Rear Tire of Choice

I’m about to order a new rear tire for my GT. Which would be the better choice, Metz Cruisetec or Bridgestone Excedra Max?

The same you have on the front…

I have the original Avon on the front, I haven’t seen Avon rears available.

I changed to Bridgestone this year and I like it so far! Looks more aggressive, because it’s .5 inch high off off the ground makes rake smaller and better turning radius on tighter corners! So far I like a lot no modifications to rear mudguard

I have a Cruisetec on the front and Exedra Max on the rear, no complaints.

papanorm said:

I have the original Avon on the front, I haven’t seen Avon rears available.

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I'm lucky enough to have a new pair of Avons reserved at my local dealer. I thought the rear was getting near the wear bar so I rang them up and they said they had a pair of Cobras on the shelf. I always change tyres as a pair when the rear is getting worn, regardless of the amount of tread left on the front, because the front tyre is sure to have worn more on the shoulders than the centre and become faceted, or thupenny bit as we say over here, and that spoils the way it turns. So I replace both together.

Anyway, when I took the bike in, the guy at the dealer said what I'd been looking at wasn't the wear bar and there was another 3000 miles in the tyre. So they let me put a deposit on the tyres and they're waiting for me at the dealers whenever I need them. I appreciate their honesty. They could have just sold me a set of tyres I didn't need.
Cruisertecs have an 8 week lead time here. The new set will last me well into next season so this coming winter I'll buy a set either of Exedras or Cruisertecs to have on standby for next time.
I think that's just going to be a fact of life with the Rocket: don't expect to find a set of tyres on demand. Keep a spare set in stock.

I've never had a problem getting the Exedra Max for the rear. They're less expensive and perform better with quicker handling (see above comments- raised height/shortened rake). Best prices I've found are at Rocky Mountain ATV...

20R3GT said:

I changed to Bridgestone this year and I like it so far! Looks more aggressive, because it’s .5 inch high off off the ground makes rake smaller and better turning radius on tighter corners! So far I like a lot no modifications to rear mudguard

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Journeyman said:

I've never had a problem getting the Exedra Max for the rear. They're less expensive and perform better with quicker handling (see above comments- raised height/shortened rake). Best prices I've found are at Rocky Mountain ATV...

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I've seen the raising of the rear mentioned a couple of times to quicken the steering on these bikes. On my KTM's I've always pushed the forks up in the triples to accomplish this. I like a light feel to the steering and never found the bike unstable at triple digits afterwards. Just wondering if anyone has done this with the rocket. I've been thinking about trying it. This beast seems like it could benefit from this, and there looks to be about a half inch on the forks to play with. Although I havent looked under the signals to see the fork machining.

rick danger said:

I've seen the raising of the rear mentioned a couple of times to quicken the steering on these bikes. On my KTM's I've always pushed the forks up in the triples to accomplish this. I like a light feel to the steering and never found the bike unstable at triple digits afterwards. Just wondering if anyone has done this with the rocket. I've been thinking about trying it. This beast seems like it could benefit from this, and there looks to be about a half inch on the forks to play with. Although I havent looked under the signals to see the fork machining.

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If you're going to stick with stock tires and want to shorten the rake I don't see any reason you couldn't raise the forks. I've pulled mine to replace the seals and change the fork oil. Nothing I can remember that would prevent that.

I put Metzler Cruisetec front on rocket and pushed in pretty hard in tight turns at 45mph/75kmph and I am very happy with it.