srad34 Posted December 2, 2013 Report Share Posted December 2, 2013 Hi, I did about 60 miles on damp and cold Lincolnshire roads yesterday on my old Fireblade. I run S20 front and BT16R on the back, they are okay but not something I would push too much on the damp stuff. This got me thinking about wet or inter race tyres, for general road use, other than the risk of a thrapping from the police if they spotted them, is it worth it? Everyone raves about how confidence inspiring they are on a wet track, but for road, then you throw in white lines, diesel, shite tarmac, gravel and beige Austin Maestros, are they still significantly better? I tend to ride all year so any pearls of wisdom would be appreciated....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beedub Posted December 2, 2013 Report Share Posted December 2, 2013 I know almost fuck all about the subject but I understand the carcass construction is not up to the job hence them not being road legal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srad34 Posted December 2, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 2, 2013 Hmmmm, interesting (said whilst strumming fingers....) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacemonkey Posted December 2, 2013 Report Share Posted December 2, 2013 I always thought it was because they melt unless it's wet enough to keep them cool. Possibly you'd get away with it on really cold, frozen roads though? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VanWinkle Posted December 2, 2013 Report Share Posted December 2, 2013 What about painted lines tho..i thought race wets wouldnt cope with painted road markings.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thefatman Posted December 2, 2013 Report Share Posted December 2, 2013 They are great. They work really well. The only downside is you won't get many miles out of them. Apart from that a massive thumbs up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
szrdave Posted December 2, 2013 Report Share Posted December 2, 2013 They are great. They work really well. The only downside is you won't get many miles out of them. Apart from that a massive thumbs up. +1 I've used the Avon road legal version on a couple of bikes (CBR600 and Aprilia Falco) through winter in the past. Fronts last ages, rears are ok around town but mileage is in the hundreds rather than thousands if you use them on the motorway. This year I'll be trying a Goldspeed on the front of the SZR: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thefatman Posted December 2, 2013 Report Share Posted December 2, 2013 I've only used non-road legal ones, don't worry too much about what is says stamped onto the side of the tyre. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCSprinter30 Posted December 2, 2013 Report Share Posted December 2, 2013 The 'Not for road use' on the sidewall is easy to remove if you rub it down with sandpaper. Dunno how I would know though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thefatman Posted December 2, 2013 Report Share Posted December 2, 2013 Pah you're wasting your time, just rub out the "not" leaving a nice and simple "for road use only" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kayla Posted December 2, 2013 Report Share Posted December 2, 2013 We can get old stock (2011) Avon Pro Extreme road legal wets in 120/70, 160/60 and 180/55 if that's any help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thefatman Posted December 2, 2013 Report Share Posted December 2, 2013 And i've got a very cheap new michelin pilot 160 rear going if that's any use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gsxr renegade Posted December 2, 2013 Report Share Posted December 2, 2013 And i've got a very cheap new michelin pilot 160 rear going if that's any use. Interesting. How cheap is very cheap? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thefatman Posted December 2, 2013 Report Share Posted December 2, 2013 £40 + 5 for post sound about right? The avons are normally around 100 + post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gsxr renegade Posted December 2, 2013 Report Share Posted December 2, 2013 £40 + 5 for post sound about right? The avons are normally around 100 + post Very much so. I shall drop you a PM shortly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thefatman Posted December 2, 2013 Report Share Posted December 2, 2013 fire away Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocJohn Posted December 2, 2013 Report Share Posted December 2, 2013 What about painted lines tho..i thought race wets wouldnt cope with painted road markings.. Seems fine -John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacemonkey Posted December 2, 2013 Report Share Posted December 2, 2013 I think it's fair to say that road tyres don't handle white lines all that well anyway... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevieweavie Posted December 2, 2013 Report Share Posted December 2, 2013 Pretty sure they would invalidate your insurance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thefatman Posted December 2, 2013 Report Share Posted December 2, 2013 But if you don't crash by not sliding down the road when it is raining then that doesn't really matter as you won't be needing to repair your bike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cibbersicks Posted December 2, 2013 Report Share Posted December 2, 2013 Pretty sure they would invalidate your insurance Only if you killed a pack of wild nuns carrying 500 kittens. In the event of a normal spill there's not an insurance engineer in the land who would A. notice and B. even give a flying fuck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David W Posted December 2, 2013 Report Share Posted December 2, 2013 It would invalidate if they could prove it was a contributing factor. Seriously, best thing for winter roads is probably a decent sports touring tyre. