Hey guys, So currently I have 899 with pretty bad tires, feeling some sliding in turning. I still have my old bike, 2014 zx6r, with pretty much brand spanking new michelin road 6. On zx6r the front tire is the same size, the rear is 180/55-ZR17 instead of 899 180/60 ZR17. Any thoughts on this? The fitting would probably not be an issue, but how much you recon would that influence the handling, if at all? Only asking, because here in Amsterdam costed me 450 euro for those tires, and my zx6r is just sitting in a garage at this point
Your tyre looks worn out and a strange profile shape. How old is the tyre? I always ran 180/55 on my 899.
I'll have to check the date, as I had to use those to at least ride the bike from from the seller. I read around a bit and looks like with 180/55 on 899 people are saying you should adjust the ride height and might possibly be some issues with TCS and ABS, any thoughts on this?
Yes, plenty have done it, with some saying that there is the potential the speedo/TC is very slightly out at full lean, but marginal. I think they did it like that to match the supersport bikes, which were running 60 profile, plus with the torque of the engine a slightly 'fatter' shoulder certainly helps. It's your choice at the end of the day but all the pirelli options come in a 60 rear.
Okay thank you for the info, I might get another pair of tires that are the correct size and just have two bikes ready just had a look at the date and it’s dated back to 2018 week 7, yikes
Is it a track bike? If not, I’d go with the 180/55 from 2018. Better to wear the tyre out than to chuck it in the bin.
I mean the current ones that I have and sliding around are from 2018, I definitely need to swap them. But yeah still wondering if I should just bite the bullet and fit new tires or try to go with lower height ones. Got good arguments from both sides
Been on track with 6 years old tyres, 2018 should be fine on the road. That tyre is squared off, therefore it feels a little bit unstable when transitioning from straight to leaned over. I would still use it, sides are nearly new.
Yeah, I'm not sure it would be sliding around based on age of tire alone, certainly I've never known that to be the case. It's more likely to be that the the contact patch is now so out of shape you are getting a thin contact patch as it transitions over into corners rather than it being smooth.
