Tyre question..

[Tigs]

My Gladius needs new tyres.

I've found a pair of these :

Conti Motion Or a pair of Pirelli Diablo

Any advice - I've not got enough experience to know which would be 'better'.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

I'd go with the Pirellis, Contis tend to lack feel, they grip fine but don't inspire confidence

[KungFooBob]

As a novice, pretty much every tyre you can buy will be better than you.

But they all do feel different and it's all about confidence. You probably can't go wrong with either and any new tyres will feel a million times better than the worn ones currently on the bike.

What's your priority, longevity, grip, wet weather performance, price???

[Rockburner]

Go Pirelli.

Ime Contis give comparable feel/grip, but half the life

[Tigs]

I'm a slow steady rider - so not speedy! Mostly urban (hence the slow - most roads are 20mph!). I'm a bit fair-weather and would avoid the wet too!

Ideally I want the tyre to last..

buy the sounds of it Pirelli is the way to go.

[KungFooBob]

M & P often have cheap pair deals, also check out Oponeo

https://www.oponeo.co.uk/motorcycle-tyres

But factor in that some fitters don't want to fit tyres not purchased from themselves and that fitting and disposal of old tyres is an additional cost for mail order tyres.

[Supermofo]

Never used Conti's but have used Diablo's and they were pretty good I seem to recall. They are a very old design, the last bike I had them on was 2007 and they were 2nd generation then, doesn't mean they are bad just stuff moves on. With more modern tyres I tend to find it's less the grip but the longevity that's better. My Road 5 still have life in em at 5.5k now (lost their profile now though), old Pilot Powers would do 3k max. I seem to recall the Pirelli Angel ST's are cheap too and would probably last longer as they are an ST tyre. Never used them though I think @Le_Fromage_Grande has? My brother put a set on his Z750 a while ago and liked them.

Conti's - does @The Spin Doctor mention them now and again?

[Rockburner]

Never used Conti's but have used Diablo's and they were pretty good I seem to recall. They are a very old design, the last bike I had them on was 2007 and they were 2nd generation then, doesn't mean they are bad just stuff moves on. With more modern tyres I tend to find it's less the grip but the longevity that's better. My Road 5 still have life in em at 5.5k now (lost their profile now though), old Pilot Powers would do 3k max. I seem to recall the Pirelli Angel ST's are cheap too and would probably last longer as they are an ST tyre. Never used them though I think @Le_Fromage_Grande has? My brother put a set on his Z750 a while ago and liked them.

Conti's - does @The Spin Doctor mention them now and again?

I use Angel STs on the Rockster, lots of grip, good life, plenty of feedback, what's not to like!

[The Spin Doctor]

Never used Conti's but have used Diablo's and they were pretty good I seem to recall. They are a very old design, the last bike I had them on was 2007 and they were 2nd generation then, doesn't mean they are bad just stuff moves on. With more modern tyres I tend to find it's less the grip but the longevity that's better. My Road 5 still have life in em at 5.5k now (lost their profile now though), old Pilot Powers would do 3k max. I seem to recall the Pirelli Angel ST's are cheap too and would probably last longer as they are an ST tyre. Never used them though I think @Le_Fromage_Grande has? My brother put a set on his Z750 a while ago and liked them.

Conti's - does @The Spin Doctor mention them now and again?

I've been getting 8k plus out of the Conti Motions (now discontinued) so have been using Angel STs - they are both fine for the road, wet or dry and even some track days. I did overhead the rear Conti at Brands on a hot afternoon - it let go fairly spectacularly coming out of clearways on the Hornet - but did everything I needed on training sessions including rear wheel in the air stoppie demos.

Frankly, the idea of a tyre doing just 5k is bonkers. I'm not riding anything like as much as I was (too many half-assed schools offering the ERS now) but when I was a DAS trainer I was riding way more than 500 miles a week... a tyre lasting not much more than two months would have been mad. The Michelin Radials I was using at the time were good for 15k.

[Supermofo]

Never used Conti's but have used Diablo's and they were pretty good I seem to recall. They are a very old design, the last bike I had them on was 2007 and they were 2nd generation then, doesn't mean they are bad just stuff moves on. With more modern tyres I tend to find it's less the grip but the longevity that's better. My Road 5 still have life in em at 5.5k now (lost their profile now though), old Pilot Powers would do 3k max. I seem to recall the Pirelli Angel ST's are cheap too and would probably last longer as they are an ST tyre. Never used them though I think @Le_Fromage_Grande has? My brother put a set on his Z750 a while ago and liked them.

Conti's - does @The Spin Doctor mention them now and again?

I've been getting 8k plus out of the Conti Motions (now discontinued) so have been using Angel STs - they are both fine for the road, wet or dry and even some track days. I did overhead the rear Conti at Brands on a hot afternoon - it let go fairly spectacularly coming out of clearways on the Hornet - but did everything I needed on training sessions including rear wheel in the air stoppie demos.

