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tire suggestions?

Started by badr6man, August 04, 2013, 04:34:25 PM

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Firehawk068

This is getting good........................... (popcorn)
Alan H.
Denver, CO
'90 FJ1200

RichBaker

Rich Baker - NRA Life, AZCDL, Trail Riders of S. AZ. , AMA Life, BRC, HEAT Dirt Riders, SAMA....
Tennessee Squire
90 FJ1200, 03 WR450F ;8^P

Country Joe

1993 FJ 1200

Sabre093

2009 FJR 1300
1992 FJ 1200
1987 FJ 1200 Sold
1986 FJ 1200 Sold
1985 Venture Royale
1976 GoldWing
1986 FZ 750
1986 GPZ 900
1984 Honda Nighthawk S 750
1982 Honda Nighthawk 450

craigo

CraigO
90FJ1200

Country Joe

1993 FJ 1200

FJ MCC VII

Well... Glad to see this is still an active thread. Entertaining and educational. But I've actually got a question about tires. So, the Avon AV45/46, they still make and sell? I looked 'em up, and find a lot of posts saying they were old school back in '06. Last time I bought hotrod tires for an FJ, they were Metzlers. Back around '04. Avon still around? If so, I'm calling. If not, what's the best deal on a rear or both for around $200 and change?

And I did watch the vid. The word "pedestrian" came to mind. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pedestrian
The synonyms pretty much cover it. "arid, colorless, drab, dreary, drudging, dry, dull, dusty, flat, heavy, ho-hum, humdrum, jading, jejune, leaden, mind-numbing, monochromatic, monotonous, numbing, old, boring, ponderous, slow, stale, stodgy, stuffy, stupid, tame, tedious, tiresome, tiring, uninteresting, wearisome, weary, wearying". Pedestrian.

I'm not saying I'm good, but I'm better than that. And you'll have to take my word on it till I get some new tires. And some film for my polaroid camera...

So, what kind of tires ARE all the rage for stock 93 FJ rims these days? 'Cause I need some...
The Yamaha FJ is the perfect motorcycle - comfortable enough to ride 500 miles in a day, fast enough to do it in 7 hours. Really.

Alf

Hi
Well, not too much to choose around. BT45s work fantastic in my CBX 750, but I have not tested on a FJ. Continental make again TKV11/12 too, with new compound, and I´ve read very good feelings from the Avon Roadrider. But all of them are cross-ply. Avon continue selling the Azaro ST radial tyres and it look like the best option

http://avon-tyres.co.uk/motorcycle/azaro-st

http://avon-tyres.co.uk/motorcycle/roadrider

The General

Until very recently I had two stock bikes. One had Parelli and the other Dunlop. Dunlop handled better but got out of shape after  0nly 3000klms. The Pirelli were a little "Woody" but were still good when pushed and lasted really well. I would never get a knee down on either. Chicken strips on the Parelli`s are 4mm on the rear and 8mm on the front (fwiw).(Not radial tyres).
`93 with downside up forks.
`78 XS11/1200 with a bit on the side.
Special edition Rocket Ship ZX14R Kwacka

aviationfred

IMO on the 89' and later FJ's it is a no brainer to do the wheel mods to a 17"x5.5" rear. For the earlier years, I know that a fork/wheel/brake rotor swap is required.

We have 130hp engines rolling on stock bicycle size tires. That is like putting 180/75/13 tires on an Chevy Impala SS and expecting the car to handle well.

Tires and brakes keep us upright and away from road rash and worse. Members on this thread are talking about fast laps on a track or canyon carving. Tire manufacturers are making radial tires that are DOT approved and have just barely less grip than full on race slicks. Take 2 FJ's that are bone stock except one has 16" front and back wheels, the other has 17" front and back wheels. Put the best 120/70/16 and 150/80/16 tires on one, put Ultra sport 120/70/17 and 180/55/17 tires on the other. Use the same rider and you will have dramatically different lap times.

