The Michelin Scorcher tyres on my 2017 48 are the slipperiest things I've ever  encountered on a wet road.    I've never had another bike that misbehaves so much in the wet!   

 

Don't get me wrong, its a little but fun when in a straight line and spinning through a couple of gears, but its a different story when turning etc.

 

Anyone else noticed this?   They've done 1250k's.

 

Cheers

Roger!  Thanks for the reply.  It looks like they might have to go before we get to the wet season.  I nearly dropped the thing the other day in the city and I wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary.  In fact, I was being quite sensible

I know my Fatty had much larger tyres so more contact with the road, but i wasn't expecting such a difference. As said though, its probably mostly due to the type of tyre. This sporster handles far better than the fatty ever did, so I guess there is a compromise with a skinner wheel huh.

I've done 26000k on my original front Scorcher and would have said they were a good allround tyre!

I'll stick with them when i replace it next week

Funny you post this today. I was out on the bike yesterday riding to Brissy from Gold Coast. It was raining, and 6 out of 10 times I would brake, I could feel the rear come out under me or the front having this funny feeling around turns that I was bit concerned to use the front brakes properly. Came around a bend going downhill and there was a set of lights at the bottom. Started braking on the slope and rear started fish tailing and could feel lack of grip on the front. Few months since I have owned the bike, yesterday was the first time I took it out on the rain, and definitely was not a good experience. This was riding around city with stop and go traffic and lights abiding the 60 or 50 kmph speed limits. I don't think I will be keeping my Scorchers for long. I wonder how Shinkos behave on the wet.

Maybe we should ALL be writing to HD about these issues, and not just putting up with the shit products they are fitting to what is an expensive machine.

They are 'ok' on dry roads. I have scraped going around sweeping corners with these, but wet is where they fall flat. Thing is, a lot of users have mixed experience with them. People I know and met in real life, some swear by them and some chuck them out within months. I guess the interesting question is what time are they riding and what type of riding? If its rain and there's no braking involved, just following highway stretches, they might do ok, however its the braking and sharp corners that's the problem. I have always had Michelin Pilot Roads on my previous bikes, and riding in rain was phenomenal. Did a trip from Melbourne to Gold Coast with the Mrs behind me on the ZRX with Pilot Road 3s on them, and heavy rain, drizzles, had no problem going anywhere. This was during 2010 QLD floods. We took detours to hit Mittagong, Mt Tomah, Lismore as stop overs on our way and never felt uncomfortable riding in the rain. Another thing to look at, how well does it displace water along the sides when riding in rain?

Also noticed that these tyres love to follow any ridges on the road, even if they are thin. That's bit weird for a fattish tyre. I'd hate to have them on my bike if I was in Melbourne and have to ride across tram tracks regularly, specially during wet months.

Night dragons are the only way to go!

Shinko 777s for cheap tyres - $320 a set.

Awesome tyres touch the pegs down on the FXR a few times now and they feel rock solid. Wet grip is surprisingly good too, although suspension setup has more to do with that than you'd think.

Cant comment on longevity but I'll trade a few thousand kays for solid grip any day of the week.

agree on the Shinko's

Very good in the wet, Tyre life not the best however.

At that price I'd replace two and have good grips than have one set with meh grip.

I just realised that I have not ridden my current bike (Iron) in the wet yet. Thanks for the heads up !