switching from bias to radial tires

[dwalby]

Oh well, we don't have the legal issues or MOT over here so I reckon I'll just keep doing what I've been doing for 400,000+ miles ...

yeah, I've done this for the 27 years I've owned my ST1100 too. To each his own, but at least we get a choice on the matter. In my case I buy whatever tire I can find at the time I need it, and as everyone knows the choices of tires for the 1100 aren't all that great, so I take what I can get. I can't remember the last time I had a "matched set" of tires on mine because they never wear out at the same rate.

 

[Uncle Phil]

What is sort of interesting for me is that the BT020 bias rear and a BT32/31 GT front end up wearing at about the same rate for me. The front will usually start 'scalloping' just before it hits the wear bars and the rear will be at the wear bars. It makes sort of 'convenient' to be able to change both at the same time.

 

[Uncle Phil]

My Brother in-law at various times had a K1100LT and a K1200LT, both of which are big heavy motorcycles. I don't know for certain but I seem to recall that they had these tires on them. One of them he bought brand new so if these were the tires it came with from BMW that is what it had. The tires seemed to last forever on those motorcycles. He rode all the way out to Northern B.C. and back from here in the Montreal area and when he got back the tires still looked really good. They were no where near needing to be changed and they weren't freshly installed before he left. Far better mileage than any tire that I have run. I am curious to know what kind of mileage you get running these on an ST.

I usually get between 9,000 to 10,000 miles on a BT020 rear.
When I ran a radial rear, I was lucky to see 3,000-5,000 miles out of them (had one waste away 1800 miles ).
And I figure at 10,000 miles I want to check and lube the rear splines anyway!

 

[dduelin]

If you are lucky enough to run modern tire sizes I believe the mileage and grip they deliver is amazing. Michelin Road 5 & 6 rear tires go 13,000 - 15,000 miles on my RT. Much more than Pilot Road 3s & 4s did and wear more evenly. On my ST I was lucky to see 7500 with Bridgestone T30s. $ per mile cost is close to cheaper on Michelin for me.

 

[Andrew Shadow]

Michelin Road 5 & 6 rear tires go 13,000 - 15,000 miles on my RT.

Did you ever run either on your ST1300? Just wondering how they perform on it mileage wise. I have never run anything later than the PR4 and they did not return any better mileage than the Shinkos that I tried out. Michelin is a lot prouder of their tires than Shinko is, so they were definitely much costlier on a per mile basis. I wonder if the PR6 would do better.

 

[dduelin]

Did you ever run either on your ST1300? Just wondering how they perform on it mileage wise. I have never run anything later than the PR4 and they did not return any better mileage than the Shinkos that I tried out. Michelin is a lot prouder of their tires than Shinko is, so they were definitely much costlier on a per mile basis. I wonder if the PR6 would do better.

I ran at least one set of Pilot Road 2s and the PR3s on my ST1300 getting no more than 8200 miles on the rear plus the weird lumpy wear patterns. I never tried PR4s. I sold my ST in 2018 before the Road 5 was introduced. I’m glad you had a good experience with Shinko. The dealer I worked for quit selling Shinko tires as we had too many quality control complaints. Conti Motions were the budget brand we carried.

 

[Sunday Rider]

I usually get between 9,000 to 10,000 miles on a BT020 rear.
When I ran a radial rear, I was lucky to see 3,000-5,000 miles out of them (had one waste away 1800 miles ).
And I figure at 10,000 miles I want to check and lube the rear splines anyway!

The BT020 bias rear was the only tire I never liked on the ST1100. It started great and I took out West no problem. At the 7,000 mile mark I noticed it would skid on a dry road without any hard braking. It did it a few times so I suspect the rear brakes but they were fine. I got caught in a medium rain and noticed the bike didn’t seem as planted. I had 11,000 miles when I took them off and I am sure they had another 6-8,000 miles left. I ride like an old man. I put Exedras after that and the world was good again. Many here use this tire and love it. Goes to show you not everything that works for one works for all. I’ve had many combos since mixed bias with radials and different make on front and rear. Only that tire scared me.

