Mixing Tires?

I wouldn't mix brands or versions personally because I have always been led to believe bike tyres are designed to work together. Happy to be corrected though!

 

I am running a Power 5 on the front of my Speed Triple with a Road 4 on the rear. I have had no issues on the road or track.

 

Mixing modern tyres, especially if you don't race , has little effect on how they handle . Most if not all tyre's nowadays are far far better than most of us can use ! You would be a road warrior if you could even get close to the tyre's adhesion limits.

 

My only thought on it and am willing to get shot down for it is that each type of tyre has a different profile and I wonder how that may affect the handling

 

Very little effect on handling , unless you really ride harder and faster than you should ! Tyre's are round rubber things that go on rim's , to help stop the jarring that wood and iron wheels transfer to your vehicle , be it two or four wheeler !
Tyres and their profile aren't too important if you just ride a road bike normally at licence preserving speeds. If you have a super sport and death wish , it becomes important.
I've been mixing - brands-profiles-sizes(aspect ratio) for year's.
Triumph Trident ('94) Triumph Sprint ('99) and Triumph America ('09) I buy what is either available or cheaper at the time, I have had No problem keeping the Bike on the road at any legal speeds , in any weather.... !

 

Most if not all tyre's are better than we are ! Just some , somehow make a few of us twitchy '''

If you're bum don't Twitch It'll Do !!

 

How hard and fast should you ride? That is such an open ended question. Forget the moral high ground and banging on about speed limits, we all know they exist and where/what they are but I don't believe anyone buys a high performance sports bike and NEVER gives it it's head occasionally. I've mixed and matched tyres in the past, usually because of availability, with varying results. I've mixed Pilot Road numbers on the ZZR and they were fine even though not recommended by the manufacturer. I had to put an Avon something or other on the front of my Fireblade back in '95 when I couldn't get a matching Bridgestone and it was terrible. This was just before our annual TT pilgrimage and it ruined the holiday!!

 

In theory a wider tyre will slow the steering but in practise I wouldn't expect it to feel any different on a bike like a Bonneville assuming clearance is OK. The wheel + tyre will be around 18mm taller with a 2.8% increase in rolling radius which will make the speedo read slightly slower than with the smaller tyre if speed is measured by the front wheel but it's negligible IMO.

 

Numbers, in sequence are tyre width, profile as a % of width and diameter. 90% of 110 is greater than 90% of 100, hence the increase in diameter & circumference.

 

I always stick to the original sizes but often mix brands (whatever is cheapest) and never had a problem.
Tyres are all very similar these days.

 

Oh dear a real can of worms, firstly it depends on what type of riding you do, whilst it is very true that for road riding a rider will never find the limit of adhesion, that said riding in the UK the weather can and does dramatically change, and that does have a bearing on what tyres you have. Take say a machine fitted with a Pirelli Supercorsa on the rear, and you had a new Metzler Racetech RR to hand, and you fitted this to the front (or vice versa), then the profile alters, the Metzler sits higher so the handling alters, and not for the better, a lot of people think the Supercorsa and RRs are the same, well I can assure you they are not, as a matched pair they handle similar but do have anomalies. Personally I never mix tyres the consequences may become serious, many people get away with it and are happy. If during a spirited ride you suddenly encountered a wet or slippery surface on a bend, and the rear held good grip whilst the front did not due to the different wet weather characteristics, then you may be faced with a low side or worse still a highside, on the twisties you have at best an inch of tyre contact or less for a lot of riders, that's a lot to go wrong with a mixed tyre combination, you can get away with it on a car due to 4 wheels on the tarmac, and a larger tyre contact area. I only use Supercorsa's or RRs, for the last few years I have stuck with the RRs, they are slightly higher profile, thus raising the ride height but not enough to make it a "tip toe effect". Ride safe all from and ageing Rocker.

 

I try different brands as new tyres come on the market but personally never mix front and rear tyres and always use matched pairs. Tyres have been tested as matched pairs but if you mismatch then you become the tester and the result might not always be positive.

 

I have a 2020 T120 Ace Cafe. The OEM front Phantom, which was terrible from the start, wore out quickly and I replaced it with a Metzler Roadtec 01. Left the back Phantom on as it had 80% tread left. Performance with the mixed set is totally different, for the better. Solid in a straight line and on the curves. I'm not a peg scraper, but you probably wouldn't be with a Bonnie. However, a little aggression is good for the digestion sometimes.