General Comments

A conservative choice would be the well-known ME-Z1/ME-Z2 combination from Metzeler.  The pair has a well-deserved reputation for good handling, good wet and dry performance, and decent tread life.

There are no inexpensive tyres available for this bike, especially as I would definitely not use bias-ply tyres in this application -- and even then, the Continental Sport 2000's are not that much cheaper than radials.  Of the less expensive tyres, these Dunlop D205's are the best -- good sport-touring performance, good life, a very good tyre in fact.

There's no real question that for Sport-Touring, the new ME-Z4's should be the tyre of choice.  Building on the earlier Z1 and Z2, the Z4's have improved traction over the Z1 while tread life is comparable with the Z2.  The totally linear profile of Metzelers inspires confidence, and will help the rider get the most out of the bike.  They're also the tyre of choice for touring -- they last well enough for the job and you won't find anything better for the highway.

Although the Michelin Hi-Sport TX15/TX25 radials are available in the right size, on a big standard such as this the Avons should provide better performance.  Without serious suspension mods, the big Bandit doesn't have as much sharpness as a full-out sportbike, and the extra conformability of the Azaros should help make up for that.  The feeling of "squatting down into the contact patch" is very noticeable when you roll on hard in a corner, and it's a lot of fun with the Bandit's smooth torque.

The choice of an AV27 on the front over the Azaro is for several reasons.  The Azaro front tends to wear unevenly and somewhat rapidly, and the AV27 avoids these drawbacks and also provides more straightline stability.  The combination works very well on this bike.

This is a hard choice.  The Azaros would work so well and feel so good, but I'd like to get more miles out of a set than a sport tyre provides;  I really like the Avon AV27/Azaro combination, but these Metzelers are such a good all-around tyre that it's hard to justify not mounting them.

Avon

Bridgestone

Continental

Dunlop

Metzeler

Michelin

Pirelli

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