Winter tires/Summer tires?

I bought a bike over the summer and it came with Bridgestone Battleaxe tires. I'm not much of a cold weather rider, but I rode the bike a couple weeks ago when it was cold and it felt a little squirrely. I'm very familiar with softer tires for the summer for my sports cars, but I frankly don't know that much about motorcycle tires. How do I tell what kind of tires I have? (I looked it up, they said "touring"). Should I worry about motorcycle tires hardening up in the cold?

thanks


*It wasn't that cold, maybe the 40s.

I would check the tire pressure and enjoy cold weather riding as you can.
OM

Tire rubber is compromise. which is best is an opinion.

I do ride year round, when roads are dry I will ride down to 20 or so. I seem to attract rain also. In my opinion is Michelin seems to make a good universal temp range and rain compound with decent life. This is what I use now.

I have also used Shinko, which for a bargain tire has treated me well. They have mold release from hell, takes over 100 miles to get rid of it. They DO NOT grip as well in the cold, and you do have to adjust your style and let them warm up. This can be mitigated to some degree by using less pressure so they warm up faster. However Shinko for me is also pressure sensitive so lower pressure does not handle as well. I will use shinko again, if fact if Michelin keeps raising prices (see the road 5 prices ).

My opinions.

Rod

I had a set of BattleAxe on my old RT. They too tend to be jittery in colder temperature and over tar snakes.

Switch to Michelin Pilot Road after and the difference is big.

I follow what my dealer installs on police/hwy patrol bikes, as they ride in lots of crummy weather
Right now PR4’s seem to be the best choice. Michelin rep at Long Beach show indicated PR5GT will be out middle of next year if you can hold off
Dunlop and continental both have some highly recommended tires if you don’t like Michelin’s price

Jim

The real consideration should be that if you've fitted tires noted for providing long life, you might want to be particularly careful riding in cold weather.

I recall a couple testimonies in the K1200LT forum a few years back from guys that crashed at maybe the second turn leaving their neighborhood in cold weather.