Product : Tyre Review

[yammi_46]

Thanks Porker,

 

As far as i know, tires are very pricey in Malaysia. 700RM is insane.

Why dun u make a trip down to Singapore over the weekends, u can easily get a pair of BT010 at 280 sing, or if uwant the best value for money, try BT090, price simply insane. if my memory havet fail me, i say u can get it for 210 sing or even less.

 

Well, if ya benton coming down south, do drop me a mail. I'll show u around

 

Mind telling me where i can get BT010 for S$280? Most shop quote me $200+ for the rear only.

[Guest ZZR-Pilot]

Fitted new rubber over the weekend. Didn't have the BT-010 I wanted, so had to settle for Metzeler ME-Z1s. Set me back RM750 including mounting & balancing. Farkkk...

 

I also took the opportunity to up my rear preload by 2 clicks (it was set at the lowest setting by the previous owner... no f**king wonder I was scraping my bellypan around the racetrack). Combined with the new tyres.. whoaa.. felt like a new bike, man.

 

ME-Z1s felt neutral - my pointy old Duros just wanted to dive into corners, but the new Metzes tend to countersteer nicely instead. Quite stable. That said, the bike now feels a tiny bit slightly sluggish to flick side to side whereas with the Duros the bike could be easily steered and flicked with just the footpegs. On the other hand, belting 200km/h down the highway the front end is now DEAD stable (the pointy Duros would get damn nervous, often I had to shift a bit of weight over the bars a little to calm it down).

 

I'll be done fully scrubbing in these babies by this weekend. Then, I'll be testing them on my favourite Genting twisties... after that, the famous 90km twisty stretch up to Cameron Highlands, then finally Batu 3 racetrack. I'll update this report towards the end of next month. Watch this space.

[Guest GuiNNeSS]

Anyone knows who the Dunlop motorcycle tire agents are in Sg or where to get enquire about a set?

[porker]

Fitted new rubber over the weekend. Didn't have the BT-010 I wanted, so had to settle for Metzeler ME-Z1s. Set me back RM750 including mounting & balancing. Farkkk...

 

I also took the opportunity to up my rear preload by 2 clicks (it was set at the lowest setting by the previous owner... no f**king wonder I was scraping my bellypan around the racetrack). Combined with the new tyres.. whoaa.. felt like a new bike, man.

 

ME-Z1s felt neutral - my pointy old Duros just wanted to dive into corners, but the new Metzes tend to countersteer nicely instead. Quite stable. That said, the bike now feels a tiny bit slightly sluggish to flick side to side whereas with the Duros the bike could be easily steered and flicked with just the footpegs. On the other hand, belting 200km/h down the highway the front end is now DEAD stable (the pointy Duros would get damn nervous, often I had to shift a bit of weight over the bars a little to calm it down).

 

I'll be done fully scrubbing in these babies by this weekend. Then, I'll be testing them on my favourite Genting twisties... after that, the famous 90km twisty stretch up to Cameron Highlands, then finally Batu 3 racetrack. I'll update this report towards the end of next month. Watch this space.

 

Wah!... Your new tyres will become old tyres in a week! better save up for your new pair now!

[rastyblade]

Anyone knows who the Dunlop motorcycle tire agents are in Sg or where to get enquire about a set?

 

can try >> ChongAik

 

cheers !

[Guest koyok]

I just got my Vtec last week and my friend who came to see my bike told me that my front tyre is a BT010 but it was written BT45... wat's the diff btw these 2? My front tyre has lots of criss-crossing threads at the side and down the middle is a wavy line. My rear is a Dunlop Sportmax II. I have NO idea if this combination is good (I am not season enough on a 400cc to judge anyway) and I didn't have the privilege to ask the previous owner on this combination. Any comments?

