I am running Michelin Pilot GTs and love them. Of course, we all know that they are no longer made so will go with Avon Venoms. Problem is, my front tire is completely shot. My rear Michelin has a lot of life left. Anyone see a problem with running a Venom on the front and leaving the Michelin on the back for the time being? Funds are tight and would rather run the Michelin down if I can get away with it. Opinions?
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Re: mixing tire brands
- Thread starter rlew
- Start date
markmarcie2
Moped
The other "safety" recommendation is both should be the same type, either bias or radial. But then again, they say don't ride on a plugged tire, and most of us do.
Mark
Mark
smokediver3
Tricycle
Where did you find the Venoms at? I'm gonna need new feet before long and want to stick with the Avons, but haven't looked around much yet. I had the Venoms on my '83 Wing and really liked them. Seemed they had a little better wear to them than the Storms I had run before.
Ordered them through Southwest Moto. Have ordered through them before. Best price I could find, free shipping, no taxes. A shame about the Pilot GTs no longer being made (I really like those) but hopefully the Venoms will be similar. I like stability and long wear in a tire. I'll post my impression when I get it mounted. Won't be a full report since I won't be running the rear but we'll see if it changes the handling of the bike too much.
Sport rider
Iron Butt
Red Wyvern said:
I tried a bias front with a radial rear when testing out the 17 inch rear conversion. I can tell you that this combination does indeed upset the handling of the bike...at least in my opinion. I'd caution you about that part, but otherwise I've not run into problems. There are variations in different brands of radials as to their contour and angle, but I've not found those to disturb my riding when I've mixed them. (it's not all that often though)
just my 2 cents worth....
I am currently running a Metzler Z6 front (radial)/ ME880 rear (bias) in stock sizes on my '91. Handling is very good in all conditions. I don't usually drag the pegs. If I did I might want a stickier rear. The Z6 is the best front I have tried and the only ones I haven't tried are the Avon Storm and the Shinkos. The Azaro front was OK, but it howled/sang when cornering. The Z6 lasts me as long as any of the others and traction is unsurpassed in my experience. I wish more people would run the Z6 to encourage Metzler to keep making them in our sizes. YMMV.
I'm not a suspension guru, so this is just my opinion, but I think the whole "don't mix" is a bunch of BS. I rode a connie set up with an avon azaro front radial and a pirelli demon bias rear on the twistiest rode I know of in florida (ozello trail) and the bike handled like it was on rails. The owner told me it handled great, and he was right. I currently run an avon storm front and michelin pilot road 2 / 3 rear. it's perfect as far as I can tell. i think the bigger issue is if the individual PROFILES match. in other words, an avon storm front and an 880 bias rear is gonna suck no matter what, because the 880's suck and have a lousy profile for good handling. No offense to anyone running them, but I ran through a couple sets, and realised they'd help get me hurt if I kept running them. Again, just my opinion - Steve
The only way I can figure out why anyone would say an 880 handles well let alone 'very well' and then say in all conditions must not have any idea what a real tire is supposed to handle like. An ME880 is one slippery, scary a$$ ****** tire in my opinion. I have been saying this since I tried one so I know. No traction at all in wet weather and I can break it loose easily on dry. I wish I could find the posting were one poor fellow slid off the road going slow in wet weather . He was asking us what he did wrong. I made a guess and told him 'I bet you have ME880's' and he said yes, How did you know? Experience is how I know. Sorry for always poo poo-ing this tire but I feel I should warn everyone I can.
Back to the point of this thread. Yes, you can mix radial and bias. I have ridden on my own bike an Avon Azzaro up front and a good grippy bias in the rear and it handled very well. I do not know about putting a bias up front and radial in the back.
Back to the point of this thread. Yes, you can mix radial and bias. I have ridden on my own bike an Avon Azzaro up front and a good grippy bias in the rear and it handled very well. I do not know about putting a bias up front and radial in the back.
slybonesjesse
Sport Tourer
Steve in Sunny Fla said:
Every dealer and/or tire expert that I have heard tell me it was bad to mix tire brands, and had some explanation of why, said it was due to the two brands warming up at different rates. And that if I was to go out riding too fast too early while one tire was heated up and the other tire was not, then I would get unexected handling / traction issues. -- So I figure worst case, is making sure your tires are warm before riding hard in the twisties.
On a different note I have been really thinging about running a Storm front with the BT45 bias rear. the BT45 has a good handling profile. I have liked the BT45's in general. I read on the Ninja 250 forums where these two ( SD's and BT45's ) are two top tires the BT45 last a bit longer.
slybonesjesse
Sport Tourer
Yeah, them ME880's look real slippery in that "see what connie can do" pic too.
