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New rider looking for tire / installation advice.

6K views 18 replies 9 participants last post by  crakerjac 
#1 ·
I'm sure this has been posted a million times before, but I'm looking for some specific advice, so here goes!

Took my Z out this morning and when I got home I decided to clean the wheels up and install some CustomTaylor33 reflective rim tape (which look awesome, btw!). Got the front tire all squared away and moved on to the rear.



Then I noticed a piece of nail sticking out of the tire. I pulled it out pretty easily, and heard a little 'tsssssss' sound of a bit of air escaping before it stopped. I've let it sit for the last couple of hours and it doesn't seem to be losing that much pressure, but I don't want to get on it until I feel 100% safe. (FWIW, I haven't checked it with a tire gauge yet.)

I'm not sure if I want to take a chance on a plug, so the hunt begins for some new tires. I figure I'd go ahead and replace both, since I've read nothing but bad things about the stock tires. The Z125 FB group mentioned Michelin Power Pure, and gave me a link to Revzilla.com, however the ones I think I need to go with are out of stock.

I've made the post here to get some advice on tires as well as some direct links to a good deal. I don't want to mess with different sizes, and I am new to all of this, so I could use any constructive criticism about the right tires and the right process to replace them. I do not have the tools to do it myself, so that adds a bit to my questions in general. Would I need to find a place to take the tires to get them installed? Would your normal, run of the mill tire shop offer something like this? Maybe call the dealership and see what they offer?

I'd love to find a good deal on a good set of tires at a place where they're in stock, and hopefully with free (or cheap) shipping. I don't need anything super expensive or top of the line, but I also don't want to cheap out. I'd like for them to be a nice upgrade if I am dropping the cash on tires!

Again, any advice (or especially links to buy) would be greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance.
 
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#2 ·
#3 ·
Pirelli rosso's are the best street tires you can get for this bike. By a long shot.

As a general rule of thumb you aren't supposed to plug motorcycle tires. But on these little bikes that don't really put much stress on the carcass I personally wouldn't worry about it.
 
#9 ·
The Kenda Kwiks are amazing for the money. I did a 120/80 on the rear and 100/90 on the front with them and they feel great. You can go 130/70 with no problems either I think.

This year my tires will likey be 130/70 rear and 110/70 front to try and if it doesn't work ill go back to 120/80 and 100/90 combo. I am using my bike on the track so I never go through the whole "life" of the tire tread wise but grip wise you can tell they aren't the same after a few sessions hence why I need ANOTHER set again.

If you really want more grip I think Mitas has some nice ones but not sure if those are street legal or not I would need to check, can look into it after work.
 
#13 ·
On the one hand yes, I do owe them some praise for the free set. However, this praise is mainly due to how great those tires are.

I've run them on my ZX10 and ZX6 in the past and loved every minute of it. If I was in a higher tax bracket I'd run them on all the street bikes all the time (with the exception of drag days on the rear of the ZX10). I swapped them over on the 125 this last fall so I could get a literal back to back from the Kenda Kwik set to the Pirelli's. I find the Pirelli's have a very long and wide "scratch portion". By that I mean the point where a tire starts to scratch before it breaks loose. On some tires that's a razor thin line but on the Pirelli's I found it to be very wide and progressive. The grip is very consistent and confidence inspiring. Don't get me wrong, the Kenda's are a very good tire for the $$. But the Pirelli's are better.

Also, due to the low temps and general $h!t roads around here I run around on what many would consider a low ish psi (20 - 25). Being a 225lb (unsuited) cheeseburger loving guy I couldn't make the tire fold and I was trying pretty hard. I was also surprised with how well they bite on polished concrete. Not that I condone this behavior but your local skate park at two in the morning has a whole new dimension to it with the Pirelli's. Trying to skid the front tire on the painted portions of the road during testing resulted in endo's unless I put my weight so far back as to be impractical. A car wash (wet polished floor) pleasantly surprised me even more.

That's one of my favorite things about the Z125. A guy can go and screw around testing dumb stuff in a relatively low consequence environment.

After all that scientific screwing around: Honestly, those tires are surprisingly good.
 
#14 ·
Also the stock tires aren't bad if you run them super low..... 16 psi low. :p

They will flex a bit doing that though. I think I posted a picture of them after running them on the track when it was around 93F (which is hot for us up here in canada) with that low PSI somewhere on this forum. They stuck alright but don't expect much life out of them at that point.
 
#17 ·
So I ended up going with the Kenda Kwick set in the stock size. Found a deal I couldn't pass up online and they showed up super fast, even with the free shipping option.

Got them installed and went for a long ride today. All I have to say is "WOW!". I read over and over that the 'stock tires are garbage' but it's not until you get a new set that you really see that for yourself. I could tell a difference right away!

Thank you all for the awesome advice. I really appreciate each and every one of you.
 
#18 ·
Opinions on tires are like bellybuttons, everyone has one. Also, the stock tires are not as bad as people say. If I didn't want something a bit stickier I'd still be on them.

If I were just doing commuting and nothing that really heats the tires up (like track time) a plug is fine. But I would favor a mushroom style plug because they seal better. (stay away from the fiber string style) I have one of these:

https://www.stopngo.com/standard-model-tire-plugger/

 
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