I purchased and received a set of distanzia's in 120-70-17 and 140-80-17 from dennis kirk and am a bit concerned about the tire compound. This tire is advertised as a dual sport high mileage but according to some- the 120-70 size is supermoto soft compound only. how do i tell what it is? i will call avon tomorrow, but maybe someone here knows.. anyone have the SM tires? is there any marking or indication on the tire?
hmm. just looked at my SM in the garage. No obvious supermoto designation on the tires. They are "H" rated - not sure if the regular distanzia's have that designation or not. Let us know what you find out. dc
The tires have no designation on them anywhere. The SM Sizes which you have are a soft compound. I had them before. I got maybe 3 or 4,000 out of the rear tire and about 6,000 before the front was cooked. That was with pretty easy riding too (mostly commuting). I haven't tried them on my Vstrom yet to see if the sizing really makes a difference or not.
Yeah, i called avon and the dude said the 120/70-17 is a soft compound.. Dennis kirk said they dont know anything about it and only posted high mileage cause its what was sent to them.. gotta find a replacement 17 inch front now
i had a pair a few years back, and they are "dual-compound" .the center is harder( less rolling resistance) and as you get off center, they change over to softer compounds ( more grip for cornering). i'm sure that all distanzias are the same construction. i wasn't inpressed by the milage i got (all slab 60-80mph-about 9k b4 i noticed cupping on the front) but have to say that the grip while in the twisties was impressive! all things considered, it seemed like a fair trade off.
Cupping or feathering front ot back of the tread blocks on the front tire ....comes from hard and repeated front brake use and is pretty much normal on most bikes and most riders.......
just run it, you'll be fine. i'm running that front w/the 150/70 DS compound rear and they're both wearing like iron. it's not that soft
If you want a spare front, you can have the set I took off my Ninja 650 after only 2000 or so kilometers. Shipping is about 40 bucks from here to pretty much anywhere in the US. Front is a 120-70/17. Let me know, I'd like to get them out of my house. --Mike
I have the same tire on the front of my DRZ with 11000 miles on it and it is still really good. I got 8000 miles out of my last rear and 3000 miles on the new one and it looks new. I ride highway and backroads only. Great grip and great tire. I would just put it on and ride.
Oh wow.. 11k is awesome. I was expecting around 3-4k from reading some reviews. Guess ill have to test it myself Grainbelt, what size is the rear? Definitely interested, looks like your PM's are disabled though.
