Tires--again--But not for arguement...just discuss

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Tires--again--But not for arguement...just discuss

Postby henwin » Sun Mar 11, 2012 9:59 am

After the "tech day" at Morton's yesterday after the cub meeting--very nice job, Stuart, =D> thanks!--I took a good look at my tires and brakes. The front tire needs to be replaced #-o--though the rear looks, to my unpracticed eyes, to be OK.=D> So the question--up for discussion and not to start an argument [-X --is what to put on :?:

Right now, I'm running Metzler Z6's--which I've been happy with. By the time I get to the dealer in a week or so, I'll have gotten nearly 9400 miles out of them, which isn't as bad as I thought. However, I'm still looking for the magic 10K off a front, so based on what I've read here--and after what Stuart said yesterday regarding mixing brands--I'm seriously :idea: thinking of going to Michelin's Pilot Road 2's or 3's. But I'm willing to hear what others people's experiences are are for tires for an "RT-type" bike.

Thanks for your consideration.
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Re: Tires--again--But not for arguement...just discuss

Postby ERC Scott » Sun Mar 11, 2012 1:37 pm

I used Conti Road Attacks when I had my RT. Very confident when cornering even on wet roads. However, they did not provide the mileage you appear to want (less than 7K - shoulders would wear to indicator bars before the center tread). My Tiger 1050 was an "RT-lite" type bike; I was much happier with the Michelin Road Pilot 3 than the original install Road Pilots. I have liked the Metzler Z8 factory install on my current bike. It's much lighter than an RT, but I think the Z8 is one of the factory tires installed on new RTs so you might consider it. On the bmwst site, the Metzler 880 is a pretty popular tire with the high-mileage crowd. There are a lot of sport-touring options out there, and most of them are likely much better products than what we had just 10 years ago, e.g. dual compound tread, high silica composition, etc. Scott
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Re: Tires--again--But not for arguement...just discuss

Postby Ron P » Sun Mar 11, 2012 2:24 pm

I managed over 10k out of the PR2's on my K1300S. It's 500 lbs. dry and most of that was highway. Handling was pretty good for a sport-touring tire.

Like Scott, I had Road Attacks on the K when I bought it and they were toast by 7k. Nice grip when new, but not a lot of longevity.
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Re: Tires--again--But not for arguement...just discuss

Postby slvrblt » Sun Mar 11, 2012 4:06 pm

I have been running the PR2s on my Rockster and have just over 13,000 miles on them, I hope to get another 1,400 miles out of them.
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Re: Tires--again--But not for arguement...just discuss

Postby henwin » Sun Mar 11, 2012 10:10 pm

slvrblt wrote:I have been running the PR2s on my Rockster and have just over 13,000 miles on them, I hope to get another 1,400 miles out of them.

Well the Rockster is, what 150-200 lbs lighter than an 07 RT? Never-the-less, 13K, is pretty incredible mileage.
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Re: Tires--again--But not for arguement...just discuss

Postby henwin » Sun Mar 11, 2012 10:20 pm

ERC Scott wrote:I used Conti Road Attacks when I had my RT. Very confident when cornering even on wet roads.

I had a set of Avon Storms about 4 years ago, that I got 7K miles off of. The trouble was, they were there one minute and gone the next. They were fantastic in the rain. But 7K isn't good enough for me. As for the 880, it was one of my favorite tires of all time. My recollection is that (unless things have changed) they are not available in a stock size for one of the tires on the RT. I don't remember it is the front or rear, I just remember that one of the tires would have to be the wrong size on the stock rim--something I'm not willing to do in today's market. So the 880s are not a contestant. The Z6--what I have--is the predecessor to the Z8. The Z8 is not only on your bike, it's also the stock fitment on the K16, but even so I've been wanting to try the PR2s or 3 for a long time--actually since Tina wrote them up, here I think, in glowing terms. =D>
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Re: Tires--again--But not for arguement...just discuss

Postby BMWGirl » Mon Mar 12, 2012 7:30 am

I've had the PR2's and Avon Ultra2 on the GT and now I have the PR3's on the GT. First year for the PR3's but I've never gotten less than 12K on the other 2 tires. I'm hoping for the same or more on the PR3's. I usually change mine out a little early too, just because of timing of a trip or something. I don't like to run the tires bald when I'm out of town so if I'm close (within 1K or 2) I'll go ahead and change them out. 100% of the time, I change both - front and rear.

