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250 ninja tires

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LoneRonin said:
sorry...didn't mean to be rude. Pilot Activ are good too, but being a bias-ply they're in a completely different class from the Powers. I actually have a front with a Pilot Power rear, why...because I dented my rim and needed a new front tire, the rim I got came with a barely used Pilot Activ front so I kept it.
A lot of people tell you not to mix tires blah blah blah...I don't really believe all that. Not only did I mix tires but two different types, a bias-ply front and a radial rear, I've experienced no adverse affects and ride A LOT, and about as hard as the bike can go...
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No worries!
I agree the Activ's are in a different class but due to the changing weather conditions in Ontario and the overall power of the 250's the Activ's are a great all around tire.
I didn't put my 250 on a track. Mostly city touring, some highway. They handled well in the corners providing more confidence as I learned how to ride!

I wouldn't mix tires only because of looks.. Otherwise NBD..

Whatever tire is purchased will be better than the bricks Kawi put on the 09 Ninja 250's.
 
I'm a pretty big advocate of the BT-016 on the ninja 250. Went thru 2 sets on mine over the course of about 20,000km. On a bike that's as light and flickable as the 250, going to the 150 series rear didn't make much of a difference for me in terms of turn in. if anything, I used to feel like the bike was twitchy on the narrower rear, and going to the wider rear, it made the turn in a little smoother imo. Just make sure that if you do the 150 rear, you go to the 60 series sidewall otherwise the tire will be pinched and the profile is way off. Like I said, I had a lot of experience with these tires, and I loved them. I had a 3rd set ready to go, but I ended up trading the ninja for a bigger bike so I didn't get to use them.
 
Should not be replacing a 130 biasply tire with a 150 radial! Especially when 140 radials are available...
 
Did you have to mod anything to get the 150 to fit? I wasted a lot of time researching to see how to get a 150 on, but in the end saw too many stories about over pinching or cutting required etc and just chickened out and got the 140 DRIIs.

kamikaze said:
I'm a pretty big advocate of the BT-016 on the ninja 250. Went thru 2 sets on mine over the course of about 20,000km. On a bike that's as light and flickable as the 250, going to the 150 series rear didn't make much of a difference for me in terms of turn in. if anything, I used to feel like the bike was twitchy on the narrower rear, and going to the wider rear, it made the turn in a little smoother imo. Just make sure that if you do the 150 rear, you go to the 60 series sidewall otherwise the tire will be pinched and the profile is way off. Like I said, I had a lot of experience with these tires, and I loved them. I had a 3rd set ready to go, but I ended up trading the ninja for a bigger bike so I didn't get to use them.
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eljay said:
Did you have to mod anything to get the 150 to fit? I wasted a lot of time researching to see how to get a 150 on, but in the end saw too many stories about over pinching or cutting required etc and just chickened out and got the 140 DRIIs.
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I didn't have to cut anything. The only mod I made was a washer to space the front of the chain guard out a little bit, but other than that there were no modifications at all. Like I said, I think there's fitment issues if you don't drop the sidewall to a 60 series profile, but I never had any issues whatsoever.
 
u still have the 3rd set u want to sell ?
and what size did u do in the front ?


kamikaze said:
I'm a pretty big advocate of the BT-016 on the ninja 250. Went thru 2 sets on mine over the course of about 20,000km. On a bike that's as light and flickable as the 250, going to the 150 series rear didn't make much of a difference for me in terms of turn in. if anything, I used to feel like the bike was twitchy on the narrower rear, and going to the wider rear, it made the turn in a little smoother imo. Just make sure that if you do the 150 rear, you go to the 60 series sidewall otherwise the tire will be pinched and the profile is way off. Like I said, I had a lot of experience with these tires, and I loved them. I had a 3rd set ready to go, but I ended up trading the ninja for a bigger bike so I didn't get to use them.
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MPS said:
u still have the 3rd set u want to sell ?
and what size did u do in the front ?
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nope, got rid of them a long time ago. I had them waiting for me in TN when I went down last spring, but I'd traded the bike before that so I just sold them when I brought them back. 110/70-17F and 150/60-17R were the sizes I used. I used to get the front from Rocky Mountain ATV cause they sold them for $49.99 + $7 to ship to the border, but they are up to about $90 now iirc. I think the last complete set I ordered from Dennis Kirk cause they were willing to PM Rocky Mountain ATV as long as I bought the rear there as well (which was cheaper than anywhere else anyway).
 
