Nankang Roadiac WF-1 review

After 10565 miles (!) it was time to replace the Michelin Pilot Road 3s that adorned the TRX, there was still some life left in them but not enough to pass an MOT and the front seemed to have become very slippery, possibly cooked at the track day at Mallory Park when I crashed it while braking in a straight line. The crash made more sense afterwards..

So, I was in need of tyres and my preference is that they are cheap. I liked the look (and name..) of the Nankang Roadiac WF-1, a search on Google showed a couple of glowing reviews from paid journos and a whole range of opinions from real people. One common thread was that these tyres wear fast, but everyone seems to be fitting them to gixxer thous and ZZR1400s so I figured they might last a little longer and a slow old TRX850. Turns out, no they didn't..

I eventually found that M&P had the correct 160/60-17 in stock so I bought a pair for £123.48, not bad for a pair of dual compound radials. That escalated to £189.48 including fitting.. The TRX has no centre stand so I opted for a ride in/ride out service, suddenly these tyres didn't seem so cheap, especially when the tread depth from new is not very much. The tyre man took the opportunity to promise me they wouldn't be a patch on the PR3s but that the front had a nice profile, but what does the tyre man know anyway. Running them at the standard 36/42PSI that all modern fat radial tyres seem to run at, I set off for an MOT and then soon a week in Germany.

Initial thoughts were that they were stiff - really stiff. I actually softened the rear suspension a bit to make it less harsh, but there was no getting away from the fact that the tyres were hard and skittered over rough ground. I figured they might soften up with use so carried on.

A jolly good time was had in Europe, but the tyres never seemed to get any softer/grippier. I can report that the grip on offer is perfectly acceptable in both dry and wet conditions, I've never had a moment with them except for very recently on a slimy, molten road surface which I don't blame them for at all. One interesting thing to report is that the rear got very hot on Belgian motorway and the rubber in the centre was actually starting to ball up and come off, even though it was raining. We came to a stop in some services and I could small hot rubber, like being at a track day.. Turned out to be me! This likely didn't help the rear's lifespan.

After a while I decided a drop in pressure might help, I'd had success with this before. I dropped the pressures until settling on 33/35, the pressures recommended in the TRX manual are 33/36 so I think this shows that the Nankangs are built on seriously old technology. Anyway, now running half flat and reacting quite viciously to white lines the bike turned in much faster and felt far more planted in corners - a trade off I was very willing to take.

Speaking of old technology, way back in the mid nineties it was quite normal to get around 4000 miles out of a pair of sporty tyres. At 4087 miles, the Nankangs look like this:

Just about into the wear markers at the back and almost touching them on the front. The front still has loads of tread depth in the centre, which is giving it quite a "pointy" profile and is making the bike flop over in a disconcerting manner. Meanwhile the central compound on the rear could be harder. I do like the way the rubber roughs up though, it makes me look like a hero!

So, in conclusion, these are actually quite good - good grip, good wet weather manners, good handling if you run them at a pressure that suits them. But they're not that cheap, and with fitting they're really not worth having over some old PR3s or whatever other touring tyres you can find for <£200 a pair. Lots of tyres are lasting 10K now and that makes these really poor value for money. Oh well, could've been worse - they could've been like those horrible Mitas MC25s!