tires which ones?

[dodge1478]

I have a 2009 kawasaki zx6r, and I will be needing tires shortley.
What are a good set of tires that will be an upgrade from stock, and still get decent mileage?

[Pigman]

Street and mild TD use I am a Huge Pilot Power Fan...

[keeena]

What do you use the bike for (what type of rider are you...be honest)? What is "decent" mileage?

[OreoGaborio]

Pirelli Rosso Corsas
Michelin Pilot Powers (regular or 2ct)

[Woodsy]

Pirelli Rosso Corsas
Michelin Pilot Powers (regular or 2ct)

Go for the Michelins over the Pirellis if mileage is your thing

[Awesome]

Something black.

[dodge1478]

Mileage wise I will have around 6500-7000 one the stock ones so if I get at least 6 out of some upgraded tires I would be happy.
I have never been on the track, but should be doing at least one track day this year. like to ride the twisties at a good clip, not flatout, but at a good fast pace.

[OreoGaborio]

Pretty much any sport oriented tire should be fine for your purposes. I prefer to stick w/ the major brands.

<- Pirelli fanboy

[Kurlon]

Something black.

I prefer to color coordinate.

[Danz19899]

I have the same bike. I actually loved the bridgestone Bt-016's it came with. IF you liked them but what a slight upgrade just get a set of them. The ones you will buy will be a none OEM tire and those actually have 3 different tread compounds instead of 2 that the OEM tires come with.

So my vote is for Bt-016's. I got over 5k out of the 2nd set and had a blast on them at track days. Most of that was riding pretty hard.

Pilot power 2ct's arn't bad. I'm running them now when i get a chance i'm going back to Bt-016.

Pirelli's and dunlops have great grip but tend to have lower tred life them the other 2 i mentioned. Most people only get 3-4k out of Q2's and maybe 5k out of diablo rossa's

[Epee]

all great advice, just doin' the devils advocate thing here.
Being overly concerned about another 1K-2K miles against a low side, or high side recovering from a slippy skippy. I vote for traction/predictability over mileage for a few more measly dollars any day of the week.

1-Q2's
2-P'elli
3-Powers

Moto Usa gives THOROUGH reviews that will answer all your street/track tire questions. No way would I save a buck and risk being on my ass.

Remember most track day tech inspections want 80% or newer rubber, so that will put you into at least a rear then, if you don't get to the track right away this season.

[BrianC]

Michelin Power Pure... all the mentioned tires, as well as these will perform well, but Power Pures weigh 1lb less each tire, which means better handling, acceleration, and braking. I have about 4k street miles and 35-40 (wet) track laps on mine and they are still kicking. Their performance in the wet is pretty remarkable also.

[Karaya One]

Michelin Pilot Pure. Best tire Michelin has ever made. Standard Power or Power 2CT can't touch it.

[hondarider102]

Michelin!!! Pilot power 2ct i got 10k out of and pilot pures i got about 8k out of, pures were WAY better even though they didnt last as long

[Dieseldan]

wow that is waaaay longer than my DCIIIs

[csmutty]

I have the pures on my sv. Heat up time is minimal and they handle great.

[dodge1478]

thanks guys for all the info.

[Lxpony]

I have the same bike. I actually loved the bridgestone Bt-016's it came with. IF you liked them but what a slight upgrade just get a set of them. The ones you will buy will be a none OEM tire and those actually have 3 different tread compounds instead of 2 that the OEM tires come with.

So my vote is for Bt-016's. I got over 5k out of the 2nd set and had a blast on them at track days. Most of that was riding pretty hard.

+2! If 016s are good enough for the track they are good enough for the street. If you are looking for more grip then the stock B016s there are plenty alternatives out there but nothing that will give you more then 3k miles before they are worn down.

[Lxpony]

all great advice, just doin' the devils advocate thing here.
Being overly concerned about another 1K-2K miles against a low side, or high side recovering from a slippy skippy. I vote for traction/predictability over mileage for a few more measly dollars any day of the week.

.

Easy for you to say Dr. Epee.... J/K

[Ray-Ray]

This thread has inifinate options....almost like asking what bike should I buy...Almost

[Lucas]

Pilot power 2ct. Love em so merch

[Eddie]

Can't go wrong with my Bridgestone BT003RS': http://www.nestreetriders.com/forum/...-tire-set.html

[KingCast 650R]

I have a 2009 kawasaki zx6r, and I will be needing tires shortley.
What are a good set of tires that will be an upgrade from stock, and still get decent mileage?

Liked the 2CTs but trying Dunlops next week even though they are heavier.
http://www.dunlopmotorcycle.com/gall...Test_Aug10.pdf

Changing the chassis geometry the least,
the Dunlop Sportmax Q2 maintains its line
through corners, turned most predictably,
handled bumps well, and gave good feedback
in all situations. Additionally, the Q2s showed
the least wear at the end of the day. The Q2
was a little faster than its closest competitor, an
undeniably important statistic for performance
tires, but most importantly it was the tire that
gave the testers the most confi dence. By both
subjective and objective standards, the Dunlop
Sportmax Q2 is our clear winner.

Only downside is less mileage but I believe there is more soft area than the 2CTs which unfortunately were not tested in that event. Would have been nice to see how they fared.

Ahhhh but wait just found this in case you haven't seen it

http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/545/82...omparison.aspx

A much more comprehensive test with two different performance sets. Dunlop smoked the regular 2CT I'll pay the mileage tax for that.

Just like the other big name brand tires in this test the Q2s deliver a very high-level of performance for a street tire. But next to how rigid they feel the thing that really sets them apart from the competition is the price. Simply put the Dunlops are an unbelievable value for the money making them the tire we’d purchase when we need a new set of tires for our sportbike..........RIDER NOTES:

“Insane amounts of traction. Heat-up time is also astounding. The front tire feels like it has a very triangular profile. It turns in aggressively but is predicable with perfect stability. Both tires feel firm and do not move around at all yet they deliver good feel. Rear tire has insane traction everywhere. Feel wasn’t as good as the Power One or Pirelli and the carcass felt stiffer. Grip was consistent and never tapered. It actually felt like I could race on these tires.”

[DucDave]

Any of the tires listed here will serve you well. I've used em all.

You will never get an answer here that you will find 'actionable' as in, 'Oh, wow. That settles it. I'm going with XXXXX!' Try different ones as you go until one of your choices speaks to you.

Then, when someone else asks this question, you can post up your definitive response!!!

[Eddie]

I know some people are exited at how inexpensive the Q2s are. I can't speak for the Q2s but I can certainly attest that my experience with the original qualifiers was was not great. I personally thought the qualifiers were hard as hell and I could not get them warm up quick enough.