Where the rubber meets the road, Part Two
by: Eric Jacobson

In June of 2003, I wrote an article about tires… the life-blood of every motorcycle. These two items are quite possibly the most important safety feature of riding: your tires are responsible for keeping your bike on the road, keeping the experience fun and keeping you safe. In the article, I implored the readers of SVRider.com to tell me what kind of tires they’re using or looking into because I was in need of new tires myself. Within the last year, I’ve received many emails from all of the awesome readers and members of this site telling me what tires they use and instead of rewriting or summarizing opinions, I decided to just include a selection of responses verbatim in this second part of my “Where the rubber meets the road” inquisition along with the tires I ended up buying for my own 2001 Blue SV650S. So, without further adieu; let’s jump into it, shall we?

Liam C. wrote me to tell me all about his Dunlop 208’s and his eventual selection of Bridgestone: “These [the Dunlop 208’s] tires are a good sports tire but they didn't fit my sv650 or riding style to well and wore out very fast. My recommendation is NO. My latest set of tires are Bridgestone. I have a soft sports tire on the front (010) and a harder touring type tire on the back (020). Since I have had these tires my riding is much smoother and I have more trust in the bike. I have found that this combination works extremely well with the SV. These are the only tires I would be using on this bike from now on.”

Troy R. wrote to tell me about his Bridgestone tires, a trend that continued throughout the emails I received: “I have a '99 SV650 and I have used Metzler Z4's and Z3's and last time I ordered tires from http://www.discountmotorcycletires.com, on the advice of a buddy who rides a VFR, I got Bridgestome Battlax BT020 font and rear. What a great find! They seem to handle every bit as good as the Metzlers, but I was wasting the Metz's every 3000 miles and these Bridgestones have 2500 miles on them and they are barely worn at all. Just a hint, the Battlax 010 is the softer compound, the 020 is the longer-wearing compound. I went with the 020 front and rear. Some guys go with a 010 on front and 020 on back and they are supposed to wear out at the same rate. I’m planning on just replacing the front tire every other time I replace the rear tire.”

DJ U. had this to say: “As far as tires go, I have used two sets of Avon Azaro Sport II's on my bike and the rear only lasts 4500-5000 miles. Not bad, but certainly not wonderful either. So, I’ve ordered a new set of Avon's ST line of tires. These are supposed to be more sport-touring oriented without loosing too much grip. Hopefully they will work out as well as the Sport II's. I never had a problem with them and I use a 170 series out back.”

Phil D. agrees with what the opinion I started to see developing and named the Bridgestone Clan: “I highly recommend the Bridgestone BT010. I manage about 7K from the rears and 14K (yes 14,000) from the fronts. I live in charlotte and frequently ride to the mountains to vent my traffic jam frustrations so the tires get beat pretty often. No scary sudden slides or wondering. They also go to Daytona Beach, FL. every spring without complaint.”

Friso S. did the same thing: “I got BT010/BT020 combo. (softer in front). I love that combination. [The BT010/BT020 combination] sticks a lot better than the Mez4s and lasts a lot longer due to the dual-compound design.”

Over in Virginia Beach, Daniel S. wrote me about his selection of Dunlop’s series: “As a 2001 SVS owner, I am urged to point you in the direction of the tires that I had spooned on my bike over 4000 miles ago. Alas, the DunlopD207 ZRs have been replaced. Dunlop has, in my experience, superior grip and confidence-inspiring stability. They also last a pretty long while, those 4000 miles included a track day at VIR. Being the opened minded person, I've also read that the Michelin Pilots are excellent tires. The choice is yours, whether you're looking for price or quality, and I personally think I'm worth $300. “

Kevin Y. from Warren, PA wrote: “Go for the Continental ZR or even their sport touring model. Sure a set of ZR rated Michelins are allot sexier and stickier, but if you're running an SV with the basic mods (e.g., new pipe and jet kit) you're only pushing about 73 horses, and, lets face it, with that kinda power you ain't gonna be spinnin' em up out of corners much. The Cons. will give you excellent wear, good traction and cost a hell of a lot less than the other marquee brands. I know that Maxxis has introduced a ZR line that is very reasonably priced but I haven't heard or read anything about them. I just replaced the old cupped Dunlop on the front of my 600+ Lb. and 110hp CBR1000F sport tourer with a ZR rated Continental and it's doing just fine. I figure if it can stick that 2 wheeled Buick to cloverleaf off ramps at 60mph, it woulda done fine on my trusty 1999 SV which, I regret to say, I just sold.”

