I just put a set of the AGTs on my N1K. I had it with the stock tires and couldn’t take it anymore. They exhibited terrible tramlining. It was scary at times to be honest. In LA there are a lot of bridge abutments very close to the edge of the lane and sometimes very little clearance. By very little I mean sometimes 6 inches to a foot away from the edge of the lane. For you metric folks that is 50-30 cm.
I had looked at a lot of tires. I tend to be a big Michelin fan but always research what seems to be good for a particular bike before I buy. Honestly I absolutely loved the Michelin PR4s on another bike and they totally transformed it. The one knock I heard against them is tire life. I have a set of PR3 on my K16GT and they’ve worn decently but not as well as I hoped. I heard the PR4s were similar in that regard.
Tire life is important to me as I do a lot of riding/driving. On average I am either riding or driving about 1500 miles a week. No point putting on a super sticky sport tire that would only last 1500-2000 miles as I’d be burning them up every week yet I still wanted good trip in the twisites. I also usually am carrying a pretty heavy load on my commute from SoCal to Norcal so ability to hold up under a heavy load at high speeds was crucial.
So I ultimately went with the AGT a-spec for the rear and normal on the front. The a-spec is generally for heavier bikes. Considering I often have a pretty heavy load on the back I figured it wouldn’t hurt. Typically the only downside is potentially a slightly rougher ride when unladen. One plus though I’ve found from the heavier carcass is improved flat resistance. So for me it was a simple decision.
As for tire size, I went with the 190/55 size in the rear. I had read that the slightly taller profile helped the turn-in on the bike and that is something I felt lacking about the stock bike. The taller profile raised the gearing a bit and now the speedometer is definitely closer to reading the true speed.
Since the tires were initially fresh and it takes some time to scrub them, I took it pretty easy for the first part of my trip. I had to slog my way through the parking lot that LA roads have become. I wasn’t sure what to expect as I had to do a lot of lane splitting and that takes very precise control. Sometimes the clearance is just an inch or so. Not to mention having to deal with the reflective dots, painted lines, potholes and more. In very short order I realized I could place the bike much easier where I WANTED it, not whatever path the tires decided to follow.
I found that I could maintain a higher pace splitting lanes as well as feeling more relaxed while doing it. My son was riding with me on his bike that has the PR4s and normally he is right behind me but I was going at a much better pace than he was comfortable with. No real difference in traffic I just felt more confident with the new tires. Of course prudence is the better part of valor so I kept the pace reasonable but it was very reassuring that I felt like I could place the bike within an inch of where I wanted it to be. It really was remarkable since I had the bike more loaded than I ever had before. I had the cases loaded and a big duffel bag on top. Then to top it off I had my totally full backpack as well and my heaving riding jacket and boots. Definitely not ideal conditions for good handling.
So we picked our way over to LAX airport where my son had a flight out. I saw him off and then back into even worse traffic. Truly the term parking lot was the most appropriate way to describe the traffic. At time 8 lanes each side of nothing but pretty much parked cars. I continued on until I finally got out of town and into my first mountain pass. I was sort of interested to see how the effect of the taller tire on the gearing would play out blasting up the mountains as well as the tire profile’s effect on turn in.
First a word about the gearing. I think I’ll stay with the 16T along with the taller tire. I had previously considered going with maybe a smaller rear sprocket but the taller tire gets me just about where I want to be. I don’t know if it was the really heavy load or the taller effective gearing or some combination thereof, but I think I any taller would definitely start to diminish the strong top end pull. Keep in mind I am not a small guy as well so YMMV. I don’t think I’d ever have more of a load on the bike then I did this time and it still pulled well up the mountains in 6th. Only once did I consider a downshift to 5th. Today I’ll try and ride it without all the gear on it and see but likely I am well sort on the gearing. I was in a very happy rpm zone most of the time with minimal vibration. This was in large part due to the heavy bar ends I added. See post here for my review of them.
http://www.kawasakininja1000.com/fo...ies/7433-hvmp-extra-heavy-bar-end-review.html
Also the taller profile meant my road speed at a given rpm was higher. All it in all it was a great combination and the bike should have been like this from the factory so on my impressions about the tires.
