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Quite a bit of heated discussion on this topic lately and after using both kinds of tires I think it is silly because it is like comparing apples to oranges, they are both good but they are completely different.
My run flat tire stuck to the road quite well, it wore evenly, and if I ran over a police spike strip, or something equally nasty, with the extra stiff sidewalls and tread I could still ride for a while, at lower speeds of course, in complete control because the tire still holds the bike up. I have a TPMS system like you are supposed to use with a run flat too so if something happens I know right away. All good things.
My run flat tire was also 25% heavier than the bike was designed for and I could feel this in the seat of my pants as Rocky calls it. It also wanted to stand up the bike in turns because the tire is so stiff it barely flexes at all, this causes the center of the tread to lift off of the road which in effect lifts the bike up in the back. Gravity tries to pull the bike back down which causes the bike to want to stand back up. Also with a very stiff tire rolling over uneven pavement with just the edge of your tire tries to make the bike turn because gravity pulls the center down again. The tire being stiffer also ran hotter (according to the TPMS) and wore out faster (gone in 8000 miles). The bike also seemed to transition slower from side to side, not much, but it was noticeable. Lastly my gas mileage dropped too. This is what I did not like about my runflat.
The non runflat Low Rolling Resistance tire I am using now is as far from a runflat as you can get. It rides very soft, it weighs the same as the MC tire, my gas mileage is back up to the same or a little better than a MC tire, it does not try to stand up in a turn because the tread flexes and keeps over half of the tire on the ground even in a turn. Because the center of the tread does not lift the bike does not try to straighten up in turns. When I run over uneven pavement the tire flexes instead of trying to push the bike sideways into a turn. The tire runs cooler, usually even cooler than my front tire. I am at 8000 miles and I have at least a third of my tread left so it wears longer too. This is what I like about my LRR non runflat tire.
Will it hold the bike up with no air in it? Heck no, not a chance. But my stock motorcycle tire would not hold my bike up without air either. That is about the only disadvantage of a LRR non runflat.
I have not tried a regular non runflat non-LRR tire way over inflated (44 psi +) so I can not comment on that type of tire, I can only comment on what I have tried.
Lastly the one statement that everyone makes that "run flats are safer" is true 99% of the time but there is that 1%, (you know, the ones that they put "open product before use" on the label for) that will ride on their run flat with no air in it (and no TPMS) because "it looked full" until it explodes from the heat. Never underestimate stupidity.
If safety was my primary concern I would ride in a cage, with air bags and seat belts. If safety IS your primary concern I would say go with a run flat tire. If handling and ride IS your primary concern I would say go with a Low Rolling Resistance non runflat. Handling is MY primary concern, I work at a tire shop and 98.0% of the tires that come in flat just have a slow leak, the other 1.95% were destroyed by driving on them flat, and 0.05% had an actual blowout. I will take those odds. What YOU should do should be up to YOU, it doesn't need to turn into a pissing match between run flat tires and non run flat tires because they are totally different tires for totally different needs.
My run flat tire stuck to the road quite well, it wore evenly, and if I ran over a police spike strip, or something equally nasty, with the extra stiff sidewalls and tread I could still ride for a while, at lower speeds of course, in complete control because the tire still holds the bike up. I have a TPMS system like you are supposed to use with a run flat too so if something happens I know right away. All good things.
My run flat tire was also 25% heavier than the bike was designed for and I could feel this in the seat of my pants as Rocky calls it. It also wanted to stand up the bike in turns because the tire is so stiff it barely flexes at all, this causes the center of the tread to lift off of the road which in effect lifts the bike up in the back. Gravity tries to pull the bike back down which causes the bike to want to stand back up. Also with a very stiff tire rolling over uneven pavement with just the edge of your tire tries to make the bike turn because gravity pulls the center down again. The tire being stiffer also ran hotter (according to the TPMS) and wore out faster (gone in 8000 miles). The bike also seemed to transition slower from side to side, not much, but it was noticeable. Lastly my gas mileage dropped too. This is what I did not like about my runflat.
The non runflat Low Rolling Resistance tire I am using now is as far from a runflat as you can get. It rides very soft, it weighs the same as the MC tire, my gas mileage is back up to the same or a little better than a MC tire, it does not try to stand up in a turn because the tread flexes and keeps over half of the tire on the ground even in a turn. Because the center of the tread does not lift the bike does not try to straighten up in turns. When I run over uneven pavement the tire flexes instead of trying to push the bike sideways into a turn. The tire runs cooler, usually even cooler than my front tire. I am at 8000 miles and I have at least a third of my tread left so it wears longer too. This is what I like about my LRR non runflat tire.
Will it hold the bike up with no air in it? Heck no, not a chance. But my stock motorcycle tire would not hold my bike up without air either. That is about the only disadvantage of a LRR non runflat.
I have not tried a regular non runflat non-LRR tire way over inflated (44 psi +) so I can not comment on that type of tire, I can only comment on what I have tried.
Lastly the one statement that everyone makes that "run flats are safer" is true 99% of the time but there is that 1%, (you know, the ones that they put "open product before use" on the label for) that will ride on their run flat with no air in it (and no TPMS) because "it looked full" until it explodes from the heat. Never underestimate stupidity.
If safety was my primary concern I would ride in a cage, with air bags and seat belts. If safety IS your primary concern I would say go with a run flat tire. If handling and ride IS your primary concern I would say go with a Low Rolling Resistance non runflat. Handling is MY primary concern, I work at a tire shop and 98.0% of the tires that come in flat just have a slow leak, the other 1.95% were destroyed by driving on them flat, and 0.05% had an actual blowout. I will take those odds. What YOU should do should be up to YOU, it doesn't need to turn into a pissing match between run flat tires and non run flat tires because they are totally different tires for totally different needs.
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