New Tires - Focus On Wet Traction

[jstluise]

Sorry, another tire thread...

I have just over 3000km on my stock tires, and I am planning to replace them in the next month or so since I will start to see more days with rain/wet roads.  I ride around 40 miles/day back and forth to work (~800 miles/month) with top speeds of around 50 mph.  We see our fair share of wet days here in western Washington, so my focus for these new tires is wet traction.  If I can get better traction at the expense of wear, I am okay with that.  If I can get a set of tires that will get me through the wet and rainy months, it will be worth it for me.

I'm know any tire I get will be better than stock, but there are a lot to choose from with.  Below is the list of tires that are available from motorcycle-superstore (they seem to have the best price w/ free shipping).  Front/Rear load ratings and speed ratings are shown too:

Pirelli
   SL26                 51P/56P
   SL36                 51L/56L
   GTS24/GTS23      51P/62P

Michelin
   Bopper         51L/56L
   City Grips              51P/56P
   Pilot Sport SC       51P/56P

Continential    
   Zippy 1         58L/62L

Avon
   AM63 Viper Stryke   58P/62P


Besides reading reviews, there is no way I can say "Oh, those tires will definitely be better in the rain".  Of all the reviews I read, it seems with at least every tire someone says that the wet traction is great.  So, where do I go from there?  Just pick one?

When it came to Pirellis, people commented that the life was not great compared to other tires, which indicates a softer tire, and better grip.  So, I am leaning toward the SL26 or SL36.  Also, some of the tires have higher load ratings (58/62) which may result in a stiffer ride since I don't need the extra support.

Any comments or suggestions?

[axy]

As you said twice, just pick one. All you mentioned are good tires.

However, you can find some people with paranoias that really like to nitpick, go too much into non-existing details etc, so if you insist on some forums, you can spend hours and days evaluating tires for 9-hp scoot.

My last set was Dunlop Scootmax, very good tire, also in rain, but they wear easily - OEM tire lasted 16K kms and still looked OK at around 40 % of the thread, these are dead after 10K kms.

[Emil]

I am currently using the Avon tires. They are good but not so great when it's wet. After about 10k km the front tire look like new and the rear one is at least half way done. My next set I thought would be the Michelin Boppers.

[jstluise]

As you said twice, just pick one. All you mentioned are good tires.

Yeah, I think you are right 

I am currently using the Avon tires. They are good but not so great when it's wet.

Could you elaborate on their wet performance?  What did you use to determine they are good, but not great?  Just curious on how people evaluate the performance, since I have read many reviews on a particular tire that has everything from "okay in wet" to "excellent in wet!".    There are a lot of variables that go into the wet weather performance (besides the tire itself), so I think axy is right...just pick one and ride with it.

[Cortez]

I put City Grips on mine since I've had great experiences with Gold Standards that these
are replacing on a few other, bigger scoots.

A bit pricey, but work for me.
Also needed good grip in the wet as I ride even on light snow.

[Emil]

Compared to the stock tires the Avon's are ways better because they perform much smoother, don't wobble around too much on uneven surfaces and work well in tight curves. But still I slipped twice when the road was wet. Lucky I didn't fall. There are probably no perfect tires out there but I thought I'd definitely try something different the next time.

[sparko]

My tire guy said get a tire that is as wide as the rim will allow. More rubber on the road will hold better. And just drive slower when it rains. You can't see with water all over your face shield anyway. The more I think about it, I just plain old hate riding in the rain. Water and a bike that has electrical parts all over it just doesn't seem like a good match. 

I just bought Pirelli 26 and they are really nice (at least when it is dry). I hope you wear some protective clothing.

[axy]

My tire guy said get a tire that is as wide as the rim will allow. More rubber on the road will hold better.

Sorry, but this is so incorrect in many aspects.
I would like to avoid elaborating further, please do some research on the Internet on tire dynamics.

[sparko]

''My tire guy said get a tire that is as wide as the rim will allow.''

I will add what the dealer added so that it makes his previous statement more complete: Motorcycle tires, being rounded, have basically two factors that control rain evacuation.

1. If the grooves are rounded they will have less water friction. This means that square cut grooves will not evacuate the water as quickly as rounded grooves. The price of this of course is that the rounded groove surface area will erode faster from wear.

2. If the grooves are progressively larger at the outside of the tire the water will be able to disperse more easily as the water volume builds.

 I have read that straight-cut treads are best for straight down the road riding, pushing water straight behind you, but are not so good when cornering. When cornering, a diagonal tread that pushes water to the side works best, but contributes to water friction when riding straight down the road. What to buy? Who knows? How to ride is probably a better question. Which is why I hate riding in the rain.

[wildwildip]

Best tire in my experience for wet/performance. The SL26

[axy]

I used to drive motorcycles up to 170-80 km/h in heavy rain.

I drove scoots/bikes literally through flood.

As you know, I ride 365 days/year.

I cannot remember EVER having problems with water evacuation.

The problem was always with slippery road due to oil spots, white horizontal signalization lines and hatch covers.

[Emil]

I cannot remember EVER having problems with water evacuation.
The problem was always with slippery road due to oil spots, white horizontal signalization lines and hatch covers.

I second that. Only got into trouble in slippery conditions like the ones Axy described or when rain falls on a dirty road, creating some sort of slimy/slippery surface. My last two slips happened at about 15-20mph in tight curves. Looks to me like the stickyness of the rubber is more important than grooves. Of course that means softer rubber and shorter life...

[JustWantToRide]

Pilot Sports are and Michelin Boppers are great tires - but not so great for wet weather because they don't have enough tread.

The Avon's are also great tires - and are better in the rain.  But they don't have all that many rain grooves - so they aren't great for the rain.

The Michelin City Grips have a smooth solid center - but it isn't very wide and they have a lot of grooves so they still disperse the water well.  They would be my choice for riding in the rain, and are replacing my stock tires because of that.

I don't know enough about the others to comment on them - except that a softer compound still won't grip well in wet weather unless it has good grooves to disperse the water.  Tire temperature has a lot to do with grip also.  I love Metzler MEZ3's and 4's - but they don't grip when they are cold (not for me at least).

[bthmtech]

i put mich pilot sports sc on my bike when i bought it i like them very much they have a good ride and very good in wet conditions i have 6k on them now and they are not showing much where at all but just about any tire would be better than  stock they suck,  bryan

[axy]

Just bought a set of Metzeler ME7 tires as a replacement for Dunlop Scootmax: