Tires

Tires are the most important performance modification you can make to your bike. Even an under powered bike can hang well through the twisties if it can maintain speed through the corner on a good set of tires.  My project bike came with a set of Dunlop 206 bricks... I mean tires. Avoid these at all costs for cornering. They were replaced with Michelin Pilot Power 120/60/17 front and 160/60/17 rear. An immediate night and day difference where the bike became silky smooth and inspired a world of confidence flicking side to side. I cant say enough about just how great these tires perform, but like all good things they came at the cost of fast wear. I put about 6000 miles on the front and about 3000 on the back.

The wear speaks a lot about my riding trends. The tires were worn down all the way in the centers on both tires. The front had a nice even wear pattern out to the edge but the edges were only half way worn. 

The rear, on the other hand, did not wear so evenly due to frequent hard off the line acceleration. Thats what I get for riding with a Harley that likes to launch and wheelie a lot... yeah ok I do too! This time around, I chose to try the Pilot Power 2ct which is a dual compound tire. The edges of the 2ct are 20% softer than my previous Pilot Powers which should promote a more even wear pattern and more wear on my footpegs!!! The weight of these tires are good too. The front weighs 8.5 lbs and the rear 11lbs.