tyres kawasaki gpx250

Two Whell Shennanigans · 13-08-2008, 02:13 PM

Hi guys, i did a search looking for tyre options for my gpx 250 but when i called places asking for these tyres they said they wont fit. i tried telling them they would and others have used them but they tell me the dunlops are the only way i can go. I tried tyres for bikes and a few dealers and they all told me the same thing.

Anyone know or can tell me where they got theirs. I heard pirelli MT75's and Michelin M39's are good or even the dunlop GT501's i just dont want the arrowmax again

McHarrie · 13-08-2008, 03:13 PM

Well as you may allready know the GPX takes 110/70 x 17" on the front and 130/70 x 17" on the rear, when i was looking for tyres to put on my mates gpx a few years ago i discovered that its hard to find good tyres for that size, the best ones i came across are the Michelin Pilot Activ. They have a good rep although they are not super impressive tyres like the Supercorsa pro's they will definatly give you a greater range of grip than the arrowmax's (i have only ridden on arrowmax's once, from what i have heard around the place they seem to attract a pretty bad rep). I think Bridgestone also make a tyre that will fit but their website is shit so the best way to find out is to talk to a dealer. I find the fellas at the bike doctor on scarb beach road are really easy to talk to as they dont treat you like a dummy just because you ride a 250. I hope this helps but sorry if any of my information is wrong as its been a long time since i looked for gpx tyres

slipstream · 13-08-2008, 03:15 PM

i thought u could get battleaxe's for the gpx as well

McHarrie · 13-08-2008, 03:25 PM

Oh yeh forgot about battleaxes

GreenPlastic · 13-08-2008, 06:44 PM

I was looking at new tyres for my gpx too and was wondering the same question... Surely there re more than 3 tyres that fit such a popular bike..?

Mex · 13-08-2008, 06:52 PM

i thought the gpx was 16" changed to 17" for 2008???

Edit: yep...

Quote:

Tire, front 100/80x16
Tire, rear 130/80x16

House · 13-08-2008, 07:14 PM

You can put taller profiled tyres on there if you want (i.e. 100/90x16 and 130/90x16), they'll fit just fine, though the bike itself will sit very slightly higher.

That opens up Pirelli Sport Demons as an option, which are what I intend to switch to if I wear out my existing arrowmaxes. It also lets you fit the GT501s that you mentioned (not sure how different they'll be to be honest, as they're just a slightly updated version of the arrowmax GT301).

The MT-75s will fit also, but they're a shorter profile than stock, so the bike will sit slightly lower.

Ninja250.org have a good page on tyres for the GPX anyhow, you might want to have a look at it.

Two Whell Shennanigans · 14-08-2008, 09:23 AM

yeh i got in touch with causeway kawasaki they were the only ones that actually chased up and told me that i could put on the Pirelli MT75's. So im off there tomorrow to get the rear put on the front should last till i need to sell. There is good rep for the pirellis in the US and i know pirelli is a leading brand so i decided to go with them. $129 a tyre + fitting for the rear

Motormaniac · 14-08-2008, 10:53 AM

yeah im on arrowmax also. i find that they have a pretty decent grip and wear quite well. a massive improvement on the stock tyres which felt like they were made of plastic

Motormaniac · 15-08-2008, 01:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Motormaniac

yeah im on arrowmax also. i find that they have a pretty decent grip and wear quite well. a massive improvement on the stock tyres which felt like they were made of plastic

i take that back, tyres gave out on me yesterday on a basic round about...
stupid tyres. but draggins are well worth the money

thro · 15-08-2008, 01:13 PM

^^ GPX tyre choice is extremely limited due to being 16". Most bikes upgraded to 17" back in the early 90s, but the GPX design predates that by about 10 years.

When scorpion82 was chasing tyres for his, I think an option may have been some pirellis that were supposed to be for a scooter (maybe worth inquiring about - forget the name of them).