There is a lot I can say about the tires but nothing really related to serious back road peg scratching. In a word I am very impressed so far. I ran them up to about a buck 20 in mph and no balancing issues, smooth as could be. The initial turn in is vastly improved for me. I found myself overturning at first in the mountains. For me the improvement was better than I expected from reading other’s comments. I didn’t have much chance to test the low speed turn issues I had before. From what I could tell even at the sub 30 mph turns, and with my huge load, I didn’t have to use as much pressure on the inner bar to initiate and hold the turn. I am not sure if the load was helping/hurting in this respect as it was far above what I would normally have so I can’t be certain so I’ll post later on this issue when I can ride the bike without it.
In the mountains, picking my line was as easy as splitting lanes. I would pick a line and it would go exactly where I wanted it to. I took it pretty easy at first but as the tires got scrubbed in I upped the pace. I never had really severe lean angles though but there were decent at times. Something I noticed as well is the tires were very compliant over bumps. I had 36 psi (2.5 bar) in the front and 40 (2.75 bar) in the rear. Seemed like a great combination for my load. I may play a bit with the bike unladen but so far it seemed good. I was a bit concerned about the a-spec on the rear as the N1K isn’t a super heavy bike so I could have ended up with worse ride quality but it was better than stock. Honestly the tires made the suspension feel even better in most situations. One thing though with the heavy load the rear shock’s dampening clearly didn’t have enough rebound dampening and I was experiencing a some pogoing in fast sweepers.
Of course with the el Nino weather patterns it brings some rain. Unfortunately I got to experience it several times on my trip. Last time was going through some mountain roads, at night, near Gilroy, California. I really needed a windshield wiper on my helmet. Dang it was bad. A dark 2 lane road, no shoulders to speak of and very dark asphalt. Add in rivers of oncoming traffic and I was not a happy camper to say the least. The bike performed flawlessly though. I had upgraded my lights and I’ll be posting about that in another thread. I added 2 driving lights (20 watt LEDs each) and 2 wide beam 10 watt LEDs). I also went to different LEDs in my headlights. Sadly I couldn’t use the aux lights with all the oncoming traffic but I had a chance to fire them up in a few places and first thing I could tell is I didn’t have them aimed right but even then the light output is amazing. OMG, you can melt an iceberg with the aux lights but enough about the lights for now.
I can’t think of single situation where the AGTs weren’t markedly better than the stock tires. Honestly they felt a lot like my PR4s on another bike but a little bit more accurate. They are also very quiet tires. If I get close the mileage I expect I’ll be very happy with my purchase. I plan to carve up a few backroads this weekend if the weather permits. I’ll have more feedback about them then. Well hopefully this weekend. I did something to my ankle on the ride back. Last gas stop there was a slick oil patch and my foot slipped and the entire bike came down on my body and leg. My knee and ankle too the brunt of it. Thankfully I had sliders on the bike and between those and my leg, protected the bike quite nicely.
Today I can hardly walk though so hopefully I’ll be better in a few days. The sun actually came out and I am already wanting to ride. I really want the chance to go out and play with the new tires. I also want to get the lights adjusted a bit better as well to really take advantage of them. So if you are in the market for a new set of tires, I would seriously give the AGTs serious consideration. I’ll have a better idea in a few weeks of how they wear but from a purely ride & handling perspective I am pretty happy with them. I would classify myself as an aggressive rider so I don’t want to sacrifice performance totally for mileage but at the same time I don’t want to be replacing tires every month either. I didn’t buy the N1K to be a track bike but more of sport tourer with emphasis on the sport as I have a better touring bike. So far the changes I have made have resulted in a much better bike for my purposes. I think the vast majority of riders would be well served by the mods I’ve made so far. It has given the bike much better capabilities, reduced its negatives and given it a bit more character and more liveable in every area.
