I think I`ve posted questions about tires recently, but not sure. Anyways, I was going with Michelin Pilot Activ, but end up deciding to try out Metzeler ME Speed.
Metzeler is a Pirelli Tires line only for motorcycles. I remember them from when I was a kid and, If I am not mistaken, Pirelli bought them in the 90`s and kept the name Metzeler alive.
Well, I couldn`t pass the price and ordered front and rear. Plus, I`ve read good reviews of it under wet conditions. Since I use the bike everyday and under any condition... It makes sense to me.
It`s gonna be the 2nd change for the rear and the 1st for the front. Keeping 110 on the front and going up to 140 on the rear. It doesn`t look larger than the IRC 130. Maybe because it`s not mounted...don`t know. Front has the same pattern.
You can tell I pushed the Road Winner to the limit. It`s holding fine, but it`s getting a little scary in rain.
I don`t do tires myself, so I`ll wait for the weekend.

 

yup...my rear tires got almost 8,000+ miles before it looked about the same as your tire...



but, these shinko 705 rears is reaching almost 5,000 miles and still shows almost no sign for wear...but, it robs me of my gas mileage!...i'm waiting to make the switch to 140 street tires...

 

Nice! I just picked up two pirelli diablo rosso II tires they were on sale and although my tread has some life left, my tires have shown cracking and dry rotting since almost as long as I've had the bike. (didnt notice at first otherwise would have complained to dealer) anywho I worry about them blowing plus I heard great things about the diablo rosso II's!

 

I hate when the bald patch shows up out of the blue
happened many times then I scramble to find a new tire

rarely buy tires and wait to install them, would be nice though
have time to research what you want

 

I am a little confused now. In the picture, the tire is in its correct rotation direction. Like I said, the front tire has exactly the same pattern, but the rotation is marked as reverse of the rear tire. Wouldn´t that actually direct water to the center patch?

 

The groves between tread blocks and the block shape aren't just for moving water, they're also designed based on the direction force is applied to and by the tire. On a rear tire most of the applied force is from the tire to the road while on a front it's the reverse, from the road to the tire. The tread blocks on some tires need to face the opposite way so that the shape reinforces the tire in the right direction to prevent undue wear and bad handling.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

Good point DA! In addition to tread, directionality also has to do with the 'spiral' construction of rubber plys of the tire. When braking forces are exerted on a front tire, they 'wind' the spiral tighter on itself. Same goes for the rear under acceleration.*
If a directional rear tire is mounted on the front in the same orientation as is indicated on the side wall, there's a risk of delamimating the rubber plys under braking.