Tyre recommendations for front?

**Coldrider** · 26th September 2016, 21:43

Might as well go for handgrooved slicks to be safe.

**nzspokes** · 26th September 2016, 21:45

Originally Posted by mossy1200

If you wanna be planted at 260+ you should chuck the stinko away get a set of DIABLO SUPERCORSA SP set plus upgrade your rf suspension. 260plus may require work on your motor also.
If your front rim is 3.5inch use 120 tire

Would a Stinko even be rated to 200? More likely the standard super optimistic Suzuki speedo.

**pritch** · 26th September 2016, 21:51

Originally Posted by AllanB

Me - I match brands (Pirelli with Pirelli etc) others don't.

Me too. There are just too many variables when you mix and match. Some pairings will have exactly the opposite effect to that intended, and some companies (Michelin?) have different profiles for sport and sport touring tyres. Carcass construction makes a big difference too, and there's nothing about that on the tyre.

I like the idea that both of my tyres were designed to work together. And my bike won't even do 260, nor will a lot of others.

**MrMarko** · 26th September 2016, 22:14

Originally Posted by Coldrider

Where you going to be doing 260plus on a RF? I thought an RF was a heavier bike so you would stick to touring tyres as you would have good heat transfer.

Its not too much of a whale but certainly not a superbike....

Uhhhh on a closed private road? the current front is giving me issues in the corners above around the 180-200 mark.

**mossy1200** · 26th September 2016, 22:16

Originally Posted by nzspokes

Would a Stinko even be rated to 200? More likely the standard super optimistic Suzuki speedo.

Yeah they will be. They make drag tyres etc and truth is their tyres are likely fairly good now but they don't have a good rep here because they were very budget biscuit wheel tire makers and a joke a while ago. Cheng Shin was the other dreaded tire in the day.

Shinko were using yokohama compounds at one point but its likely they have advanced again since then.

**MrMarko** · 26th September 2016, 22:18

Originally Posted by pritch

Me too. There are just too many variables when you mix and match. Some pairings will have exactly the opposite effect to that intended, and some companies (Michelin?) have different profiles for sport and sport touring tyres. Carcass construction makes a big difference too, and there's nothing about that on the tyre.

I like the idea that both of my tyres were designed to work together. And my bike won't even do 260, nor will a lot of others.

Well yes indicated speed.

Frankly when i'm hitting 65 corners at 160+ i need a decent tyre.

**MrMarko** · 26th September 2016, 22:20

Originally Posted by mossy1200

Yeah they will be. They make drag tyres etc and truth is their tyres are likely fairly good now but they don't have a good rep here because they were very budget biscuit wheel tire makers and a joke a while ago. Cheng Shin was the other dreaded tire in the day.

Shinko were using yokohama compounds at one point but its likely they have advanced again since then.

Rumour has it when yokohama stopped producing bike tyres Shinko bought all of the design/compound info from yokohama...

I read up on them before buying and people worldwide said they were severely under rated so i thought i'd give it a chance, i don't mind the rear letting go its easy enough to settle. the front washing away isn't something i want to fuck about with.

I remember running a shinko geez 8-10 years ago and it was a hard compound bloodey awful but this rear is leaps and bounds ahead of the old shinkos.

**MrMarko** · 26th September 2016, 22:25

Originally Posted by nzspokes

Would a Stinko even be rated to 200? More likely the standard super optimistic Suzuki speedo.

http://www.shinkotireusa.com/tire/011-verge

Rated to 168mph. (270kph)

**Coldrider** · 26th September 2016, 22:26

Last time I looked all of the premium brand fronts hover just over the $200 mark. All the premium brands will do a good job being ZR rated. The only difference being the bragging rights, of how fast you can destroy a tyre, or how far you can get out of one. That tends to change with age.

**MrMarko** · 26th September 2016, 22:31

Originally Posted by Coldrider

Last time I looked all of the premium brand fronts hover just over the $200 mark. All the premium brands will do a good job being ZR rated. The only difference being the bragging rights, of how fast you can destroy a tyre, or how far you can get out of one. That tends to change with age.