[porker]

I just got my Vtec last week and my friend who came to see my bike told me that my front tyre is a BT010 but it was written BT45... wat's the diff btw these 2? My front tyre has lots of criss-crossing threads at the side and down the middle is a wavy line. My rear is a Dunlop Sportmax II. I have NO idea if this combination is good (I am not season enough on a 400cc to judge anyway) and I didn't have the privilege to ask the previous owner on this combination. Any comments?

 

Just change them as soon as possible.... if you are no expert on tires like me, use the same type, brand, models on both front and rear...Tire companies spend millions trying to match tires. i don't think we will do any better by trying to match tires ourselves...

[petmail]

My favourite is still Bridgestone Batlax BT50!!!

 

BT50 is the best tyre for dry weather tyre....!!!! But wet weather not good!!!!

[Guest ZZR-Pilot]

I just got my Vtec last week and my friend who came to see my bike told me that my front tyre is a BT010 but it was written BT45... wat's the diff btw these 2?

 

BT-45 is a bias-ply sports touring tyre (although there is a BT-45V sports tyre). BT-010 is Bridgestone's critically acclaimed radial sports tyre. The two are quite different. Youre friend probably saw 'BRIDGESTONE BATTLAX' and immediately assumed that it's a BT-010.

 

I'm not too familiar with Dunlops, although I know for a fact that their racy radial sports tyres are all variations of either the D207 or D208. Sportmax is the name they use to replace the old Arrowmax (I used to run GT401s on my ZZR)... so that'd probably be the GT501 bias ply sports touring rubber. But then, their D205 (now D220) sport touring radials may also be called Sportmax.. I dunno.

[Guest koyok]

Thanks ZZR-Pilot and porker. Well after reading all these on BT010 and BT020, it's got me wanting to use them but hey, mine a Tiong Gu and not a Tua Gu. Dunno if the size fit and all... Also, my present tyres look hardly used so I guess for the next half a year at least I can relax and just check the pressure periodically...

[Fc2222B]

Pirellis SuperCorsa... SC2... sticks like glue...

 

if u wanna track, this is the tire for u... heheheh

 

if u like to ride hard on normal roads... supercorsa no compromise...

 

tried and proven... rode to sepang, pg, and up to thailand on 3 different pairs of supercorsas...

 

superb stuff!

[Ah Teck]

but how the performance on wet road last time i use use the cosa slippery on wet rds

[Fc2222B]

but how the performance on wet road last time i use use the cosa slippery on wet rds

 

ermmm at the start when i looked at the tires... i was telling feroz at sporting motor that hmmmz dont think will be good when it rains... and will scare myself shitless whenever got a corner... but to tell u the truth... when i rode back from thailand, half the trip in heavy RAIN and at the infamous IPOH Corners... goodness... although i wasnt revving out my bike ahhahaha (who would in the heavy rain?) but my tires never gave me a hairy moment... if u get what i meant... there wasnt any sudden let go.. or slippery stuff... unless u touched the lines...

 

my 2 other gsxr1000k2 friends who were on 010s were going slower coz maybe the oem tires werent giving them the much needed confidence... (but my gsxr750k2 friend was keeping up with me on his dunlops oem.. so d207s seemed to do the job for him...)

 

so after that experience.. the tires won me over... heavy downpour for about 4-500km... so i think the tires are more than proven...

 

the 010s are good if the rider takes things easy the whole life of the tire... but after nailing it on local roads a few times... i noticed the wear of the tire at the edges very very rough... and the tire was ripping like how u see tires do in the track.. so certain comments from other riders who see my oem 010s were 'hey u just came back from track?' but my gixxer1k never run on pg before... i wasnt using that on the track then... so without touching a track, the 010s looked shagged already... that made me start thinking about replacements...

 

i first tried the 180 rear supercorsa.. compared to the 190, for quicker steering... and yes! it did quicken the steering... but i didnt like it... when it came to 160-180 sweepers... where there would be low lean angles involved.. it made the bike feel nervous... tire pressures were always checked religiously.. (coz i am a religious man )... the nervous feeling was gone when i changed to the 190/55rear supercorsa.... and there was so much needed stability it made me go even faster, where those bends i used to do at average 160 comfortably... now i would be going 180.. at the same comfort level...

