Anyone ever tried the 190/55 tires as opposed to the spec 190/50 rear tire.

Post up your feedbacks.

I just recieved my new set of tires which include a 190/55 rear but you're going to have to wait until I burn the last bit of tread off of the center on the stocker. I can't wait to try the new ones but it should be a couple weeks. I'll let you know.

One thing I can say right away is that a 190/55 should maintain a like new rounded shape longer than a 190/50 even if you don't do a lot of hard cornering. As you probabley have seen, the 190/55 has a higher center tread giving it an oval shape in cross section. All it could do is ware down to a nice circle and then you still have a decent shaped tire for cornering - or just for appearence.

Rook

* Last updated by: Rook on 6/11/2009 @ 7:11 AM *

Tried a 180/55.Very nice and agile feeling.Have a 190/50 on there now.Very nice,holds the curves well.Had a 190/55 a while back-none of em last very long anyway.But the 180 was the biggest handling difference I noticed.

I never rode the zx with the 190/50. I replaced it with a 190/55 Pirelli Corsa III from new. Why? my ol' R1 was born with a 190/50 and I was never completely satisfied with the everyday handling until someone suggested the 180/55 solution. changed the tyres and it was an amazing transformation. I like the 190/55, the higher profile seems to help the bike feel more neutral changing direction. my next tyre will be a 180/55 so I can get that nimble feeling again.
HTH

How much does the 190/55 throw out your speedo reading?

Actually, it will rather correct by some degree the optimistic stock speedo which may be about 8% off.

The Michelin Pilot Powers 2CT in 190/55,
on the proper wheel too...

well, I did it. replaced my tyres with pirelli supercorsa sp with a 180/55 rear. simply amazing change of handling. at first it felt like it was falling into teh corner. next day it is just amazing, perfect, neutral, no bump steer, no railroading along seams in the tarmac. highly recommend the profile if your interested in the twisties

Pirellis are VERY HARD to beat.I've used several Pirelli tire models on my zx12(when I had er)...my zzr 1200,and now my 14.Used those Pilot Power 2 CT's...once.Sorry...no comparison in road feel and cornering confidence.Pirellis Rock.

190/55 all the way!!!! TC2's or Pure's....Eiter way you can't go wrong!

I had a set of take-offs that were Dunlop racing tires at 190/55 and the difference was pretty huge. The Dunlops stuck like glue and lasted 2k miles. Because of the cost of the tire and my working on weekends nowadays, I decided to go with a Mich Pilot Road 2. More mileage, still quite grippy and no huge wear issues to speak of. 8k+ miles vs 2500 at ~$300 [for the pair] a pop makes a world of difference on the pocket book. On the Triumph Speedy, I went with a 180/55 Mich Pilot Road 3 set which should be on by this Saturday. If anyone cares, I'll post a review of it here after I've had a chance to break them in.

190/55. My experience was same as yours. The tire performance took some getting used to. After that, a new 190/55 felt good to me right away. Then I switched to a different brand of 190/55 and it was all new again.

The bridgestone BT-016 190/55 has a nice neutral feel at any lean angle. I switched to a BT-003 190/55 and the initial turn in is even more abrupt. It has been a little hard for me to get used to it. It prolly has a flatter sidewall and makes for great cornering grip but I have not had the confidence to lean it hard even though I can see it is sticky as heck.

If anyone cares, I'll post a review of it here after I've had a chance to break them in.

Please do... I'm seriously considering picking up a set.

i got the best improvement going to the 180 rather than the 190!

190/50 (stock) was ok, but really needed to be 'held down' in a corner
190/55 was better, but still needed a little holding during a corner which resulted in bump steer. this diminishes feel and confidence. it still wants to stand up by itself
180/55 was a major transformation and is what all corner junkies should use imho. the big 14 needs only a poilte request to corner and will stay at any lean angle all day long without any force required to hold it down, very neutral, no bump steer. Now when I exit a corner, I have to ask it to stand up or it'll corner all day. This is just how I like it. I'm in lurv

* Last updated by: russty on 2/25/2011 @ 12:49 PM *