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Suzuki Bandit 1250 Sub-Thread: Tires

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treybrad said:
Keep us posted. I've always assumed a Power would be gone in 3-4k miles, if you can get 6-7k out of them... that's not bad.

trey
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I ran the Power Pilot 2CT on the Bandit 1250, the front didn't do too bad - about 6k, the rear about 4k. Lots of stick though but they will get greasy when pushed hard on a track, never happened to me in the mountains. The Power Pures (on my GSX-R though) hasn't got slippery at all....yet.
 
Took the bike for a ride thru some serious fast twisty roads and all I can say is wow... The Pilot power really made a difference in how fast and secure feeling you can rail the bike thru a corner. Ive had PR2's, roadsmarts, Avon St tires and the stockers and never felt much of a difference but I guess its because the powers are more of a supersport tire. I just hope I can get at least 5k out of it and cant wait to put one one the front...
 
yamadavidson said:
Took the bike for a ride thru some serious fast twisty roads and all I can say is wow... The Pilot power really made a difference in how fast and secure feeling you can rail the bike thru a corner. Ive had PR2's, roadsmarts, Avon St tires and the stockers and never felt much of a difference but I guess its because the powers are more of a supersport tire. I just hope I can get at least 5k out of it and cant wait to put one one the front...
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you need to warn anybody behind you to stay back, those things will grab and throw gravel like nobody's buizness:eek2:
 
Well, I'm now the owner of a road 3 on the rear of my bike. Woke up this morning and was gonna ride ...but ... Found a flat PR2 on the rear with a large screw embedded in it. Too large to safely patch or plug. I quickly went down to my local dealer and got a new one, it's mounted and been for a short ride. I'll give my impressions later, esp in the rain - I'm in Florida and we do upon occasion get some of that here..
Good news and bad...the price on the 3 was only 7 bucks higher over the 2 (dealer had 2's and 3's) Bad was that price is up about $36 over the price of my last road 2. At $185 it ain't cheap.
 
On the advice of a 280 lb. friend W/ an FJR whose license plate is "TIREEATR",
I just bought a PR2 for the rear of my '07 Bandit, and a PP2 for the front.

I had a set of Avon Storms on it, but I had a low speed lowside on a wet, decreasing radius, downhill, mountain road and just didn't trust the front tire after that.

Any thoughts on pairing a PR rear for max mileage and a PP front for max grip?
 
As long as you're not routinely pushing the limits of traction, I think it should be fine. At the limit, the rear is likely going to break loose before the front does, but if you're riding that hard you really ought to be on the track anyway. Both are very good in the rain.

Then again, so are the Storms, so I'm not really sure the tire was the issue in your lowside as much as it was an extreme lack of traction on that curve. Even a tiny bit of loose material or lubricant (oil, antifreeze, deer piss, etc.) could be too much on the road you describe.

In the wet, at sane road speeds, the tread compound (within reason) is less important than the tread's ability to evacuate water.
 
Conti Road Attack 2s - Update

I've now got several hundred miles of twisties on these tires (in addition to some highway and commuting miles) and have nothing but good to say about them. It's still to early to say anything about wear, but handling and braking are very good.

Handling is very linear. There's no tendency of the bike to fall into turns or stand up suddenly when applying a little trail braking in a corner. The bike holds a line and lean angle very easily, without the need for any correction. Compared to a tire than does fall into the turn, the RA2 may feel a little bit slow steering at first, but it isn't. It takes only light pressure on the bar to lean into the curve, and the amount of lean is proportional to the amount of counter-steering applied.

The one heavy rain I put these through was confidence building, too. Leaned over in the wet on a highway off ramp led to no drama, except for hitting the painted pedestrian crossing. The rear tire slipped slightly sideways on the wet paint but then regained traction with no drama. Braking in the wet seemed solid, too.
 
waz said:
On the advice of a 280 lb. friend W/ an FJR whose license plate is "TIREEATR",
I just bought a PR2 for the rear of my '07 Bandit, and a PP2 for the front.

I had a set of Avon Storms on it, but I had a low speed lowside on a wet, decreasing radius, downhill, mountain road and just didn't trust the front tire after that.

Any thoughts on pairing a PR rear for max mileage and a PP front for max grip?
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I'm almost that size on the Bandit and I ran a PP up front with a R2 on the rear - loved it but I've been running R2s on both ends because it sticks the same but lasts longer.
 