 

[Uncle Phil]

The BT020 bias rear was the only tire I never liked on the ST1100. It started great and I took out West no problem. At the 7,000 mile mark I noticed it would skid on a dry road without any hard braking. It did it a few times so I suspect the rear brakes but they were fine. I got caught in a medium rain and noticed the bike didn’t seem as planted. I had 11,000 miles when I took them off and I am sure they had another 6-8,000 miles left. I ride like an old man. I put Exedras after that and the world was good again. Many here use this tire and love it. Goes to show you not everything that works for one works for all. I’ve had many combos since mixed bias with radials and different make on front and rear. Only that tire scared me.

Well, I've got a ton of miles on them across 4 different ST1100s and have not had that issue - and I do get into rain on occasion.
And mine are to the wearbars at 10,000 miles - no way I'd get your mileage.
But now my bikes are ABSII - don't know if that makes any difference or not.
I do know that non-ABS ST1100s will lock the rear brake pretty easy - BTDTGTTS.
Curious as to what PSI you ran them (I use 42-45)?

 

[Sunday Rider]

Well, I've got a ton of miles on them across 4 different ST1100s and have not had that issue - and I do get into rain on occasion.
And mine are to the wearbars at 10,000 miles - no way I'd get your mileage.
But now my bikes are ABSII - don't know if that makes any difference or not.
I do know that non-ABS ST1100s will lock the rear brake pretty easy - BTDTGTTS.
Curious as to what PSI you ran them (I use 42-45)?

I heard such wonderful things about the tire I think from you and George Catt who have way more miles than I ever will. They were cheap at the time too so win win. I ran them at 42 I believe. Looking back I wonder if I should have run them softer. They were great at the beginning and I got caught in lots of rain on that trip out west. Never locked up the back since I changed them unless it was a full panic stop now. Have to add even though they skidded the bike stayed straight.

 

[Uncle Phil]

I heard such wonderful things about the tire I think from you and George Catt who have way more miles than I ever will. They were cheap at the time too so win win. I ran them at 42 I believe. Looking back I wonder if I should have run them softer. They were great at the beginning and I got caught in lots of rain on that trip out west. Never locked up the back since I changed them unless it was a full panic stop now. Have to add even though they skidded the bike stayed straight.

Not disputing your word, but usually when a rear locks up on a ST1100, the bike goes sideways, leaning to the right.
When you let off, the bike stands up really quick and can almost toss you off.
Maybe you hydroplaned or hit some oil, but at the end of the day you have to do what you are comfortable with - not what I am comfortable with!

 

[Andrew Shadow]

I’m glad you had a good experience with Shinko.

I would be more inclined to describe it as acceptable rather than good. The Shinkos are not the same quality as the Michelin PR line and it is evident that they have less rigorous standards. They are much more affordable though, which is why I tried them. I don't regret doing so but if I was running hard in good twisties a lot more than I do that choice might be different.

 

[Erdoc48]

Sadly, I’m going to soon part with my Shinkos…I bought a set of new Avon Spirit ST tires 2 days ago and were delivered the next day (https://www.americanmototire.com/) and their prices were substantially better than Revzilla, Cycle Gear, Chap Moto and others). Date codes were 02/23 for the front and 01/24 for the rear, so really new tires. My Shinkos appear to still have a lot of tread at 6K miles, but the decel headshake is something I don’t want to deal with so it’ll likely be my last set for the STs (and it kills me because the scooter tires I have are Shinkos on the Silverwing and they’re very good).

 

[Uncle Phil]

Sadly, I’m going to soon part with my Shinkos…I bought a set of new Avon Spirit ST tires 2 days ago and were delivered the next day (https://www.americanmototire.com/) and their prices were substantially better than Revzilla, Cycle Gear, Chap Moto and others). Date codes were 02/23 for the front and 01/24 for the rear, so really new tires. My Shinkos appear to still have a lot of tread at 6K miles, but the decel headshake is something I don’t want to deal with so it’ll likely be my last set for the STs (and it kills me because the scooter tires I have are Shinkos on the Silverwing and they’re very good).

I tried a Shinko on the front of one of my ST1100s and it felt unstable.
I wonder if it has something to do with the weight of the bike and the strength of the Shinko sidewall since you'e got results on the scooter.

 

[Erdoc48]

I tried a Shinko on the front of one of my ST1100s and it felt unstable.
I wonder if it has something to do with the weight of the bike and the strength of the Shinko sidewall since you'e got results on the scooter.

You know, I did think that. Not sure and the tire sizes on the Silverwing is a 13 in the back and 14 up front, so maybe a little more stiff sidewall (plus, bias tires as no manufacturer seems to make any radial tires for scooters).