Definitely the first time I've ever heard that, although I haven't used the more sport touring ones. The sport ones would be reasonable to begin with but get knackered quickly with only semi hard use. Road ones I've seen that have been on bikes for a fair while have felt like plastic, although I've read there's a high silica quantity in them which would explain your good feel in the rain. Confidence goes a long way to making accidents less likely I suppose but I wouldn't let maxxis near an 1198. Sticking some new tyres on would be my first move if there's problems and the current ones are old.
I had a similar sounding problem years ago on my 996sps. Front end/steering just felt weird all of a sudden. Pulled the headstock apart several times. Checked front wheel, discs, forks, head bearings etc. Last resort removed the ohlins steering damper and hey presto, normal handling restored. Moving the damper through its stroke problem was all but noticeable. Once serviced all was fine. worth a check, if only to eliminate with problem solving.
Have you had the fairing off recently, or altered your front or rear ride height? Push down on the front forks (preferably sitting on the bike - to preload the springs) and turn the wheel left and right and see if it's contacting the lower fairing front edges. I get this on my bike but I do have pretty extreme geometry and have had to cut the fairing back a few times. Basically load up the front end with weight and turn the bars left and right and see if anything is catching, failing that have a good look at all of your cable and hydraulic lines running from the frame out to the forks as one or more may be snagging and/or tight.
hi gents, i did run my 1198 on d211 gp racers for track work now run the new dunlop sportsmart 2 max's both great tyres also use a hyperpro damper. ref the steering, i had the same problem as @Pavey with slow speed turning on my r1 (ohlins damper) turns out the ohlins damper has nylon bushes that wear out and cause the damper to stick in certain positions feeling like it was stuck turning left for example, get the damper serviced with new bushes and oil and i bet that sorts the problem.