 

so when ur oem tire comes to the end of its life after u run in.... perhaps u can give it a thought... no harm trying... supercorsas.... michelin pilots are too damn expensive.. and the sports range dont give me what i need... when u are really leaned over... u wanna know that maximum contact is with the ground ... and thats where the supercorsas come in

 

cheers

[S750WP]

Sorry sidetrack abit, my front michelin macadam almost 'botak' liow. I wanted to get a new BT010 for the front, is it advisable to get it from LAB or HKL?? I'm worried the mechanic there may screw up the work, but then their tyres are cheaper as compared to other shop.

[Guest ZZR-Pilot]

so when ur oem tire comes to the end of its life after u run in.... perhaps u can give it a thought... no harm trying... supercorsas....

 

Hoe much are those Pirelli Dragon SuperCorsas for 120/60-17" & 160/60-17" sizes? And where to buy in S'pore?

[ok2eon]

ermmmmm.... personal point of view onli....

bt010 tends to get beri slippry on roads thats jus slightly wet...

almost skid once on a bend...

and som how feel that not a firm hold on cornerings....

 

still prefer bt090....

[Guest ZZR-Pilot]

It had to happen.

 

Started off like another routine thrash up the twisty road to Awana (Genting Highlands thru Ulu Yam & Batu Dam). But this time I had Metzeler ME-Z1s front and back. They had proved themselves before many times on my favourite bends on the route to work and on my recent thrashings up Pos Slim near Cameron Highlands (both in the dry and heavy rain!), so I thought it’s time I put these babies to the test to see what they can do.

 

Sure enough, on the run up the mountain they were brilliant. Rock stable and plenty of grip. I pushed then harder bit by bit and by the time I hit the second section of the Awana Run, I was confident enough to take on bigger lean angles in the corners, started hanging off a tad more and scraping my kneesliders. Scrape right.. skresshhhhhh… scrape left… skresshhhhh. I was in heaven, flicking the bike left-right and touching both my knees on the road more times that I cared to count.

 

By the time we reached the restaurant at the old cable car station, I was ecstatic. My old pointier and narrower profile Duros were great for flicky-flicky action, but they started chattering before my knee could touch down. I got close a few times but the rear started giving way at full lean and began weaving under power when shooting past the apex. My new Metzelers did the job damn well, they were predictable right down to the SKRESSSSHHHHHH sound.

 

After a drink, we made our way back down. At the back of my mind I knew I had to cool it and let the tyres warm up for grip first. But the mad corners were too much to resist and I started leaning the bike more and more.

 

Barely 4km down from the mamak restaurant and past the Awana police station, shit happened. It was a totally wicked right hander that signaled the beginning of a corkscrew of tight left and right hand corners. I prepped the bike quickly – braked, downshifted, brought the tacho up to 9000rpm and shifted my ass off the seat to the right, poking my knee out for the first glorious kneeslider-tarmac interface of the downhill run. It didn’t turn out that way.

 

There I was at full lean - on a good line thru the turn, throttle gently open and my right kneeslider just brushing the road surface, barely past clipping the apex when suddenly…. the bike just went away from under me! Fuc.k, a lowside! I saw it all in slo-mo thru my Nolan visor. The tank banged my right thigh as it slapped down. We were sliding at dunno what speed and I bailed out by pushing my beloved GSXR400 off and away. I saw it spin around, the headlights as if looking at me in horror and I remember thinking THIS HAD BETTER BE A BAD FUC.KING DREAM. I watched my shiny blue and white bike slide tail first into the waiting ditch, bounce up in the air after the rear rim smacked against the ditch wall, the whole thing hung momentarily in mid air before crashing down upside down. I joined my bike shortly afterwards in the ditch… bobsledding across the hard, dry tarmac on my right forearm and thigh. Un-fucking-believable.

