I was thinking that too Norm

concrete tyres & rubber roads

whichway? .....

_________________
........have you tried turning me off & then turning me on again ?

"i would summise that most would not be able to take most sports touring tyres to their limit, so I doubt any of us will get anywhere near the limit on a track/sports tyre ..."

the quote above is oh so true, there is far too much bullshit talked about tyres and the guys who really annoy me are the "tyre snobs", these are the guys who will only buy the latest ultra sticky minimal tread pattern rubber, but they have a 2 inch wide chicken strip on each side of the tyre.
when you've rode on some of the shit that was for sale in the 70s and 80s (dry road rear wheel drifts on an X7 fitted with goodyear eagles anyone?) you'll think any modern radial is fantastic!....

Imagine that, we'd finally get value for money from our road-tax payments

I had Bridgestone 010's which I found really good and Pilot Road 2s that I didn't like on the Buell (work well on the Yamaha TDM though).

I think dual compounds are a bit of a hype and I believed this late 1990's concept was actually dead and buried until Michelin revived it again and now others are offering these (expensive to manufacture!) things again too.
There seems to be more sense in tyres with active footprint (like Avon Storm and the new Metzeler Z6 "Interact") or variable density (like the old Bridgestone 020): Easier to make and more gradual characteristics in grip and wear when compared to having two distinctive types of rubber. Having said that, the 020 were pretty poor in terms of grip and (uneven) wear

Modern sport/tour tyres are all perfectly fine really, just buy the ones that your wallet, ego and imagination feel most comfortable with or choose the brand that uses the prettiest girls in their adds (or men, whatever you prefer)