The best buy on a good tire is generally considered the Bridgestone S11 "Spitfire". You can buy a set online with free delivery for ~$180. 100/90-19 front and 120/90-18 rear. These tires do everything well and will take you 8 to 10,000 miles.

For ever so slightly more $ there are several German tires, but I don't know what they are. Others will chime in with that info.

It's generally agreed to stay away from the brand Shenko. Lots of reports of internal tire issues affecting balance and steering.

Oh no, another tire thread!

Tire choice is a very opinionated subject. In my case, after decades of riding with many different brands over hundreds of thousands of miles, Metzler Lasertec is my tire of choice. Got three sets of them on bikes in the garage at the moment! Additionally, I do not like how over sized tires make a bike handle, either. There are less costly options, to be sure, but I won't cut corners on the 2-3 square inches that my life depends on. Again, personal preference.

I like my Dunlop K70s in the stock R80/7 sizes running tubes. I do NOT ride aggressively, scrape my bars in leans, and stay out of rain as much as possible. They seem pretty stable just cruising around and got a good tread on them for when i hit some country rock roads. They look pretty good too!!

The bike has Metzlers on them now and I wanted to try something different so through other recommendations I ordered a set of Michelin pilot Acitv.
Thanks for all the help

For the record, slamming Shinko tires as poor quality Chinese is an error. Shinko tires are made in Korea. A blanket condemnation of them on the basis of poor quality is not justified, based on the 6 sets I've bought.

My R75/6 came with a brand new set of Bridgestone Spitfires on it and I thought they were pretty decent tires in one season of riding. I also really like Avon Roadriders if you want a modern-looking tire.

For the record, slamming Shinko tires as poor quality Chinese is an error. Shinko tires are made in Korea. A blanket condemnation of them on the basis of poor quality is not justified, based on the 6 sets I've bought.

Agreed. I think people need to check where their tires are actually made these days. The Finnish Nokian tires I have on my Subaru Outback are made in Russia and plenty of motorcycle and car tires are made in China, Korea and Taiwan and quality is just as good as those made anywhere else.

I have Avon Roadriders 4.00x18 54V and 3.25x19 64V with inner tubes on my 1981 R100RT. I've put about 4200 miles on them and they are still nice. I've only done lite wet riding and things were fine, in the dry I'm not canyon carving but for around town and interstate no issues. Mostly heavy loaded with aux fuel, tools etc on LD rides. Self installed and balanced.
My big issue will be tread life, I'm looking for a 12k tire for a big LD ride planned for 2019.

my 1¢

Tire in Preference / Performance Order :

1 ) Conti Conti Twins K112A rear, RB2 Front Once they have a few miles on them, you can almost pull them off with your hands. They last reasonably (5K on a rear, 7-8K on a front is not at all unusual, and they are not expensive. They give a really nice smooth ride, good grip in wet or dry, and look classic. NOT A HIGH MILEAGE TIRE ! ! !
Classic Attack radial
http://www.continental-tires.com/motorcycle/tires/motorcycle-tires/classic-classic-racing/conticlassicattack

they have been hearing all these low miles especially on rear tires. they told me I should be running
36--38 front and 40--42 rear. Imagine that..... 8 more psi this was for all /2, /5, /6 & /7 machines with
ContiGo tires.

Then a good friend who works for Motion Pro chimed in on Facebook to let me know
what they've been doing in these situations. Take the sidewall max pressure and
drop it 10% for the rear and 15% for the front. Using this for my new ContiGo
tires.......guess what.......same tire pressure the Conti Tire Engineer
recommended. 😉

R90/6
FYI for anyone still running Lester wheels. a Conti-Attack on the front wheel and it does clear the stamped stainless steel fender brace.

2 ) Michelin PilotActiv (front 18" also available for R65 and R65LS)
Pilot Activ's are like truck tires to mount just a real BEAR !

3 ) Bridgestone BT45H or BT45V GET V Rated

3A ) Avon RoadRider (some have had tread cracking issues)
It was such a hassle to get Avon to reimburse bud povin that he gave up and paid for them out of pocket. Avon reassured bud several times that the problem was solved, but hey kept on cracking. They have joined a list of tires that he won't stock, and won't sell, others like them, possibly made in brazil or uk, all had issues. 7/2017

the Avon Roadrider, AM26 in the correct 4.00 x 18 size. T

4 ) Metzeler LazerTec, only in 3.25 - 19 M/C 54V TL FRONT, and 4.00 - 18 M/C 64V TL sizes/ratings.

5 ) The good old Conti Twins 3.25H19/4.00H18 sizes

6 ) Bridgestone S11 Spitfire currently on bike go w/ the BT45V next

7] Metzeler Sportec Klassik ??