Eventually your luck runs out, i ride well within what i am comfortable with but motorbikers who like to push the limit (by usual standards) generally don't live to be old and wise in my experience. i try be sensible but i don't exactly putter along. I would be naive to not accept the inherent risk that involves.

Like i say, i have no issue spending the money on a premium tyre for the front, however just because it is expensive it doesn't mean it is good.

Prime example being zxr250 with a bridgestone that cost more... didn't really like them, couldn't push them, threw on some dunlop gpr's and never looked back after that... completely uncomparable to the bridgestones.

In saying this i am looking for a good match and i guess i could just get a matching shinko for the front. As in the back of my mind i'm wondering if i have a really grippy front am i going to push it far too hard and lose the back badly rather than a little bit of a slide with it.

The shinko does have a good reputation though apart from the rate at which it wears, but hell bike tires are cheap as chips if i have to spend 700 bucks on a pair every 4000kms frankly its loose change to me. I'm simply after the best tyres for hard street riding.

**eldog** · 27th September 2016, 01:30

While brand names offer some hint of performance, it's down to the bike and it's purpose.

i have used Shinko and found they suited the bike when the weather warmed up(it was like night and day) but a heavier bike would have made them perform better as well.

if you chew them out so quick and the cost is peanuts to you, then it won't be long before you will have tried all the brands and tyre models. It will be interesting to see what you find.

Tyre pressures definetly play a major role.

**Drew** · 27th September 2016, 05:51

Originally Posted by Coldrider

Both are track orientated, very sticky on the road, Drew probably still has S20 on his RF, they are probably perishing now. If you lose either of these on the road you should question your riding.

Still got the S20s on the RF. They're mint. Excellent grip and they last well.

Originally Posted by nzspokes

Would a Stinko even be rated to 200? More likely the standard super optimistic Suzuki speedo.

I raced my RF at the Cliffhanger hill climb to second place on a Shinko front that would match Mark's rear. The Bridgestone I had on the rear was the limiting factor. Piece of shit.

Roadrace rubber on the road was all I would ever use. Supercorsa or racetec, nothing else was good enough...or so I thought.

I won a pair of S20s from being nominated on here, so I chucked them on and gave my feedback. It boiled down to this.

"Fuck me these hoops are good. I can't believe the grip and feel from them. The limit is reached when that feel goes away, and the front starts to get vague. Take it to the bank that at the point the front gets vague, very few road riders can see where you're going"

Straight from cold they're fantastic. Great in the wet. And they last very well. I started at the recommended tyre pressures and worked from there. I think 36 at the front and 38 in the rear. Ended up at 32 at the front and 34 at the rear for maximum grip and stability, with no apparent detriment to longevity.

**Drew** · 27th September 2016, 05:58

It's only on the track that the S20s start to exhibit their limitations quickly. Think I was two seconds a lap slower on these than on Pilot Race hoops. But it was only a track day on the Bridgestones as opposed to proper racing on the Michies.

The rear would light up off the hairpin (which looks very cool but isn't fast), and the bike was hard to settle through the sweeper.

**OddDuck** · 27th September 2016, 07:34

Originally Posted by pritch

Me too. There are just too many variables when you mix and match. Some pairings will have exactly the opposite effect to that intended, and some companies (Michelin?) have different profiles for sport and sport touring tyres. Carcass construction makes a big difference too, and there's nothing about that on the tyre.

I like the idea that both of my tyres were designed to work together. And my bike won't even do 260, nor will a lot of others.

+1, I've always kept tyres as a matched set for this set of reasons.

Further to Drew's comments about the S20 Evo's, I've been running these on the Ducati for the last year and a half. They've been fantastic. Utterly planted, easily the best grip of any tyres I've ever run, although the caveat with that is that I don't have any other experience with the current lineup of road / sport tyres. They wear out about 7,000 kms or so (that's for me, 200 kg bike, not riding anywhere near as hard as some).