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I Need Tires For My Ninja 250r. What To Get?

11K views 17 replies 8 participants last post by  twowheelguy 
#1 ·
I have a 2005 Ninja 250r and discovered a nail in my rear tire :mad:
Instead of patching or plugging, I have decided to just get a new rear tire. Maybe a front also.
I have found 2 kinds of tires that are the right sizes. The Dunlop K630, and the Metzeler Feelfree. Which do you think would be better?
 
#2 ·
im not sure on wich is better or not but my buddy has the same bike and he got hes tires from motorcycle superstore .com and got both the front and rear tire for less then $100.00 and they have lots of reviews on the tires there it might be worth your time to check it out and read some of the reviews there
 
#12 ·
I miss my Ninjette:( Pirelli Sport Demons were the stuff of twisty dreams.
I have to agree with this. In 2007 I bought my Nephew a mint '95 to learn on, and although it only had 1500 miles on it, the stock tires were too old to consider safe IMO. Rubber degrades in pliability within 5 years or so.

Since I go with only Pirelli Diablos on my Z1000, I checked into and bought a set of Sport Demons for the Ninja. WOW what a difference, fantastic tires.

I never scrimp on tires or brake pads. It's worth it in both handling, feel and especially safety not to.
 
#13 ·
can't tell you specifically about the sport bike tires.
but can offer this advice ...

* Don't go cheap on tires. Your life depends on a few square inches of rubber. Buy the best you can afford.

* Metzeler and Pirelli tend to be a softer rubber that has good traction on dry asphalt. Not so good on damp, greasy asphalt or painted lines. I think it may actually be the same rubber ... between the two brands. I have an Avon rear tire on my cruiser and have been pretty happy with the quality of their products.

dT
 
#14 ·
can't tell you specifically about the sport bike tires.
but can offer this advice ...

* Don't go cheap on tires. Your life depends on a few square inches of rubber. Buy the best you can afford. Good advice!

* Metzeler and Pirelli tend to be a softer rubber that has good traction on dry asphalt. Not so good on damp, (WTF??) greasy asphalt or painted lines. I think it may actually be the same rubber ... between the two brands. I have an Avon rear tire on my cruiser and have been pretty happy with the quality of their products.

dT
Perhaps your perception of less than stellar traction on wet roads is due to the type of bike you ride. Cruisers tend to not have as good of handling as lighter bikes, due to the weight, fork rake and overall chassis compromises inherent to that type. I've ridden with Pirellis exclusively on my Z1000 Kawasaki (70k miles on it) and on the aforementioned Ninja quite often in the rain or wet roads and never felt any difference in feel or traction. Living in the NW, it's especially important to have tires that perform well in wet conditions, and the Sport Demons and Diablos have been superb.
 
#15 ·
quicklime ... you could be right. I had a Pirelli Diablo on my power cuiser. Loved that tire on good days and dry asphalt - burned up a lot of mountain curves with the tire. But it wore through at roughly half the lifetime I expected. The Metz rubber has brought down several riders I know ... usually when they braked a little sharply and they were on slightly damp asphalt (a light shower of rain on the freeway), or a painted line. I'm not sure why the sport bikes would function better on the same rubber ... but I haven't ridden on them. experience counts for a lot.

dT
 
#16 ·
dT, it's possible my opinion (about Cruisers) is a bit presumptuous, mainly because I've only ridden a few, and not long distances. I just didn't like the feel of such heavy bikes. One possibility might be that the specific tires available from the same manufacturers have different compounds than the sport bike tires.

It's a shame sport bike tires don't last all that long....it gets expensive. I get about 7k miles out of a rear Diablo on my Z1000, and about twice that on a front.

Regardless of what differences may exist, based on my own riding experiences on the '95 Ninja, I think the OP probably couldn't do better than the Sport Demons.
 
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