Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech bye bye Bridgestones

Ok IT's TIME!!!! yippee!!! Looking at the Pirelli Mt66 tires...they have had good reviews (by people I don't know) any one here running then (ran them in the past)...Pirelli IS Metzler and they are a great CAGE tire...but wondering about their bike tires...

I can only attest to the vast improvement Avon Venom is over the stock treads. I've read about a bunch of Pirelli Sport Demon users over at t-rat, they like them a lot over the 'stones.

I know the Pirelli is a good car tire to be sure but never used one on a bike. I like my IRC Wild Flame so far though and that replaced my Metz.

I got 13k outa the stock b'stones,and despite what most here
say, I thought they were pretty good. Maybe I don't know no
better? Time to change, and I don't know what to get now????

I've got a set of Dunlops waiting in the wings.
I've had the Bridgestones and am now on my 3rd set of Avons. The change to Avons was like going from recap snow tires to performance summer tires....

But, I don't get more than 5-6k miles out of a set of Avons. And the front seems to "cup" rather easily, giving you that lovely handlebar shimmy at slow speed.
I love the way the Avons grip the road, but I doubt I'll buy another set. I'd be interested to know how the Pirelli's do as far as grip and tread wear, but I've got Avons and a set of Dunlops to burn up first.

Funny that you should mention Dunlops,
I had a '69 Daytona 500 that had Dunlop rims and tires,
and I was thinking about them. There is so much product
out there that it makes my head spin.

I used to run Dunlops on all my old bikes,no complaints about them.

It's all about finding that sweet spot between grip (soft) and tread wear (hard) that suits your riding style and budget.

I'm sssssssooooooo against Avons at the mo - they are local to me and yet closing down the factory that gave them the name to make them in the far east!!! They've probably been making the tyres in the far east for years but all the same....

I still hate the stock Bridgestones, but the set on the 06 have lasted longer than the 03...maybe thats cos my riding has improved...I dunno.

I still love the metzelers on the 03. They still grip like you wouldn't believe and that's what'll be going on the 06 when needed. I have the new version of the Lazertec on the 03 and it's as good as the Lazertec was. Or if it's now the Lazertec...whatever it was before.
Need more coffee.

I had mt66's on my last bike. They were found pretty cheap (NOT old stock) and I liked them allot!!!!

I've been running Cheng Shinn "Dunlop copies" on my old trumpets for years, no problems. Just put the same on my 03. I'll find out how it is on the way to Florida in May.

I've got a Michelin on the front and a Dunlop on the back. 8k miles on the front and 6k on the rear. Tread still looks good on both. I have a set of Metzler Laser Tech. that Angelis gave me with less then a thousand miles on them, when these wear out. I really can't say that much negative about the original Bridgestones. I got 16k miles out of the front and 18k miles out of the rear, if you are looking for mileage over perfomance.

Cinnamon Girl was wearing Pirelli MT 66 Routes when I picked her up last August. I was glad to put me880s on her.

My experience with the 66s was neutral. No rave reviews or condemnations. When I had the rear 880 installed Paul said that they are a popular tire. Why? They last a long time and handle decent. I had no slippage issues at all rolling the blue ridge. Had to put a front 880 on her though in Lynchburg, VA . So I matched up the rear later. That's when I talked to Paul.

Having a set of 880s on Cinnamon Girl I really liked her effortless countersteering. Vera had venoms at the time and Cinnamon Girl was more fun to ride. Could have been Vera's venoms were worn out. So I had some 880s put on her.

The 880s run at a higher pressure than the venoms. The 880s also have a more graceful convex profile when looking at the tire from sidewall to sidewall. But what do I know? I like the 880 better per above and they last longer.


So you want tires that will handle well and last at an almostabudget price? Pick the 66s. For a great touring tire that handles very well over most of it's life, pick the 880. Want a tire, that of the three, will handle the best, which is better in rain, and grips a bit better than the 880s? venom brother. venoms.

I just bought a set of Dunlap 404's for my 2004 TBA. Anyone here ever tried them? I have not mounted them yet, but notice that the Dunlap for the rear looks narrower than the stock Bridgestone, even though they are the same size. Anyone else notice this?

I have a 404 on the rear of my bike and it looks about the same to me. I believe it has more tread though, with different tread design than the Bridgestones.

After looking at my Michelin on the front, it is starting to show wear at 8k miles. No wobble at all, though. I think for wear AND handling, the Metzler 880's are probably the best.

Metzeler Marathon rear Lazertec Front, very good tires epically after the crappy Bridgestones

over 15,000 miles on my front Lazertec and still have plenty of tread. Rear one I changed at about 12,000 or 13,000 miles.