All 650's Review: touring tyres

ADIOS600 said:

I no you guys are on these good tyres but don't you find the standard dunlops fairly good.?

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This is my first sport/touring bike. I've had/own other types of bikes but for some reason none of them have never had dunlops.

I did not feel safe cornering in the stock dunlops and I found them useless in the wet (wobbles on motorway sliproads etc).
I only put around 1000 miles on them before swapping them for PR4's. Totally changed the feel of the bike. Hands down best `easy mod` to the bike - making it better instantly. I'm intrigued with the Roadtecs, but got LOADS left on the PR4's so won't be swapping anytime soon.

Which reminds me - I need to stick the dunlops on Ebay.

Hi guys I agree with your statement no need to swop until worn. They are not a bad tyre at all. And by the way my cb tips in to bends better than my old 08 RR did. Its nice to get a reply unlike some forums .Later on I will hopefully post some pics of a grab rail I am working on.

The PR4s have been amazing, but having had them on two different bikes (3 sets overall), I'm itching to try something different.

The Roadtec01s look awesome. There is a comparo video by MCN on the old site. Has anyone got them? What's your opinion?

I with you on tyres, i like to try all sorts but these d222 I get on really well with. In the end you have to buy and try its the only way.

ADIOS600 said:

Hi guys I agree with your statement no need to swop until worn. They are not a bad tyre at all. And by the way my cb tips in to bends better than my old 08 RR did. Its nice to get a reply unlike some forums .Later on I will hopefully post some pics of a grab rail I am working on.

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I'm not saying this to pick on you or your riding at all but if you say your CB tips in better than your '08 RR did I have to ask if your RR was stock, in a wreck, running old tires or was in some other way not right? Because stock for stock, the '11 CBR600RR I bought new handled far better than my 650F does; it was easier to tip in corner, hold the line, change a line if needed, came up out of the corner and pulled harder out of the corner once you were done. Once I swapped the god awful RR OEM rubber, however.

Now the 650 is no slouch and it's not like it doesn't handle, it does just fine, but it's like comparing a Honda Accord SE to an NSX; sure they both go around a corner well, better than most, it's just one was made to corner on the razors edge and does just that and the other does a good impression of "race" car while still grabbing the groceries from the market.

Since I've updated the suspension it's a bit of a different story, the 650 handles pretty damn good, but still the geometry doesn't lie, the RR should easily have the edge and does in my experience.

Yours may be different, however.

ADIOS600 said:

I with you on tyres, i like to try all sorts but these d222 I get on really well with. In the end you have to buy and try its the only way.

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I never really did but I will say they were far better than most of Honda's OEM tires of late. The RR Sportmax's were horrible as I mentioned, the Grom rubber is almost dangerous and the crap on the NC700X squares off just looking at it too long. The 650 will respond very well to premium rubber once you wear yours out, the S21's work great on mine but other use a more sport touring compound and PR4 GT's on my Triumph do a very good job in the wet but are a little wooden in the dry. They work, though, and hopefully should last quite a while.

I know what you are saying. I owned the 600rr for 9 years from new and it was fantastic, BUT I have to say initial turn was slower than my cb650 and I think that has got a lot to do with the weight of the two bikes in comparison.

So what are the benefits of changing the oem Dunlop tyres for fast road use. Can anyone tell me what the actual advantage is before I spend my money. My preference would be a Michelin of some sort, only because on my last bike they were lighter, balanced easier, warmed up quick ish, very stable, and gave me confidence. I do not like the later Michelin tyres because of those sipes,i have noticed a few because feather them and for me that is not a option.

ADIOS600 said:

I know what you are saying. I owned the 600rr for 9 years from new and it was fantastic, BUT I have to say initial turn was slower than my cb650 and I think that has got a lot to do with the weight of the two bikes in comparison.

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I'm still not following, the RR would be lighter and would still turn in easier. It's fine, I am not out to argue, I guess it shows how different people are and what they feel.

ADIOS600 said:

So what are the benefits of changing the oem Dunlop tyres for fast road use. Can anyone tell me what the actual advantage is before I spend my money. My preference would be a Michelin of some sort, only because on my last bike they were lighter, balanced easier, warmed up quick ish, very stable, and gave me confidence. I do not like the later Michelin tyres because of those sipes,i have noticed a few because feather them and for me that is not a option.

