 and liked them) just don't get tested much in this environment. I challenge anyone to a "widest chickenstrip" contest. need to move to NC or Tenn (how's that working out for ya Conrice?)

Thank for the info! looked up my skids and found out they are really old and that I need to replace them. Now to add new skids to the number 2 spot on list of needs!

JC, Im assuming this is your first time with the s20s. That is all I have used on my 99 900. They just make you feel glued to the road. But, do not expect much mileage from them!

ccrider: im glad you bumped this thread.. yep i put these on at the beginning of the summer and have to say, i absolutely love them..
i also bargain shopped for them through amazon and got both front and back for just over two hundred.
i also bought a set of q2's that i was going to swap out at some point but the Q2 set had the 17" front which i forgot so i decided to just use those on my street fighter..
But your right! i would recomend the S20's to anyone looking for new rubber and not that i'm a well off guy by any means, but i would buy these yearly knowing how confident they inspire me through the turns..i also have zero chicken strip on the S20's not that its a contest but i have no problem with getting the maximum lean out of them..
i also run all my tires about 10lbs under pressure..

Yeah I think I got under 4k on them last time. That is aggressive driving though . A little over $200 is about what i was paying each time for the set. that's a good price. I picked them up on eBay or motorcycle super store a couple times. One time I did a 100 mile thruway ride playing around getting it up to 100+ it was new but got chewed up pretty good.u could tell how soft they are. Can't beat the grip though. I haven't been on here a lot cause I'm so busy and I bought a 05 vtx (Honda) of course. It's nice to have a choice of bikes for different moods :). I got metzlers on the cruiser that ive heard of people getting almost 20k! . Just starting to have trouble with my 900 and shifting 1st to second. I think it's an internal problem cause I hold the lever up firmly after shifting and it didn't always catch. It's been getting worse gradually. I'll post for help once I make sure I check everything. Im hoping it's not a shift fork or gear issue

Just bought a set of s20's myself on Thursday, should be here on Wednesday. Finally had the extra money to put towards safety (current tires are way to old to trust anymore). Went with the s20's due to the lowest sale price I could find and availability of 16" front. That and the info from this thread help make the decision easy. :icon_beerchug:

With that said does anyone mount and balance themselves or have a shop do it. If you do it yourself I'm curious as to what process you use as I have see and done (a long time ago) this many different ways.

Will

will:
i mount and balence all my my own tires, firast i do it myself because i only trust myself, second it only takes as long as it would if i had to drive somewhere and drop it off and have some knuckle head drop my bike and or bend a rim for a bike where parts are harder and harder to source out..
first this is the rim bead breaker i bought for 20 bucks and works like a charm..
Motorcycle Bead Breaker
they actually have it on sale for 15$
and grab these as well, if your going to balance..
1/4 oz. Wheel Weights
i've actually have done it both ways, balancing and not balancing. and maybe because i dont do track days or have the cops in my neighborhood chasing me around, but i really dont feel the difference between the two, but you can also buy a cheap balancer through harbor freight as well, this is the one i got and works fine..
Motorcycle Wheel Balancer w/ Stand
when i got mine, it was on sale for like 35$
also heres a video from youtube for pulling the tire off the rim, this is a must watch video if your going to bang it out yourself.. there are tons of videos but this kid is using the same tire rim breaker i have..
just dont forget to double check your air after getting the new tire on, you'll most likely over fill the tire to get it back on the rim..
i also didnt use the over sized zip ties he has, i just doubled up on up on like 12" ones i have laying around my shop,

Thanks for the info JC. I just found out we have a Harbor Freight here in town so I can go take a look at what they may have on hand. Also I sent you another PM yesterday.

Will

i just wanted to add one more thing, do the back tire first . its bigger and because its bigger, its actually easier to get off the rim.. the front tire being smaller can be a bitch but by warming up doing the back , you'll have a better idea of how its going to go second time around.. also just like car tires, dont forget to mix up some soap or something in a spray bottle and spray the bead around the tire putting it on and taking it off.. it just literally pops on and pops off, once your in a groove..
i also wanted to mention youtube has videos on using a hand tire balancer and balancing.
like this

Yep all great info!, thanks JC. I have come across both these vids a few times in my search for additional knowledge. I went to my Harbor Freight store and they didn't have the same bead breaker you posted. The one they had is much cheaper in construction and literally looked like it would fold under the pressure. I have in the past used 2x4's and leverage to get the same result and will prob do just that again. Got some quick supplies to make my own balancer setup as H.F. didn't have their kit on hand at my store and it is easily built second hand. I will try to post pic's of my work if I remember to do so at the time (I'm terrible about that) and if I'm really gun-hoe maybe a video ;).

