Hello all,

Been commuting on the Wing for a few thousand miles now and require some advice please as i am after some new tyres.

Iam thinking of the Bridgestone hoop as i have heard good reports.

Anybody had any experience with these?

They are fitted as standard on new models.

I have had two sets, (rears), and no adverse effects. Good grip, wet and dry.

Nothing bad to say about them really.

My 2011 came with the Hoops fitted, I've done 4700mls so far and I've no complaints, they also look as if they will last reasonably well .

Heidenau K66,Check them out.Great wet weather!

The Hoop is one of the tires Honda recommends/approves. They did their homework.

Although not real Bridegestone fan (based on rear tires coming apart on Helix and Reflex)---The Hoop perfomed/performs well on SilverWing. No slid out or skids for me with them in all weather. "Cupping" on front seems to happen with all brands of tires and has since a long long time, on all bikes. I am also having very good luck with Bridgestone OEM on my NT----so good replaced with OEM.

Having used somewhere near 400 tires (at least) in 56 year riding career, have learned bike maker usually knows most about which tire should go on his bike. Putting lipstick on pig, you still have pig-----that is no need to waste money on fancy/exotic tires.....as in end you still have scooter.

Based on my reading in Germany Heidenau makes wonderful winter tires for scooters.

Donekyhater----how many tires have you gone thru in your riding career?

In the days of interchangeable wheels, you just put the cupped front on the rear and wore it smooth---Bikes I have owned with interchangeable wheels include HD,Vespa, BMW.

I don't know if anybody really knows about what causes cupping on bike fronts.

Also I don't think SilverWing has bad suspension----most people do not ride well enough to have suspension or tires be limiting factor. Remember it is scooter.

And then there is the question----does cupping cause any safety factor?

And NO, I will NEVER put an automobile tire on the Rear or Front of ANY two-wheeled transportation I own. EVER!!!

I put Diablos on my Wing and the front tire started to cup after about 10,000 mi.. It still handles fine and has a lot of mi. left on it. I went back to a "hoop" on the rear and when I need to replace the front I will put "hoops" on front and rear. I go out threw 2 rears to every one on the front.

I've seen a few ads for Heidenau tyres in the German scooter magazines I buy. Some tyre suppliers list the K66 as a winter tyre, and there's also K66 variants. As winter tyres usually have silica in the compound to improve cold weather grip, they wear more rapidly than summer tyres. The other Heindenau tyres to fit the Silver Wing wheels are the sportier K72, and they look more like the Bridgestone Hoops in appearance.

Bridgestone tyres were pretty rubbish riding round on Suzuki two-strokes in the 70's. Since then I've had them on a BMW K75 RT, Helix, Majesty, and a couple of Burgmans, with no problems. I usually average about 8500 miles out of any make of rear tyre before replacing it, whether it's a 250cc scooter or a 750cc tourer

My OEM tires were Hoops and I changed them out at 10,000 miles and had the Diablo's installed. I had 2 sets of the Diablo's and liked them better since they feel stickier in the turns and in wet weather. I have the Metzlers now and like them too. But will have to see how long they last. The Hoops and Diablo's all lasted 10,000 miles and I could have gone a couple of thousand miles more at most.

But I will continue with the Diablo's or Metzlers since they seem to grab the pavement better and seem smoother. But the Hoops are still good tires, in my experience. But for some reason they cost a bit more.

Interesting that nobody has mentioned the IRC tires, which are the other brand recommended by Honda and are OEM in some of the recent model years. I have them on my bike, and they work well for me. The rear has been replaced with another IRC after apparently hitting something and cutting a big hunk of rubber our of the tread (see prior post with pictures). It stayed inflated and got me home in spite of the damage. The front is still on at just shy of 16,000 miles, and looks like it will get to 20k withour problems. It is just beginning to show some wear 'ripples', as I would not call it cupping, but it is not perfectly smooth, either. I push them reasonably hard in the Arizona heat, and they hold the curves quite well. I cannot speak to their ability in the rain, as we have had very little of it here.

In the UK we do not have the sanme tyre choice you have in the States or Canada.

Also, the cupping seams to be a US/Canadian thing, I had never heard of the problem until I started using this Forum. (Waits to be corrected by my fellow UK riders.)

So whilst you may recommend tyres to your hearts pleasure - the fact is, we are limited to a select few in the UK unless the buyer wishes to spend an arm and leg on postage!!

Like Waspie, I've never heard of cupping either, I haven't read an article about it in any UK or US bike or scooter magazines, maybe a photo of a tyre with cupping would enlighten us. It could be that the road surface dressings used in the USA and Canada are a lot different the to the ones used in the UK and Europe, or that your road are straighter for far longer distances than ours are.

I had 'cupping' on a front tyre when I rode an ST1100 (younger and stronger then !!). I suspect that it's a combination of tyre pressure and suspension function but I don't know that muc, I haven't got enough miles on my Hoops to notice anything yet .

For 'muc' read 'much' !!!!!

Mildrew,

I suspect that the biggest difference is that we have miles and miles of interstate highways, long, (mostly) smooth, and relatively straight. I think that the high speed causes the cupping. Mine probably doesn't show it because I do not do a lot of interstate riding. From what I've read, it has something to do with the way the tires 'squirm' at higher speeds. The way they are constructed has an effect on this, which is why some are more prone to do it and others are not.

Not surprisingly there's lot's of stuff about tyre cupping when you go searching on the internet, since I've never experienced it on any bike or scooter I've owned, I don't see it as a problem for me.