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Bike designed for tires - or Tires designed for bike?

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Note that since the V-Strom wasn't specifically designed for the Metzeler tires, so these effects may differ, depending on the motorcycle.
Metzeler Tourance Next Review - webBikeWorld

My 2013 NC700X needs new tires.
I have 7500 miles on the tires from purchase and they are looking pretty smooth.
I notice the choice of tires for our model is a little thin.
So, while talking to the parts person at my Honda shop he mentions Pirelli Scorpion Trail tires and then Metzler Tourance Next tires.
I was aware of the Pirelli's but not of the Metzler.
I feel Metzler is a good tire.
He mentioned he heard, if true, that the Next tires are coming standard on new BMW R1200GS bikes.
So I went ahead and ordered them.
When looking for various reviews of the tire, well I do not find many due to how new they are.
In the above listed article the author mentions his bike was not designed for these tires.
I am thinking and thinking about that statement.
How does one know if his/her bike was "designed" for a certain tire?
Only when he purchases and tries or after someone with your bike model buys and tries?

Please, feel free to give me your thoughts on tires in relation to various bikes.
Or even just tires in relation to our model.

Here is another review of the Metzler Tourance Next tire.
Metzeler Tourance Next Tires | Gear | Reviews

I am very excited to try these tires on the NC to feel how the bike reacts.
Any one have experience with these tires?
Anyone feel "No, do not get these!"

Are you able to read an article on a certain tire and spot something regarding what is good for the NC and what would not work well on it?

Thanks for your input!

God bless!!

Michael
 
Any advancements in construction or materials that have occurred after the production date of the bike would not be "designed in" for it.
Even if the design of the bike takes advantage of those changes, that would just be beneficial happenstance.
 
When you try them, bear one thing in mind. They will most likely feel way better than what you took off. Just about everyone says their new choice in tire feels better than the last. Well, what you are comparing is a worn out brand x to a fresh new brand Y. As your old tires wore gradually, you may have forgotten how they were when new. So, you have to judge the new tire choice against your faded memory of the previous tires when they were new, which is hard to do.
 
I personally think he is just making up crap to say. I've never heard of a motorcycle, or a car for that matter, being designed for a certain tire. Now there have been tires designed to meet new requirements for a new vehicle.
If you look at sport touring tires there are several options for the NC. I doubt the Metzeler would have any real advantage over the PR3/4 in gravel and light dirt.
 
[...Well, what you are comparing is a worn out brand x to a fresh new brand Y...]

+1 on that! The only way for a bike owner to honestly evaluate tires would require a 2nd set wheels on which you could mount different brand/model tires. And ride the same route two days in a row, swapping wheels between tests. :eek:
 
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I should point out I was looking for a good 80/20 tire for the NC.
I do not do any aggressive off road riding but I do enjoy the mountain roads which are gravel or hard packed dirt.
I just wanted to get something that would handle gravel and any smooth grass found on some trails.
The other thing I wanted was good traction on main roads in wet weather.
Having these certain requirements reduces the scope of tires available.
And I am aware there is not one "do all" tire.

I certainly realize putting new of any tire on the bike would improve it over the old.
And this was stated in at least one of the articles.
I think he even took his tires off before they wore too much to compare them with each other.

What would be ideal would be to have several of the same make and model bike with each bearing a different tire.
A group of people go out switching bikes every so often to compare the feel and reaction of each tire.

I do not know how the make up of a tire effects feel and handling but they say it does.
And to me the tires and brakes are the two most important parts of the bike to monitor due to safety reasons.

I never thought if a bike could be designed towards a certain tire.
Maybe it is possible.
I am not technical enough to look at tread pattern, width, wall depth, or anything else and say this effects the bike in this way.
The only thing I do know is tread style will effect your ability to grab pavement, or grab dirt and/or gravel, and have an effect on the bikes ability to grab wet road.
And that a thinner tire will steer easier than a wider tire.

My brother-in-law did not like Shinko 705 tires.
He felt they lasted a long time but were very hard and made the ride harder.
Is this true?
Could a slight reduction in air pressure of softened the ride without compromising the tire life?

I am trying to get a better understanding so I make better choices.

God bless!!