Frankly, the idea of a tyre doing just 5k is bonkers. I'm not riding anything like as much as I was (too many half-assed schools offering the ERS now) but when I was a DAS trainer I was riding way more than 500 miles a week... a tyre lasting not much more than two months would have been mad. The Michelin Radials I was using at the time were good for 15k.

There's a fair amount of tread left, it's the profile that's going off. I could ride around it and would be more likely to if used for commuting or work. But my bike is 100% a plaything and once the handling starts getting affected it makes you wonder if saving a little bit of money is worth it seeing as it costs X amount in petrol every non necessary ride for a sub optimal experience. Having said that the tyre is on something like 5600 miles and I won't change it until sometime in spring so reckon it'll probably have 6k - 6.5k on it by then which isn't bad for a 200 odd kg bike with 150bhp and 80lb ft and as I said they'll be life left in it when I replace it. I've had harder wearing tyres before but I like the feel and feedback you get from the Road 5 which again is part of the experience. I've no doubt a better rider would be faster than me on some CST tyres but them's the shakes. I do typically 2.5-3.5k miles a year which makes a big difference to when I was commuting daily and doing 11k a year.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

My GSXS750 had Angel STs on it when I got it, they were okay, they had enough grip for a 100 bhp bike, the rear was better than the front, I would have liked something grippier on the front, but the front tyre lasted 12000 miles, and the rears 6000.

I prefer the Dunlops on my Honda, which has another 30bhp, the front has lasted 8000 miles and is getting towards the end of it's life, the rear has done 5000 and still has plenty of life in it, but I will probably get Metzeler Roadtec 01 SEs on it in the spring, or maybe Pilot Sports.

[silver991]

My GSXS750 had Angel STs on it when I got it, they were okay, they had enough grip for a 100 bhp bike, the rear was better than the front, I would have liked something grippier on the front, but the front tyre lasted 12000 miles, and the rears 6000.

I prefer the Dunlops on my Honda, which has another 30bhp, the front has lasted 8000 miles and is getting towards the end of it's life, the rear has done 5000 and still has plenty of life in it, but I will probably get Metzeler Roadtec 01 SEs on it in the spring, or maybe Pilot Sports.

I've heard good things about the Metzeler Roadtec 01 SEs, so that could be a solid choice.

[Whysub]

Just to chuck this in.

Had Metzler Sportec M7 RR's on the works BMW K1300's. Very good tyre in wet and dry, and wore very well, down to the limit at around 6500 miles.

So put a pair on my Guzzi V1200 Sport, just before riding to Albania. F***ing awful, rubbish in the dry, dangerous in the wet. Lost the front many times. Not what I wanted to finfd out 200 miles onto a 5000 mile trip. The loss of traction on a bike with lower bhp and torque was a strange one.

Not all tyres work the same on two differing bikes.

[weeksy]

I had m7rrs at jerez, Spa, Donny, Pembrey, etc. all good for me

[Supermofo]

My 690 came with M7RRs I ran them to 4k and it was on the markers by then but the profile was shot by 3.5k. Really good tyre other than not lasting.

[MyLittleStudPony]

I tend to go for Super Super Super Corsas.

But that's mainly because I like to gan the front and hoy the back at the same time.

[Bigyin]

I have Conti motion front and back on my Fazer 600 that i mainly use as my instructing/winter bike. I cant complain about them as they have enough grip and feel to take right to the edge of the tread but my only criticism is less wet feel than the Pirelli Angel GT2 i run on the Multi.

The GT2's are the dogs bollocks imo for grip, feel and wear on the big bike for everything from touring to track use but they are pricey. The Conti's are cheap as chips

[The Spin Doctor]

There's a fair amount of tread left, it's the profile that's going off. I could ride around it and would be more likely to if used for commuting or work. But my bike is 100% a plaything

OK, silly question. How do you square a tyre off on a plaything?

Even when I was despatching, I didn't square tyres off - the only bike I've ever seen with a totally flatted tread was in Nevada where there wasn't a bend in the road for 60 miles.

[Supermofo]

There's a fair amount of tread left, it's the profile that's going off. I could ride around it and would be more likely to if used for commuting or work. But my bike is 100% a plaything

OK, silly question. How do you square a tyre off on a plaything?

Even when I was despatching, I didn't square tyres off - the only bike I've ever seen with a totally flatted tread was in Nevada where there wasn't a bend in the road for 60 miles.

Where did I say totally square? I said 'going off'. If you're telling me your old 8k mile tyre is the same profile as a brand new then fair enough, but I get the feeling you're just picking and nothing I say will make a difference.

[Whysub]

I had m7rrs at jerez, Spa, Donny, Pembrey, etc. all good for me

They were great on the K1300's, but simply dreadful on the Guzzi.

Were you replacing them on the same bike?