Tire size for twisties

[EarlyBird]

I like the 190/55 rear over the 190/50. Buy the stickiest street tire you can afford if you want cornering grip. Dunlops, Michelin, Bridgestone, Pirelli all work. The 55 does help tip in better with the busa and adds a bit (few more mm) more road clearance. A recommendation if you are not a short legged person, it to also get adjustable dog bones that allow you to raise the rear of the busa too. I am up 1" over stock. This helps with turn in and corning clearance. Another trick is to shorten the wheel base by going to a larger rear sprocket or by cutting a link out of the chain. I went up 3 teeth in the rear and it moved the rear wheel 5/8" towards the front. Also, a the busa is a wide bike and will hit the engine cases and fairings at stock ride heights when cornering aggressively. I have seen this first hand. Remember these are my recommendations to help you get a better handling and corning busa. And yes I hear it all the time..."That busa cant corner, its a straight line bike!"..... I inside my helmet when I hear this! Then I say to myself they havent met anyone from the org!

 

[skydivr]

Now I know why you can flick that bike so easliy in the corners!!!

 

[fallenarch]

If you really want to improve cornering, raise the rear 1" and then do stock size tires. That is the biggest difference IMHO. The 55 does turn in quicker, but the 1" rise and the 50 section tire are a great compromise between stability and cornering.

I good thing for you would be to go to an empty lot and circle the bike. You can get used to the feeling of leaning it and do it safely and at 25-30 mph. Once you get comfortable with this you can start getting over deep in the twisties. Remember no corner is worth not riding again!

 

[fallenarch]

I like the 190/55 rear over the 190/50. Buy the stickiest street tire you can afford if you want cornering grip. Dunlops, Michelin, Bridgestone, Pirelli all work. The 55 does help tip in better with the busa and adds a bit (few more mm) more road clearance. A recommendation if you are not a short legged person, it to also get adjustable dog bones that allow you to raise the rear of the busa too. I am up 1" over stock. This helps with turn in and corning clearance. Another trick is to shorten the wheel base by going to a larger rear sprocket or by cutting a link out of the chain. I went up 3 teeth in the rear and it moved the rear wheel 5/8" towards the front. Also, a the busa is a wide bike and will hit the engine cases and fairings at stock ride heights when cornering aggressively. I have seen this first hand. Remember these are my recommendations to help you get a better handling and corning busa. And yes I hear it all the time..."That busa cant corner, its a straight line bike!"..... I inside my helmet when I hear this! Then I say to myself they havent met anyone from the org!

Tim, I just noticed that blue grab bar, that's slick. Tim is a cornering fool so do what he says

 

[EarlyBird]

Now I know why you can flick that bike so easliy in the corners!!!

Wait til I get a set of new shoes for the BIG Girl! I hear it gets better! Plus a few more pounds off the bike doent hurt either! Last I weight the busa it was 548lb full of fuel and a hump full of gear. Then the shorai battery lost a few more pounds and improved startup. Then if I lose a bit of weight too!

 

[EarlyBird]

Tim, I just noticed that blue grab bar, that's slick. Tim is a cornering fool so do what he says

The Grab bar was on for Karen when she went with me to her first Busa Bash. Grab bar also fools other to thinking its just a touring bike! Thanks for the nice words Willie!

 

[wht_scorpion]

I got some bones here that are adjustable Im not use but after reading this Im going to install them

 

[ptrane1]

Tire pricing goes up or down with the petroleum (gas) market pricing. Some days you will see a low price and some days a high one. This is because tires are a petroleum based product. I was reading alot of posts and alot of good advice, and the best is all the posts that state it is the "rider" and not always the tires that plays the biggest role in twisties. I suprise many people that have seen me take a corner with the best of the Yamaha R1's, and other bikes built for performance, and they are suprised because the busa is built for speed BUT a rider can make it dance in a curve if your position and technique is right. I have "cornered" the tightest curves riding along the mountains in Virginia and the blue ridge parkway and some tighter turn areas, and the "get low" statement earlier is what I "learned" to do when appropriate. Most of all, i ride within my ability and use judgement. I have had very good results with the Bridgestone Battlax BT016 on the front and the rear. My rear had the 190/50 and I cornered without having my bike slip away from me, and they are excellent coming out of the curve. By the way, I am also stretched 9" in the rear and have been riding a LONG time and know what I can do with my bike and what I cant. I am ALWAYS challenged by guys that see how I handle the busa, and want to challenge me to curves...I have yet to accept a challenge, as I am not in need of a trophy, or a memorial (hey, he sure COULD ride) type of thing if I go down for being dumb.... Get some good tires (the ones above are excellent) but best of all, ride WITHIN your ability, until you learn how to ride the best- and then still ride WITHIN your ability.

 

[Busashot]

Track days, more track days, race schools, track days then go to the twisties and practice, practice, practice!!!

Once you have done that and notice that for some reason you are scraping the plastics, two wheel sliding and smoking the rear tire on corner exits......then you can do all of the above suggestions to allow better handling and quicker corners.