Other than that though... not a lot about. The GPX suspension is pretty crap anyway, so even if you had the best rubber in the world on it, you'll be dragging centrestand/pegs pretty early in any case.

speed3 · 15-08-2008, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rocky_grass88

yeh i got in touch with causeway kawasaki they were the only ones that actually chased up and told me that i could put on the Pirelli MT75's. So im off there tomorrow to get the rear put on the front should last till i need to sell. There is good rep for the pirellis in the US and i know pirelli is a leading brand so i decided to go with them. $129 a tyre + fitting for the rear

If there profile is different then go a new front as well or your handling could actually end up being worse

thro · 15-08-2008, 01:25 PM

^^ whs.

front tyres are cheap, and the last thing you want is some nice new grippy rear, and a front thats made of rocks.

also, as said, the profile differences will alter the handling too.

House · 15-08-2008, 05:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thro

When scorpion82 was chasing tyres for his, I think an option may have been some pirellis that were supposed to be for a scooter (maybe worth inquiring about - forget the name of them).

That would be the MT-75, the very same tyre he's getting

mcmurray · 03-09-2008, 07:33 PM

Shennanigans, what's the Pirellis like? I'm thinking of upgrading also and I think the MT75 might be the way to go.

Two Whell Shennanigans · 03-09-2008, 08:11 PM

I ended up getting the pirelli ST66 from causeway kawasaki which matches the specs 130/70/16. Heaps of tread, great in the wet and they will last i while i reckon. they are actually a scooter tyre, but so far so good. Havent been to the hills yet so havent given them a thorough workout but planning to soon

Still got the stock front on though

House · 07-09-2008, 03:59 PM

It seems I've pretty much hit the wear markers on my rear tyre after Falcore's country ride yesterday. The front still has a bit to go, but I'd rather just change them both and be done with it. I have an ARD booked for october and would like some decent tyres for it.

I'm now after somewhere that will be willing to put pirelli sport demons on there, rather than the "blah blah you can only use dunrocks on the GPX" that most places seem to have tried to tell you.

Was causeway kawasaki the only place with some sense, or were there others too?

Wherever I end up taking it, I'm guessing they'll need to order the tyres, so any help regarding places that would do it will be appreciated.

Abz · 07-09-2008, 04:24 PM

I have a ZZR250 and went to the the bike doctor (the one on scarborough beach road).

The guy was fairly helpful. mentioned that i could either go the dunlops or the bridgestone. He didn't mention that i could go anything else but would like to call around to a couple other places. Got quoted ~$330 for front and rear fitted for the Bridgestone. I was hoping that i could fit on 110/150 front/rear on the zzr so it could open up to pilot road 2s.

thro · 07-09-2008, 04:27 PM

^^ ZZR != GPX

The zzr has 17 inch rims like virtually every semi-sporting bike since the mid 80s, and has a vastly improved selection of tyres available.

Jedi · 07-09-2008, 04:42 PM

Go the dunlops and go for a hard ride just after you get them, I'm talking an hour or more doing a fair clip (140+). I've heard about heat cycling and stuff but it's not something I claim to understand, all I know is that I've had two sets of arrowmaxes on my GPX and the second set seems way way grippier, and I put it down to having been taken for a decent country run about 3 days after I bought em.

Also my pegs are scraped down so much that my centerstand is what bottoms out, and I can still scrape that with the Dunlop arrowmaxes on if I'm feeling adventurous. Maybe with increased grip you could corner faster with the same lean angle or something (infact the little force diagram I just drew in my head says you probably could) but it's still a GPX dude. The extra speed you get won't be noticible unless you're looking at lap times or whatever.

Basically what I'm saying is that Dunlop arrowmaxes have enough grip to get you pretty leaned over, the brakes are the limiting factor on a gpx and not the tyres (I can do tiny little stoppies on mine on a good day), pretty much everything you want to do on the bike some other system is going to be the weak link before you break traction, with the possible exception of if you're leaned over and want to be taking corners 10-20 kph faster in which case you're already a good rider and what the hell are you riding a gpx for. Don't read some article on the net by some seriously good rider who says the Dunlops are shit and think that they are unsafe for street riding.