wild foamy Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Hey peeps after leaving the XJ for many months sat in the car park on itsforks with no front wheel, i have finally bought a new tyre for it, its a Continental. and after many cups of tea, lots of shouting and swearing and a few tyre levers me and my dad managed to get the old michelin pilot sporty off and this new continental on, but what a fight it put up! the michelin was soft and squishy, and putting that on didnt take half as long as this new tyre did, the continental is much stiffer and appears to be made of a harder compound. my question is this, how would this new harder tyre affect handling, tyre life e.t.c HERE is the tyre i got, TK11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barkwindjammer Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Its gonna squirm a bit in the wet Foamer if its a harder compound, it might just be sealing/mould release wax thats on the surface making it feel hard, once this is scrubbed off you'll get to the raw rubber, go very easy with it for the first 200 miles, the XJ club have tried all sorts of tyre on these bikes and the BridgestoneBT45 is rated the best for grip and long mileage, let us know in the summer how you rate it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wild foamy Posted January 9, 2011 Author Share Posted January 9, 2011 Cheers BWJ, i think generally its just a harder compound and a thicker tyre, getting it on the rim was harder than it was with the sporty, and now its on there the front wheel is definately heavier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barkwindjammer Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Just had a look at your link-at that price you cant grumble Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wild foamy Posted January 9, 2011 Author Share Posted January 9, 2011 i saw it on there 3 times, each time it never sold, so i thought i would have it now all i need is a cheap NOS 110/90-18 for the back Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christofeser Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 Depends where/how you're riding. I ride a lot in the city, fast paced, accelerate/stop over and over and over. For this, I put conti's on my bike. I think they are continental road attacks. For the first 150 odd miles i hated them. Then, as barky explains, they get nice and softer and now they stick to the road like flies stick to shit. Give it a fair few miles with em, see how you feel. If they suit your style of riding obviously, keep them, if not it's worth changing them soon (ish). Ain't never gonna be happy with the wrong tyres! Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wild foamy Posted January 11, 2011 Author Share Posted January 11, 2011 Well, epic blunder on my part put the tyre on backwards didnt i :/, oh well, will remedy that tomorrow... then hopefully at the weekend take it for a good blast Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2 Wheels Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Tyre on backwards are ya gonna reverse everywhere As said, take it handy when your out for your "good blast" or she will slip from underneath ya ! Its very much worth getting the front wheel Ballanced aswell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wild foamy Posted January 15, 2011 Author Share Posted January 15, 2011 Tyre has now been put on the correct way, took it out for a good blast to didcot without incident, forgot how good it feels XD working on a pannier rack to mount on the back for a bit of touring action... hmm... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveandlee Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 I have the same problem as foamy, got Bridgestone BT45 on back but on the front i have a Metzeler NU33 Laser. I can run from maidstone down to ashford via M20, exit slip road and where they have made repairs in small sections it tries to throw me into the bushes. So by the sound of it i need to replenish the front with a Bridgestone, how do they perform in the wet ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barkwindjammer Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 Could this be the tyre 'tracking' into the 'transition strips' on the road?, if there are a lot of patches there then its probably whats happening and lots of mimi-cambers, the XJ club have tried out lots of tyres and combinations, there probably are tyres out there that perform as good or better than the BT45- I dont have the money to experiment so I stick with them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barkwindjammer Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 Tyre has now been put on the correct way, took it out for a good blast to didcot without incident, forgot how good it feels XD working on a pannier rack to mount on the back for a bit of touring action... hmm... Have a look at Renntecs stuff Foamy-reasonably priced and well made, here's some engine bars in their 'clearance section', they have rear racks that have bars to attach panniers to http://www.renntec.co.uk/product1057.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveandlee Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 Could this be the tyre 'tracking' into the 'transition strips' on the road?, if there are a lot of patches there then its probably whats happening and lots of mimi-cambers, the XJ club have tried out lots of tyres and combinations, there probably are tyres out there that perform as good or better than the BT45- I dont have the money to experiment so I stick with them No mate, pretty sure its the tyre compound............... even just rolling into a roundabout it feels a bit unstable The back feels quite firm, its the front that breaks away with no effort at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wild foamy Posted January 16, 2011 Author Share Posted January 16, 2011 i have to say the continental doesnt actually feel that bad now ive given at a hundred or so miles to break in, still not the same feeling as the michelin sporty, though... the back tyre needs replacing soon aswell as it tends to skip over white lines in the road and tread is only just legal. Cheers for that Renntec link aswell, ive been looking for some of those engine bars but they are on ebay for £50+, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts