Counter steering

[superman]

i disagree with your opinion on the 020's i had them on my zxr an they were cool. i got the pegs down pretty much and they werent to bad in general but i didnt try any other tyres lol.

[Jamz]

this thread STILL going .. ?!?

nothing to add except 020's suck.

well, im sure they are fine if you dont ride hard, but if you do, or want to then they arent anywhere near 090's or alpha 10's, or even BT92's,

ive had 020's on 2 zxr's and my Ducati, and ok, you can lean the bike over.. but thats not the same as cornering hard.

try getting hard on the power while banked over and they just skitter across the road, where a full on sports tyre will just grip, similar when braking into turns

I'll disagree here, too - if i can lift the front on a big old VFR750 while it's banked over then they've gotta be pretty grippy! I loved them and had total confidence, and there's the second best tyre for wet roads that I've had in recent years...

Which brings me to the tyres which always seem to be left out!

Avon!

OK, the older ones (AV36/AV36 and before) were lethal in the wet, but they've sorted that right out for the AV55/AV56! Best tyres ever! Very grippy, amazingly progressive when they do slide and seem to outlast the competition, too!

I've never had them on a smaller bike, but I loved the rear i put on my VFR so much i shod the ZX9R in them at the first opportunity, and I doubt I'll be trying any others for a long time.

[deviant]

Which brings me to the tyres which always seem to be left out!

Avon!

Not really, both RobB and I have raved about the Viper Sports on here on several occasions. Mine have now done over 3k miles and a couple of trackdays and I have so much confidence in them. Top tyres.

Rob had them on his 7R when he managed to get his elbow down!

[zimm]

I'll disagree here, too - if i can lift the front on a big old VFR750 while it's banked over then they've gotta be pretty grippy! I loved them and had total confidence, and there's the second best tyre for wet roads that I've had in recent years...

thats on a big bike mate, put them on something light and they arent all that hot, with 090's, alpha 10's, (basically, H rated sports tyres) you can squish the tyre around by hand when its off the rim, 020's are almost as solid off the bike as they are when fitted and pumped up, this lack of flexibility is what translates to the lack of feedback, and also the lack of grip as you cant get much heat in them, im sure on a big bike (which they were designed for) they work fine.

010's and D207's are the only ZR rated tyres ive tried that i found gave acceptable levels of feedback.

£10 + postage and you can have the 160/60/17 020 ive got kicking around... cos i aint going to use it.

thing is, tyre choice is a very personal thing, and as has been said, there isnt really a "bad" tyre out there these days, and you kinda get used to how the bike feels with whatever's fitted at the time, and ride to limit of what you've got fitted. A lot of people are only really ever in a position to directly compare shagged out versions of tyre A against brand new versions of tyre B, which doesnt really give a fair comparison.

the last few years ive been in the fortunate position of having several near identical bikes, and have done a fair amount of tyre swapping for various reasons .. (track days, bought some wheels, sold a bike, mrs decides she wants different colour wheels .. etc .) so have been able to compare more tyres more often than is perhaps normal. End of the day, all im saying is "sports tyres ARE better than touring tyres", which um , i didnt think would be all that controversial .. lol

[Jamz]

That's something that's been nagging at me for a while now, actually - most of the modern superbikes are almost the same weight as a ZXR400 these days, and you can bet in the future they'll be lighter!

So in tyres terms are they still classed as 'big bikes'?

[zimm]

yep, because

A: they can go faster so the tyres need to withstand higher centrifugal forces, and hence need a stronger/stiffer carcass, this is what the H/ZR speed rating bit is about.

B: the acceleration is greater, so rear tyres need to be able to withstand the twisting force, a 120bhp bike would tear an 090 rear to bits.

[Xphyral]

my 750 tears most touring tyres to bits aswell, the central tread generally comes off in chunks where the tread pattern is and at brand new it was rated as having 100bhp so it's probably 90bhp at best now.

i dont think larger sportsbikes are going become all that light, with more horsepower and torques you need enough weight to hold it on the floor or the bike will be totally unrideable. a 100kg, 200bhp bike would go nowhere fast at all and would try to kill you everytime you got on the power out of a bend.

[kermit the frog]

this threads class, well i got no money so wnt be doing nout to bt020's which are great even though iv never rearlly ridden anything on decent tyres!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hoping to go out the weekend to get some feedback from the bt020's! whilst countersteering.