Ninja 500 Tires

[Gbusch]

Hi Everyone,

Thinking about buying a new Ninja 500 for around town use and track days. I remember someone made a post several months ago about how bad the stock tires are. Can anyone give me an update as to their experience, and what tires you replaced the stock ones with??

 

[wrightme43]

I dont know about the 500. The 250 ninja has the worst tires ever from the factory. More rim protector than tire.

 

[HavBlue]

I dont know about the 500. The 250 ninja has the worst tires ever from the factory. More rim protector than tire.

I don't know they have changed much Steve. They were using the Bridgestone BT45 and both the 250 and 500 were running 110/70/17 front and 130/70/17 rear. The problem with the BT45 is this is a really general compound tire and they are not soft at all which leads to some interesting situations when you really push the tire. I think they would be better off with a softer compound tire for sure and that rear tire should be dropped to a 55 series.

 

[reiobard]

there are a few of my buddies that race EX500's and as soon as you take the stock rubber off (it is a touring type tire and not intended for track use) you can get pretty much any major tire on there. Most of the guys i know race with Pilot Powers on there. They also last about a whole season on 1 set of tires...

 

[dankatz]

Having traded in my Ninja 500 I can tell you that it would be a MAJOR step backwards in technology compared to the FZ6. Don't buy one before test riding one (even a used private model). The Ninja 500 was designed 20 years ago and it really shows. In my opinion the best bike for commuting and fun racing combo is the Suzuki SV, and it also gets excellent fuel economy.
Dani

 

[HavBlue]

Having traded in my Ninja 500 I can tell you that it would be a MAJOR step backwards in technology compared to the FZ6. Don't buy one before test riding one (even a used private model). The Ninja 500 was designed 20 years ago and it really shows. In my opinion the best bike for commuting and fun racing combo is the Suzuki SV, and it also gets excellent fuel economy.
Dani

Yeah, the SV650 is a sweet ride....

 

[reiobard]

Yeah, the SV650 is a sweet ride....

and you can usually get used ones dirt cheap around the track since so many people use them as race bikes

 

[SueMc]

I actually just sold my '99 Ninja 500 that I've had since new. I put about 76,000 Km on it over the years and I always ran the Metzler Sport Tour tires. They handled beautifully in all weather conditions (including the occasional snow flurry). That being said, I never did run it on the track, so I can't speak as to how they'd handle in those conditions.