Tires

[variant90]

So... Just discovered a nice size nail in my tire on my fz that has 163 miles on it, without question buying a new tire. I haven't heard too much about tires for the fz07 .. Any recommendations or should I replace it with the same?

[cassecou]

Both of the OEM tires that came with it (Bridgestone or Michelin) are very good tires. Unless you have odd purpose for the FZ, stay with them. Mine came with the Bridgestone, but will try Michelin when change is needed.

[jeffkisthename]

Michelin Pilot Road 4. You won't regret it.

[Eastern Kayaker]

I still have the stock Michelin Pilot Road 3 tires on my bike, not ready for new tires yet. Pleased with the Michelin Pilot Road 3 tires that came with my bike. I will be going with the Michelin Pilot Road 4 tires when I am ready. A number of members on this forum went with the Michelin Pilot Road 4 tires when replacing tires, and were very pleased with this tire.
 
I believe Michelin does not make the Pilot Road 3 tire anymore, but there may be some in stock at stores. However, I believe the Pilot Road 4 is even better.

[Jeckler]

I'm kind of a cheap bastard so just replaced the OE PR3 w/10k miles on it, with another.

[variant90]

It's not a dumb idea for me to replace the tire right? Because someone just argued with me to patch it. This isn't like a car I only have 2 wheels and nothing to protect me (besides gear of course)

[yamahaha]

It's not a dumb idea for me to replace the tire right? Because someone just argued with me to patch it. This isn't like a car I only have 2 wheels and nothing to protect me (besides gear of course)

If you are going to throw away the tire with the nail, throw it my way.  
I have no issues running a tire properly patched with a mushroom plug.
 

[bmwpowere36m3]

Properly plugged it should be fine... but with anything there's always a risk. So is it a $200-300 risk you want to take... or is it something you'll constantly worry about.

[wickedtwister]

Proper way to repair that tire is a patch plug. Most places won't do it right. To me as a tire designer for Michelin it's safer to replace the tire... I had the same issue and replaced mine at 2000 miles with Michelin pilot power 3 front and rear. Nice and grippy won't last as long but doesn't concern me too much.

[sorkyah]

I thought you workerd for bfg @wickedtwister

[wickedtwister]

Michelin owns BFG I work primarily on BFG race tire but getting more and more michelin.

[variant90]

Proper way to repair that tire is a patch plug. Most places won't do it right. To me as a tire designer for Michelin it's safer to replace the tire... I had the same issue and replaced mine at 2000 miles with Michelin pilot power 3 front and rear. Nice and grippy won't last as long but doesn't concern me too much.

this is what i have been told, its either that or just replace with the same tire. which is what i might do just for peace of mind

[ddog]

No matter how good of a job is done it will always be less structurally sound than a tire that's never been punctured. It's not worth it to me personally.

[wickedtwister]

Most of the time damage does not come from the object that punctured the tire. There are carcass plies and tread plies but breaking just one or 2 in a row won't hurt the tire too much. Most damage comes from the moisture that penetrates thru the plug.
 
That's why it's recommended to patch the inside and pull a plug thru and seal the outside. They make a plug patch assembly that works ok but the amount of weight you have to add to make it balance out right is more than I like.
 
Believe it or not regular air inside a tire has a pretty high moisture content so if this is allowed to get to the steal tread plies they will rust and can cause a tire to fail.
 
I replaced my tire but I get them free... if you have the means to do this as well I would recommend it. You can probably sell the tire here on the forum. Shipping is a bit high on tires but not too bad.

[cassecou]

It's not a dumb idea for me to replace the tire right? Because someone just argued with me to patch it. This isn't like a car I only have 2 wheels and nothing to protect me (besides gear of course)

If you are going to throw away the tire with the nail, throw it my way.  
I have no issues running a tire properly patched with a mushroom plug.

Too many overly cautious people in this world. I have completed the life of puncture tires with absolutely no issues. But as stated, the patch has to be done right, which only a monkey could mess up that one.  

[Dirk]

Both of the OEM tires that came with it (Bridgestone or Michelin) are very good tires. Unless you have odd purpose for the FZ, stay with them. Mine came with the Bridgestone, but will try Michelin when change is needed.

You seriously like the BT023? I have nothing to compare them with since it's my first bike... But I have less and less confidence in those things, slippery bastards!

[yotaman02]

Both of the OEM tires that came with it (Bridgestone or Michelin) are very good tires. Unless you have odd purpose for the FZ, stay with them. Mine came with the Bridgestone, but will try Michelin when change is needed.

You seriously like the BT023? I have nothing to compare them with since it's my first bike... But I have less and less confidence in those things, slippery bastards!

I agree had the bt023 on two bikes can't stand them. pilot power 3 for me love the way they handle. If you don't want new tires get a plug patch put in have had a few they work just fine. 