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Re: Tires--again--But not for arguement...just discuss

Postby adooley » Mon Mar 12, 2012 8:20 am

henwin wrote:
ERC Scott wrote:I used Conti Road Attacks when I had my RT. Very confident when cornering even on wet roads.

I had a set of Avon Storms about 4 years ago, that I got 7K miles off of. The trouble was, they were there one minute and gone the next. They were fantastic in the rain. But 7K isn't good enough for me. As for the 880, it was one of my favorite tires of all time. My recollection is that (unless things have changed) they are not available in a stock size for one of the tires on the RT. I don't remember it is the front or rear, I just remember that one of the tires would have to be the wrong size on the stock rim--something I'm not willing to do in today's market. So the 880s are not a contestant. The Z6--what I have--is the predecessor to the Z8. The Z8 is not only on your bike, it's also the stock fitment on the K16, but even so I've been wanting to try the PR2s or 3 for a long time--actually since Tina wrote them up, here I think, in glowing terms. =D>



Henry, I believe you can get the 880s now for the RT. I replaced my Dunlops last year with the Metzlers and had no trouble getting the proper size for the rear tire on my R1150RTP. There was a time a few years ago when you couldn't find that rear tire size in the 880s. FWIW.
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Re: Tires--again--But not for arguement...just discuss

Postby henwin » Mon Mar 12, 2012 1:30 pm

adooley wrote:I used Conti Road Attacks when I had my RT. Very confident when cornering even on wet roads.

Henry, I believe you can get the 880s now for the RT. I replaced my Dunlops last year with the Metzlers and had no trouble getting the proper size for the rear tire on my R1150RTP. There was a time a few years ago when you couldn't find that rear tire size in the 880s. FWIW.

Good to know. Metzler's web site is really hard to navigate to find what's available in a particular size range. But at this point, I think either I'm going to go with the Z8 front or a PR3 front.
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Re: Tires--again--But not for arguement...just discuss

Postby Georgeinva » Mon Mar 12, 2012 4:01 pm

"But I came here for an argument!"
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Re: Tires--again--But not for arguement...just discuss

Postby henwin » Mon Mar 12, 2012 8:30 pm

Georgeinva wrote:"But I came here for an argument!"

Then you misread the topic, :? which was a "discussion". But now that you're here, what's your argument :?:
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Re: Tires--again--But not for arguement...just discuss

Postby adooley » Mon Mar 12, 2012 10:24 pm

Georgeinva wrote:"But I came here for an argument!"


I'm sorry. But, your time is up.
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Re: Tires--again--But not for arguement...just discuss

Postby Ron P » Tue Mar 13, 2012 8:12 am

Henry, I e-mailed you a link to a sale on PR3's I found on line. It may help unless you're firm on Metzler.
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Re: Tires--again--But not for arguement...just discuss

Postby henwin » Tue Mar 13, 2012 8:30 am

Ron P wrote:Henry, I e-mailed you a link to a sale on PR3's I found on line. It may help unless you're firm on Metzler.

Not firm either way at this point. I'll see what the dealer says. I'm leaning towards the PR3, however, though I did read a couple of reports on the BMWMOA forums about that tire doing some somewhat squirely things on some roads that had tar strips on them (but OTOH, tar strips ought to make just about any tire do squirely things... :D )
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Re: Tires--again--But not for arguement...just discuss

Postby Wild Pig » Fri Mar 16, 2012 2:33 pm

I have a PR2 on the front and a PR3 on the back of my RT. They seem a bit softer in the curves, especially the P3, but nothing you can't get used to. Loading the bike up doesn't seem to degrade performance, at least the way I ride. I've been very happy with them.
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