I understand that many owners want to keep their FJ's as stock as possible. Again IMO, if you are a weekend rider that rides at sedate pace then stock wheels and tires will work just fine. If you want to carve canyons and regularly attend track days, upgrade your forks if needed and wheels to put premium tires on.

Fred
I'm not the fastest FJ rider, I am 'half-fast', the fastest slow guy....

Current
2008 VFR800 RC46 Vtec
1996 VFR750 RC36/2
1990 FJ1300 (1297cc) Casper
1990 VFR750 RC36/1 Minnie
1989 FJ1200 Lazarus, the Streetfighter Project
1985 VF500F RC31 Interceptor

ribbert

Quote from: aviationfred on August 09, 2013, 02:15:52 AM

Tire manufacturers are making radial tires that are DOT approved and have just barely less grip than full on race slicks.

Fred

My tyre man tells me there is a major decline in track day tyre sales because of this. He says some of his previous track day tyre customers now use tyres such as the ones I use on the road AND I get a respectable life from them. What amazed me was trying them out on a bike with modern ABS in the wet. I didn't know I could stop that fast in the dry!

Noel
"Tell a wise man something he doesn't know and he'll thank you, tell a fool something he doesn't know and he'll abuse you"

FJ MCC VII

looks like I found a pretty good deal at www.motorcycletiremaniac.com  Avon Azaro-ST 150/80/R16 for $147.71. Free shipping.
Plus $45 to mount and balance at the local Yamaha dealer. (Who also wanted to sell me an Azaro for $210)

I'll be changing out the front tire in a couple of weeks.

Any big differences between Bridgestone Battlax BT-023-GT 120/70ZR-17 and the Avon Storm 2 Ultra Sport 120/70R17 Front Tire?
Besides the Storm is $20 more at http://www.jpcycles.com/ Battle Ax $115, Storm $139.

These were the best prices I could find, and seem pretty good to me. Though what I was really looking for was a super sticky race tire that lasts about 50,000 miles for under a hundred bucks...


The Yamaha FJ is the perfect motorcycle - comfortable enough to ride 500 miles in a day, fast enough to do it in 7 hours. Really.

andyb

Quote from: FJ MCC VII on August 09, 2013, 12:15:51 AM
Well... Glad to see this is still an active thread. Entertaining and educational. But I've actually got a question about tires. So, the Avon AV45/46, they still make and sell? I looked 'em up, and find a lot of posts saying they were old school back in '06. Last time I bought hotrod tires for an FJ, they were Metzlers. Back around '04. Avon still around? If so, I'm calling. If not, what's the best deal on a rear or both for around $200 and change?

The best deal is swapping wheels.  Yes, the Avon's are getting old.  They're better than the other options, which were getting old back in 1988!

The properly sized wheels have tires that are terribly old because they were designed in 1995.... and those will flat out stomp all over any of that horrible crap that was used back in the 80's, full stop.

If you're spending $200 and don't want to spend more, then swap wheels and use a used takeoff tire, as a modern tire with half the tread life will still destroy even a good tire of the old types.

FJmonkey

I used to by tires off a guy that raced. He wore off the sides and I wore off the tops, mostly commuting back then.
The glass is not half full, it was engineered with a 2X safety factor.

'86 Ambulance - Bent frame, cracked case, due for an overhaul
'89 Stormy Blue - Suits my Dark Side

fj11.5

I've compared fj,s back to back 16" wheels f & r , 17" f 16" r and 17" both ends, the seventeens win hands down , and its all down to tyre compound,and the èxtra width :biggrin:, the 17" win hands down, late model tyres are far superior
unless you ride bikes, I mean really ride bikes, then you just won't get it

84 Fj1100  effie , with mods
( 88 ) Fj 1200  fairly standard , + blue spots
84 Fj1100 absolutely stock standard, now more stock , fitted with Fj12 twin system , no rusted headers for this felicity jayne