Marshall L. writes: “I thought the Metzeler seemed to [make the bike] feel like it wanted to fall into the corners. I changed those to Dunlop 207s and got much better handling characteristics. They also didn't do too bad on mileage, 4000 on the front and 3000 on the rear. I had a nail in the Dunlop rear at 3000 ([the nail] almost [went] though, I ride fairly aggressively) so I put a Bridgestone BT010 on the rear. The Bridgestone had very similar characteristics to the Dunlop and was very sticky. Unfortunately, I got a nail in it, too, and found a set of Avon AV35 and 36 on Ebay. I came to find out the nail was only in the tread so I kept the Bridgestone for later use. The Avons were more of a Sport Touring tire than the Dunlop or Bridgestone. They handled well although maybe a tad slower. They had far less staright line grip and the rear only lasted 3000 (probably from sliding so much). The front is lasting forever but I am not too fond of it as I can barely do a stoppie now. I think the next time I will try the 010/020 combo. Just my tire experience. Also, changing your own tires is very easy and cheap.”

Dan T. from Weaverville, NC (right up the road from me, by the way) wrote to say: “I have Dunlop Sportmax 207 ZR's on mine and they really grip. I bought the bike used with them [already] on there and I have put 2500 moderately hard mostly curvy back roads use on them and they still have plenty to give. I have had Dunlops and Michelins on my vehicles and they seem to wear through real quick. I have been impressed by the wear on the 207's. I asked Mike at Myers's Ducati about how well Dunlop and Michelins were for motorcycle tires compared to car or truck tires. I was told that they are the best and that they put most of their R&D [ed. Research & Development] into motorcycle tires. He could of been filling me full of crap trying to sell me on them, but they carry Perellis as well so why sell on a cheaper brand? Anyway, I have found specials now on the internet for the 207's under $200.00 for both because they have now released the 208.”

Yet another supporter of the Bridgestones, Greg from the U.K. wrote in: “Re Metz's, you'll find Bridgestone BT020's give much better cornering and grip, mileage that’s not quite as good but the tradeoff favours the Bridgies. These are particularly popular in Oz and the UK. I've also tried the Pirellis, same carcass as the Metz's, just not as secure, reassuring on turn-in or grip as Bridgies. The BT010's wear +++, good as track tyres.”

Tim Z. also compared bike tires with car tires. Some people tell me that this sort of comparison is sacrilege but I feel like for new riders like me (though I’m coming up on my three-year anniversary, believe it or not), it’s the only experience we’ve got: “I can't trust Dunlops no matter how well they do in racing because I had some on a car (BMW 318i), and they were pretty mediocre - noisy as anything, and so-so grip, poor in the wet. Likewise Bridgestones - everything I've read seems to say they are great, but the car tires are also mediocre (they're stock on Subarus, and I can't wait to replace the ones on my WRX). Generally I put these problems down to the compound. Tires I have used and liked on cars include Michelins and Pirellis. That said, on my cycle (MZ Skorpion(!)), I have only ever used Metzlers, and they have been very nice especially for neutral handling, though I am rarely out in the rain and can't speak to that. One other thing worth mentioning is, I have used for many years Mobil 1 synthetic oil, and that stuff is great - I wouldn't use anything else after break-in.”

Alright. So there you have it. It seems as though the overall trend for tire choice leans (pardon the pun) toward the Bridgestone BT010/020 combination. As for me, I couldn’t wait for the responses and complete wussed out – I went with the Metzeler combination that came stock on the bike. I decided that, for me, I know the handling characteristics of my bike to a great deal of precision; changing to another tire would require me to relearn how to ride my bike. In addition, I was worried about making a blind choice without knowing what to go with.

Hopefully, this second article should help all of you in your next tire purchase. A big thank you to all of those of you who wrote me about the tires. Once again, you all provide further proof why the sport of motorcycling kicks so much ass, and, more importantly, that SV riders are some of the most helpful and tight-knit riders on the road.

About the author: Eric Jacobson lives in Asheville, North Carolina. When he’s not out trying to see what the maximum velocity of a SVS is, he’s either teaching or trying to make his businesses take off. You can reach him at owner@irxproductions.com.