First Ride on Michelin Road 5 | Kawasaki Ninja 650

[@MathewUnderwood]

Them some good looking tires :) Happy to see you here still!

[@CityNinja650]

Glad to still be here lol. Yea they look and feel great. Got the remnants of Debby here in Pa so I got to test them out.

[@MathewUnderwood]

@@CityNinja650 I would love to get storms like that. Right now we are caked in smoke from wildfires here.

[@CityNinja650]

@@MathewUnderwood you got that beautiful geology too tho. Absolutely love it.

[@BlackArroToons]

Tires look reliable, good to see new ones plus the brake pads too.

[@CityNinja650]

@@BlackArroToons I’m expecting good things from them. Breaks too.

[@BlackArroToons]

@@CityNinja650 Cool. With a gentle throttle and average of 65 mpg, they will probably last you 8000 miles. I've been taking things much slower, doing the speed limit or 5 to 10 miles above it at most, with a gentle throttle, and am really surprised this Ninja 650 '21 can reach over 221+ miles range. I think I can safely hit 235 miles range on one 4.0 tank.

[@sekinchance5186]

The same tires I run. They handle well and the bike feels more grounded even in turns. You can just talk. Feels like a good motovlog.

[@CityNinja650]

@@sekinchance5186 I would agree with that. Turning feels extra sticky and firm. Seems more so then the Nattle axes I just had. Could be just in my head but either way they feel incredible.

[@sekinchance5186]

@@CityNinja650 I was really surprised how good they are. They are supposed to be the best road tires for them. The ride feels more comfortable. Good you can enjoy it more now

[@mwaychoff]

Glad you got some fresh rubber and pads finally! I don’t blame you for having them throw the pads on for $50. That’s a good price for sure. I’ve got the road 6s on my 650 and they’re still almost new after over 3000 miles so I’m sure those will last awhile for ya.

[@CityNinja650]

@@mwaychoff appreciate it sir. Feels so much better. Yea I’m m hoping to get a good bit out of these. Got a good bit from the last ones and even OEM and it being this brand I’m assuming they will meet any expectations. I do got to do a better job keeping track of my tire pressure too tho. I think that would cause some extra wear.

[@4corners312]

Congrates man. Always good feeling. This is what I need. Need tires. 6300 miles on them stock Dunlop now.

[@CityNinja650]

Thank you sir. Yea that definitely seems like the number to change them for sure. It’s weird but I actually got more out of the OEMs. Either way I’m pumped for them. I loved the Battle Ax that I had one it. I would definitely buy that tire again.

[@HIROTOLLIVER]

Down to the wire lol 😂 but they look good (new tires) and just in time for the rain. Keep it up boss man

[@CityNinja650]

@@HIROTOLLIVER appreciate you as always man. Yea super close. I had to run in the rain just a couple times and man. No good lol. At least it would be an easy slide lol

[@HIROTOLLIVER]

@CityNinja650 just be safe boss man most don't keep a eye out for bikes

[@jg7173]

Picking up my bike in a few days... and already looking forward to change the tires once i mauled off the stock Dunlops.. All i know is that these road 5 and 6 types of tires are highly recommended... Being a noob myself i can only follow the ones with the knowledge.. Still a long way to go as i havent even started to wear these stocks :D

[@CityNinja650]

@@jg7173 yea both these tires are great. Definitely a touring tire with harder compounds which is great for longevity. I think I wanna do a video on different styles of tires. There are so many options and each one catered for specific styles of riding. I love it. Congratulations on your bike. It’s such a great experience. Enjoy the learning experience too.

[@langhamp8912]

Changing tires on a motorcycle can be insanely expensive if you go through a dealership. My two local dealerships force you to buy tires from them at a massive mark-up if you want to get your tires changed. It's around $600/set of any tires, plus $240 to change both tires on the bike if you bring in the bike. That's almost 10% of the cost of my bike! I ended up buying a hydraulic ABBA lift, a Rabaconda tire changer, an Amazon wheel-balancer, and a Walmart air compressor. I estimate it will take me a mere 3 tire changes to break even, but I went with the "luxury" path with the hydraulic lift. The whole tire-change setup was still cheaper than an Akropovic or Yoshimura exhaust system, hint hint...