 

By the time my mates arrived I was already up, stunned in disbelief and incomprehension seeing the bike belly up in the ditch. We grappled the thing out and assessed the damage : crushed front cowling, broken headlamp cover, missing mirrors, bent fairing stay, twisted meter cluster, crushed front brake reservoir, dented tank. The clip-on handlebars looked OK, but the right hand side of the bike was heavily scraped but at least the clutch cover was salvageable because it wasn’t holed. The rear rim was totally busted but my biggest worries were the knackered tail and swingarm. I hope the rear subframe and swingarm aren’t twisted coz if they are, then the bike will be irrepairable and I’ll be forced to accept whatever crap market value given by the insurance guys.

 

 

As for me, well I lived to tell the tale (obviously). My Fieldsheer Torino full suit was scratched on its right ride but it did its job. Looks scruffy now, but I reckon the suit had paid for itself by saving my skin! My Wintex leather gloves and Gaerne boots also did their job – I emerged practically without a single bruise from head to toe. The only pain I had to put up with was an aching right thigh after the fuel tank smacked down on top of it and a slightly sprained ankle from sliding feet first into the ditch. Not to mention a badly bruised ego and bank account about to go up in flames.

 

What’s the moral of the story? No matter what tyres you’ve got on – fancy race compound or otherwise - give it a chance to warm up first before going banzai. Don’t learn this lesson the expensive way like me.

 

That’s the end of my Metzeler tyre review!

[lychee]

It had to happen.

 

Started off like another routine thrash up the twisty road to Awana (Genting Highlands thru Ulu Yam & Batu Dam). But this time I had Metzeler ME-Z1s front and back. They had proved themselves before many times on my favourite bends on the route to work and on my recent thrashings up Pos Slim near Cameron Highlands (both in the dry and heavy rain!), so I thought it’s time I put these babies to the test to see what they can do.

 

Sure enough, on the run up the mountain they were brilliant. Rock stable and plenty of grip. I pushed then harder bit by bit and by the time I hit the second section of the Awana Run, I was confident enough to take on bigger lean angles in the corners, started hanging off a tad more and scraping my kneesliders. Scrape right.. skresshhhhhh… scrape left… skresshhhhh. I was in heaven, flicking the bike left-right and touching both my knees on the road more times that I cared to count.

 

By the time we reached the restaurant at the old cable car station, I was ecstatic. My old pointier and narrower profile Duros were great for flicky-flicky action, but they started chattering before my knee could touch down. I got close a few times but the rear started giving way at full lean and began weaving under power when shooting past the apex. My new Metzelers did the job damn well, they were predictable right down to the SKRESSSSHHHHHH sound.

 

After a drink, we made our way back down. At the back of my mind I knew I had to cool it and let the tyres warm up for grip first. But the mad corners were too much to resist and I started leaning the bike more and more.

 

Barely 4km down from the mamak restaurant and past the Awana police station, shit happened. It was a totally wicked right hander that signaled the beginning of a corkscrew of tight left and right hand corners. I prepped the bike quickly – braked, downshifted, brought the tacho up to 9000rpm and shifted my ass off the seat to the right, poking my knee out for the first glorious kneeslider-tarmac interface of the downhill run. It didn’t turn out that way.

 

There I was at full lean - on a good line thru the turn, throttle gently open and my right kneeslider just brushing the road surface, barely past clipping the apex when suddenly…. the bike just went away from under me! Fuc.k, a lowside! I saw it all in slo-mo thru my Nolan visor. The tank banged my right thigh as it slapped down. We were sliding at dunno what speed and I bailed out by pushing my beloved GSXR400 off and away. I saw it spin around, the headlights as if looking at me in horror and I remember thinking THIS HAD BETTER BE A BAD FUC.KING DREAM. I watched my shiny blue and white bike slide tail first into the waiting ditch, bounce up in the air after the rear rim smacked against the ditch wall, the whole thing hung momentarily in mid air before crashing down upside down. I joined my bike shortly afterwards in the ditch… bobsledding across the hard, dry tarmac on my right forearm and thigh. Un-*******-believable.