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If the stock tires work for you don't waste your money. They were only OK for me so when they started to flatten out I swapped them and have been happy with the new ones.

As far as brands, only you can choose what works and what doesn't (see above comment). Michelin makes some GREAT tires and the PP's are fine tires and will work great for you. The Pilot Roads are nice but like I said feel slightly wooden to me on the Triumph.

Do some searching, lot's of good info linked in this forum already.

ADIOS600 said:

So what are the benefits of changing the oem Dunlop tyres for fast road use. Can anyone tell me what the actual advantage is before I spend my money. My preference would be a Michelin of some sort, only because on my last bike they were lighter, balanced easier, warmed up quick ish, very stable, and gave me confidence. I do not like the later Michelin tyres because of those sipes,i have noticed a few because feather them and for me that is not a option.

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The profile of the D222 is squarer than all the tyres in the OP video. it feels shit through mid to high lean. it also keeps the contact patch smaller.
I personally list the tyres as one of the best performance mods for this bike, I found the D222 that poor in the dry, wet and for chassis feel when cornering.

Thanks for all your feedback.

It's the rainy season in northern thailand and i have been riding with my new
Roadtec01 tires for over 1000km.These tires are great,even on the shity
roads over here.They look bad ass,and the grip in the wet is many times better
than the d222.In the dry, the grip is also very good as well seeing the roads are not cleaned
here.These are truly good tires and I will buy them again.

rustyeyed said:

Tell me more on the suspension!!

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I have, as do many others on the forum, the Ohlins “setup” for the 650F’s consisting of:

Ohlins HO 428 shock
Ohlins FSK-105 fork kit

Both are worthy upgrades and make the bike handle as it should. You’ll be in it for around $850 or so depending on sales and discounts you can find but the bike tracks so much nicer setup correctly. I’m a heavy beast and ride two up at times so I have unrated springs in both the fork and shock, btw, but if you specify that when ordering, they should come correctly setup.

Here is my list if i want to upgrade next season. I have ridden on so many "bad" tires in my life that stock D222 seems like a king of the castle to me.
Anyways, I may go a little sportier rather than touring. Let see whats gonna come up down the road. You are also welcome to re arrange this list:

Michelin MICHELIN Road 5 (weird look but overqualified for our bikes - Expensive - super durable/reliable all in one tire)
Pirelli Diablo Rosso III (more on the sportier profile - love the tire shape)
Dunlop Roadmax Q3 + (Love the look - more durable than Q3 - great compound)
Pirelli Angle GT II (looks good on paper)
Bridgestone battlax S22 (Good reviews around this one)
Metzeler roadtec M7RR (My neighbor is riding on them and he is satisfied!)

fogducker said:

Here is my list if i want to upgrade next season. I have ridden on so many "bad" tires in my life that stock D222 seems like a king of the castle to me.
Anyways, I may go a little sportier rather than touring. Let see whats gonna come up down the road. You are also welcome to re arrange this list:

Michelin MICHELIN Road 5 (weird look but overqualified for our bikes - Expensive - super durable/reliable all in one tire)
Pirelli Diablo Rosso III (more on the sportier profile - love the tire shape)
Dunlop Roadmax Q3 + (Love the look - more durable than Q3 - great compound)
Pirelli Angle GT II (looks good on paper)
Bridgestone battlax S22 (Good reviews around this one)
Metzeler roadtec M7RR (My neighbor is riding on them and he is satisfied!)

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Had the Angle GT II's on my VFR until i suffered metal spike sticking out of a road, murdered my rear ... But they handled really nicely, and also had more than enough grip for street / the odd trackday on bikes below probably 130HP tbh, even if you were hard on them. The rear especially impressed me, might be a little stiff for the CB, but was perfect for my VFR.
Back to S22's now, had those on my CB650. Obviously an amazing tire, mileage is pretty decent, but imo unless you just know you need that type of grip the Road 5 or GT 2's are probably more logical choices.

My stock tires only have 1200 miles on them but they're 6 years old (I got the bike a couple months ago with 180 miles on it) so I'm looking into the Pirelli Angel GT2's to replace them. There are only a couple other real user reviews in English that I could find but they seem to like them a lot as well. I just might be able to add to the reviews before long...

Here's one of the aforementioned reviews of the Angel GT2's. He had 3000 miles on them on an Aprilia Tuono (beware of language):