[@CityNinja650]

@@langhamp8912 that’s insane they make you buy the tires from them. That’s really messed up tbh. Thank you for that info. Idk when but I would like to get that same set up. I wanna be able to do most of my maintenance myself and this is a great way to break into that.

[@langhamp8912]

@@CityNinja650 Small city dealerships are always far more expensive than the big city because there's no competition. I'd get the following: ABBA superbike stand (260) Rabaconda tire changer (700) Tire balancer ($40) Air compressor (cheap)

[@CityNinja650]

@@langhamp8912 yea that makes sense unfortunately. Appreciate the information. Definitely things I wanna add to my inventory. Where do you think the best place to get that stuff would be?

[@langhamp8912]

@@CityNinja650 Do you have a biker group that you hang out with? In my opinion, just having a biker group (you don't have to be close buddies with them) is the single most important part of owning a bike and doing good maintenance on it. It's very important. The other stuff, hardware and such, is "buy as you go". Fortunately, since you've already done a tire change, you can forgo the tire changer and just get an ABBA stand. The ABBA stands are a bit pricey, in my opinion, but since they center lift the bike instead of front or rear like paddock stands they work far better for almost any situation. You'll also need a mechanic's tool set with drawers. Don't buy the cases that fold open but instead the ones that have sliding drawers. Finally, ignore all that stuff about new exhausts, quad locks, fender eliminators, flash the ECU, aftermarket mirrors/blinkers, until you get your basic tools. All those basic tools combined don't come close to a single aftermarket exhaust. Motorcycles aren't expensive until you insist on putting mods on them, but most mods simply increase the risk of you crashing or accidentally blowing up your engine.

[@CityNinja650]

@@langhamp8912 I agree 💯 with you. That’s why my bike is still vanilla. Never was interested in an exhaust or anything. Way too expensive for 5hp and a loud sound. I’m keeping the “whale tale” because it actually serves a purpose. I ride in the rain all the time and without that my back would be soaked. I got some clutch guards but unfortunately they didn’t fit. I wanna get ones that do as well as full crash protection. That’s a lot more important

[@ROBSOLUTELY]

I put Road 6's on my CFMOTO 450SS. They are truly awesome! Expensive, but worth it.

[@CityNinja650]

@@ROBSOLUTELY definitely expensive but you get what you pay for. And for that I have absolutely no problem paying for good tires.

[@ROBSOLUTELY]

@@CityNinja650 Exactly! Good tires are so important.

[@adamemay]

What's up bro? Matt and I rode up to the flight 93 memorial with some random harley guy we met at a red light last weekend. For service I'd also recommend checking out rotation station.

[@CityNinja650]

@@adamemay whatsbup dude. Yea I think I remember you bringing them up before. I really appreciate everything they do for me but they are kinda pricey. How was the ride? I was thinking of running to Johnstown if the weather isn’t trash.

[@adamemay]

@CityNinja650 nice man that sounds like a plan!

[@VanillaValk]

No way! I have these same tires in the mail for my ninja 650!

[@CityNinja650]

@@VanillaValk how do you like them?

[@VanillaValk]

@@CityNinja650 they are really good so far, pretty much the same as you said! I’m doing a sport tour of Vancouver island so I’m hoping these will be good in rain.

[@CityNinja650]

@@VanillaValk nice. Have a good safe trip. I just rode in the rain today and they did excellent. Didn’t push it in the rain yet because they are still new and need broken in, but I can see that they do very well just as designed.

[@VanillaValk]

@@CityNinja650 Thanks!

[@GodSnakoo]

make a video on how to lock your helmet/passenger helmet thanks

[@marksmart9754]

I have a R1200RT. I use Road 6 GTs unfortunately they have been out of stock for my front Tyre for over 6 months. Not happy. I’ve had to change brands. Got a set of pirelli to suit my bike. And unfortunately a forced brand change could end up a permanent change. They’ve missed out on 6 months of replacement sales. Which have gone to the opposition. So maybe they won’t get those customers back.

[@CityNinja650]

@@marksmart9754 I wanted the Road 6 as well and the rear tire was sold out. This is the second time that happened to me actually.

[@marksmart9754]

@@CityNinja650 front unavailable in Australia. Can’t get 4s or 5s anymore here. So changed brands. Available in stock immediately. That’s how it’s supposed to be. Obviously Michelin doesn’t care about keeping its customers.