It's funny how our memories dim with time, (well, those of us who were actually there when our bikes were new, anyway) the OEM Bridgestone tires on my shiny new 1975 CB750F that I bought in 1978 (F/F1's weren't a big seller here in Oz, Honda ended up offloading a heap to the Police force to get rid of them off the showroom floors) were just plain awful.
I figured that tires that hadn't turned in 3 years were probably not a good idea after the first time they slipped on a wet road, so at great expense I changed them for Dunlop K81's, which were the "flavor of the month" among other bike riders at the time, but sadly just as bad. Someone put me onto Continentals and what a revelation! Grippy, long wearing tires, good stuff for sure.
I rode BMW's for years thinking that they just didn't handle until I switched the Metzlers for Bridgestone BT45's, and discovered that tires aint tires, the Bridgestones are just brilliant! I've put them on everything now, they are without doubt the best tires I've ever used on any of my bikes, grippy, long wearing, and cheaper than a lot of the "Brand Name" tires. Cheers, Terry.