 

By the time my mates arrived I was already up, stunned in disbelief and incomprehension seeing the bike belly up in the ditch. We grappled the thing out and assessed the damage : crushed front cowling, broken headlamp cover, missing mirrors, bent fairing stay, twisted meter cluster, crushed front brake reservoir, dented tank. The clip-on handlebars looked OK, but the right hand side of the bike was heavily scraped but at least the clutch cover was salvageable because it wasn’t holed. The rear rim was totally busted but my biggest worries were the knackered tail and swingarm. I hope the rear subframe and swingarm aren’t twisted coz if they are, then the bike will be irrepairable and I’ll be forced to accept whatever crap market value given by the insurance guys.

 

 

As for me, well I lived to tell the tale (obviously). My Fieldsheer Torino full suit was scratched on its right ride but it did its job. Looks scruffy now, but I reckon the suit had paid for itself by saving my skin! My Wintex leather gloves and Gaerne boots also did their job – I emerged practically without a single bruise from head to toe. The only pain I had to put up with was an aching right thigh after the fuel tank smacked down on top of it and a slightly sprained ankle from sliding feet first into the ditch. Not to mention a badly bruised ego and bank account about to go up in flames.

 

What’s the moral of the story? No matter what tyres you’ve got on – fancy race compound or otherwise - give it a chance to warm up first before going banzai. Don’t learn this lesson the expensive way like me.

 

That’s the end of my Metzeler tyre review!

 

judging from ur damage, it mus have been quite a ditch...i also low slided in PG. now i'm wondering isst the tyres? the rear shock? isst the geometry of the bike? or is it the way weight has been centralised higher up the bike causing it low slide? better go chk ur rear shock, cos i jus discovered that mine lost its rebound damping....

hope the bike can be up and running soon mate...

[Guest ZZR-Pilot]

Lychee - The cause? Pushing too hard on cold tyres. The rubbers felt excellent at full lean on the way up, but that's after they've warmed up from the ride to Ulu Yam. I guess they're still cold 4km from the restaurant..

 

il4 - Hey, thanks mate. I'll probably PM you in the next month or two after my workshop & insurance people have had a good look at the mess.

[Guest koyok]

Whatever the cost is, as long as you are okay, nothing else matters. Take care brudder.

[Edbuzz]

ermmmmm.... personal point of view onli....

bt010 tends to get beri slippry on roads thats jus slightly wet...

almost skid once on a bend...

and som how feel that not a firm hold on cornerings....

 

still prefer bt090....

 

how much is a set of bt 090?

still can get it now?

[Guest Jade]

Question about tires: How often does one need to pump them up? Or as and when you feel like they don't perform up to par?

[xlim]

For me, about once a mth, but i think it also depends on other factors such as diff tyres, usage, etc. Even if they feel ok to me, i'll still check

them if i'm at a petrol station, cos i think by the time u can feel the

diff, its prob been there for some time already...

Or maybe i'm being paranoid....

[pufferfis]

Lychee - The cause? Pushing too hard on cold tyres. The rubbers felt excellent at full lean on the way up, but that's after they've warmed up from the ride to Ulu Yam. I guess they're still cold 4km from the restaurant..

 

il4 - Hey, thanks mate. I'll probably PM you in the next month or two after my workshop & insurance people have had a good look at the mess.

man...r u alright now?.....then how u get around now ur baby is sick?

[BabyVTEC]

i think my BT50 stock tyre very good ...hahahahhahahahaha

last 22k and still going strong and sticky........

for my little honda bike onli....