I've ridden a great variety of bikes over a good number of years and you can certainly tell tyre differences in cold and in wet conditions, once warmed unless you're pushing things theres little to tell.
As far as riding, i'm too much of a boring old fart now to believe I need super icky sticky mega racing rubber glue compound and i'm not so tight fisted that wear rates take priority over grip, I consider myself 'grown up' enough to believe I can have a decent balance of both, 'with a cool tread pattern to boot'
I know this is an emotive subject, I had a ZZR years ago that belonged to a friend previously, he exclusively used Pirelli MT75's and loved them, I thought they were a pig in the wet, white lined like a bugger and never made me feel very confident, dry, they were superb.
On the cheaper end, I went through about three sets of Tomahawk (middle compound), I think they were road / race / slick? they used to give me about 3k on the rear, 4ish on the front and gripped like a super grippy thing in all conditions, then sadly, they went belly up and vanished, (they were re-casts, (not the same as re-treads but not getting into the specifics here), which I think ultimately did for them, shame really, they were great tyres and a great price.
Then, about 3 years ago, i rode a friends Ninja 6R on Maxxis and I thought they were bloody awful, it was a very very cold day but they felt sort of vague rather than non grippy even after a 50 mile ride, I understand some of the Maxxis are good, i've read good reviews in mags but that experience has put me off them completely.
I've tried Battlax before too and never been massively impressed by them though I know they were once, the tyre.
I'll likely wind up with Conti or Avon as i've had good experiences with both brands but never having had a Duc before i wondered if there was an overall popular choice for them.
every time a tyre thread comes up a keep banging on bout racer scrubs tyres being the ones to buy..ye get awesome tyres for bout 80 quid...so thats 3 sets o tyres to the one set that youve been quoted. dont understand why peeps pay 240 odd for a set for the road when these tyres are available, vitually brand new and the chicken strips have been removed for ye already!
Out of curiosity, where do you get these?
There IS a lot of marketing BS involved in selling tyres, with the latest tread pattern, blah blah, but there are also fundamental differences between tyres, a balance between life, wet and dry grip and also price that you need to think about.
I do ride in the wet so decent wet grip is important as well as longevity and dry use.
Cant tell you what they like in the wet, my bike never seen that much rain that I could pass opinion on it. Continental banging on about dual compound, great in wet conditions but like Miles said they would say something like that anyway. However, dry conditions in my experience, sticks like s***.
No matter, just wondered, I do know that Nick Sanders used em on his R1 in the Parallel world run, he thought they were all round great but he's used to riding all sorts across all terrain and to be fair, he was sponsored by Conti, LOL
I've have experienced faster tyre wear in the wet. In my opinion there is considerable difference in tyre characteristics. The difference in warm-up times and wet grip between a Michelin Macadam and a BT016 is great but both have been touted as THE tyre within living memory. Most modern tyres are phenomenal but can react differently to similiar situations. And I think the torque of a v-twin eats tyres.
Like Bruce, i've been less than impressed by Battlax, Re the Macadam, the BMW K I had was fitted with them, like the Pirelli MT's above, i thought they were hideous in the wet, a lot of the BMW guys call them Macadamia's, I think they're likening the grip characteristics to the nut!
I got 6,500 out of the rear on my 998 - t'was a Michelin Pilot Power. I don't ride slowly, always enjoy making good progress and love the twisties. I think it depends how smooth you are.
Incredible, that's it, i'm buying a pilot power and if I get less than 6k out of it i'm asking you for a refund, LOL,
Anyway, it's all still up in the air for now, carry on fighting gents till a rubberised victor emerges,
out of back tyre, not sure whether they exaggerating or am doing something wrong 
. For me (no track days) Contis are good enough compromise, price wary between 200-240 a pair + fitting
