New Tires???

[bmichalec]

So about 3 1/2 months ago I got a nail in my rear tire and had it replaced with the Pirelli Diablo Rossa II. I have about 4000 miles on the tire and the center tread is already wearing through to the next layer. I commute about 150 miles per day and don't really feel comfortable riding on it. I have a picture to show and any help on if its OK or not would be great! Second part is what is a good tire for both commuting and can go hit some twisties???
 

 

[fastfredyb]

4 miles only!!!! SMH That sucks bro, that means you'd have to switch tires every 27 days OH HEEEEELLL NO!!! I commute about 120 per days I and still have the stock tires let me double check on the brand I'm running on 4300 miles so far and they still look new

[hippiebikerchick]

I wouldn't risk riding on that tire. Safety is worth so much more than a few hundred bucks for tires. Hubs just replaced his tires with Michelin Pilot Road 4 and so far likes them.
 
 
Make sure you keep them properly inflated too, that can really affect longevity!

[GAZ]

4k miles isn't unreasonable for this tire. I would classify this tire as more of a track tire than street even though you can do both fine with it. I would highly recommend the Michelin and know of people that have had this tire for over 9k miles(obviously subjective to riding style and road conditions). I can attest to its great performance in the rain as well.

[potatochips]

Any of the modern multi-compound tires are gonna be good enough to hit twisties with. If I were riding that much, I'd go for any of the higher wear tires, Road 4 maybe, not sure on the options. Mine came with the Road 3's and the grip is pretty damn good for a tire meant to last.
 
What tire came on the bike, and how many miles did you get out of them?

[bmichalec]

Any of the modern multi-compound tires are gonna be good enough to hit twisties with. If I were riding that much, I'd go for any of the higher wear tires, Road 4 maybe, not sure on the options. Mine came with the Road 3's and the grip is pretty damn good for a tire meant to last. 
What tire came on the bike, and how many miles did you get out of them?

It came with the Bridgestone but I got a nail in it at work so they paid to replace it.. Never got full life out if it... 

[rubberbandman72]

The Dunlop Q3 Sportmax is a really popular tire with people that commute but still want a grippy tire to have fun with when not commuting. Dual compound like the Michelin Road 4. It is, by all accounts, a great tire.

[Allan]

I would say you are looking at the Michalin Pilot Road 4. Solid tire. Should last longer than the Pirelli, but that is an average life of the tire you have so it did preform as advertised.

[njdevils1990]

I currently have 5,400 mIles on my factory-installed Pilot Road 3s. I've always been a fan of michelin tires (partly because I work in a tire shop), I can see me getting close to 10,000 miles out of these tires. Once they are gone I am planning on using two tires. The Michelin Pilot Road 4s and the Continental Twinduro TKC80s for my "winter tire set" the PR4s will easily last me ~10,000+ miles for the non snowy months. During the snowy months December-March I will be running the TKC80s which are an aggressive knobby tire that I will experiment with for limited winter use, expecting to get only ~3,000-4,000 miles out of them.

[howworkclutch]

My buell came with that exact tire. I hated those things. They don't last long at all and they won't stick until hot.... Which means you have to do dangerous things without grip before you can have grip.
 
I really really hated those tires. I never could get a good feel out of them. I tried airing up airing down. They just made the suspension feel like crap. I tried two sets of those before going to Michelin and getting a great tire: pilot power.
 
You should get on more backroads for your commute. Looks like you buy the while tire but only use part of it.

[Guest cjwwd2]

What PSI were you running that tire at? Looks like you had it really high

[thomascrown]

I'm at 10,500 miles on the original Michelin PR3s. The tires will probably last me another 2k. I suspect the PR4s will last even longer, as they are an even harder compound.

[kamalv]

Michelin PR3 or 4 is a solid alternative in tire choices. I have used a PR3 Trail version for 18K miles on a 'adventure' bike and now on PR4s. The stock PR3s on the Yammy looks like it will last past 10K easily. I weigh 250 pounds and keep psi of 35 front and 40 rear. For commuting, this combo has so far been a very reassuring journey through rain and sun.

[gregjet]

I have to ask what pressure you are running as well. Looks like classic overinflation ( and not a lot of leaning though overinflated tyres will make you ride more upright anyway as the will feel unsteady).
Michelin Pilot road 4 are spectacular. Been riding and racing for 40years and they are the best road ( ie not racing) tyres I have ever used, by a lot. I suspect part of the turn in problem the MT (FZ) has is a function of the bridgestones AND the stupid low profile oversize rear tyre. You might want to try a 170/60 for the back .
BUT you ride upright so the GT version of the PR4 might be the go. It has a much harder centre section that the other 2 variants of the tyre.

[motomeek]

+1 Michelin Pilot Roads. I haven't had them, but I definitely have heard only good things about them. I commute as well and plan to purchase them for my other bike once those tires go out.
 
I also tend to have tires last 20K (on commuter, not racing tires), if I didn't get nails in them.
 
Again, all subjective to riding style, pressure, weight, etc.
 
Good call on the overinflation.
 

[ratlab]

I have to ask what pressure you are running as well. Looks like classic overinflation ( and not a lot of leaning though overinflated tyres will make you ride more upright anyway as the will feel unsteady). Michelin Pilot road 4 are spectacular. Been riding and racing for 40years and they are the best road ( ie not racing) tyres I have ever used, by a lot. I suspect part of the turn in problem the MT (FZ) has is a function of the bridgestones AND the stupid low profile oversize rear tyre. You might want to try a 170/60 for the back .
BUT you ride upright so the GT version of the PR4 might be the go. It has a much harder centre section that the other 2 variants of the tyre.

bt-023 came on my bike and you are right the low wide profile is messing with the handling-i think the fz is light enough to get away with sport tires and lower inflation-Q3's and S-20 evo's,not full blown track tires,but with a sharper profile will quicken up the handling.stay away from pirelli diablo rosso 2's for the street-we only get about 2500 miles on the rears at the most on our 250's. 