[cassecou]

Both of the OEM tires that came with it (Bridgestone or Michelin) are very good tires. Unless you have odd purpose for the FZ, stay with them. Mine came with the Bridgestone, but will try Michelin when change is needed.

You seriously like the BT023? I have nothing to compare them with since it's my first bike... But I have less and less confidence in those things, slippery bastards!

The Bridgestones BT023 came with the bike so I had no choice but to try them. I only have 4500 miles on those rubbers and have nothing bad to say about them. They grip very well for my kind of riding (from dry and curvy to extremely wet) and half of my riding is 2 up.
The wear on those new compounds formulation (from reputable brands) are just amazing.
When I used to replace the rear tire of my bikes every 2000 miles, its now ?. I can't wait for the day I will have to swap the Bridgestones to the Michelin. At this rate of wear, it might take 6000 or even 8000 miles.
All this said, I would have of course prefer the Michelin Pilot 3. I am a succer for French stuff.
 

[Dirk]

Dude, you're the first one I hear sayin good stuff about those tires!
 
I wanted to wait for them to wear out before changing but seing how hard they are I guess I'm goin to ditch them before that! Some people report 20 000 km with the bt23!!!
 
I don't know if it's the quality of the roads, the fact that I'm super light weight or anything but yeah... I'm close to lose the front like to twice a day!

[jeffkisthename]

Dude, you're the first one I hear sayin good stuff about those tires!  
I wanted to wait for them to wear out before changing but seing how hard they are I guess I'm goin to ditch them before that! Some people report 20 000 km with the bt23!!!
 
I don't know if it's the quality of the roads, the fact that I'm super light weight or anything but yeah... I'm close to lose the front like to twice a day!

I replaced my BT03s at 17k miles. Wayyyyyy over due when I did.

[yotaman02]

Dude, you're the first one I hear sayin good stuff about those tires!  
I wanted to wait for them to wear out before changing but seing how hard they are I guess I'm goin to ditch them before that! Some people report 20 000 km with the bt23!!!
 
I don't know if it's the quality of the roads, the fact that I'm super light weight or anything but yeah... I'm close to lose the front like to twice a day!

just change them. you will wish you had done it sooner.   

[gregjet]

Michelin PR4's are a huge leap over the PR3's for the road. I have ridden few tyres in a very long time riding motorcycles that compare with them. In all conditions.
I find the bt23's grippy ( ish), but very harsh. Like Dunlop more than a Bridgestone decent tyre. I suspect it is partially due to the rear being way too big for the bike weight, but the front has the same feel and it is OK sizewise. One of the more sports oriented models would be less harsh. I can't go Bridgestone anyway next time as I want to put 170/60's on the rear and they don't have them.

[Guest Ralph]

Just fitted a Continental Road Attack Evo 11 GT to the front the org Bridgestone was getting near the wear
indicators and beginning to tram line a bit so although it had about a 1000 miles to go to illegal
I changed it not a clue how it will go not had time to ride it but will tomorrow, got 10,000 miles on the
org, the Conti feels harder but we will see.

[rick]

I've no issues with the 023s. They are on both of my bikes (well, only one is on the Priller, the other is a T30, its replacement). Like the PR3s, the 023s are obsolete. And in the case of the Bridgestones, they are now 2 generations behind. What's current is the T30.
 
As for slippery, well, lots of that will be a result of crappy suspension bits - especially if you guys are substituting extra preload to compensate for a lack of real damping control. Combine that with a back that that should be on a much bigger bike and ya get a harsh tire that's trying to do the work of traction and suspension. It's got no choice but to skip a bit over irregularities.
 
The answer of course - better shocks and fork innards to allow the tires to stay planted, cute if they're bouncing, well, there's not much traction in the air.

[rick]

Michelin PR4's are a huge leap over the PR3's for the road. I have ridden few tyres in a very long time riding motorcycles that compare with them. In all conditions. I find the bt23's grippy ( ish), but very harsh. Like Dunlop more than a Bridgestone decent tyre. I suspect it is partially due to the rear being way too big for the bike weight, but the front has the same feel and it is OK sizewise. One of the more sports oriented models would be less harsh. I can't go Bridgestone anyway next time as I want to put 170/60's on the rear and they don't have them.

Just to show how these tires all go back and forth, my Futura came with Pilot Road 2s and everyone hated them. They were slippery and harsh. A few guys wiped out blocks from show room floors after the tires had gone unused for some months and got really slippery. 
 I don't push tires hard enough to make them slide most of the time (riding shaft-jacking BMW twins for decades also taught me to be smooth) so traction is rarely an issue, but what a change in compliance to my butt meter when the rear OE Michelin flatted at <4k miles and I replaced it with an 020 Bridgestone. That tire would probably feel horrible 13 years later. 
 
I might just go to something like the S20evo or maybe S21 for the FZ when these tires are, well, tired. Those tires will be far better than me.