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ST1100 question

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HawkGTRider:

--- Quote from: touringman on September 08, 2014, 10:47:31 PM ---God luck with your search Geoffrey! I had a Suzuki GSX 1100G that tôok the same size tires, and tires had become difficult to find by the time I sold the bike. I hope you get some good advice. Are you going to make it to Fall Colors this year? If so, please call or email me. Thanks, Syd :)

--- End quote ---

Push come to shove, the Michelin tires aren't terrible. As noted, the rear appears to have life left in it. It's just the front tire that has worn in a time frame that I think is too fast. Maybe this is a bike that just needs to have the front changed more often than the rear (it is 725# svelte pounds all gassed up not counting my chunky self). And it's not the sides that are worn down. Looking at the picture, you can see most of the wear is in the middle portion of the tire. I'd be the first to admit that I've used this bike less for "sport" and more for "touring", and the wear pattern indicates that is true.

Buckeye56:
IF mileage is what you are after them the Metzler ME880s are hard to beat! I got over 15K on the ST1300 and took them off due to handling issues, neither end was worn out. IIRC, guys on the STOwners forum were getting close to 20K on the rear. I didn't like how the handling went off as the miles piled up, didn't run them again. To be fair, I do not push the big boys that hard in the twisties, too damn hard to pick up if things go wrong. But the 880s stuck well for the pace I was comfortable with. YMMV.

Greg:
I may have been misinformed but was told by the shop that installs tires on my bike that Metzler no longer produces the 880. Any 880 you find will be an older tire.  They now produce the 888 which is suppose to be an improved compound.  I like the Metzler on the Goldwing.  It was much more responsive than the Dunlops .  I have been getting 10 to 12k on a set.  Cupping is the issue I have on the 'wing. The Metzlers do not cup has badly as the Dunlops though.

Phil Bolichowski:
Geoffrey, I had an ST1100 for 3 years and tried different brands of tires. Although I rode the bike aggressively, I had my best luck by far with Dunlop Roadsmart 2s'. They are not the cheapest but wore and stuck way better than anything else. I am now using them on my ST3 Ducati with the same results!

OldButNotDead:
I went through a bunch of different brands with my 06 FJR.  IMO an FJR and ST are very similar when it comes to tire wear having ridden with a bunch of guys on both the ST1100 and ST1300.  The best tires I had were PR2's.  RS's were OK but have uneven wear issues on the front.  At the time I switched to a Tiger the combo de jour with SE FJR riders was an Angel on the front and an RS on the back.  A lot of water has passed under the bridge but when Storms first came out they had big problems on the front and wear was never spectacular.  The Angels all seem to depend on the rider.  I know of guys running 880's and even car tires on the rear of FJR's to max mileage, but I was never comfortable with that.  Most of the wear issues have more to do with how you twist the trottle.   The guys without chicken strips rarely break 5K.  The commuter and pure tourer guys get 8K and claim some fantastic numbers that I don't have a lot faith in.  Despite a lot of naysayers, the Shinko Raven isn't bad the rear.  Bent Aero did some testing of that tire with amazing results for a dirt cheap tire.

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