[gregjet]

Yeah the tyres are way over size. Typical Yamaha styling at the expense of handling. The ridiculously wide rim doesn't help mount a smaller tyre though. 70hp bike DOES NOT NEED a 180!. 160/60 would be a better bet but it would just fit if you can get to to inflate. I have found 170/60's a good replacement for the 180/55. On my BMW F800R ( 90HP) it was a huge improvement in handling and NO adverse upright traction effects. As soon as I wear out the Bridgies I will go Michelin PR4's 170/60. They are almost exactly the same rolling radius as well so shouldn't effect ABS if you have it. I love em.

[hippiebikerchick]

A few people have commented to me about the width of the rear tire on my bike and I just tell them Yamaha put that on there to make it more sexy.

[thomascrown]

Rather have a 180 harder compound that lasts a while than a bicycle tire that needs a softer compound for equivalent grip. You may get more agility on the 160, but extra agility is unnecessary for this bike.
 

[gregjet]

A 180 won't last any longer than a 160 nor a 170. It is a ridiculous waste of money on a 70 HP bike that weighs as little a this. On the Australian model with 50hp it is even more ridiculous. The MT07 turns quite badly for it's size and wheel base, though it is mainly due to the rear weight bias though the low profile tyre doesn't help. Hippybikerchick is correct. It is a Yamaha styling visual stunt and they do it on most of their bikes. It's not like a car, wider doesn't give you more grip nor longevity. The contact patch area at optimium grip will be the same for any size tyre ( in useable range). So same compound on different size tyres will wear similiar. 150,160 and 170 tyres are hardly bicycle tyres and are the size that even racing motorcycles used for this sort of weight and power.
If you want a styling clue to make people think you have a bigger bike , that's fine. It's your bike. But the 180 is more expensive to replace for no extra anything, and a loss of handling.

[ratlab]

A 180 won't last any longer than a 160 nor a 170. It is a ridiculous waste of money on a 70 HP bike that weighs as little a this. On the Australian model with 50hp it is even more ridiculous. The MT07 turns quite badly for it's size and wheel base, though it is mainly due to the rear weight bias though the low profile tyre doesn't help. Hippybikerchick is correct. It is a Yamaha styling visual stunt and they do it on most of their bikes. It's not like a car, wider doesn't give you more grip nor longevity. The contact patch area at optimium grip will be the same for any size tyre ( in useable range). So same compound on different size tyres will wear similiar. 150,160 and 170 tyres are hardly bicycle tyres and are the size that even racing motorcycles used for this sort of weight and power. If you want a styling clue to make people think you have a bigger bike , that's fine. It's your bike. But the 180 is more expensive to replace for no extra anything, and a loss of handling.

totally right -it fools you with initial quick turn in,but wants to run wide-have to fight it to finish a corner-the handling really surprised me-i'm going to try Q3's and drop the forks 5 mm.i've got rearsets to a little less ground clearance is ok. 

[lonerider]

My previous FZ6 had the same tire dimensions as the 07. In 2004, i owned the FZ6 and a SV650S at the same time. The suzuk wore a 160 tire. Never saw the advantage of a 180 tire for this kind of bikes.
 
Because i like to ride on forest road, the 180 width made choice of a new set of tires very difficult. I always love the Avon Distanzia, but they don't come at 180 width. The rim of the 07 is too large to accomodate 160 tire.

[gregjet]

5.5" will comfortably take a 170/60 and there are some beauties in this size. Added benefit of higher profile giving more stability in turns. Almost no difference in rolling diameter so doesn't effect the ABS if you have it. Made the same change on my BMW F800R. Transformed the bike ( although the BM's weight bias was a bit more even). When I get the MT run in sufficiently, I will change to Michelin Pilot Road 4's. They make a 170/60, and are the best tyre I have ever used on a road going motorcycle IMHO. On the last Phillip Island trip from home to PI and back ( 6000km), there were 8 of us. 6 had changed to Michlein road pilot 4's and ALL of us loved them. On the way down 1deg C ( about 34deg F) and wind and rain to torrential, on the way home up to 44deg C ( about 100deg F) and dry all in 2 and a half weeks. You gotta love the Aussie climate. Tyres were faultless the whole time.

[pd79]

New here... Looked around and tried to find a tire discussion, didn't see what I was lookin for. I was wondering if anyone has tried a 180/60/55 rear tire? My theory behind it is to get more roll/side contact bite. Anyone else curious?

[ratlab]

A 180 won't last any longer than a 160 nor a 170. It is a ridiculous waste of money on a 70 HP bike that weighs as little a this. On the Australian model with 50hp it is even more ridiculous. The MT07 turns quite badly for it's size and wheel base, though it is mainly due to the rear weight bias though the low profile tyre doesn't help. Hippybikerchick is correct. It is a Yamaha styling visual stunt and they do it on most of their bikes. It's not like a car, wider doesn't give you more grip nor longevity. The contact patch area at optimium grip will be the same for any size tyre ( in useable range). So same compound on different size tyres will wear similiar. 150,160 and 170 tyres are hardly bicycle tyres and are the size that even racing motorcycles used for this sort of weight and power. If you want a styling clue to make people think you have a bigger bike , that's fine. It's your bike. But the 180 is more expensive to replace for no extra anything, and a loss of handling.

totally right -it fools you with initial quick turn in,but wants to run wide-have to fight it to finish a corner-the handling really surprised me-i'm going to try Q3's and drop the forks 5 mm.i've got rearsets to a little less ground clearance is ok.