why not 120/60 front ?

kamikaze said:
nope, got rid of them a long time ago. I had them waiting for me in TN when I went down last spring, but I'd traded the bike before that so I just sold them when I brought them back. 110/70-17F and 150/60-17R were the sizes I used. I used to get the front from Rocky Mountain ATV cause they sold them for $49.99 + $7 to ship to the border, but they are up to about $90 now iirc. I think the last complete set I ordered from Dennis Kirk cause they were willing to PM Rocky Mountain ATV as long as I bought the rear there as well (which was cheaper than anywhere else anyway).
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MPS said:
why not 120/60 front ?
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the 110s fit just fine. didn't see the point when they were more expensive. besides, I think the front tire makes more of a difference on your turn in anyway, and I didn't want to risk making it any slower or harder to turn in. I loved that combo the first time i used it, so I never bothered to change it. why muck with something that works?
 
Now Kamikaze knows what he's talking about and covered just about everything...

Gryphon said:
Should not be replacing a 130 biasply tire with a 150 radial! Especially when 140 radials are available...
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Care to elaborate why not? I've been through 3 sets over the past 30,000 km...

eljay said:
Did you have to mod anything to get the 150 to fit? I wasted a lot of time researching to see how to get a 150 on, but in the end saw too many stories about over pinching or cutting required etc and just chickened out and got the 140 DRIIs.
Click to expand...

The Pilot Powers required no modding at all, not even washers. Just get the 60 sidewall, it actually sits closer to the same height as stock whereas the 140/70/17 raises the rear end a bit similar to dropping your forks. This affects handling and can pose an issue for a shorter rider. I had a set of 110/140 BT45's and while it was no problem for me being that I'm 5'11 the higher height was instantly noticeable...

MPS said:
why not 120/60 front ?
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Because there's no point if its possible to get the tire in 110. Only reason reason to move up anyways is to get more advanced and current technology tires compared to bias-ply from the 80's/90's...10mm does not make your tire look any bigger and handling characteristics are more effected more from the changes to the front, you also risk having it rub up against your front fender, but there are people who have them without that issue.
 
^^you ever ride a 250 with this set up?? Or is it just an opinion based off of no personal experience?
 
I did enough reaserch on the kawi forum at the time, i finally deciede to do it and let me tell you that was the best thing i ever done on the bike. To me it was more fun to lean that bike on the corners!!! Plus the rear tire looked really nice a bit bigger. Go 120/60 front and 150/60 rear and don't look back.
 
that is my plan after 2 days of lurking the forums
now i just need to find a good tire to go with and a place to get it from
ill just put this out there i dont mind spending $300 to $400 on a good tire



sempre1 said:
I did enough reaserch on the kawi forum at the time, i finally deciede to do it and let me tell you that was the best thing i ever done on the bike. To me it was more fun to lean that bike on the corners!!! Plus the rear tire looked really nice a bit bigger. Go 120/60 front and 150/60 rear and don't look back.
Click to expand...
 
MPS said:
that is my plan after 2 days of lurking the forums
now i just need to find a good tire to go with and a place to get it from
ill just put this out there i dont mind spending $300 to $400 on a good tire
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I went with the Michelin PPower - to me it is an excellent tire for the money. Just my two cents.;-)
 
sempre1 said:
I did enough reaserch on the kawi forum at the time, i finally deciede to do it and let me tell you that was the best thing i ever done on the bike. To me it was more fun to lean that bike on the corners!!! Plus the rear tire looked really nice a bit bigger. Go 120/60 front and 150/60 rear and don't look back.
Click to expand...

you did some research, I did over 30,000km of riding with my set up...I'll stick with the 110.
This is what I had the front tire looking like at track after riding the **** out of it and dragging knees...and I still got chicken strip, most likely because of the 150 rear. You're saying you wanna go up to 120 so you can lean in corners!!! Uhhh no.

307045_10150897500994403_1431323631_n.jpg
 
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LoneRonin said:
you did some research, I did over 30,000km of riding with my set up...I'll stick with the 110.
This is what I had the front tire looking like at track after riding the **** out of it and dragging knees...and I still got chicken strip, most likely because of the 150 rear. You're saying you wanna go up to 120 so you can lean in corners!!! Uhhh no.
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You are not going fast enough. Sempre1 is a very experienced rider, I would suggest you listen

And since you are going to return with some attitude and probably insults as you always do, this would be my last post in here, after all I am on probation
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