Martyn's Tyre Opinions

• This update is quite late.  While I'm actually uploading it near the end of October, the majority of the work on it was done in September, so I'm labelling it as of the latter month.
• The websites for Avon and Bridgestone / Firestone have been totally destroyed.  While I have updated range information from the other manufacturers, these redesigned sites mention motorcycle tyres but allow no access to any information.  Morons.
• Updated prices.
• Bridgestone seems to be offering a much expanded range for the BT-45, and prices for the existing range have dropped significantly.
• Continental have introduced a new heavy touring / cruiser tyre, the Milestone CM1/CM2.
• IRC seem to have expanded the Wildflare WF-920 size range, making it available for many more cruisers.
• Metzeler is apparently planning to eliminate the ME-Z2 in sizes which are covered by the ME-Z4; I have not yet updated the selections to allow for this, but I will...
• Several of the motorcycles for which I've had requests are proving difficult; not because of selection, but because it's unusually hard to find out the stock rim size and/or the original tyre size.  I'm looking into these.
• Modern sportbikes mostly use the same tyres, and increasingly it becomes more a matter of feel as to which tyre to pick.  I'm holding off on picks for some of these until I implement a better scheme for presenting the options.
• Altered some selections.
• Simple price changes aren't signalled in green.  I'm reserving this for actual selection changes, or matched pair availability.
• Added Yamaha RD400.
• I'm still in the process of making some layout changes.

• I've concentrated on the U.S. market.  That's where I live, that's where I ride, and the same is true of the people to whom these pages are directed.  I generally don't include bikes which aren't available in the U.S.A..  I try not to include tyres which aren't available in the U.S.A., but that can be hard to determine.
• For my opinions to be of any use to you, you need to read the whole thing.  Don't just skim for the "perfect" selection, make sure you understand why you would want to use those tyres.
• Not all tyres are represented in this list.  I have excluded the following:
• All off-road or dual-purpose tyres.  I know nothing of dirt riding.
• All tyres intended explicitly for racing.  You probably don't need them on the street (although there's no reason not to use them), and if you want a racing tyre you probably already know what you want in what size.  These include:
• Avon: RZF & RZR radials; AM22 & AM23; AV39 & AV40 Supersport
• Bridgestone: BT-56 Race; BT-20; BT-58; BT39SS
• Dunlop: K591 Street/Race, Harley 883 Race; D207 Race
• Metzeler: CompK series; ME-Z1 Racing; ME-Z3 Racing; ME-99A Perfect Race
• Michelin: HiSport Race & Race3; Pilot
• Pirelli: Dragon Corsa; Dragon HR
• Many OEM tyres, such as the Bridgestone Excedra series and some Dunlops.  In my opinion and experience, those only exist to keep the rim from scraping on the ground in the showroom.  They're fine to learn on, but if you care enough about replacement tyres to read these pages, you deserve something better; invariably, something better is available and probably something cheaper and better too.  Also in this category I include tyres which are explicitly designed to be very cheap without much in the way of performance.  This category includes:
• Avon: Roadrunner Universal; SM Mark II; Speedmaster Rib
• Bridgestone Excedra and Mag Mopus (all lines)
• Cheng Shin (all tyres)
• IRC: GS-11
• My information is only as up-to-date as my last update.  I try to visit the manufacturers' web pages frequently enough to be up on the latest sizings and developments, but there is inevitably a delay.
• I only have full range information on Avon, Bridgestone (including Firestone), Dunlop, IRC, Metzeler, Michelin, and Pirelli.  For all other brands, I must rely on mail-order company offerings, and the one I refer to the most is Motorcycle Accessory Warehouse.  Where necessary I've also tried to check Dennis Kirk for availability information, but their example of pathetically over-complicated website design makes it impractical to check them regularly (it would be nice if a tyre catalog page had a title, and it would be great if it was possible to make a bookmark to it; it would also be nice if it loaded promptly, instead of being one of the slowest sites on the web).
• The prices I give are from the last time I checked them on the Motorcycle Accessory Warehouse website.  They are reproduced here without permission, and should only be used for comparison.  In my experience, MAW is an excellent guideline for a good mail order price.  I am not associated with them except as a satisfied customer.
• Prices have been truncated to the whole dollar.  MAW prices all tyres at $xx.95; add $0.95 to the listed price to get the actual one.
• I don't often recommend Michelin Macadams.  This isn't because they're inferior tyres -- the reason is that sometimes they work very well indeed, and sometimes a particular combination turns out to be pure evil.  You can't predict in advance which works and why.  If you know they'll  work on your bike, then of course there's a Macadam 50 or 90X available for almost any bike ever made.  I just don't recommend them because if they turn out to be evil, it's money wasted... and usually there's something from some other manufacturer that will fit the application just as well.  You will notice that I definitely do not feel the same way about the Hi-Sports -- if the TX fits, wear it. :-)
• If a tyre is tube-type (i.e. must be used with a tube), the size will have the suffix T; an example would be 80/90H-21T.

Colour coding (in this table and as background on individual pages):

• Motorcycles shown in the table on a pink background have incomplete pages; in most cases this means that the tyre selection is filled in, but the page contains no analysis.
• Motorcycles shown in the table on a red background are intended to be added shortly; the link may be inoperative.
• Motorcycles shown in the table on a green background are completed pages that have been updated or changed since the previous month.  I reserve this for actual data or selection changes; if the comments have been changed, the Update column (and the page) will reflect the new version, but I won't signal it in green.  Likewise changes in tyre availability that don't affect selections or matched pairs, or price changes, won't be signalled in green, but the date will be changed in the column and on the page.

BMW

Ducati

Honda

Kawasaki

Moto Guzzi

Suzuki

Yamaha

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