Tires again?

[Chrisk7]

I'm needing tires for the FJR and am a little leary about the Avon's. I was wondering what the next choice would be to avoid the wobbling problems associated with the Avon 45/46 combo?

I'm leaning toward the Metzler Z6, Michelin Pilot Roads, or Continental Road Attacks.

I'm also thinking of going with the Avon 46 on back and another brand up front.

What are the opinions for the heavier Sport Touring bike tires?

I personally never had a problem with the stock 020's that came on the FJR other than the front cupping way too soon.

Do the other mentioned tires work better than the 020's on the FJR?

 

[skyway]

I'm needing tires for the FJR and am a little leary about the Avon's. I was wondering what the next choice would be to avoid the wobbling problems associated with the Avon 45/46 combo?
I'm leaning toward the Metzler Z6, Michelin Pilot Roads, or Continental Road Attacks.

I'm also thinking of going with the Avon 46 on back and another brand up front.

What are the opinions for the heavier Sport Touring bike tires?

I personally never had a problem with the stock 020's that came on the FJR other than the front cupping way too soon.

Do the other mentioned tires work better than the 020's on the FJR?

Ist choice in your selection would be the Michelin Pilot Roads. The Continental Road Attack tire is not suitable for the weight of the FJR(Continentals words, not mine). Metzler tires seem to have a love hate relationship around here. I stay away from them due to all the evidence of tread separation when there are numerous good choices of other brands.

The Avon wobble is overrated IMO, I've been running different sets for more than 30K miles and the wobble is a non-factor for me. The profile of this tire affords sweet handling in the twisties compared to the Bridgestone BT-20's.

I have 2 sets of Pirelli Diablo Strada's waiting, and they are very similar to the Z-6 in profile. If you go this route, be sure to get the FJR specific rear tire which is the "E" version.

Tires - The pinnacle of NEPTT.

 

[leebunyard]

Based on my experience, I have doubts that the Avons are responsible for the wobble problem. I'm on my 2nd set of Avons now on my '04 FJR, the first set ran exactly 14,000 miles before hitting the wear bars front and rear, never had any kind of wobble--deceleration or otherwise--and only mild cupping of the front tire. The OEM BT-020's were pretty good tires also, no wobble whatsoever, replaced at the 10,745 mile point, fairly severe cupping on the front tire. The new Avons I had put on about 500 miles back also are perfect, absolutely zilch wobble or shimmy at any speed, deceleration or otherwise. My mechanic has been in the business for nearly 30 years, specializes in sportbikes, Avons are becoming the tire of choice for many sportbike riders, so he installs a lot of Avons--he says the Avons generally have fewer balancing problems than most of the other brands of tires he installs. Knowing what you're doing during the balancing is critical however.

I've always run all three sets of tires at 42/42 psi. Just had the steering head bearings checked for tightness for the first time at the 26,000 mile point--they were spot on. I like the Avons and see no reason to not continue using them. Use what works for you.

Lee in the Mountains of Northern California B)

 

[Chrisk7]

After reading all morning on other sites, I'm also considering the Pirelli Diablo Stradas. They don't seem to have any bad press yet, although they are new from what I've read.