Hi All

Hope everyone is enjoying some proper weather..

I could really do with some help on tyres.

I've got an '05 plate XB9S, which when I bought it had Pirelli Scorpion tyres fitted (U.S. standard I believe). When the rear wore out, I was advised to put an Avon Storm on - and change the front when the time came.

2 rear Storms later (which have been fine) I changed the front to a Storm - and hey presto, it's introduced a nasty speed wobble at speed, and a certain amount of twitchy feel too . The tyre has been checked, rebalanced, etc. etc. - but it's taken fiddling with the suspension settings just to make it feel better (but not disappear).

My theory is that the front profile on the Storms is sharper, and therefore twitchy on a short wheelbase bike; meaning that a more rounded tyre is more suitable - but I'd be glad to be educated..!

Most importantly - I'd love to know which tyres I should be fitting..

Thanks in advance for any help.

Alex.

Loads of good tyres, and everyone has their own preferences. Depends how you ride, where you ride, and what you're looking for in a tyre I'm currently running Pirelli Diablo Rossa Corsa's - they suit my requirements perfectly (short street fighting commutes and track days)

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I use the bike for occasional commutes, but mostly just Leisure stuff.

I just want an all round tyre, and no speed wobble!

Bridgestone 023's work very well on the 1125cr and the X1 ..........the cr is a similar bike to the XB but with about 50% more power .....................they last very well as well, currently on over 6000 miles on the rear

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2001 X1 2009 1125CR 2006 Uly X3 2010 Uly a fully Maz'd S1 and a 1991 RS1200 Westwind.

What, there are other shapes

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Wear the fox hat

I've been reading some stuff over the weekend, and the Bridgestone 023 is well rated (thanks kevmean). Unless anyone else has any direct XB experience, I'll probably give those a whirl..

Ron Haslem uses them for his race school tyre ... They cant be that bad!

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"With square conduct, level steps, and upright intentions ..”

I don't think that the XB is the same as other bikes and what works for a jap sportsbike may not necessarily suit in my view. I've never ever had a wobble or a twitchy moment on my 9, but it is an 06 with the later swingarm!
My City X came with Parelli Scorpions as standard. A good all purpose and agile tyre, but not as stable at speed as others. Then I fitted Diablo Stradas; more stable, but good to the point of boring. The new Parelli Angel is supposed to be an improved Strada, but heard no reports.
I'm now using Dunlop Qualifier 2's; very good, but they noticeably slow the XBs turn rate a bit (too much I think). It depends how you corner. After following Camino on his XB9S, I have re-assessed my cornering and will ditch the Q2's on the next change for something more agile.
Parellis seem to be a good neutral match for the XBs chassis, and Diablos Corsas seem to suit the XB12's I have test ridden, but I hear that they can wear quickly depending on how you use them. I think that Dunlops have lots of grip but don't help turn in. From experience on my Yamaha, Bridgestones have LOTS of grip, but may oversteer (don't know how they are on an XB). Parellis seem to be somewhere in between. Conti Attack 2's get a lot of praise on here. Check out previous threads on tyres.

I have yet to try other brands like Avon, Mitchelin, Continental, or Bridgestone on my XB9. Hope this helps.

The 1125 is just as agile on the 023's as it was on the standard pirelli corsa 3's ..........just does 2 times the milage on the tyres now

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2001 X1 2009 1125CR 2006 Uly X3 2010 Uly a fully Maz'd S1 and a 1991 RS1200 Westwind.

Parelli, Mitche.......?

Note my handling and turn of spelling deteriorates in this heat as well!

Conti road attack are a good grippy tyre at the sporty end of sports tourer and are hard wearing also good wet grip

Conti road attack 2 are a very different tyre, they are much softer have more grip heat up very quick and have a very high profile which makes them turn in quick and allows a LOT of lean before you reach the edge.
They are a great tyre for holliganing round twisties but you have to keep cornering on them to keep the profile good as the soft single compound will square off quick specially if you do a lot of motorway riding, it also means that the centre of the rear goes well before the rest (more noticably so than others) A good feature is they need zero scrubbing in, you can give them serious abuse straight from the tyre shop.

In my experience they are at least as grippy if not more than pirreli diablo's and as such I love em because they can take rediculous abuse before losing grip, they don't last long though if you ride em hard, but thats always the trade off.
I would imagine you will get better miles from BT023's or Michelin 2ct's but I haven't yet tried these so couldn't coment on there comparitive grip.
I ride an S1WL and dont know how it compares with the XB9 in such matters
Hope thats of use

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Buelling is exhillarating
But downhill bike racing is so terrifying it makes your arse grow teeth

I have conti RA2's on my XB9 and they are super grippy, done 2000mls and there still lookin good. Would recommend anyone to try them, they just add to the fun and are worth every penny IMHO

My Firebolt had dunlops on when I bought it and I hated them, I fitted a set of Avon Storm ST's and found them to be brilliant, now I use Storm Ultra II's, never experienced any high speed wobble, despite using full throttle for alot of my 'commute'.....