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrisball Posted December 2, 2013 Report Share Posted December 2, 2013 I'm sure there was a mag Article on this subject a few years ago! Think It was Matt W threw some wets on a R6 and thrashed it about some wet Roads!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cibbersicks Posted December 2, 2013 Report Share Posted December 2, 2013 But they wouldn't be able to because how exactly would they prove that a tyre with perfectly usable amounts of tread caused an accident (the tyre would have to be shagged - therefore no different to a road legal tyre) However I've even seen a complaint on a case whereby a car with next to no visible tread rear ended a car in the dry, and the insurance engineer could not prove it was a contributing factor because the conditions were dry and therefore the lack of tread meant nothing as water displacement was not necessary. I've highlighted the poor states of tyres before on vehicles which have gone on to be repaired and claims gone through. It's all bollocks, on the engineers report forms all that it asks for is a tread depth (measured with a gauge). In the past I've worked with numerous cases involving "road legal" *cough* supermotos, and never had a problem due to complete lack of knowledge and experience on the case of the insurance company. I'm by no means advocating anyone to break the law (cos we're all honest and above board sticktonationalspeedlimits road users on here) but the risk of getting your insurance invalidated due to a tyre being in perfect condition is very, very slim indeed, whether it states not for road use on it or not - unless it was bald, that, like I said makes it no different to a fucked tyre that IS allegedly for road use. However I'd have to agree with your last note - for general all round winter use a proper winter tourer would be a better choice because they're designed to not totally shit themselves in the dry as wets would. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevieweavie Posted December 3, 2013 Report Share Posted December 3, 2013 I always remember reading in a car magazine years ago about someone who had fitted tyres with the wrong speed rating to their car, and when he was involved in an accident his insurance refused to pay out. It broke the terms of his policy (anyone ever read all the terms and conditions, and understand all that they mean?), so despite it not being in any way a factor in causing the accident the insurers didn't pay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cibbersicks Posted December 3, 2013 Report Share Posted December 3, 2013 I always remember reading in a car magazine years ago about someone who had fitted tyres with the wrong speed rating to their car, and when he was involved in an accident his insurance refused to pay out. It broke the terms of his policy (anyone ever read all the terms and conditions, and understand all that they mean?), so despite it not being in any way a factor in causing the accident the insurers didn't pay. Do you know if the tyres fitted to your car or bike are not the correct "speed rating" Cos I'm fucked if I do, along with the majority of the UK population I would imagine. A very rare case indeed - sounds like the individual in question either A. had other 'larger' problems, and this was just the feds adding to the list or B. being a total twunt towards his insurance company, or of course, both. Seen a claim thrown out before on a bike we were repairing, the guy was a total asshole, he insulted the wife of the independent insurance engineer (she was his secretary). So he marched into our workshop, asked me if his can was legal or not (was not previously checked nor would it have mattered)- it wasn't so he used that to throw his claim out, "go on, fuck off...!" It's all not as black and white as everyone thinks it is. Especially when it comes to anything other than a car. The problem is, (well for the insurers) is that the 'engineers' they employ (who by the way are by no means engineers in it's literal term) are just panel beaters and painters who worked up to bodyshop manager and went on from there - all car experience. The minute you put a bike in front of them they shit their pants and you may as well be talking to the milkman about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spannerman Posted December 4, 2013 Report Share Posted December 4, 2013 i was always under the impression that if you had a policy regardless of what you did they would always pay the third party out my son came off at about 90 in the dry on a corner his rear supercorsa was under legal tread depth and the investigations into it only mentioned that it wasnt a contributing factor as in theory a slick would offer more grip than a tyre with enough tread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superdunc Posted December 4, 2013 Report Share Posted December 4, 2013 i was always under the impression that if you had a policy regardless of what you did they would always pay the third party outYour insurer might then come after you to recover the cost of the third party pay out, if they believe that something you have done to the vehicle contributed to the accident.I had a conversation with a member on here about this which will make you wince. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spannerman Posted December 4, 2013 Report Share Posted December 4, 2013 yeah this is a probability, or lets just say i would be surprised if they didnt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.