I'll update this thread as I put more miles on the Pirellis. I hope the dual compound design plays out as well as it supposed to. If I get 6k miles out of them I'll be pretty happy. The stock ones were gone at 4k.
I had looked at a lot of tires. I tend to be a big Michelin fan but always research what seems to be good for a particular bike before I buy. Honestly I absolutely loved the Michelin PR4s on another bike and they totally transformed it. The one knock I heard against them is tire life. I have a set of PR3 on my K16GT and they’ve worn decently but not as well as I hoped. I heard the PR4s were similar in that regard.
Tire life is important to me as I do a lot of riding/driving. On average I am either riding or driving about 1500 miles a week. No point putting on a super sticky sport tire that would only last 1500-2000 miles as I’d be burning them up every week yet I still wanted good trip in the twisites. I also usually am carrying a pretty heavy load on my commute from SoCal to Norcal so ability to hold up under a heavy load at high speeds was crucial.
So I ultimately went with the AGT a-spec for the rear and normal on the front. The a-spec is generally for heavier bikes. Considering I often have a pretty heavy load on the back I figured it wouldn’t hurt. Typically the only downside is potentially a slightly rougher ride when unladen. One plus though I’ve found from the heavier carcass is improved flat resistance. So for me it was a simple decision.
As for tire size, I went with the 190/55 size in the rear. I had read that the slightly taller profile helped the turn-in on the bike and that is something I felt lacking about the stock bike. The taller profile raised the gearing a bit and now the speedometer is definitely closer to reading the true speed.
Since the tires were initially fresh and it takes some time to scrub them, I took it pretty easy for the first part of my trip. I had to slog my way through the parking lot that LA roads have become. I wasn’t sure what to expect as I had to do a lot of lane splitting and that takes very precise control. Sometimes the clearance is just an inch or so. Not to mention having to deal with the reflective dots, painted lines, potholes and more. In very short order I realized I could place the bike much easier where I WANTED it, not whatever path the tires decided to follow.
I found that I could maintain a higher pace splitting lanes as well as feeling more relaxed while doing it. My son was riding with me on his bike that has the PR4s and normally he is right behind me but I was going at a much better pace than he was comfortable with. No real difference in traffic I just felt more confident with the new tires. Of course prudence is the better part of valor so I kept the pace reasonable but it was very reassuring that I felt like I could place the bike within an inch of where I wanted it to be. It really was remarkable since I had the bike more loaded than I ever had before. I had the cases loaded and a big duffel bag on top. Then to top it off I had my totally full backpack as well and my heaving riding jacket and boots. Definitely not ideal conditions for good handling.
So we picked our way over to LAX airport where my son had a flight out. I saw him off and then back into even worse traffic. Truly the term parking lot was the most appropriate way to describe the traffic. At time 8 lanes each side of nothing but pretty much parked cars. I continued on until I finally got out of town and into my first mountain pass. I was sort of interested to see how the effect of the taller tire on the gearing would play out blasting up the mountains as well as the tire profile’s effect on turn in.
First a word about the gearing. I think I’ll stay with the 16T along with the taller tire. I had previously considered going with maybe a smaller rear sprocket but the taller tire gets me just about where I want to be. I don’t know if it was the really heavy load or the taller effective gearing or some combination thereof, but I think I any taller would definitely start to diminish the strong top end pull. Keep in mind I am not a small guy as well so YMMV. I don’t think I’d ever have more of a load on the bike then I did this time and it still pulled well up the mountains in 6th. Only once did I consider a downshift to 5th. Today I’ll try and ride it without all the gear on it and see but likely I am well sort on the gearing. I was in a very happy rpm zone most of the time with minimal vibration. This was in large part due to the heavy bar ends I added. See post here for my review of them.
http://www.kawasakininja1000.com/fo...ies/7433-hvmp-extra-heavy-bar-end-review.html
Also the taller profile meant my road speed at a given rpm was higher. All it in all it was a great combination and the bike should have been like this from the factory so on my impressions about the tires.
