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Street use tire questions

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Nov 27, 2021
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I've been searching this forum and learned a lot about the tire situation for our bike, but it seems like what I'm looking for is something I haven't seen anybody ask:

What's a good tire for more street-focused use? Most anything I see concerning the trail 125 is about what kind of knobbies everybody is going to fit. Believe me, I totally understand why, but im just not going to be out in the dirt that often, so I wanted to lean toward more of a 50/50 dual sport tire, this way I *can* go off road without fear but don't have to deal with the drawbacks of knobbies on the pavement.

If any of you spend the majority of your time in on pavement, what's your tire?
 

dmonkey

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If you're not going to be going out in the dirt often then you probably don't want a 50/50 tire, that's what the Shinko 244 model are and that ratio is going to have drawbacks on pavement. If you don't want those drawbacks but still want to go offroad a bit, the stock IRC GP-5 tires are great for mostly street riding with some offroad. Just need to be careful of the front tire washing out in slick or loose conditions.

If you wanted a full street tire, the Michelin Pilot Street 2 model seem popular on this bike in Japan for street touring.
 
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Great, thanks. Those were the three tires I'd found that fit the wheels, I just thought it was a really small number of options and figured I was missing something. I'll wear the oem tires til they're dead and look back on my riding habits from there.

I didnt realize the shinko 244 tires were considered 50/50. I would have considered that 70/30 . Shows how little I know about off road stuff.

P.s. Follow up question: where the heck do you buy the IRC GP-5 tires?? It seems like no websites are listing them for sale.
 
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dmonkey

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P.s. Follow up question: where the heck do you buy the IRC GP-5 tires?? It seems like no websites are listing them for sale.

Your local motorcycle or tire shop can likely order them for you even if you don't want them to install the tires for you. You can also buy them through a Honda dealer where they have the following part numbers:
44711-K88-B02 TIRE, FR.(80/90-17M/C 44P)
42711-K2E-T01 TIRE, RR.(80/90-17 M/C 50P)

partzilla.com and hondapartshouse.com carry them online if you search with those part numbers
 
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Ouch. From a dealer? I find tires are usually grossly overpriced at dealers, or at least that's the way it is here. Why don't any online stores sell these? Too obscure?
 

dmonkey

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Some dealerships give parts and accessories discounts to people who have bought a new motorcycle from them, that paired with the cheap or free shipping you can get to a dealership if you're willing to pick up the parts sometimes makes it cheaper than buying online. Your mileage may vary. Some shops are great, some suck. Either way you can buy the OEM tires online:

It is a tire size unique to small displacement motorcycles that are not very common in the USA other than some vintage bikes and small dual-sport bikes (which mostly run more aggressive dual-sport or trials treads), and the GP-5 may have only come out in that size as an OEM tire for the CT125 which is still at very low production numbers.
 
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That makes a lot more sense. I hadn't thought of partzilla. Of course I'm going to go ahead and wear out my oem tires before making any decisions but I just wanted to be prepared. After everything I've read and the help you've given, If my first few thousand miles are more dirty than I originally anticipated I'll got for a 2.50 shinko sr244. If not, I'll go for the Michelin pilot street 2.
 

Finding Neutral

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I tried the Michelin Street Pilot 2's and had a bad experience unfortunately. Ordered them through my dealership as I was having them do the install. One of the tires was so out of spec I was bouncing down the road. I was surprised since I have Michelin on my Monkey and CB500X.
Since I had only brought my rims in only they could not test the tires via riding the bike. Even after trying to re-balance them the one tire was still too out of round. Luckily for me the dealership handled the entire refund I requested. Even took off the tire installation fee, to include putting my IRC's back on. Also sharing if you opt for tire balancing they have to use a truing stand and need the axles to do so. I wish I could find other makes and model tires in 80/90/17 for hardtop use. The Michelin Anakee in this size looks great, but from what I read they are only available in Japan for Japan. Bummer
 

dmonkey

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That's a bummer, I hope it was just a bad batch of those tires. I wonder if Michelin's City Pro tires would be any different. You could import tires, I think I read someone had done that with Vee Rubber tires, just a pain in the wallet for a consumable part.
 
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Some looking around has yielded a result. Apparently you can get continental Contistreet tires in our size. I might think about trying those if I find myself perpetually street-bound.



Edit: also the Pirelli City Demon
https://www.chapmoto.com/pirelli-city-demon-rear-tire.html. that looks pretty promising

As well as, amazingly enough, the Avon Street runner. This is interesting to me because I absolutely LOVE Avon tires and use them on all my bigger bikes.

 
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Finding Neutral

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That's a bummer, I hope it was just a bad batch of those tires. I wonder if Michelin's City Pro tires would be any different. You could import tires, I think I read someone had done that with Vee Rubber tires, just a pain in the wallet for a consumable part.
Very well could have just been a bad batch. It happens.
 

Finding Neutral

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Some looking around has yielded a result. Apparently you can get continental Contistreet tires in our size. I might think about trying those if I find myself perpetually street-bound.



Edit: also the Pirelli City Demon
https://www.chapmoto.com/pirelli-city-demon-rear-tire.html. that looks pretty promising

As well as, amazingly enough, the Avon Street runner. This is interesting to me because I absolutely LOVE Avon tires and use them on all my bigger bikes.

Did you end up purchasing a new set of tires yet? Just curious which you went with.
 
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Nope. Certainly not. I'm too cheap to throw away a pair of shoes that isn't worn out. I have to run down these oem tires first.

Also I may just as easily end up deciding I will do some off roading and get dual sport tires.
 

Finding Neutral

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Yeah, can't blame you there. My stock IRC's have just over 1,600 miles of hardtop. The front is still excellent. The rear is just starting to show a bit of wear. I'm guessing 3k and the rear eill be close to needing replaced. I must admit the knobby DP tires look so much better on this bike.
 

dmonkey

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OEM tires are usually extra soft and wear quickly, and the OEM IRC GP-5 is more of a dual-sport tire which wear faster than street tires. The aftermarket knobby tires will also be soft and wear fast, with the trials tires (SR241) having less life than the dual-sport tires (SR244).

My Ducati Scrambler only gets 3-4k out of an OEM Pirelli MT60 RS rear tire, gets double that out of a Michelin Anakee Adventure (similar dual-sport tread pattern), and gets a brutal 10k miles of wishing I had tires that didn't hydroplane in the rain with the Pirelli Angel GT which are more of a sport touring tread.
 
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You should try some Avon Spirit tires on there for your sport touring needs. Stellar rain performance and just an overall great tire in the corners

I'll have to remember that about the 244s. I was already leaning that way, but nothing irks me more than bad tire mileage.
 
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