It's a significant improvement over what the bike was set at before. On uneven pavement it feels much less likely to bounce and wander. On smooth pavement it now tracks much better and isn't such a struggle to hold a line with, though it still feels heavy. That might be my own fault coming off a Honda Fireblade to the Kawasaki though.
They passed the safety easily and aren't flat spottted or low on tread so a couple of very low mileage years is likely, which means I'm not in any rush to replace them. That didn't stop me from having a look at what new tires for it would cost anyway just so I'm ready (end of 2022 riding season?) to replace them.
Going to a 190/55/R17 rear tire (stock is 190/50 ZR17) raises the back end a bit with a marginally thicker sidewall and stops the bike from feeling so vague. Bike Magazine describes the handling of the GTR1400 as 'not good' and I think this dropin vagueness is what they're referring to.
Another nice surprise on this used bike purchase is that the former owner put new tires on only a couple of years ago and then barely used them, but now I've got some ideas about where to go next.
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| Road 5s are a newer, top-of-the-line tire that are $70 more expensive than Road Pilots but don't come in 55 rears. |
