Learn me tires....superbike edition.

Its for the zx10, so retarded touring or shinko tires need not apply.

120/70r17 front 190/50r17 rears, I am hovering over the difference between Michelin 2CT, the Dunlop Q2/Q3, and if I am missing some competitors, fill me in.

I mainly commute, but I take twisty roads on purpose......So my concerns are Grip, Wear, and Price in that order. Once again, NO SHINKO.

I'm currently leaning more towards the Dunlops, but thats probably brand loyalty creeping up on me.

I love the Q2/Q3. My wife and I seem to go thru a rear in 2500-3000 miles and a front last twice that, most of the time. We don't do much commuting or highway. They are pretty cheap and usualy on sale somewhere. She runs a 190 on her bike - I have a 180 rear on mine and they wear well, work decent in the rain and have more then enough grip for a street bike. I wouldn't have any problem using these at a trackday.

Don't knock the stinko's till you try them, I'm on my first set and am surprised..... if the back lives 5k on the back then I'll buy another pair lol. 2CT pilots feel weird to me but I can't say much else bad about them. PR2's are talked highly of, yet my stinko's feel the same and I think have more grip

Have you considered Shinko tires?

In reply to Rusnak_322:

Thank you, I've not heard from anyone who actually had them directly....and I can probably get a bit more life as I don't have as much of a low end torque load.

In reply to the peanut gallery:

The bike had a brand new rear shinko advan on it when I bought it....first gear was useless. Rolling burnouts that led to wheelies when it hooked at 90mph or so, it wore decent, but the lack of grip pissed me off. After that, I will never purchase a shinko tire, period.

ok then, Conti motions if you need some longevity, Attacks otherwise. Cheap and veddy good street tire

I was thinking Q3's were a bit cheaper than the attacks when I was looking.

I put Q2's on my Ducati last spring mostly due to a deep discount I got on the tires from the Penguin Road Racing School. http://www.penguinracing.com/pages/594_dunlop_tire_deal.cfm So far so good but I did not get a lot of road time on them due to torn MCL and cracked tibia. but there much better then the worn out Michelin's I had on it.

I missed out on a set of pilot powers for $200 a set today.....

Oh well

I put Michelin pure on my Buell Cyclone two years and 9K miles ago. The tires have very good grip with no surprises, tires ride smooth, and seem to be wearing well. The bad is the cost, not cheap.

I would buy another set without thinking about it.

Paul B

This place has the Q3 for $220 shipped

https://www.motomummy.com/tires/dunlop-q3-tires/

That is for the 180 rear. You can call and see why the 190 set isn't on sale. They may have just not updated the web site. Usually the 190 is $15 more then the 180.

In reply to Rusnak_322:

190 is a much more popular tire than the 180......normally that's why

Donebrokeit wrote: I put Michelin pure on my Buell Cyclone two years and 9K miles ago. The tires have very good grip with no surprises, tires ride smooth, and seem to be wearing well. The bad is the cost, not cheap. I would buy another set without thinking about it. Paul B

You would be the only man in history to have mileage like that on a Pure, you ever open the throttle on that thing?

If you've ever thought about taking a school the deal above is a good one its like BOGO for tires and that almost pays for the cost of the school with the added benefit of learning some useful skills.

I have Michelen Pilot Power 2CTs on my Monster. Just put them on last season. Really like them alot. Seems to wear nicely, but only have about 1,500 miles on them. My brother has the Dunlop Q2's on his GSX-R600 and he loves them as well. not really sure on his miles, but they have plenty of tread left as well.

I dont think you are going to go wrong with either tire. It looks like the Michelen is a little bit cheaper than the Dunlop at regular price, but not by much. Motorcycle Superstore has the Dulop at $277 for the set, and the 2CT at $274 for the set.

I am biased towards Michelen, so that's what you should get

In reply to Blitzed306:

Thats what I was thinking.......even front tires thats almost unheard of milage.

In reply to toad9977:

Ahh, the counterbalance to my bias towards Dunlop. This one still seems like it'll be a toss up.

Well if it helps the Dunlop's are made in Tonawanda NY a suburb of Buffalo NY. ( I used to service a machine there every thanksgiving shut down) The Michelin's I have no idea where there made theses days the only plant I ever went to just made rubber for other plants.

I personally have a grave dislike for everyone OEM Dunrock I've ever ridden on lol

In reply to Blitzed306:

OE tires perhaps, I don't think the Q2/Q3 are or were OE tires

I really like Pilot Powers on my smaller/lower-powered bikes, but I'm sure a ZX10 will chew them like bubblegum. The 2CTs are a good compromise in my experience.

Contis have always felt sluggish to me, like their profile is round-to-flat so they're reluctant to lean over. They seem to wear well, though.

I really don't like Dunlops for street tires. They're great at first, but they lose traction way before they're worn out, which makes me think they cheap out on the rubber compounds. I had D616s that were great for a while, and had plenty of tread left, but after a while in the wet they were honestly about as dangerous as riding on ice. I got really good at saving a washed out front end - which is not something you want to practice at a 4-way intersection. But if you have a good tire budget and you change them often, they're great.

The 616's are fun for a while, though. The big tread blocks squirm around when you're leaned over, which is really disconcerting at first because it feels like you're on a really loose surface, especially when the front and rear are squirming in different directions at different frequencies. But once you're used to it, it's kind fun to feel the treads hunt for grip underneath you.

I have Pilot Roads on my dinky SV650. They are excellent in the rain, and have worn really well for me. I haven't checked recently, but I have at least 8k on the front, 6k on the rear. These may be a bit too touring oriented for your tastes, though.

Yep, while fine on a lower powered bike, mine would probably transfer their rubber to the pavement/atmosphere pretty quickly.

Just got a set of Q3s with a 190 rear for $180 delivered. There is a Dunlop rebate going on. Won't need them until later summer (if winter ever ends) price was too good to pass up.

I've had 2cts on the tiller for 2k ish miles, rear is thin, front is looking good. I like em a lot. I ride aggressively and the tl is less than gentle on rear tires.

Ordered Q3's through motomummy........the $40 rebate through Dunlop ended up making it a $210 purchase for the set. Locally my dealer couldn't do any better than $350/set.