Kawasaki z1000 Tires

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Tire Reviewed Dry Grip Wet Grip Feedback Handling Wear Comfort
Dunlop RoadSmart III (15) 90% 89% 90% 89% 90% 89%
Nankang WF2 Sportiac (6) 100% 90% 94% 70% 82% 85%
Dunlop Sportsmart (11) 94% 76% 90% 91% 77% 85%
Metzeler Sportec M9 RR (7) 93% 80% 75% 92% 83% 85%
Metzeler SPORTEC M7 RR (11) 93% 83% 85% 89% 74% 89%
Metzeler ROADTEC 01 (21) 92% 91% 92% 88% 70% 89%
Michelin Road 5 (23) 89% 87% 85% 80% 83% 89%
Michelin Pilot Road 4 (18) 85% 84% 81% 78% 79% 84%
Bridgestone S20 (13) 82% 72% 76% 82% 50% 80%
Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa (12) 86% 45% 75% 81% 59% 78%
Bridgestone Battlax BT 016 (27) 72% 48% 61% 65% 52% 65%
Bridgestone Battlax Hypersport S20 (15) 74% 61% 67% 68% 30% 57%

Kawasaki z1000 Tire Review Highlights

Writing about the Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa given 59% (190-55-17-)
Driving on a combination of roads for 9320 average miles
Never felt comfortable riding with them. every imperfection of the road changes the bikes lane. Trying to lean about more than 20 degrees the front slips. every singe time... they heat up immediately while riding in the highway at high speed and have a decent grip and braking but in city diving they never heat up.. so braking with them is a risk. Its like braking with an aged dry tire. Bought them in september 2019 (production date 0819) and three months later the rear tire cracked its profile both sides and i could see the threads inside... Front and rear 6 months later from purchasing them got dry and start being slippery in a frightening point.. the wierd thing is that if theres some water on the road they stick like glue but on a rainy day as expected they are not griping at all. So my opinion is to use them only in track with good gravel, with heat warmers and just for 2-3 races and then garbage. Before them i had Diablo rosso II and I was almost dragging knee on highway and braking was great, and in the city they were just good. by the way rosso II lasted 1,5 year and the supercorsas 3,5 years until patterns fade. wierd things :/
tire reviewed on 2022-10-22 15:25:42
Writing about the Michelin Road 5 given 90% (190-70-17-)
Driving on mostly country roads for 4000 spirited miles
Have had road 3’s, 4’s and now the 5’s. In the wet i feel safe and have a heap trust in the traction. In the dry, I tip it in and don’t ever think about the possibility of traction letting go, and no, I don’t have chicken strips left. I trust my tires more than my girlfriend! Hahaha. The dual compound edges get soft and melty on warm and cold days, and have always served me well. I’ll never buy another brand.
tire reviewed on 2022-09-25 23:04:39
Writing about the Bridgestone S20 given 24% (190-50-17-)
Driving on a combination of roads for 4000 spirited miles
Bridgestone S20's were OEM on my 2019 Z1000sx tourer. The S20's were tolerable for the first 1500 miles. Lasted 4000 miles before being changed for Dunlop Roadsmart 2's. (Great tire in wet n dry. Will be fitting these again to the Z1000). After almost twice the mileage of the Bridgestone, the Dunlops have more wet n dry grip than the Bridgestones were when new! (Lasted 7.5 k miles,) Also had the Bridgestones on my Daytona 955i when i bought it, which were equally shyte, and were replaced by Michelin pilot 2CTs which lasted 5k miles. (Old tech but a great value tire!) Will be fitting the Pilot 2CT's again, exceptionally good in the wet and dry.
tire reviewed on 2022-07-03 17:06:07
Writing about the Metzeler Sportec M9 RR given 86% (190-50-17-W)
Driving on mostly country roads for 3500 spirited miles
I've been doing mostly sporty riding on a harsh suspension. The performance on the Metzeler M9RR supprised me positively. Great feel with controled sliding limit, while riding extreme. Superb turn in angle, even with 190/50 dimensions. The only gripe I would have, would be, that in the final stages of it's use, tire behaves differently. Otherwise comfidence inspiring and would highly recommend.
tire reviewed on 2020-07-19 03:21:35
Writing about the Bridgestone Battlax Hypersport S20 given 57% (190-50-17-W)
Driving on a combination of roads for 2850 spirited miles
These were the factory fit tires on my Kawasaki Z1000sx...

