New tyres, real pleased.

Hi all, just wanted to share my experiences and consequent satisfaction with the new tyres i choose for my Swing.

I've had my Swing for about 4 months now and use it most days come rain or shine.
The bike came with a pair of recent Avon Viper Strykes, which in the past on other bikes i've been happy with and was initially pleased to find them already on when i bought my Swing. They were fine in the dry, i could crank the thing around no problem, but i slowly lost my confidence in the bike to ride in the wet after many 'leg out' moments only at going with the flow of traffic kind of speed.

I was seriously considering selling, but decided after a bit of research here mainly, that the Swing must be unusually sensetive to tyre choice, and to give the Swing some new boots and a second chance. Ordered a pair of Metzeler FeelFree Wintecs and got them put on. So far i'm real impressed with the difference it's made. Consistent wet grip feel and less tyre bounce on uneven road surfaces so far. They even seem to sound different than before when riding through puddles!

Time will tell if they wear well and normally. For me at least, my initial impressions are a big thumbs up for the Wintecs and as a consequence more time for me with the Swing and a new member to this forum.

Cheers.

Hello Betty,

I also changed to the Wintecs, very pleased with them, they give an excellent amount of confidence in the handling of the scoots, I have a Burgman 400 and a Silverwing. they are a comfortable and quiet tyre to boot (excuse the pun!).

I trust you aren't experiencing perspiration problems in this heat.

Cheers,

I recently replaced my tires with the new Michelin Power Pure SC's... I am really impressed so far...confidence building...dan

Nothing like new tires on a two wheeler. My Goldwing 1800 was great on Dunlop E3s but when I wore that set out I replaced them with Bridgestones. Those gave me a bit of a thrill a few times in the when when they skidded when riding over the white painted lines on the highway. Once the rear end slid about 18" sideways which really gets your attention at 65mph. I didn't really wear out the Bridgestones, they were about 3/4 gone when I went back to E3s. It isn't the SW, different bikes work best with different tires. The Bridgestones probably would have given more miles but their harder rubber composition didn't grip well in the wet. The softer E3s were much more reliable on wet pavement.

@TMB,
Just watched a 2009 YouTube of Wintecs fitted to 650 Burgers, being ridden on the snow. Seemed pretty impressive.

Do you use them all year round or just as a winter tyre (tire)?

Nowun wrote:

@TMB,
Just watched a 2009 YouTube of Wintecs fitted to 650 Burgers, being ridden on the snow. Seemed pretty impressive.

Do you use them all year round or just as a winter tyre (tire)?

My SW with FF Wintech

Nowun wrote:

@TMB,
Just watched a 2009 YouTube of Wintecs fitted to 650 Burgers, being ridden on the snow. Seemed pretty impressive.

Do you use them all year round or just as a winter tyre (tire)?

All year round, can't see the point of changing as the tyres offer better grip in wet conditions - and we have a lot of those all year round. I don't think we have had a week here this year when it hasn't rained.

Cheers,

I spent twenty years in SE Alaska where the weather is even wetter than the UKs. Most of the time it wasn't drizzling it would be snowing. Don't get me wrong, the average number of sunny days per year was 30. So it wasn't all bad. All that said I'm happy as a bug in a rug living here in Southern Oregon. Last summer I had the top down on the Jeep for three months. Imagine it, three months with no rain. Makes for a lot of mileage on the Jeep and bike.

Thanks TMB - will bear that in mind when I wear out the Hoops

Can anyone comment on the 'Feel Free(FF)' vs 'Feel Free Wintec(FFW)'? The FFWpicutures show a bunch of slits cut all over the tire - which would seem to help. Living in Northern California I don't do much cold weather riding nor do I seek it out - but occasionally I find myself on 'black ice' roads and roads that may have a bit of snow, ice, or slush - so wondering if I should go to FFW (presently ride Pirelli Diablo) or maybe just FF. After checking a few internet sites it seems as if (in SWing tire sizes) FF are available - but NOT FFW. Anyone in USA know where I can buy FFW online? Or maybe if the FF are nearly as good as the FFW?

Hello Dimond,

No experience of the FF tyres, just the FFW ones.

All I can say is that I'm very pleased with the performance of them in the wet. They have never skidded or slipped sideways when at times i would have expected the Hoops to have done so.

Give them a try.

Cheers,

tarmacburner2 wrote:

Hello Dimond,

Give them a try.

Cheers,

The FF or FFW? If it is FFW, then I need to find somewhere to buy them in the USA? Many thanks for the input.

Dimond wrote:

tarmacburner2 wrote:

Hello Dimond,

Give them a try.

Cheers,

The FF or FFW? If it is FFW, then I need to find somewhere to buy them in the USA? Many thanks for the input.

The FFW tyres, didn't realise they weren't so readily available over the other side of the pond. (You pay my air fares and I'll bring a pair over in my luggage!)

Cheers,

I contacted Metzler North America and got this reply:

"The regular Feel Free tires are available here (USA) but we only import the Wintec sizes for the 650 Burgman. Your best bet may be to purchase these from Europe. We hope this helps.
NA Metzeler M/C Tires Consumer Affairs
877 202-4993
www.metzeler.com"

Buying tires from Europe seems like it may be a bit pricey?

The little slits (sipes) are there to help the tyre (spelt with a 'y' cos they are European) warm up quicker, they aren't anything to do with grip in the same way that the grooves are.

I would imagine that given your location Dimond that the normal Feel Free tyres would be more than adequate.

Just checked the website where I bought mine from in June 2012, the pair have gone up from £83.20 to £108.30, an increase of 30% in seven months. I'm going to start riding with the front wheel up in the air!

Cheers,

tarmacburner2 wrote:

The little slits (sipes) are there to help the tyre warm up quicker, they aren't anything to do with grip in the same way that the grooves are.
Cheers,

I never heard of 'siping' before - thanks for introducing this term to me! Looks like it can help a lot with traction also:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siping_(rubber)

I wonder if the rubber compound is IDENTICAL in the FF and the FFW? (with the only difference being the siping).

I will look into 'siping' a set of my Diablo's for winter use - don't know if I will actully do it - but am going to look. Seems as if there is a lot of siping going on - but not so much on motorcycle tires. Turns out that the FFW is available ONLY for REAR of Burgman (not front). I pay about $60 for a front or rear Diablo delivered. FF would cost about the same for the front and $50 more for rear. The FFW seem to be about $40 more. If I find out anything interesting - I will report back.