Personally Im really liking the Metzeler roadtech 01's
Great turn in , good grip and seem to be wearing at an acceptable rate.

Ive only got about 5k on this set so far, but still lots of tire left.

 

Ok. Lets do background. I was a service writer for Honda, Suzuki, and Yamaha for several years.
I have almost 88,000 miles of ride time on my F4i alone.
I've been riding since before dual compound sport tires were a thing.

Sure, all you want is to ride to work and go slowly around corners, and thats fine. The problem is traffic doesn't work that way. At some point, someone is cutting you off badly. Or t-boning you. Better tires allow more ability to avoid these situations. You have more traction to slam the brakes without locking the tire up and crashing. You have more lean angle to do an emergency swerve out of the way. You have more traction to nail the gas and not slip out. Its just more options at your disposal. Literally everyone who's replied to this has said no to shinko's. By all means, buy them. And learn from it.

 

Out of curiosity, what is a service writer?

 

I've spent many a hour scouring the internet to find the answer I wanted to hear, rather than the one I needed to hear. If I went ahead, despite the advice of those more experienced than I was, it led to disappointment and/or shattered dreams 9 times out of 10.

If you have done much riding at all on anything other than dirt lanes, you know that most cagers are, at best, unaware and, at worst, complete idiots. Why not give yourself every advantage you can?

 

The person you drop the bike off with in the service department. They write up all repairs, do all the communication, assign repairs to different techs, get quotes etc. I talked to hundreds of people a year and tires were always top of the list of things people needed, so you had to know the products to help steer them to what they wanted.

 

Ok, cool. I honestly had no idea what that was. But it makes perfect sense.
I learned something today. Thank you.

 

I'm not trying to hear the answer I want, if the Shninkos are bad then they are. I have yet to have anyone tell me experience they have had with their bike and Shinkos on it, besides yourself. All I've read is they are crap, no real stories or evidence behind it. I'm just trying to see what tires seem to fit what I'll be doing best. Any actual help is appreciated

 

Okay, understood. From my research two summers ago, I determined that most of their road tires (as opposed to drag slicks or on/off road treads) were mediocre with notable deficiencies when compared to a top tier tire. I decided that "feel", grip, and turn-in were more important for me than longevity.

There was a good comparison video that MC garage did with Ari Henning. If you can find that, it might help you make a decision...

 

If you want grip and good tire mileage go for a sport touring tire. Sport touring tires today are as good as any full out sport tire of 10 years ago. If you live in an area with very twisty roads, then for that extra grip, a sport tire will probably give you more peace of mind.

I have a cbr600f4i as well as a gsxr1000 and vfr750. The 600 and 750 have Dunlop Roadsmart 3's. I run Bridgestone Bt16's on the gsxr1000. They last between 4 to 5000 miles. The Roadsmarts last about 10,000 miles on the vfr750. On the cbr600 I have about 5000 miles and they barely show any wear. Probably due to the smaller engine and less torque.

The Roadsmarts have a harder feel, and don't turn with quite the response of the Bt16's, but it's not very noticeable until you swap between the different bikes. The Roadsmarts have great grip and a solid feel to them. I recommend them highly. For the majority of riders, full out sport tires are a waste of time and money, as they never use them to their full potential. I've heard plenty of riders who talk about their brilliance and skill, looked at their tires and seen major chicken strips.

I suggest you read reviews on sport touring tires, and decide what you prefer.

 

I commute and ride a lot of spirited roads. This summer I got only five thousand km, yes three thousand miles, out of a bt016 rear. Very disappointing. This was cords showing in the centre done, not safe to ride on. I'm now on a battlax s21 and hoping for a little more mileage this go around. Prior to the bto16 I had a q3 which was a nice tire until it stopped holding air. At the tread level left on it I wasn't interested in repairing it. It was also the tires that came to me with the bike when I bought it and they weren't dated but enough wear I swapped out the rear and front for the bt016's.

For me id like to get as much mileage as I can out of tires but I won't sacrifice much grip for it or pay exorbitant prices for the latest/greatest. I've put about 300km on the s21 so far and it's been good and confidence inspiring. But I am running right up against the end of the season here, cold roads/pavement.

In my locale the shops are a good place to check around for end of the season deals on tires. They are motivated to move out old stock. I usually keep a spare at home as I change my own tires so in the fall I'll hit up the shops and see what sort of a deal they are willing to make.

i have found the battlax line to be good performance and inexpensive but 5,000km out of the rear? I won't run a bt016 again I think.