They were grippy on a warm summer day with decent tarmac, not so much in less than ideal conditions. They lasted less than 3000 miles and squared off really quickly with just a couple of motorway runs. When squaring in these tires they felt really unstable, almost wobbly!

Avoid unless you do a lot of spirited riding on good winding tarmac :)
tire reviewed on 2019-05-03 01:13:29
Writing about the Nankang WF2 Sportiac given 90% (190-55-17-W)
Driving on mostly town for 3500 average miles
Nankang WF-2
Is a magic tire, it is a performance tire, the price is very cheap
I ride KWASAKI Z1000 tire pressure front 32PSI behind 30PSI grip very very good, even better than Alpha 13 & S21

Heavier weight is his only shortcoming
tire reviewed on 2018-07-26 03:15:50
Writing about the Metzeler ROADTEC 01 given 96% (225-45-17-)
Driving on a combination of roads for 8000 spirited miles
Update on earlier Z1000 review
After another 2000 miles around northern Spain and the picos the tires have just started to go off, not yet worn to wear bars but not as confidence inspiring as they were but 8000 miles is pretty good for a tire as grippy as these.
Front and rear have worn at same rate
Off for another set next week
tire reviewed on 2018-05-27 17:41:02
Writing about the Metzeler ROADTEC 01 given 96% (190-50-17-)
Driving on a combination of roads for 5000 spirited miles
Tires stayed round unlike anything I've used before with very little squaring off, love this tire not sure on how long they will last but still looking good after 5000 mls on Kawasaki Z1000 sx
Mix between committing and touring mainly commuting

tire reviewed on 2018-04-20 16:32:33
Writing about the Michelin Pilot Road 4 given 76% (195-55-17-)
Driving on mostly country roads for 8000 spirited miles
I've been riding road bikes since I was 18yo Im now 54 so I have a lot of experience on this.
These are brilliant tires for a tourer or a commuter that does a lot of miles but also gets out into the twisties to have some fun.
Once warm they do grip brilliantly for a tire with an expected life on a 1000cc bike of over 18000klm
I have these on the rear of my Kawasaki Ninja 1000abs ( z1000sx) and have screwed them nicely for the past 12000klm since the bike was new. they only have about 2000klm left now but still grip well but are feathered up quite bad due to the severe cramp I seem to get in my right wrist from time to time
Recommend these? Yes in a heart beat... but my next set will be Metzler M7RR's I think for more grip.

Have a nice day.
From the land of OZ.
tire reviewed on 2017-05-05 08:43:56
Writing about the Dunlop RoadSmart III given 87% (225-45-17-)
Driving on a combination of roads for 500 spirited miles
Have to say I've always run Dunlop Sport Smarts so was interested to see what these were like compared to the old tires. Have to say that they have not disappointed.

Plenty of grip (well enough for my riding abilities) and haven't let go once. There was a little slide in sketchy conditions a few weeks ago, going from dry road to wet and then back to dry travelling at dry road speeds. They recovered well and gave good drive.

Tires warm up well and have a good amount of edge grip.

I've got these on my ZZR1400 as well but that will be used on my upcoming trip to the Isle of Man. Must say, I am really looking forward to running them over the Mountain section of the course!
tire reviewed on 2016-05-12 11:25:16
Writing about the Metzeler SPORTEC M7 RR given 93% (180-55-17-W)
Driving on a combination of roads for 8000 average miles
No comments left
tire reviewed on 2016-04-08 14:03:28
Writing about the Bridgestone Battlax BT 016 given 61% (225-45-17-)
Driving on a combination of roads for 3500 spirited miles
Z1000sx 12000 miles a year.
These were the stock tires on the bike from new. On a hot dry day these tires had a lot of grip. The sides were very sticky and would shred right to the edge, I had the bike very low on the and never felt worried.

In the wet and cold they were pretty awful though I think.
They lasted 3500 miles, and I've now got bt 023 my favourite tire for commuting.

These tires are good for summer/weekend riders but not for commuting all year round.
tire reviewed on 2012-08-18 03:20:30
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