[mennoc]

I have a pair of M3 on my Daytona. Front is from 2013, rear from 2015. I'm a bit afraid of these tires - I don't know how reliable are they, besides, front is quite old. I want to change them but I'm hesitating, because previous owner was riding straight lines only - sides of tires are pretty much brand new. I've been doing track days on S20Evo and apart from a few minor rear slips, they performed well.
My question is - should I change them immediately due to old construcion and old front and not go to a track day until I do so?
This is my first season on a Daytona and I already felt front behaving odd while street riding. I'm still not used to the bike, so it might as well be my imagination.

 

[MGFChapin]

Tire manufacturers recommend replacing them every 5 years. If the bike has always been garaged and not subject to extreme temperature changes, you may safely be able to go a little longer. Based on age alone, I wouldn't change them.

If the middle of the tires are no longer round, you may feel a sudden jolt as the bike tips onto the round sides. That's not good for a track day. They may not be too old, but they're probably too worn. Tires are the single most important thing to have confidence in when it comes to riding your bike on the track. Swap them out.

 

[mennoc]

I took a look at them again and they're both from 2015 with sides that were never used (cause sportbikes are meant to ride straight ) so I gave them a chance and I'm pretty satisfied with them. They're a bit more round now, after 2 track days, also grip level is more than enough for my skill - I lost the back two times - once on a pedestrian crossing white lines, while cornering, second time was too much gas while lane spliiting - also on white lines. It seems these tires are more than enough for my current skill level, so I guess I'll kill them before I swap to something new.
And this is another question I have. What tires would you recommend? I thought I'll go for S21 but after having spent some time with Metzeler's I'm thinking about M7 RR. I know a lot of people suggest Dunlop Q3 or even Q4 but the top I see in my country are Q2. Or perhaps something from Pirelli? I rarely ride in the rain but it does happen so I want something that has more grip on wet than a block of ice.

 

[Neanderthal]

M7RR are very nice, I have them on my FZ1 and will most likely put a set on the Striple next time I need to order tires. Nice thing about the M7RR, they do not "square off" as they wear down and grip seems to remain constant through the entire life of the tire. The 'Stone S20/S21 are nice as well, but I only get around 2,500 miles out of them, lol.

Street tires choices are usually pretty personal - you just got to try different things until you find something that you feel comfortable with. What one person may love, you might think sucks. I'm that way with Pirelli Angels - hate 'em. Keep in mind, just about everything will feel great when brand new when coming off a worn-out set, so don't let the first 500 miles fool you into thinking how great they are, lol.

 

[mennoc]

I'm trying to find tires suitable for both track and street, so Angels are surely not what I'm looking for

 

[Neanderthal]

Ya, I just threw the Angel reference out there as an example, I know a lot of folks like them but I don't. I think they'd be fine to throw out in the back yard and plant flowers in the middle. Anyway, I do really like the M7RR's, at least how they have been performing on the FZ. I will def put a set on the Striple and see how they do. The folks over on the British forum have been putting up positive reviews (on the M7RR) as well.

 

[Plasmablaster]

Thumbs up for the M7RR as well. Grips well even cold-ish. Have done around 9K miles on them, all types of riding, including 2 trackdays where they performed as you would expect from a tyre at this category. Which is a plus because all of its peer tyres perform adequately on a track but many need plenty of warming-up to do so - not this one. Dunlop Sh*tsmart this ain't.

Of course having done so many miles and after two full years of use the drop in performance is significant and it was accentuated to me after I rode my buddy's ST-R with identical tyres (but one year newer!). My tyres are still soft to the classic "nail-test" so obviously the chemical bond between the tyre and the asphalt is nowhere to be found and so the tyres always give this "semi-slip" feeling that sips away your confidence on mid-grip surfaces. Still, they saved my skin in a recent occasion when I had to panic-brake on very slippery ashpalt.

So, very good tyres overall and probably going to be on my bike again. Probably because I'm thinking about the new Road 5s since I've given up on trackdays (for medical reasons).