Rear tyres:180 or 190? What's your preference?

[naphazoline]

You mean the shock would be too much for your wallet?
You need to find out what part is creating the stiffness. Too heavy a spring for your weight? Too much preload wound on? Does your shock have adjustment for compression and rebound damping...one or both is up too much?

yeah...definitely too much for my wallet.i'd rather spend that sort of money on a power commander,can,and a custom fuel map =). i don't really ride hard enough to justify ohlins either.in fact,to be honest,i'm finding it a hard bike to get used to,in comparison to others i've ridden,but they've all been smaller to some degree or another.

the back shock has comp' and rebound adjustment,and the spring has adjustablity too.
i do need to be careful that i'm not confusing the shocks stiffness with the sparse seat padding.
i've noticed that when i'm off the bike and pushing down on the rear,it does compress much more than it feels when sitting/riding on it.

[pritch]

A while back I posted some comments from BIKE re sport touring tyres.

Somewhat at various with the ratings given in this thread but then the tester wasn't riding on our roads.

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...ight=Tyre+test

I also have the results of their sports tyre item too, in fact I thought I'd posted that too but can't find it. (It's terrible getting old...)

The majority hereabout may not particularly like the results though...

[pritch]

Was going to edit my last but then noticed my post count...

I posted the brief (very) version of BIKES sports tyre test here:

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...ad.php?t=85203

[naphazoline]

great stuff there pritch..the "Z6" doesn't fair too badly on that first test.
but all the same,i wouldn't mind trying something else when i get a new rear.
at least that way i can start making some comparisons for myself.
after all, one mans medicne can be another mans poison.(otherwise we'd all be on the same tyres)

[MSTRS:Me]

great stuff there pritch..the "Z6" doesn't fair too badly on that first test.

I had Z6s on my GSXR1100 - done over 10,000kms when I sold the bike. Rear (180/55) was squaring off and I never got to the edge. Liked them, but wouldn't consider on them on 600/750 or even a modern 1000 sports bike.

[Tony.OK]

yeah...definitely too much for my wallet.i'd rather spend that sort of money on a power commander,can,and a custom fuel map =). i don't really ride hard enough to justify ohlins either.in fact,to be honest,i'm finding it a hard bike to get used to,in comparison to others i've ridden,but they've all been smaller to some degree or another.

the back shock has comp' and rebound adjustment,and the spring has adjustablity too.
i do need to be careful that i'm not confusing the shocks stiffness with the sparse seat padding.
i've noticed that when i'm off the bike and pushing down on the rear,it does compress much more than it feels when sitting/riding on it.

In all honesty dude do you need more power riding on the road? You say that you aren't an aggresive rider so why search for more HP? A "can" I understand totally, they are too quiet with stock one. If you want a boost in HP just whack a 15 tooth front sprocket on($40), its as good as a 20 hp gain in fun value.
Having good suspension has nothing to do with riding hard, it took me a long time to realize the value of having great suspension over HP, add up the list of HP acc you are looking at and thats enough to get a quality shock, no amount of fiddling with the stock one will make it good.

[pritch]

i don't really ride hard enough to justify ohlins either.

Probably not *that* many of us do. As Robert Taylor says most of his sales are not to racers but to road riders.

My Ohlins is normally set to "full comfy" but I can change that in seconds if I want to go for ride to Whangamomona, or a track day, or carry luggage, or a pillion, or whatever tf.

[naphazoline]

In all honesty dude do you need more power riding on the road? You say that you aren't an aggresive rider so why search for more HP? A "can" I understand totally, they are too quiet with stock one. If you want a boost in HP just whack a 15 tooth front sprocket on($40), its as good as a 20 hp gain in fun value.
Having good suspension has nothing to do with riding hard, it took me a long time to realize the value of having great suspension over HP, add up the list of HP acc you are looking at and thats enough to get a quality shock, no amount of fiddling with the stock one will make it good.

o.k....well maybe you mis enterpreted my definition of aggressive. i have my moments,and it's not so much the hp i'm after,i have other reasons for those mod's.my little trick to saving on the costs of the mod's is in the can.i know a guy who hand makes custom cans for a fraction of what the big names charge,and he's pretty damn good at making exactly what you want.

[Shaun]

If you guys had seen a Michelin Front tyre I saw at a track day last week, you would all run away from ever using a Michelin again, there quality has become JUNK, and they are NOT the tyre they once were

[NZsarge]

If you guys had seen a Michelin Front tyre I saw at a track day last week, you would all run away from ever using a Michelin again, there quality has become JUNK, and they are NOT the tyre they once were

I'm not sure of what Michelin you refere or if you speak of Michelin's in general but for my purposes if find them an awesome tyre (PP 2CT), particularly the front as the centre's of the rears still tend to wear out too fast for my like but then again i've got that complaint with most tyre i've run so...

[DEATH_INC.]

And that's all you need to know I know this - 190/50 is a tyre for high milage. The flatter profile gives more contact in the centre of the tyre which is good for durability, but turn in is not as good. 180/55 on the correct size rim will steer better than 190/55 on the same rim. the reason is that the 190/55 causes the contact patch to shift further to the inside on the bike, and steering is reduces because of that ( it shortens the lever on the gravitational axis blah blah blah). Racers use 190/55 (and 190/60) because of the better exit grip, but we spend quite a lot of time trying to get the bikes to steer with the bigger tyre.

Um, NO! Completely the opposite, the bike turns in better, but takes more effort to do so.

[DEATH_INC.]

We've debated this topic to death on Gixxer.com, it really seems there's no huge advantages/disadvantages either way....just run what you like.
I've even run a 200/50 on the srad, and don't see too many people going past me, and the ZX12 was definately better with the 200.

[Shaun]

Um, NO! Completely the opposite, the bike turns in better, but takes more effort to do so.

I agree with what Mishy has said mate. I was the first in NZ a few years back to use the 190 on a 5.5 rim in the race scene

The 190 made the turn in more tricky, but the exit grip was heaps better, putting the 190 on a 5.5 rim, alters the correct profile of the tyre, where when the bike is on its side, it is giving you a bigger foot print of contact rubber to the road, simislr to using the 16.5 rim

Also the 180 V 190 will alter your ride height and gearing ratio, as the circumference is different as well, so if you like your current geometery/handling, you may need to alter the rear height back to your current settings if you change tyres, so take a messurement from your rear sub frame to your swingarm before changing tyres, so you have the reference to re set ride too

[Taz]

My bike came with a 180 fitted but I replaced that with a 170 for better handling. Was harder to turn in with the 180. Standard fittment is a 170/60x17.

[naphazoline]

I agree with what Mishy has said mate. I was the first in NZ a few years back to use the 190 on a 5.5 rim in the race scene

The 190 made the turn in more tricky, but the exit grip was heaps better, putting the 190 on a 5.5 rim, alters the correct profile of the tyre, where when the bike is on its side, it is giving you a bigger foot print of contact rubber to the road, simislr to using the 16.5 rim

Also the 180 V 190 will alter your ride height and gearing ratio, as the circumference is different as well, so if you like your current geometery/handling, you may need to alter the rear height back to your current settings if you change tyres, so take a messurement from your rear sub frame to your swingarm before changing tyres, so you have the reference to re set ride too

thanks shaun.good info there mate.i've made a log of all the measurements when i set up the susp',for future references,and you've answered a question of mine on the gear ratio thing