Will

you know willie, i have to say this and its really forum related. i added the last comments knowing you probably have gotten that far..
I like to add as much detail i can.. sometimes i come back and reread some of the stuff i've responded to in the past and say to myself my god, hows anyone supposed to understand that..
i know because though the years i've spent plenty of hours just reading and adding to my own knowledge bank. so i when i start talking about anything. i try to keep simple minded folk like myself from popping a gasket and add as much detail as i can.. especially later..


talk about videos: you know how many i probably have and never get around to posting..
vinny sent me his carbs a couple months back and i literally took the entire carb banks apart. i had taken video from two different phones, but i dont know where people get the time to edit and post there stuff up..
like ambeos, my hat goes off to him.. to be able to document any part of my daily life is incredibly difficult.. and to edit it and tell a story is alot of work..

Well got my new s20's in and put on. Wasn't able to do a video like I wanted as start to finish took a few days because of time and weather.
Here is a few pictures of what I was able to snap though of the paint strip, new mounted and balancing. My balancer is a little crude but it
was all I had around to make it work (took extra time to make sure it was right).

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My new shoes...
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make shift balancer since my local Harbor Freight store didnt have one....
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Got more pictures of other updates as I but will post them to another thread thats more appropriate when I get the time....

Also a huge thank you to my wife for letting me get some of this done in the house!!

By the way, forgot to mention, Bridgestone is giving a $40 rebate this month for all s20 sets purchased so send in your receipts to get a prepaid visa card!


Bridgestone Motorcycle Tires

Ya I missed that by a few days as I bought mine on 28 Aug and the rebate offer didn't start til 1 Sep.

That sucks. im about to buy a set just to take advantage of the deal since I know they don't last long :)

being a carpenter by trade, i totally dig the setup.. i was actually going to build the same thing but bought mine while just moseying through harbor freight one day..

ccrider: honestly , you should check out amazon. i bought my set for just a little over two hundred..
from two different sellers..

It seems like they are going for about $240ish right now on amazon. They charged me tax before. Never been a fan of amazon. Their shipping is usually slow to me. Just my opinion though I would much rather get my stuff from revzilla.I get their stuff in 2 days cause they have a warehouse close to me. They have awesome cust. service and will match prices.

I brought a 1997 cbr 900 rr sc33 both tires where compelty worn out

Front whould run wide and just drop into corners badley trianglated

front and back fitted a bridgstone s 20 front haveyetto replace the rear.

Front was still not right so changed the suspension settings at the bottom the forks

firmed up much better but blew the left fork seal (probley why was set way it was as the right seal was leaking already.

Front tire warms up nicely and like the feel .

another qwestion engine running rough around the 2000 rpm mark and

got rough chain sounding whine i assume the cct i brought a second hand one of ebay

but i assume i need new cam chain as well is it hard to replace the cam chain ?

bike got bad clater from the clutch cover when its cold so pull in the clutch to get rid of it .

say clutch plates are shaged also the steel plates ?

thanks in advance

patrick

hey patrick,

the way to tackle the cam chain in my opinion is to do the service check of the shims.
basically doing that you'll be getting multiple birds with one stone, especially if any of the shims are out of spec..
how many miles are on your blade?

Before you go replacing things have you balanced the carbs? That can make a big difference to the 'noises' you mention.

Dave

yes id thought getting those done it needs good service

Just havent got the money thanks for the reply

Not sure of the miles its in kms but just got 8,000 km or so

So its either been around the clock or its a replaced unit ;-)

Its a 1997 sc 33

Yes i replaced the carbs as when cleaning the orginal i damaged

the emulsion tube in one , so anyone wants 3 carbs am your man.

well say it does need that as i very rouglhy just lined them up

all closed at the same postion i know you surposed to have

guages but i dont have knowledge or exp or guages ;-)

I take get it all tuned at local honda shop as soon as i can.

Thanks for the help