Tires For Bandit 600

[warthog1984]

OK everyone, here's the deal:

 

My '98 Bandit 600 is finally rideable again and I'll be hitting the twisties soon, followed up CSS once I blow the rust off. The current tires are squared-off el-cheapos put on by a previous owner. I'm looking to replace them but need help finding the best tire. Issues include:

 

1. Weird Tire Sizes (110/70-17 & 150/70-17). Dunlop's tire selector recommends the GT501, which does NOT seem like a performance tire. Pirelli appears to have various Diablos / Angels that fit, unsure about Metzeler or others.
2. Trading off grip, wear, and price. I'd like to get a tire I could use for trackdays, SoCal canyon-carving, and commuting. Price/wear is a factor, but a secondary one. OTOH, having a super-duper tire that won't react in traffic because it's too cold could lead to issues involving me, the bike, and becoming one with an F-250 or cliffside.
3. Required performance. Semi-experienced rider (1 year, 5K miles) and a stock Bandit. I'm unsure how much performance I could actually tap into with Q2s or other very-high-perf tires vice touring-type tires.

Thanks for any suggestions!

[DUNLOP-RTS]

OK everyone, here's the deal:

 

My '98 Bandit 600 is finally rideable again and I'll be hitting the twisties soon, followed up CSS once I blow the rust off. The current tires are squared-off el-cheapos put on by a previous owner. I'm looking to replace them but need help finding the best tire. Issues include:

 

1. Weird Tire Sizes (110/70-17 & 150/70-17). Dunlop's tire selector recommends the GT501, which does NOT seem like a performance tire. Pirelli appears to have various Diablos / Angels that fit, unsure about Metzeler or others.
2. Trading off grip, wear, and price. I'd like to get a tire I could use for trackdays, SoCal canyon-carving, and commuting. Price/wear is a factor, but a secondary one. OTOH, having a super-duper tire that won't react in traffic because it's too cold could lead to issues involving me, the bike, and becoming one with an F-250 or cliffside.
3. Required performance. Semi-experienced rider (1 year, 5K miles) and a stock Bandit. I'm unsure how much performance I could actually tap into with Q2s or other very-high-perf tires vice touring-type tires.

Thanks for any suggestions!

 

I would go with the GT501 on that bike.

 

Its great street tire for those odd ball size rims.

 

Little known fact is that the compound on the GT501 is the same as the race compound K591 back in the day. They won't state that because the majority of sales are to street guys. but in fact they are good tires for a track days. on such a bike.

 

Don't think you are going to set a track record on them, the bike is not able to do that. but for what your bike is, those tires are more than enough, plus they will be great for the street.

[warthog1984]

Late follow-up question.

 

Looking online the '96-'99 B600 uses 110/70-17 and 150/70-17 while the '00-'03 B600 with AFAIK the same fork, frame, and general setup, uses 120/60-17 and 160/60-17 which has Q2s and Roadsmarts available.

 

1) Anybody know if these are the same bike?

2) What would be the effect of changing to the '00-'03 tire sizes (without changing compounds)?