Avon Viper

[Lou Girardin]

I had ST's on the RF and thought they were OK. I thought that power slides at 110 k's were normal for such a 'powerful' bike. Then I tried Diablos and Z6's on the Bandit, more grunt, harder riding and neither let go once under power.
Vipers may be different, but I won't be finding out.

[Blackbird]

I had ST's on the RF and thought they were OK. I thought that power slides at 110 k's were normal for such a 'powerful' bike. Then I tried Diablos and Z6's on the Bandit, more grunt, harder riding and neither let go once under power.
Vipers may be different, but I won't be finding out.

What sort of mileage do you get from your Z6's Lou? How do you find wet weather performance?

[terbang]

I have Azaro S/T's all round and they're a reasonable compromise between longevity and grip. I get a similar mileage to you. They have a deeper centre tread depth than many tyres which helps longevity. My front doesn't last much longer than the rear due to sidewall scrubbing so I always change them together. Hope that your Azaro is the "B" load rating which was developed especially for the heavier fast bikes like the 'busa and 'bird. I'm on my 3rd set now and they're fine for my needs.

:

Yup the Azaro a "B" load rating and though its not all that flash on a slippery road I really can't complain about it, it satisfys the scotsman in me. The decision on the Viper was based on a lot of writeups on busa boards about tyres and heavy bikes (even waded through a german one) and the Viper got the better reviews. It was a close one between the Pilot Power and Viper. I have also used Avons for years in the form of the road runner with no probs so I guess I'm a little brand loyal as well.

[The Stranger:Me]

What sort of mileage do you get from your Z6's Lou? How do you find wet weather performance?

On the X11 I have done 6,000km on the rear now and I would guess there is another 3,000 to go. Still got the Viper on the Viper on the front and the combination is fine.
The Z6 would be the best tyre I have had in the wet.
I prefer it to both the Azaro and Viper in the wet.

[Blackbird]

On the X11 I have done 6,000km on the rear now and I would guess there is another 3,000 to go. Still got the Viper on the Viper on the front and the combination is fine.
The Z6 would be the best tyre I have had in the wet.
I prefer it to both the Azaro and Viper in the wet.

Thanks for that. I've only done about 2000 km on my current set of Avons but will need to replace them before I head to the south island next March. I'm reluctant to change from a known combination before such a long haul but in view of the positive reports, I might try the Z's.

Cheers

Geoff

[Hitcher]

I need to wear out a set of tyres between now and the Grand Challenge in October. I'm guessing that the OEM Battlax 020s should be kaput by 10,000km -- about 2,500km away (the rear is already starting to square off and the front to fluff up, both classic 020 traits). At that stage I plan to try a set of the Conti Road Attacks, despite having been a loyal and devoted fan of the Metzeler Z6 on both of my last two bikes.

Gee, ain't it nice to have choices again!

[Lou Girardin]

What sort of mileage do you get from your Z6's Lou? How do you find wet weather performance?

Around 9000 from a rear. I stretched one to 10,500 once when I couldn't get a replacement.
I've never had a problem in the wet. They've given little slides twice on tar snakes that I didn't see in time. Very predictable and gentle. But they've held on when I've overdone things and was mentally preparing for the splat.

[Blackbird]

Thanks everyone for the comments - it's a confusing world innit? A while back, someone posted that very few of us ever get near to pushing the design limit of any modern tyre. That's a true enough statement but we do come close in extreme conditions or a major cock-up and that's when you really need an edge!

Every new tyre design feels weird for a while anyway while you get used to the different profile.

[loosebruce]

loosebruce got 1600kms out of his back tyre.. he treated it really really harsh, and a hard track day at puke.. so not too bad I guess!!

Thats was the sport compond, i got 950km out of the supersport version.

Good tyres though, i was impressed, not too shabby at my speed in the wet either, but i'd still swing Pilot Powers on the road, although i would've been keen on trying the extreme compound, with the 190/55 rear and had a hack on the track.