Question - tires

[fixxervi6]

Its about time for a new set of tires, I'm running the the stock factory tires that come on the bike new.

The middle is flat on the rear, the front is cupping (not sure why, I kept an eye on the pressure), 4,600+ miles so they are about there.

So the probably too common question, what to replace them with. I'd like to have something that will hold up to the commute but sticks like glue in the corners so I'm thinking a dual/tri compound tire. My tires are about wore out but I have a nice 1/2" chicken strip all around the outside edge, its all that highway 183 to work driving that just sucked the life out of the center strip of the tire.

My Katana had some kind of sport touring multi compound tire that held up to high mileage very very well but they didn't stick worth a damn. So do they make a nice tire that holds up to the commute but will allow someone to also go do the track and not worry about if they are gonna grip?

Should I go for the multi compound tire or just suck it up and put some nice soft rubber on and just be prepared to replace it frequently?

[U-Turn]

I'd like to have something that will hold up to the commute but sticks like glue in the corners ...

Don't we all.
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I think most of us run Dual Compound tires ~ Pilot Power 2CT. Still 5k on a back tire though. about 10k on a front.
My personal opinion as to why a front tire lasts just about twice as long as a front has to do with acceleration. Friction is heat, but it's also wear. Accelerating hard(er) than a cage I think, will cause the rear tire to wear more quickly, assuming the compound for a front and back tire are the same.
Some here have claimed much higher mileage from a set and I think those happen to have much more steady highway distance (less takeoff/stopping wear.)
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ME, I go with the expectations that a front is about 10k and a rear will last me 5k, and I'd prefer to have a sticky tire, in case I need that, vs a tractor tire.
But then again I read an article, current tire technology, even a ST type tire is much sticker than tires of 10 years ago.

[Dragonfly]

Should I go for the multi compound tire or just suck it up and put some nice soft rubber on and just be prepared to replace it frequently?

Which is more important to you, long tread life or good grip? You could get a second set of wheels, put sport touring tires on one set and street/trackday tires on the other. Swap them on and off according to how you will be riding.

[sckego]

My Katana had some kind of sport touring multi compound tire that held up to high mileage very very well but they didn't stick worth a damn. So do they make a nice tire that holds up to the commute but will allow someone to also go do the track and not worry about if they are gonna grip?

"Go to the track" means different things to different people. At a L1 or mid-pack L2 pace, any of the dual-compound sport-touring tires like the Michelin Pilot Road 2 or the Bridgestone BT-023 should do fine, while still allowing you to get 10k or more out of a rear. These tires have hard-compound rubber in the middle for good wear life, and softer rubber on the edges for good grip. However, even the soft compound you find on these S-T tires isn't going to measure up to what you'll get with a pure sport tire like the Power Pures or BT-003RS... but then, you really only need that level of grip if you're railing it in L2 or L3. If you're doing mainly commuting and street rides and just want to try the track once in a while, I'd say go with one of the S-T tires.

I've found what works for me (20k+/yr, 6-8 trackdays/yr) is to just go with the softer rubber--usually PP2CTs, regular Pilot Powers, Pirelli Diablos, or whatever I can find on sale cheap--and between a few thousand commuting miles and two or three trackdays, they're about toast and ready to be replaced. So, I'd be going through four or more sets per year, but I'd be getting close to full use out of the, both in the middle and on the edges. What I was doing for a while is what Benny mentioned... I had two sets of wheels, kept a newish set of stickies on one for trackdays, and when the edges would get worn I'd start commuting on them to use up the middle and use a new set for trackdays.

[fixxervi6]

Well I got 6,000 miles out of my battlax's I guess thats pretty durn good.

Just got some Power 2CT's, when I took off out of the parking lot it felt real twitchy I didn't like it. (low speed turning felt a little unstable)

Then I got out on the road and put it through some curves, holy crap what a difference, once I started the turn its like the bike was on auto pilot, I think I'm in love.

I think the difference I am feeling is the curve of this tire is steeper compared to my last set.

Can't wait to get them all scrubbed off.

[DarcShadow]

The twitchy out of the lot was most likely the standard slickness of all new tires. Make note and see if they still fell the same after a few hundred miles on them.

[sckego]

Nah, PP's are known for their steep profile... more of a V x-section then a U. Makes it fall into turns very easily, but at slow speeds it feels like the bike wants to just fall over when you try to initiate a turn! You get used to it pretty quickly, though.