CA> WC>> Have you tried Michelin? Put them on all my bikes,
CA> WC>> dramatically improved handling, traction and the cost was
CA> WC>> offset by much longer life. My brother uses them as well.
CA> WC>> I ran 5 years on one set of them on a 550 which is
CA> WC>> remarkable for a bike. Better handling in the rain as well.

CA> RS> I recently "upgraded" from Michelin MV4 to MV4+ and my
CA> RS> handling went down noticeably. There is much more "give" in
CA> RS> the sidewalls. The car now "sways" on faster turns, instead
CA> RS> of holding the line tightly.

CA> Is it possible that this 'give' might help avoid the tires
CA> breaking loose and sliding on wet pavement or in the rain? Some
CA> factors of what is 'good' don't always feel quite right if
CA> you're not used to it.

 Well, I pressed both sets pretty hard to see if they
would break on wet pavement. Neither set broke with
more than sane stress applied. I want to know where
the limits are so as not to exceed them in an
emergency, but I never reached the wet traction limits
with either set of tires. Maybe I'm just too chicken.

 The way that I first noticed the difference was when
I tried to avoid someone coming into my lane without
noticing that I was already there. The sway could very
easily cause you to oversteer. The other set of tires
were much more stable.

CA> My MGB could do a 'bootleg' at 50mph on an 8 lane highway (2
CA> way x 4 lanes each) using Dunlops but they were noticeably
CA> 'soft' when going in a straight line. Of course this was a
CA> controlled drift going sideways through the bootleg. ;-)

 All the Dunlops I've used were soft and sticky.
Great performance with control, but, the life was
always short.

CA> RS> I notice that the MV4's are still for sale, but at a higher
CA> RS> price than the MV4+. If they're still available, I'm
CA> RS> switching back on my next set of tires.

CA> RS> FWIW.

CA> Cornering isn't as important although it's a factor in the rain
CA> etc. I mainly want the proper siping for slippery roads and
CA> stopping power. If I can stop the rest is easy. :-)

 Stopping and manuvering out of the way of others
who can not stop or who do not see are important
here.

 TTYL.

 Robert

 * SLMR 2.1a * I'm not Superman; but, I am very dense.
--- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5