There is a lot I can say about the tires but nothing really related to serious back road peg scratching. In a word I am very impressed so far. I ran them up to about a buck 20 in mph and no balancing issues, smooth as could be. The initial turn in is vastly improved for me. I found myself overturning at first in the mountains. For me the improvement was better than I expected from reading other’s comments. I didn’t have much chance to test the low speed turn issues I had before. From what I could tell even at the sub 30 mph turns, and with my huge load, I didn’t have to use as much pressure on the inner bar to initiate and hold the turn. I am not sure if the load was helping/hurting in this respect as it was far above what I would normally have so I can’t be certain so I’ll post later on this issue when I can ride the bike without it.
In the mountains, picking my line was as easy as splitting lanes. I would pick a line and it would go exactly where I wanted it to. I took it pretty easy at first but as the tires got scrubbed in I upped the pace. I never had really severe lean angles though but there were decent at times. Something I noticed as well is the tires were very compliant over bumps. I had 36 psi (2.5 bar) in the front and 40 (2.75 bar) in the rear. Seemed like a great combination for my load. I may play a bit with the bike unladen but so far it seemed good. I was a bit concerned about the a-spec on the rear as the N1K isn’t a super heavy bike so I could have ended up with worse ride quality but it was better than stock. Honestly the tires made the suspension feel even better in most situations. One thing though with the heavy load the rear shock’s dampening clearly didn’t have enough rebound dampening and I was experiencing a some pogoing in fast sweepers.
Of course with the el Nino weather patterns it brings some rain. Unfortunately I got to experience it several times on my trip. Last time was going through some mountain roads, at night, near Gilroy, California. I really needed a windshield wiper on my helmet. Dang it was bad. A dark 2 lane road, no shoulders to speak of and very dark asphalt. Add in rivers of oncoming traffic and I was not a happy camper to say the least. The bike performed flawlessly though. I had upgraded my lights and I’ll be posting about that in another thread. I added 2 driving lights (20 watt LEDs each) and 2 wide beam 10 watt LEDs). I also went to different LEDs in my headlights. Sadly I couldn’t use the aux lights with all the oncoming traffic but I had a chance to fire them up in a few places and first thing I could tell is I didn’t have them aimed right but even then the light output is amazing. OMG, you can melt an iceberg with the aux lights but enough about the lights for now.
I can’t think of single situation where the AGTs weren’t markedly better than the stock tires. Honestly they felt a lot like my PR4s on another bike but a little bit more accurate. They are also very quiet tires. If I get close the mileage I expect I’ll be very happy with my purchase. I plan to carve up a few backroads this weekend if the weather permits. I’ll have more feedback about them then. Well hopefully this weekend. I did something to my ankle on the ride back. Last gas stop there was a slick oil patch and my foot slipped and the entire bike came down on my body and leg. My knee and ankle too the brunt of it. Thankfully I had sliders on the bike and between those and my leg, protected the bike quite nicely.
Today I can hardly walk though so hopefully I’ll be better in a few days. The sun actually came out and I am already wanting to ride. I really want the chance to go out and play with the new tires. I also want to get the lights adjusted a bit better as well to really take advantage of them. So if you are in the market for a new set of tires, I would seriously give the AGTs serious consideration. I’ll have a better idea in a few weeks of how they wear but from a purely ride & handling perspective I am pretty happy with them. I would classify myself as an aggressive rider so I don’t want to sacrifice performance totally for mileage but at the same time I don’t want to be replacing tires every month either. I didn’t buy the N1K to be a track bike but more of sport tourer with emphasis on the sport as I have a better touring bike. So far the changes I have made have resulted in a much better bike for my purposes. I think the vast majority of riders would be well served by the mods I’ve made so far. It has given the bike much better capabilities, reduced its negatives and given it a bit more character and more liveable in every area.
I'll update this thread as I put more miles on the Pirellis. I hope the dual compound design plays out as well as it supposed to. If I get 6k miles out of them I'll be pretty happy. The stock ones were gone at 4k.