I have a Power 2Ct on the front and and PR2 rear on my '97 1200. Seems to be a very good combo for traction but a bit less than optimal on wear for the front. I have around 3.5K on the front and am now down to the wear bars on the middle portion although its not really flat spotted so that is a good thing. I have been able to slide the rear a lttle more than I wanted powering out of corners as compared to the Power 2CT I had before but that tire flat spotted way too quick for my pocketbook. Think I'll try a PR2 on the front next time to see if the grip is good enough.
 
Ga-Bandit said:
at 41k-ish I'm needing another set. I must have missed putting a tire on somewhere???????????????

EDIT: I did replace the rear when the axle nut froze up. So, the rear was replaced at unknown mileage but this front went 15,009 miles.
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Road 2 set was replaced with some free take offs from a buddy at Mountain Motorsports in Conyers GA (Salesman Russ "Bloke"). At 43,264 miles, man those things were shot. It now has some Dunlop Sportmax D210 (?) with a 190 rear - the set came off a new R1 with "about 400 miles".
 
Ga-Bandit said:
Road 2 set was replaced with some free take offs from a buddy at Mountain Motorsports in Conyers GA (Salesman Russ "Bloke"). At 43,264 miles, man those things were shot. It now has some Dunlop Sportmax D210 (?) with a 190 rear - the set came off a new R1 with "about 400 miles".
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Road 2s: I turn in my bike and turn it out. I don't have to keep turning it while in the turn.
D210s: Turns in easier than the Road 2 but I have to make it stay turned in and it wants to straighten up prematurely. I end up running wide - and that is not a good thing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Ga-Bandit said:
Road 2s: I turn in my bike and turn it out. I don't have to keep turning it while in the turn.
D210s: Turns in easier than the Road 2 but I have to make it stay turned in and it wants to straighten up prematurely. I end up running wide - and that is not a good thing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Have you tried going with a bit more air pressure in the front, that really effects turn path sometimes. Just wondering.
With my PR2s and running 38# , I can turn it or just use body weight to turn it and it just stays though out a corner untill coming out then , either transfer body weight to straighten or give some push on the bars. I like to run through non traffic sweeping turns with throttle lock on and just steering with my body movements at times for the heck of it. Now this is at the speed limit and not playing Johnny Roadracer. :lol2::rider:
 
Bridgestone Bt 016 on my B 1250 , great sport tire ! 5 K on rear and it is still not flat . this is better than the metz. m3 tire did . $ 200 for a set at cycle gear :rider :
 
chaparral has a set of the 016 for $188 shipped right now.

Anyone know where to get the best price on Road 2's? I can't seem to find a great price right now.
 
Bike Bandit and their 265 for a set with shipping was one of the better prices I found and knew them. I didn't hunt very long though.
 
achesley said:
Have you tried going with a bit more air pressure in the front, that really effects turn path sometimes. Just wondering.
With my PR2s and running 38# , I can turn it or just use body weight to turn it and it just stays though out a corner untill coming out then , either transfer body weight to straighten or give some push on the bars. I like to run through non traffic sweeping turns with throttle lock on and just steering with my body movements at times for the heck of it. Now this is at the speed limit and not playing Johnny Roadracer.
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that's what happens with Road 2s - that's why I'm seeing if I can squeeze a set into this tight budget. I've been disappointed with everything else but free is free and I've worn out the D210s.
 
Ga-Bandit said:
I'm seeing if I can squeeze a set into this tight budget.
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I guess that's why I'm still running stock suspension. I keep spending that budget on tires and motels and gasoline for trips about the US. Sigh!
 
Just got rid of the PR2 after wearing them out and am trying Metzeler Interact Z8's now. Got the "C" version for the rear mainly because about half the kilometres I travel are two up with loaded top and side cases. The PR2's soft edges just weren't up to the task for this on our very coarse chip New Zealand roads. The tyres looked like they had spent a hard day on the track. THe edges were gone with plenty of thread left in the middle. We also don't have miles and miles of straight roads, there are a lot of twisties.
So Z8's it is to see if a single compound tyre will handle the abuse a little longer.
Experimenting with tyres here is expensive compared to what you guys are paying. My set front and rear cost NZ$610.00, about US$475.00
 
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