Ducati Monster Forum

Buying a new set of tires for my 2002 Ducati M750.

Any advice on which I should consider?

Will be using the bike for commuting in Los Angeles and SFV, CA where the roads are crappy.

Thanks

Pirelli Angels are great. I have those on the M900 and have deep treads.

Same here. Except for missing the little orange sticker, I like them better or as well as the corsa IIIs i used to run

http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=2444.0 (http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=2444.0)

For commuting I like sport-touring tires as they last a lot longer and many grip better in cool/wet weather than supersport rubber.  My favorites are Avon storms.  A lot of folks really like Pilot Road 2s as well.

+1

If most of your riding is going to be commuting I would pass on the softer compound tires.

Sport touring tires are the way to go. Avon tires are great, and quite a number of people swear by the Pilot Roads. I have Bridgestone BT-021's with over 6k miles on 'em already and no squaring off yet. I'm in the canyons at least once a week and they're great there too.

Thanks for all the replies.


I was looking into Michelin Pilot Road 3 Tires, they seem great. And with this crazy weather in Los Angeles, CA not knowing when it will rain, even if the weatherman says so.

But I will also look into the others.

I will be commuting mostly, but I feel like in a month or two I will want to go to the track.

i personally feel that if you want a jack of all trades tire, that can do an occasional track day, commuting, occasional rain,  fun weekend canyon riding as long as you are not really advanced, and has good but not great wear.

then you can't go wrong with the tire that started it all the pilot powers. 

its not the best in any category (its middle of the road for wear, track, commuting, etc), but its not the worst either, its a jack of all trades tire for a bike like the monster.

I live in LA too.

Just sent you a PM.

The road 3s look like they'd be better in the wet than the road 2s.  I haven't tried a pair yet.  Road 2s aren't too impressive in the wet - not dangerous, but not great either.  Avon Storms are pretty darn good in the wet.  I drug pegs on the 919 on a damp road on storms (was heavily loaded and the big tank bag prevented much hanging off...)  [evil]  The PR3s have a ton more sipping than the Storms.  Don't know how the compound compares.

a good all round tire is a Michelin pilot power. I used them for years and love them. [thumbsup]

If you do the math, you can only get about 6000 miles out of $140 bucks of tire or about 10,000 miles out of $160 worth of tire. You dont save much + for some the tire will rot and dry out before reaching 10,000 miles and the pilot power is a better choice overall. Though as a commuting tire or on a big 1000cc twin, they tend to go much quicker.

I've always felt confident with my stock BT-014s. They did wear a little quick, now I have a BT-016 and will replace the front before riding with a BT comparable.

I've been running Metzeler Sportec M5's for the past 2k miles.  I've no complaints, and only good things to say.  The tire is a rounded profile, so turn in is smooth, albeit slightly slower than the harsher profile tires.  I'd buy them again without hesitation.   

+1 on Metzlers, although make sure they were manufactured at the Germany plant.

If you get 6k from PPs you'll probably get a lot more than 10k from most ST tires.  Also, if you ride 30k miles/yr like some of us (well, before working a billion hours at a lawfirm anyway...) tire dry rott isn't an issue thankfully  [thumbsup] .  Its a really good point though for riders who don't do many miles.  I don't really like riding on tires more than 2yrs old and prefer to have tires on for 1yr or less.  If you do 3k miles a year ST tires would be a waste I think.

Some good advice here.  When I bought my Monster, the rear tire had a 4 year old manufacture date.  I rode it for 300 miles before it cracked at my work's parking lot.  I was thankful to come out to a parked flat tire.

exaclty if you do a lot of miles then a ST tire wolud be better than the PP, but if you are occasionally doing a track day or spirited riding and you just like that more grippy feel the PP will prbably be better.

like i said the PP are a great all around tire, but is lacking if you value certain aspects more, like mileage its never going to beat a good ST tire but it gives you OK mileage, i could get around 7-7.5k out of the tire with everyday use on a 620 but this would vary dpeending on how a person used the tire. so it can be suffient for some but maybe not for those riding 15k miles a year or more.

I used ST tire at the track, it was not an issue. I dont think going to a more sport oriented tire would of made a difference since the bike didnt have the lean angle to begin with, and neither does it have the power to lose grip that much.

Never mind the dirt marks, i crashed out this day, dont worry, its because i lifted the rear end on the kickstand, not cause i lost traction!

Anyway, this is the tire not pushing it too much on a normal 80degree day. It doenst wear funny or anything. Its perfectly fine for the track, i put about 400 miles of track time on it

(http://kuixihe.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=1326&g2_serialNumber=2)