Your Favorite Tires for PreGen

[Modzilla]

Ok, guys and gals. I'm due up for a front tire, and my 01 is sporting dunrocks at the moment. Boo....

So what's YOUR favorite tire set for PreGen and why? (performance? price? your style of riding? etc...)

Sell me on using what you use!!

[choneofakind]

Originally Posted by Modzilla

Ok, guys and gals. I'm due up for a front tire, and my 01 is sporting dunrocks at the moment. Boo....

replace both of those.

Originally Posted by Modzilla

So what's YOUR favorite tire set for PreGen and why? (performance? price? your style of riding? etc...)

I ride a lot of mixed riding. I have fun on the weekends on curvy roads, I commute about 40 minutes each way during the week, and I've dabbled in some track time. My favorite that I've used so far is the Pirelli Diablo Scooter Tire. My reasons are as follows:

• They come in stock sizes. This is important because from my experience with 90 profile tires, the difference in flicking the bike is noticeably worse with larger tires. Not the end of the world, but noticeable.
• They're very grippy, very predictable, and very stable at steep lean angles. They hold a line nicely (no trying to stand up mid-turn), and they fall into turns very nicely as well.
• They warm up quickly, but are not stupid-slick when cold.
• They handle wet roads and rain predictably well. I've never felt squirmy in the rain.
• They've done better than I expected with commuting. I have about 3500 miles, 1 track day, and lots of fun back roads on them. They're still doing great.
• They're one of the cheapest options for the pregen.
• They're just as sticky as the edges of the BT45 and leagues above the Dunrocks. I think they may be the same rubber as the Sport Demons? If not, they're very similar because my experience has been quite similar to those who use SD's.

Hope this helps a bit. Don't let the 93 mph speed rating scare you. That's 93 mph continuous speeds, which the 250 can barely manage anyways. I consistently hit 100 on the back straight at Mid-O and had no issues.

[Modzilla]

Originally Posted by choneofakind

replace both of those.



I ride a lot of mixed riding. I have fun on the weekends on curvy roads, I commute about 40 minutes each way during the week, and I've dabbled in some track time. My favorite that I've used so far is the Pirelli Diablo Scooter Tire. My reasons are as follows:

• They come in stock sizes. This is important because from my experience with 90 profile tires, the difference in flicking the bike is noticeably worse with larger tires. Not the end of the world, but noticeable.
• They're very grippy, very predictable, and very stable at steep lean angles. They hold a line nicely (no trying to stand up mid-turn), and they fall into turns very nicely as well.
• They warm up quickly, but are not stupid-slick when cold.
• They handle wet roads and rain predictably well. I've never felt squirmy in the rain.
• They've done better than I expected with commuting. I have about 3500 miles, 1 track day, and lots of fun back roads on them. They're still doing great.
• They're one of the cheapest options for the pregen.
• They're just as sticky as the edges of the BT45 and leagues above the Dunrocks. I think they may be the same rubber as the Sport Demons? If not, they're very similar because my experience has been quite similar to those who use SD's.

Hope this helps a bit. Don't let the 93 mph speed rating scare you. That's 93 mph continuous speeds, which the 250 can barely manage anyways. I consistently hit 100 on the back straight at Mid-O and had no issues.

Oh yeah... those dunlops are cruiser tires, at best. They should be on a Virago or a Rebel...

It does help. I think that's pretty similar to how i'll ride this one. its 70 miles to the mountains from my house, so i'll need a tire that won't get too flat with all the highway riding to and from the fun roads and still sticky enough to hold a line and keep me confident in them when i get there.

[Modzilla]

Anybody have another thought process? Sport Touring folks? Aggressive racers?

[Alex]

/merged a few decent pre-gen tire threads, hopefully this brings some good information into one place. (and pings some folks who've posted in these threads as well)

[espacef1fan]

I like my BT45s. The seem to be wearing well at 1000 miles(barely look used)

I have been riding for 7 years and always ride to the edge of the tires on all of my bikes. (Ninja 650, Ninja 250, TL1000R).

I ride one the street primarily, though I am going to try some track days, SOON. I will use the BT45s on the track.

I use the BT45s for commuting, riding in the rain, trying to get my licence taken away, etc.

Never had them slip, They are stable at all speeds for me. They grip well under braking. They seem to hold lines just fine. I think the most telling thing is that the only thing I notice about the handling of the bike is that the brake lines need upgrades and I need stiffer springs especially the forks. I dont think about the tires, ever while riding. They just WORK.

Price, I think the good resistance to squaring off is a reason to spend a few more bucks on the BT45s. I also cant imagine needing a stickier tire than this on the street.

Tire pressures I run:
28-29 F
32-34 R

I weigh 170 without gear.

Ask away with any other questions you have.

[choneofakind]

^^ I found that my rear BT45 did not do as well as I hoped in the not-squaring-off dept. I found that right at about 4500 miles, the rear squared badly, and the front scalloped badly. Both happened quickly. YMMV. But for the first 4000 miles, I loved those tires. You're right, they just disappear under the bike and you don't think about it.

I get the same feeling from the Diablo Scoots, only better because they're not as heavy as the BT45's, so it feels like a totally stock bike, but with lots of grip and no second thoughts on the tires.

[iplante]

I'm thinking of the scoot tires for my next tires.

Still got the dunlops :| Not sure if they're the OG dunlops or if they were swapped with the same model, but there's ~ 7K on my 2003. I'm like the 3rd owner.

