stubblejumper Posted July 18, 2009 Share Posted July 18, 2009 I am in the market for new tires for my 1200ST,and am not sure what to buy,but I am leaning toward the Road Attacks or the Storms.Does anyone here have personal experience with these tires on an ST?Most of my riding is touring,with some around town riding as well.Wet traction and handling are important,but I am looking for a tire that will last at least 6000 miles,as my dealer is almost 300 miles away,and I want to change tires with every 6000mile service. Link to comment
wbrissette Posted July 18, 2009 Share Posted July 18, 2009 I don't have any experience with the Storms on an ST, but I absolutely loved them on my '04 RT. I felt they were the best tire I had ever had on the RT. I plan to put them on my '09 RT as soon as I need to change tires (which is soon). Wayne Link to comment
bakerzdosen Posted July 18, 2009 Share Posted July 18, 2009 I've had Pilot Roads (OEM), Road Attacks, Storms, and currently, RoadSmarts on my r12st. The PR1's lasted the longest (9800 miles), but squared off quite a bit. I didn't know it at the time, but they were my least favorite tire on the bike for cornering. The Road Attacks were a marked improvement on the PR1's. My only knock on them is that they really didn't last long (5500 - 6000 miles) before the cords were showing. I know Phil didn't like them on his bike, but I did... (Personal preference and frankly, he's got a LOT more experience than I do with tires.) The Storms (again, to me) were a tad bit better than the Road Attacks. Not light years ahead, but they felt a bit better than I remembered the RA's feeling when I first put them on. This is of course assuming I had accurate memories... But, the Storms too didn't last all that long (MAYBE 6k, but I'm not 100% sure of that off the top of my head. The math works though...) Which brings me to the Roadsmarts. I'd definitely put them on par with the Storms. They feel really good. The only unknown for me is... how long they're going to last. I've only got 2k on them now (it's amazing how much the twins have cut into my riding since they were born last year... ) but they're certainly not showing signs of wear. Personally, if I were buying today, I'd get the Storms or the Roadsmarts. If I rode more, I'd probably try the PR2's, but Jaytee's review of them really was spot on as to what my fears about that tire would be, so I'm not overly excited to try it now. If the RS's last 6.5-7k (or more) I'll buy them again for sure. So, I'm not really wanting to commit to a tire that I'm going to have for over a year when I'm not enthused to try it in the first place... Just my 2¢... Link to comment
Fugu Posted July 18, 2009 Share Posted July 18, 2009 Hooray a tire thread. My list in order of personal preference from least to most preferred. Storms (fronts go wonky, rears square bad due to profile never got more than 7k) Road Attacks (don't wear well, fronts get sorta shiny and cuppy, rears square fast if any 2 up, good for 1 up ) Roadsmarts (felt really good until they wore out under 6k miles) Pilot Road 2- best mix of mileage, feel, and they are good to the last drop- the last couple thousand miles isn't awful like on Storms or RAs. I had road attacks on the bike when I crashed. Now in the back of my head I'm wondering if I could have saved it with my favorite tires on. I won't give myself the opportunity for that self doubt again. Link to comment
stubblejumper Posted July 18, 2009 Author Share Posted July 18, 2009 Let me add that all of my riding is one up,but I do carry up to 100lbs of luggage at times. Link to comment
h2000fb Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 I have used Conti Road Attacks... 1 front, 2 rears. Got used to them but absolutely worst handling tire. Avons, good, low mileage. Dunlops, good, low mileage. Pilot Road 2, Great handling, good wear so far. Link to comment
stubblejumper Posted July 21, 2009 Author Share Posted July 21, 2009 What do you consider low mileage?If I get 6000miles of good performance,I will be content. Link to comment
Deadboy Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 Storms...I get 6 to 7K out of each rear and twice that per front. Lots of solo with gear and some occasional 2 up...get yourself a changer, best $$ I ever spent, now when a tire starts to look questionable and I have a trip coming up I change it and save the 1/2 used one for when I get home....traction is great in wet or dry conditions... Link to comment
56rdstr Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 I liked the bridgestone BT-020 and BT-021, would get 12k-15k (ride them till they go no tread pattern left, but not long enough to show cord). commuting to work with them, 64 miles round trip freeway driving every day, M-F. Used them on my 03 R1150rt for 73k total miles on the bike. I've had Michlon Road on the new R1200rt got 12.5k on 1st set, friend talked me into trying Dunlap D616. Have 5k on them at this point and will go back to BT-021 next set. They are okay just a little noisy for me. Link to comment
Eric the Blue Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 My R1200RT came with Metzler Z4s, which lasted 10K. I replaced them with Conti Road Attacks while on a trip because that's all the rural bike shop had. I had to replace the Conti rear tire after only 4K miles--I probably could have gone a bit farther on it, but I was headed into 1000 miles of very rural roads so I played it safe. Now I have a new Pilot Road II on the rear and 4K+ Conti Road Attack on the front. We'll see how this goes. I hope the front will last until I wear out this new rear tire. Link to comment
Dave Grinsel Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 I've had best luck with the Roadsmarts. Both the Avons and the Road Attacks lasted about 6,000 miles. In fact, I replaced my last set a Road Attacks at 4700 miles as they were toast. I replaced the Roadsmarts at 7500 miles before leaving on a trip and they had about another 1,000 left. My current Roadsmarts have about 5,000 miles and have another 3-4,000 left. I am definitely sold on the Roadsmarts. Link to comment
Username Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 I put new Storms on my VStrom in early June and went for a 16 day trip with my wife. After only about 2000 miles, I had to replace the rear because of a puncture, but the tire was already signficantly squared off. I doubt that it would have lasted the trip regardless of the puncture. I did like the performance, especially in the wet, but don't think that I would get another set. My new (to me) R1200RT has RP2's on it and they seem to be wearing quite nicely and have good wet performance as well. Link to comment
jfremder Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 I've had best luck with the Roadsmarts. Both the Avons and the Road Attacks lasted about 6,000 miles. In fact, I replaced my last set a Road Attacks at 4700 miles as they were toast. I replaced the Roadsmarts at 7500 miles before leaving on a trip and they had about another 1,000 left. My current Roadsmarts have about 5,000 miles and have another 3-4,000 left. I am definitely sold on the Roadsmarts. I burned through a set of RoadSmarts in 5300k on my R1150RT. (Both Front and Rear well into the wearbars) Shortest Life Ever! Link to comment
stubblejumper Posted July 25, 2009 Author Share Posted July 25, 2009 It looks like the Road Attacks are out,and the Roadsmarts are now being considered. Link to comment
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