Michael
 
Bikes are most definitely not designed for tyres. However tyres are designed for genres of motorcycles such as Sport, Sport/touring, race, offroad, Adventure etc etc. Some tyres suit some bikes well but some do not. Examples that spring to mind are the OEM Z8 Metzelers on the original NC700. Imho they were a very poor choice for that bike and almost destroyed my confidence in it wet or dry. Z8's can be good on heavier more powerful motorcycles. Another poor choice of OEM tyre is more immediate on my Africa Twin. Those Japanese Dunlops tyres are very bad to the point that I have taken the bike off the road pending the arrival of Pirelli MT90's which I have previously used on a similar type of motorcycle (KTM950 Adventure).

Imho Michelin PR4's are excellent tyres for the NC700X and suit it really well in all conditions. I certainly had great confidence in them. Metzeler Next are good tyres on Large Adventure bikes. There is really only one way to figure out if they are good for the NC. That is of course to try them. Best of luck with them.
 
Looking foward to your first hand opinions on these tires. I will looking at mounting some 80/20 tires for next spring.
 
If for road use only, you cannot do better than Michelin Pilot Road 4. Great grip, even on wet pavement.
 
I'm on my second set of PR4's and i am very happy with them. Thinking about doing a little more NF service roads in the coming year and was thinking a little more dirt worthy tire might be in order for next season. A buddy wants me to do the Smoky Mountain 500 with him.
 
Mitas E-07 on the rear is a real good bet for "adventure". Hard to believe how smooth they are on pavement, and their longevity, given their off-pavement performance.
 
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My current bike has Pirelli tires and they definitely are not for off road use. Dances a lot on rock roads and their tread depth lacks for off roading. Last NC I had I changed out the OEM tires when they wore out at 9K miles and put Shinko 500s on. Did well on hard surface and fair on gravel/dirt. Since most of my miles is hard surface I don't want to wast money buying dirt tires. My riding buddy has a Honda CBX500 and runs 80-20 tires on it. Front Pirelli tire has a bad tracking problem as it wobbles. Tried everything, it's not the triple tree bolt nor bearings and rebalanced the tire. When they are worn out I will replace with Shinkos. Like Metzlers on my cruiser, really hold in wet or dry but soft compound and get low mileage out of them on the cruiser.
 
The very best tyres I have ever fitted to any bike are Michelin PR3s , They were designed for most any bike you wanted to fit them on providing the sizes were available.
 
The very best tyres I have ever fitted to any bike are Michelin PR3s , They were designed for most any bike you wanted to fit them on providing the sizes were available.
It's there a reason people like the PR3's over PR4? I got my NC700X with the stock tires (I forgot what they were) that were almost shot out when I bought it. I've used PR4'S sense then and love them. Great grip, sun or rain and they last allot of miles
 
PR3s are now out-of-production. In June, I bought a new rear PR3 rear for my other bike (NT700V) and it was manufactured in August 2015 so not too bad for "freshness." I just got the PR3 over the PR4 because of the lower cost. :)
 
When I had the bmw g650gs, it came with the Metzler Tourance tires. I got about 15,000 miles per set on them. They are designed as 80/20. They were very good on pavement, ok in gravel, but sucked when trying to cross wet creek crossings over concrete bridges, and they were terrible in/on mud. They did get more miles on the pavement than the Contis I use, but the Metzler Tourances are expensive (I can get 2 sets of Contis for less than one set of the Metzlers).
 
When I had the bmw g650gs, it came with the Metzler Tourance tires. I got about 15,000 miles per set on them. They are designed as 80/20. They were very good on pavement, ok in gravel, but sucked when trying to cross wet creek crossings over concrete bridges, and they were terrible in/on mud. They did get more miles on the pavement than the Contis I use, but the Metzler Tourances are expensive (I can get 2 sets of Contis for less than one set of the Metzlers).

How does the Continental tires react to those road conditions you stated?
Of the Continental tires the TKC 70 tires caught my eye but they do not come in NC tire sizes.
Other than the TKC 70 and TKC 80 tires the others look like street only tires.
That is where the Metzler comes in.
Having a little off road leaning.
They will be used on gravel and hard packed dirt.

In fact, other than the TKC 80 it was hard to find much of any 70/30 or 80/20 tire for the NC.
Also, were the Tourances you had the EXP or the NEXT models?
The NEXT seem pretty new out.

God bless!!

Michael
 
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