Our Cars: Kawasaki Z250SL
17 October 2016: Time to get some better tyres
The Details
| Current mileage | 987 |
|---|---|
| Costs this month | £150 (tyres and mobile fitting) |
After getting used to the Z250SL I only had two minor criticisms. First, the extremely quiet exhaust, which wasn’t ideal for being noticed by distracted motorists on a morning commute. Second, the standard tyres. They are Dunlop TT900s from the factory and, frankly they’re a bit rubbish.
They’re not bad in dry conditions, but they don’t inspire huge amounts of confidence when leaning over into bends because they are hard and don't grip very well. They're even worse in the wet, providing very little feedback at all which, on a bike aimed at new riders or all-weather commuters, isn’t ideal, even considering the budget price.
When driving a car, the level of tyre feedback is neither as obvious nor as important as when riding a bike, since even when skidding a car isn’t going to fall over. On a bike, if one of the tyres lets go it’s definitely bad news – so I decided it would be worth changing to some better rubber.
Unfortunately, getting hold of tyres to fit the Z250SL is quite tricky because it has an unusual front wheel dimensions. Pleasingly, the front and rear fitment is identical to one of the most popular learner 125s on sale – the Yamaha R125. So even if there isn’t a huge amount of tyre choice, there is at least some.
The new tyres provide much better feel and inspire confidence in bends
Michelin produces Pilot Streets in the right size and they get very positive reviews, so I opted for a set of those to replace the Dunlops, despite the original tyres still having loads of tread. In the correct size they cost roughly £100 for both, plus fitting, which was carried out by Mark from mobile-bike-tyres.co.uk.
It took 60 miles to wear the tyres in, which is less than the 100 miles that most manufacturers' recommend. But even before they were worn in properly there were obvious improvements, with a crisper, more precise, confidence-inspiring feel when leaning over into bends.
This improved further once the tyres were scrubbed in properly, plus they provide better feel in rain than the old Dunlops, giving a more secure feel when cornering or braking on wet roads. That’s not a huge concern for me, since I don’t ride all that often in rain but, for many commuters, wet weather performance is very important.
They’re quite obviously better, but for most buyers they’re probably only worth buying if you need to replace your tyres through wear, rather than as an upgrade straight from the showroom – especially on a bike where budget is a key consideration. But if you do want to upgrade I can certainly recommend the Pilot Streets.
« Earlier: Bring the noise Later: Two-up on the Z250SL »
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