It took me many years to get pretty good at riding. Learning body position made the biggest difference than anything else. Watch the real good riders and emulate them the best you can. Video tape yourself and compare with others. Ask for tips and help from other riders out there on the road. After all that, then I spent tons of money for suspension, brakes and weight loss. What this did for me immediately was more confidence inspiring in going faster, faster and faster. For the street, get the stickiest tire you can afford. Proper tire pressure and your set. Now this bike can hang or beat any litre bike in the most tighest corners. It certainly does well with a Pro on it.........

 

[dadofthree]

I got back from the dragon and I was ok with leaning in but people were say busa cant turn which pisst me off because I did not want to lean to far over to prove them right. I still have chicken strips about 1/2 inch on each side. First time going to the dragon I love it getting ready to make plans to go next year. I was reading one of the threads on here about leaning in to the turn.
I also read in a thread about use sport touring tire on the rear and a sticky tire on the front. Im running roadsmart2 in the front and rear but Im going to have to replace them in a couple of months so I was thing roadsmart3 for the rear and C2 on the front.

My understanding is that if you run a matched set of tires the front will be a little stickier than the rear. That may or may not be true. A taller rear tire is suppose to help you turn in better ( a 55 vs. standard 50 )

 

[Busashot]

Turn in by jacking up the rear and actually has a tad more on the edge for even a tiny bit more contact. Well depends on brand on the last comment but most I have seen have more sidewall to use. I use a 190 55 17 Pirelli Diablo Superbike Pro for track days and for the money is hands down the best sticky tire out there for track days. Why? Cause for most people they stick very well and last a very long time. On a 600cc motorcycle you could probably get nearly a full season on them for track days. On a big bike maybe 3-4 track days. That is value in itself.

 

[Gregor6]

Stock ride height, 50 series Q2... Handles any road and weather in Ohio just fine....
And don't be trying to drag a knee on the nickel, we have better roads than that..

 

[lankeeyankee]

I got some bones here that are adjustable Im not use but after reading this Im going to install them

If they are the Roaring Toyz brand you will have to cut the threaded rod to get them to make it the same as the OEM length.
You can only screw them in so far and they are still not as short as the OEM which results in a lower ride height.
Before installing them compare them to the OEM dogbones.
Dog Bone Length, Shorter the Dogbone the higher the suspension will sit.

 

[wht_scorpion]

Stock ride height, 50 series Q2... Handles any road and weather in Ohio just fine....
And don't be trying to drag a knee on the nickel, we have better roads than that..

Im running on triple nickel and 376 and 666 close to my home

Now the bones need to be short to raise the rear.
and the bones need to be long to lower the rear.
any suggestion on where to get bones to raise the rear for track and twisties.

 

[busa clubslinger]

If you want to do ANYTHING, in the rear go from a 190/50 to a 190/55 but that would be it. The 55 will allow a little faster turn in, and more meat on the ground when leaned over. Frankly, I've ridden both on trackdays, and I have yet to be able to tell much difference. A 55 costs a little more than a 50. I suspect you'd do just fine on a 50 for street riding.

This is what I was going to say. But I've stayed with stock size...it is all about skill!! IMO: Spend your money on a good performance tire if you want to do twisties. I just replaced all mine with Pirelli Rosso Corsa. Rode 400 miles Tuesday on them...chicken strips gone...drug my knee puck all day...and they hardly showed wear! Great choice for a tire!

 

[fastblackblur]

I've been a big fan of the Q2 since it came out. Pretty durable for the amount of grip it offers. A 55 series tire would be the only modification I would recomend to someone just learning about motorcycle cornering and even then only as a replacement not as a "you must get this tire profile now". If your not riding to the edge of your 50's then it's kind of a moot point anyway. Get your sag set the best you can. The absolute best thing your could do to improve the handling of your busa would be to go to a track day or even better a track school.

 

[banditzx10]

only done 150 miles yesterday . my first 150 miles on my first busa in 27 years of riding . pirelli angels all round . after 47 miles the bike was handling great had the nee down 7 or 8 times on the way back home stock size tyres. the busa handles like a dream . ans thats all we have in scotland is corners . great bike great power handling is good for me

 

[Merlot]

This is what I was going to say. But I've stayed with stock size...it is all about skill!! IMO: Spend your money on a good performance tire if you want to do twisties. I just replaced all mine with Pirelli Rosso Corsa. Rode 400 miles Tuesday on them...chicken strips gone...drug my knee puck all day...and they hardly showed wear! Great choice for a tire!

They are costly,but no doubt a great tyre.You get what you paid for.

 

[Merlot]

only done 150 miles yesterday . my first 150 miles on my first busa in 27 years of riding . pirelli angels all round . after 47 miles the bike was handling great had the nee down 7 or 8 times on the way back home stock size tyres. the busa handles like a dream . ans thats all we have in scotland is corners . great bike great power handling is good for me

They are similar to Michelin road 3.But Road 3 life span is longer.

 

[banditzx10]

i dont know about miles out of the tyre. that does not bother me if one tyre gives more miles than the other. main thing here is great grip in dry or wet and the angels do just that . you will still get 2000 miles out of your back tyre . no problem