I tend to read forums and facebook group pages for exchange of advice interspersed with light hearted banter etc. As I have some Greek blood in me I passionately believe that prolonged debate and indecisiveness are normal. I mostly mean no harm.
In forums staffed by Little Englanders I therefore wind people up - take this comment made against my theme that if BMW recommend tyres for their motorcycles it would be sensible to follow that advice (and in Germany a bike will not pass an MoT equivalent test) with non-approved tyres. In particular someone wanted to fit "pure road tyres", whatever those are....., to a BMW R1200GS. I certainly would not take advice from Gary Someprickonaforum without due diligence.
Here was the response from "Stu" a probable Wigan Atheletic supporter and UKIIP voter:
Nick, that's why here in the UK we fiercely rejected the "type approval" style of super MOT that Brussels tried to inflict upon us, my answer to that is, it's my bike and I'll use whatever tyres I like, as long as they're of legal tread depth and the correct size for the bike it simply should not be an issue...
So Stu what about speed and load ratings? Profile and the resultant cornering characteristics? I hope for his safety that no tyre manufacturer inadvertantly make pure road tyres in the sizes required for his GS.
Last weekend I spent £221 on some Tourance NEXT tyres, and these are not on the BMW recommended list for my year and model (yet) but Metzeler approve their use on my bike - this is good enough for the German TUV testing people and so I'm happy.
I chose these tyres with the expectation that the rear will not "square off" after 3000 miles - this appeared to be an issue with the original Tourance model. The "NEXT" was best all round tyre in this class in a magazine test (hopefully non-biased - excuse the pun). The "NEXT" has a harder rubber compound in the centre of the tyre and should resist wear under long motorway drags.
In forums staffed by Little Englanders I therefore wind people up - take this comment made against my theme that if BMW recommend tyres for their motorcycles it would be sensible to follow that advice (and in Germany a bike will not pass an MoT equivalent test) with non-approved tyres. In particular someone wanted to fit "pure road tyres", whatever those are....., to a BMW R1200GS. I certainly would not take advice from Gary Someprickonaforum without due diligence.
Here was the response from "Stu" a probable Wigan Atheletic supporter and UKIIP voter:
Nick, that's why here in the UK we fiercely rejected the "type approval" style of super MOT that Brussels tried to inflict upon us, my answer to that is, it's my bike and I'll use whatever tyres I like, as long as they're of legal tread depth and the correct size for the bike it simply should not be an issue...
So Stu what about speed and load ratings? Profile and the resultant cornering characteristics? I hope for his safety that no tyre manufacturer inadvertantly make pure road tyres in the sizes required for his GS.
Last weekend I spent £221 on some Tourance NEXT tyres, and these are not on the BMW recommended list for my year and model (yet) but Metzeler approve their use on my bike - this is good enough for the German TUV testing people and so I'm happy.
I chose these tyres with the expectation that the rear will not "square off" after 3000 miles - this appeared to be an issue with the original Tourance model. The "NEXT" was best all round tyre in this class in a magazine test (hopefully non-biased - excuse the pun). The "NEXT" has a harder rubber compound in the centre of the tyre and should resist wear under long motorway drags.
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| Advantage shaft drive - 5 bolts and the rear wheel is off |
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| Note to self - change rear pads soon and clean up slider pin |
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| Don't try this at home |
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| Some of these old tyres were worn to the cords - amazing what risks people take |
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| Removal of front wheel is conventional |
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| Metzeler Tourance NEXT - funny looking tread pattern. |