I'm gonna have to strip her down in the spring and do all the maintenance since I'm not sure if it was ever done. lol

[vanman69]

Michelin pilot road 3 on the zzr250 for the win!

[TonyKZ1]

My favorites depending on how much money I have to spend on tires, Pirelli Sport Demons and Kenda K671s. I've ran several sets of the Kendas, they work good (not as sticky as the Pirellis though), and are affordable. I change tires about once a year in the late fall, usually doing 10-12k miles a year.
Tony

[Sirref]

thanks, now I know that I'm going to be trying out the pirelli tires next summer when i swap out the dunlops that are currently on my bike, it may just be me but it definitely feels like the rear wants to slide when I'm taking tighter turns

[a.kozak]

Hey guys I'm in the process of changing tires on my 06 pregen too and I'm debating between the Pirelli Sport Demons and the Pirelli MT75's. Originally I was set on the Sport Demons after reading through this thread but after contacting my local Kawi dealer about install, they said that they wouldn't fit and would need work on the front fender which they do not recommend. Is this true as it seems like a lot of you are running them? I'm contemplating the Pirelli MT75's as they fit within the stock size except I don't like how the rear is only a 120.

[n4mwd]

Originally Posted by a.kozak

Hey guys I'm in the process of changing tires on my 06 pregen too and I'm debating between the Pirelli Sport Demons and the Pirelli MT75's. Originally I was set on the Sport Demons after reading through this thread but after contacting my local Kawi dealer about install, they said that they wouldn't fit and would need work on the front fender which they do not recommend. Is this true as it seems like a lot of you are running them? I'm contemplating the Pirelli MT75's as they fit within the stock size except I don't like how the rear is only a 120.

The kawi dealer is wrong. The sport demons do fit without modification of any kind. They do run close in the front fender on the pregen, but not touching and that's all that counts.

I used 130/90-16 Rear and 100/90-16 front.

And they are REALLY GOOD TIRES.

However, they don't live up to the promised 20K miles. I only got about 9K on mine. But even bald, they still worked good.

[Alex]

Who promised 20K? The Demons seem to wear pretty quickly IMO, with rears going as soon as 3k - 4k, and fronts last 5k-6k. Far and away the favorite tires that I put on our pre-gen and new-gen, though.

[choneofakind]

...yeah the only tire I've read about being good for any type of high mileage was some Kenda, not a Sport Demon. I wouldn't believe anyone who quoted me 20k miles for any sport tire

[n4mwd]

I think it was a salesman that told me that. So there goes its credibility right there. I also remember him saying the dunlop oem's would also do 20K. Mine only did about 100 miles because that's how long it took me to realize they were crap and replaced them with pirellis. The demons are my favorite tire.

[a.kozak]

Thanks for the help n4mwd! Went ahead and ordered the tires. Hopefully they're as good as they sound!

[n4mwd]

Yes, you wont regret it. I still have my last worn out set here and even worn out you can easily feel the difference between them and other tires. I will also say that if you could see a worn out dunlop oem tire it would scare you, as it did me, so bad that you would walk before riding on them again.

Oh, one little disclaimer. When I said they fit under the front fender OK, I was referring to the US model Ninja 250 pregen and not the ZZR. I see you are in Canada and I know the ZZR is popular there and sometimes people call it a Ninja 250 when its not exactly identical. I don't know if the tires fit the ZZR or not, but they do fit the US pregen.

[n4mwd]

OK, here is my official mileage numbers from my maintenance logs.

Pirelli Diablo Scooters Installed: 6250
Pirelli Sport Demons Installed: 13900
Pirelli Diablo Scooters Installed: 24385

Doing the math, the scooters lasted 7650 miles and the demons lasted 10485 miles. Since I always replace them as a set, the fronts are still good with plenty of tread left. I only installed the scooters the last time because they were cheaper. I feel that was a mistake and I should have put demons back on there. They are better tires and just as sticky or stickier than the scooters.

I'm not sure why Alex is wearing his out so fast. Maybe the roads out there are more abrasive or something. Anyhow, it would seem to dispel the claim that they get 20K miles (stupid salesmen).

[a.kozak]

I'm pretty sure I have the US model ninja 250 pregen as it was an american import and the odometer is in miles not km. A buddy of mine has the zzr and they look quite different so I think I should be in the clear. Thanks for noticing that though n4mwd!

[Josh_kcco]

any one use the city grips from Michelin?

[dcj13]

Originally Posted by n4mwd

OK, here is my official mileage numbers from my maintenance logs.

Pirelli Diablo Scooters Installed: 6250
Pirelli Sport Demons Installed: 13900
Pirelli Diablo Scooters Installed: 24385

Doing the math, the scooters lasted 7650 miles and the demons lasted 10485 miles. Since I always replace them as a set, the fronts are still good with plenty of tread left.

You got quite a few miles out of the Sport Demons! My bike had worn out SD's on it when I bought it and the previous owner highly recommended them. I've had a few sets of Bridgestone BT45's on a couple of bikes and really like them, so I put those on the Ninjette a while back. I might try the SD's next time if they're still available.

Since for most of us rear tires wear out twice as fast as front tires, and since you replace tires before they get too old and cracked/hard, why do you replace the front tire twice as often as needed?

[choneofakind]

After 10,000+ miles, just about any tire is old and has gone through tons of heat cycles. Better to have fresh rubber than save $80 just to get satisfactory 'lifetime' out of your tires.