That is a good point. First off, you need to know Jen. I have ridden with her more than once and I can tell you she is an excellent rider and can handle a bike better than most anyone I know (and is a far better rider than me). If anyone can make a stock bike 'look good' in a corner it would be her.Slybones said:
Is an ME880 any less slippery because Jen can pilot a bike better than most of us? Not a chance, the ME880 is still very slippery and has no traction in the wet and must be made of concrete because it lasts about as long. That is a fact and if you think you are as good a rider as her then think again and good luck to you with that tire. Your going to need it.
slybonesjesse
Sport Tourer
Yes Jen is one data point. And your ranting and raving about how bad they are in multiple threads recently, is another data point. We have one guy who went off the road going slow with them. Once you determined that he had ME880's did you look any further to determine any other factors, or is that 'really' the sole contributing factor. That is another data point.
I dont need to be wished good luck with them, in some tone as though I am going die if I try them. I have used the ME800 on my Connie and got 21K out of them. I ride year around in the Pacific NorthWet. I did 2 winters of daily commute with them. That means 40 degrees and raining on a regular basis. I have thousands of miles on ME880's in the rain. I never went off the road, even while going slow. From other threads, I read this means you think I dont know anything about riding a motorcycle. And while my riding skills are not as good as Jen's, its still a valid data point.
There are lots of COG members that have used ME880's and never went off the road just because it was raining. There skills dont have to be as good as Jen's to make them valid data points. They are valid data points.
So for me it is not a 'fact' to conclude ME880's have NO traction in wet, and are Snot on Grease, etc. Agree'd they are not the best. And maybe they dont have as much traction in the rain as YOU would like. But hardly makes them worthy of being called a scary a$$ tire, IMO of course.
ME880's are not a performance tire. ME880's are not a great handling tire in all conditions. For people who are on the SPORT-Touring side of thing, they are NOT the tire I would recommend. For people who are on the sport-TOURING side of things, they may be an option. They do need to understand the choice being made. These people are simply not going to crash, just because it rains out. Based on the many many data points available.
As for myself, I won't use the ME880 again either. But that does not mean every one who does is going to crash and burn, unless they ride like Jen.
I dont need to be wished good luck with them, in some tone as though I am going die if I try them. I have used the ME800 on my Connie and got 21K out of them. I ride year around in the Pacific NorthWet. I did 2 winters of daily commute with them. That means 40 degrees and raining on a regular basis. I have thousands of miles on ME880's in the rain. I never went off the road, even while going slow. From other threads, I read this means you think I dont know anything about riding a motorcycle. And while my riding skills are not as good as Jen's, its still a valid data point.
There are lots of COG members that have used ME880's and never went off the road just because it was raining. There skills dont have to be as good as Jen's to make them valid data points. They are valid data points.
So for me it is not a 'fact' to conclude ME880's have NO traction in wet, and are Snot on Grease, etc. Agree'd they are not the best. And maybe they dont have as much traction in the rain as YOU would like. But hardly makes them worthy of being called a scary a$$ tire, IMO of course.
ME880's are not a performance tire. ME880's are not a great handling tire in all conditions. For people who are on the SPORT-Touring side of thing, they are NOT the tire I would recommend. For people who are on the sport-TOURING side of things, they may be an option. They do need to understand the choice being made. These people are simply not going to crash, just because it rains out. Based on the many many data points available.
As for myself, I won't use the ME880 again either. But that does not mean every one who does is going to crash and burn, unless they ride like Jen.
I agree . I meant no offense. Your right, there is a touring component that I am not considering and as long as we are making educated decisions knowing the tires we buy both in benefits and short comings then we can ride accordingly. I am definitely only considering the 'Sport' aspect. In my case I will say they did make me nervous and I leave it at that.
slybonesjesse
Sport Tourer
No offense was really taken. I guess I could have been less dramatic. In the end we all have diffferent experiences and different points of view and priorities. I see it as important for people to see as many as possible. So they can best choose whats right for them. I can agree that for anyone more interested in the SPORT aspect of a Sport-Touring machine, and rides at a decent pace in the rain, ME880's are NOT the tire for you. They could just be down right scary.
James_Leach_TN said:
I use the same combination and I will be sticking with it. It works great for the type of riding I do. I wish the ME880 haters would post if they are using wing size or standard. The ME880 is not a sport tire and if you take that into consideration it works very well for the mileage you get in return. I have no doubts the Avons work great and it's nice to know that option is available, I just need more mileage and I'm not that aggressive on the Connie.
Oh yea, I have Perelli Corsas on the ZX10r so I know what a sticky tire feels like.
greg.m784
Street Cruiser
I run avons and they make up for my lack of knowledge pretty well. They will save me and allow the bike to corner nicely. If i were better in the corners, i wouldn't need such a sticky tire. Jen i'm sure is WAY more confident/knowledgeable in the corners, so she doesn't depend on her tire to cover for her like i do. 
My thinking is that there may be one time in your riding life that stopping 2 feet shorter would save your life. Now if you have the stickiest tires on and are use to the breaking feel with those tires I bet my bacon that you will stop more then two feet shorter then if you have a harder tire on. THAT is why I run sticky tires when all I needed today was hard ones. The same can be said for emergency avoidance cornering also. You may only need it one time in your life but I would rather have my best chance at surviving the incident than hoping it will not happen.