tires

[yak]

brigstones or metezlers for the 1150 help

[DaveDanger]

Are you asking which we'd recommend? When I have my d'ruthers... I go with Dunlops. Jes a personal preference. I suspect it'll have an awful lot to do with your style of riding... cruising, touring, aggressive sport... and price range always factors as well. Do you want high mileage (Harder compound rubber) or extreme sticky traction (softer compound, short life)? Lots of variables to sort out.

[mixongw]

I would imagine that there is a huge difference in the price of the two you mentioned. If money is no object, go with the Metzlers. I am using Bridgestone Spitfires on mine and they do fine.

[Boondocks]

I've tried Dunlop, Bridgestone, Metzler, etc.. The best compromise combination of quality, performance and longevity that I have found are the Michelin Macadam tires.

I got 13,000 miles on my last set, riding all year round and in the rain, with curvy roads everywhere.

[QuaiChangKane]

Bridgestones - BT-45 Battlaxes.

[earlfor]

I've tried Pirelli, Michelen, Metzeler, Cheng Shin, Bridgestone and Dunlop on my 1150. Worst mileage was a Bridgestone BT45 that was worn to nothing in 1200 miles. Handling was OK though. Pirelli Sport Demon lasted about 2200 miles, but it didnt have enough grip to handle the HP of the 1150. I never spent so much time going sideways with any other tire as I did with the Sport Demon. Michlen handled OK, but was only good for 2500 miles until it too was worn out. Cheng Shin was terrible in the grip department and frightening in the rain, but it was showing no noticable wear at 2000 miles when I changed it for something that would actually grip the road. Metzeler has a great grip, wet or dry, and I made that my tire of choice even though I only averaged about 2500-3k miles before wearing them out. Theyre a great rain tire. (I get a lot of rain down south :-) ) About a year ago, Luke suggested I try a Dunlop D205 as he had been really pleased with one on his 1150. I did and found it has great traction, wet or dry, and I can get 5500 miles out of one before its time to start thinking of a replacement. I've been through three replacements now and plan on continuing with the Dunlop D205. (For the 1150, go with the D205 140/17....I dont remember if its a 70 or 80 profile, but it only comes in one profile) There are tires that are softer and more sticky than the 205, but the bike is rock solid cranked over to scraping the pegs and centerstand ears, so I figure the tire is good enough. :-)

Earl

[mixongw]

My Bridgestone Spitfires have over 4K on them. The front shows no wear. The rear is starting to square a little.

[yak]

i ordered the metzlers me1 me33 don,t really care how long they last or what they cost just won,t them to stick

[Scud]

I run Continentals, long mileage and they look good on the old girl.

[JayH]

Bridgestones - BT-45 Battlaxes.

I just tried a set of Bridgestone BT-45 tires after after using Dunlop 591 and Metzler Lasertecs for a couple of years. So far I've been happy with them.

[oldschoolGS]

I've tried Pirelli, Michelen, Metzeler, Cheng Shin, Bridgestone and Dunlop on my 1150. Worst mileage was a Bridgestone BT45 that was worn to nothing in 1200 miles. Handling was OK though. Pirelli Sport Demon lasted about 2200 miles, but it didnt have enough grip to handle the HP of the 1150. I never spent so much time going sideways with any other tire as I did with the Sport Demon. Michlen handled OK, but was only good for 2500 miles until it too was worn out. Cheng Shin was terrible in the grip department and frightening in the rain, but it was showing no noticable wear at 2000 miles when I changed it for something that would actually grip the road. Metzeler has a great grip, wet or dry, and I made that my tire of choice even though I only averaged about 2500-3k miles before wearing them out. Theyre a great rain tire. (I get a lot of rain down south :-) ) About a year ago, Luke suggested I try a Dunlop D205 as he had been really pleased with one on his 1150. I did and found it has great traction, wet or dry, and I can get 5500 miles out of one before its time to start thinking of a replacement. I've been through three replacements now and plan on continuing with the Dunlop D205. (For the 1150, go with the D205 140/17....I dont remember if its a 70 or 80 profile, but it only comes in one profile) There are tires that are softer and more sticky than the 205, but the bike is rock solid cranked over to scraping the pegs and centerstand ears, so I figure the tire is good enough. :-)

Earl

Earl, are you running a radial rear and bias front? If so are you using the ME-330? Thanks, Ed.

[earlfor]

How did'ja guess? :-) :-) Yep, Metzeler is still my tire of choice. The 33/55 combo is what I was running. The bias Metz 33/330 on the front is great and I get 15-20k miles from them. It works very well with the Dunlop D205 radial on the rear. I've used this combination for about 15K+ miles and have not found any unpleasant or odd handling quirks. I've had zero problems with them.

Earl

Earl, are you running a radial rear and bias front? If so are you using the ME-330? Thanks, Ed.

[AOD]

Spend the money on the Metzeler's...you get what you pay for.

[oldschoolGS]

How did'ja guess? :-) :-) Yep, Metzeler is still my tire of choice. The 33/55 combo is what I was running. The bias Metz 33/330 on the front is great and I get 15-20k miles from them. It works very well with the Dunlop D205 radial on the rear. I've used this combination for about 15K+ miles and have not found any unpleasant or odd handling quirks. I've had zero problems with them.

Earl

Earl, are you running a radial rear and bias front? If so are you using the ME-330? Thanks, Ed.

Thats good to know. I was thinking of doing that a few years ago before deciding on a complete front end/wheel swap.

My idea was to run the ME-33 with a 140/3.5in rear radial tire. I have been sold on the front Metzeler 120/80VB-16 Comp K for many years, it was a superb front and I have used it over the years with many different bias ply rears.

At that time lots of people had negative opinions about the bias/radial setup, but as far as I could tell, no none had actually tried it.

Again, excellent info. Thanks, Ed.

[AOD]

I only got 7500 miles out of my 33/55 Metzeler combo, but they were sticky and great handling up to the day I pulled them off.

I went with Pirelli Sport Demon's this time around and they feel about the same. I'll put Metzeler's on my next bike...

~Adam