Tyres. Or Tires?

This topic gonna be about....

Well as stated, tires.

This early post is about tires because they are the MOST important.

They are the ONLY parts that contact the road; only 2 of them.

So getting these right is IMPORTANT.

Basically i'm riding the Honda Phantom TA200 

as pictured in my blog background.

The bike tire size is as follow according to manual:

90/90-1 7 49P Front
130/90-15 M/C 66P Rear

The tires are of tubeless type.

For TA150 riders it is the same for you guys.

Here are some common tyres found on phantoms.

Metzeler Lasertec Front & Rear

 

 Pirelli City Demon

 

Shinko SR609 (Front)

 

Shinko SR734 (Rear)

 

Currently i'm using the Shinko combination.

Nothing much about these tyres; They are cheap, but they do the job.

They aren't the best but certainly it fits my requirements.

My only comments were, they are quite skiddish in wet conditions.

But i can manage, not to much of an issue.

Dry weather it performed well. 

The rear is a little noisy on rough roads,

but i like noisy tires, somehow haha.

Overall i felt that these tyres performed up to my expectations.

Tyre pressures

The most important factor in keeping you safely planted on the road.

Many often forgot about this aspect.

For Phantom, the manual stated that a tire pressure of 200kPa is to be maintained.

I pumped 210kPa for the rear as i carry pillion often.

Front is pumped at 210kPa too.

Always check your tire pressure weekly,

and ensure that pressure is checked when tire is cold.

Hot air expands, as such your readings wouldn't be accurate if the tire is warm.

And always check for tire damage.

A blow out on a motorcycle is always deadly.

Okay so that's it for tires!