Lasertec tyre on front = #@$!!%^

[PhillWard]

Evening,

Beryl Beemer and myself are now resting comfortably at Shane Thomas' place in Rockhampton, Queensland, having tramped up the "inland" road via Singleton, Armidale, Glenn Innes, Tenterfield, Towoomba, Yarraman, Biloela, Rocky.

It's about 1700kms this way.

I had a Metzler Lasertec front tyre fitted some time ago when no ME880's were available.....

"DING"....mistake........

That coupled to my lack of front suspension from my 140,000kms OEM front unit makes going around corners more of a lottery than ones organised by the state governments........

If you're are in the same situation, wait for the ME880's.

Another K12LT pilot up this neck of the woods, "Al Croft" opted to spear off down a dirt track in Tassy, complete with SWMO and trailer having made an instant decision that he would not make this particular corner, again, due to this Lasertec tyre....if only Al had mentioned something on here I would have been a bit more informed rather than having to learn how to invent the wheel....

Yeppppppp, someone's gonna say don't take everything you read here as gospel, but that information you know to have originated from a trusted source I think deserves merit.

Sooo the Lasertec is being tossed to the proverbial, once back in Sydney town (tried around the bike shops here in Rocky but no one has any in stock, (although one shop does have an MV F4, and a couple of Royal Enfield "Bullets"... (talk about chalk an cheese) if that's any consolation)...

The new tyres and hopefully my new Wilber and rebuilt rear should also be just about ready to collect, so maybe things will be looking a bit more comfortable in a couple of weeks.

BUT don't waste yer money on the Lasertec.

Phill

[cws]

Hope you took some floaties for all that late "weather" they're having up there Phil.
Have a safe trip back mate...!

[PhillWard]

Visited that moneypit, (called a BMW Dealer), this morning to get me a new front ME880, at long last...

Cost $215 fitted and balanced to the wheel, as opposed to $215 plus "fitting" if I took Beryl along for the ride.....hmmmm the money is better in my pocket rather than theirs..so whipped ther wheel off out the front and drove up in the 'van.

Procycles do good service (did phone up yesterday just to make sure they had one in stock)...Luke the tyre guy finished off some mini knobbly tyre he had fitted then straight on to mine...

Had a ganders around the BMW showroom....not one LT on view....."old news" I think the sales guy said...mostly K1200GT, S, R, R1200GS type machines on view....

Just waiting for the call from the Wilburs guy at Penrith to say he has finished building the front shock, (I have the rebuilt OEM rear shock waiting to go) then will be back uot the front again pulling the tupperware off, yet again.....

cheers

Phill

[Harby]

Hmmm this is not what I wanted to read.

I have just replaced my front ME880 with a Lasertec. I ordered a replacement 880 with a local service shop and Metzeler sent a Lasertec and told service shop owner that this is now the replacement for 880s as they are now no longer making them. Is this fact?

I have just had the tyre fitted today but am still scrubbing it in and have only done 30 mile on it. I am heading for the French Alps at the end of the month and will be doing loads and loads of bendy mountain roads so I am now a little anxious. My bike has only done 23k miles on the OEM front shock though so maybe that will make a big difference.

What psi are your running at, I ran my 880 front at 42psi and have also used this pressure in the Lasertec.

[BrianD]

The Metzeler site still states the ME880 Marathon as the tyre of choice for the LT.

http://www.metzelermoto.com/tyres/fitment_chart/fitment.action?manifacturerID=10&modelID=K+1200+LT+%2704+-+2004+%28K12LT%29&confirm=true&IMAGE1.x=26&IMAGE1.y=11

[Harby]

BrianD - well I'm obviously stuck with it now. I still have a Marathon on the rear, I queried running a mix of tyres with the service shop and he says that Metzeler said that it was not a problem. We shall see.

I've been very happy with the 880s in terms of grip, handling and wear. My rear will be due for replacement when I get back from France. If I am unhappy with the Lasertec I'll fit new 880s front and rear and bin the Lasertec.

I think that the tyre wholesaler has given my service shop a load of old waffle regarding 880s no longer being available.

[PhillWard]

BrianD - well I'm obviously stuck with it now. I still have a Marathon on the rear, I queried running a mix of tyres with the service shop and he says that Metzeler said that it was not a problem. We shall see.

I've been very happy with the 880s in terms of grip, handling and wear. My rear will be due for replacement when I get back from France. If I am unhappy with the Lasertec I'll fit new 880s front and rear and bin the Lasertec.

I think that the tyre wholesaler has given my service shop a load of old waffle regarding 880s no longer being available.

G'day Harby,
From your home site you are in pommyland huh????? (home site page would not load up BTW)....can you also input some profile data????makes life so much more friendlier.....

Yepppp that was the guff from my BMW dealer that the Lasertec tyre was the replacement for the out of stock ME880....I ran it at 42psi, coupled to an ME880 rear at 48psi.

What a cow of a tyre is all that I could say upon reflection.....my good friend in Rockhampton labelled Beryl as a "nifty 50" as I was just so sllloooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwww going around some corners following him on his K12LT.....but I felt it was better trying to lug Beryl around some twisties at "walking speed" as opposed to picking the rock wall outta my visor. Rockhampton (1800kms away from home) does not have a BMW dealer and hence no ME880 tyres otherwise I woulda thrown this thing there and then.
SWMO came back with me on the return trip so that slowwwwed things down anyway.
BMW dealer tyre guy had an ME880 front in stock when I got back, told him the problem, and he now advised that Metzeler do not recommend the Lasertec for the K12LT........

boring!

Anyway perhaps you can scrounge around some other BMW dealers and see if they have an ME880 front and take this one off.....you will enjoy your French Alp ride much more better I believe...and just use this one when you are doing time trials on a disused runway or something....

cheers

[Harby]

Thanks Phil

Don't know why the website link in my profile doesn't work??? Have filled in a few more details.

I'm going to check to see if I can get an 880 pretty rapidly, I go in two weeks your comments do not make happy reading!

[grahamw]

according to
http://www.metzelermoto.co.uk/tyres/fitment_chart/fitment.action

only ME880. Phone up a dealer and act daft - ask them for their opinion on the lasertec. Be prepared to moan and threaten things like CAB.

Enjoy the Alps.

[barryst1100]

Hi Guys
If you can't get hold of the ME880, consider trying the Dunlop D205.
I'm now onto my third set of Dunlops and find they are brilliant on the LT.
I get about 12,000 k's out of mine before they start to scallop, and then I can run them about another 4,000k if I decide to put up with the gremlins that always show up in bike tyres when they get close to their use by date.

I should add that I always replace my tyres in pairs. So I guess the front tyre could probably go a full 20,000k's or more if I ran it to the end of its service life, but I like the confidence of having two new tyres so I replace the front every time I replace the back.

Cheers

Barry

[dshealey]

Hi Guys
If you can't get hold of the ME880, consider trying the Dunlop D205.
I'm now onto my third set of Dunlops and find they are brilliant on the LT.
----------------------
Barry

They must have made changes to the D205 since 2000! Many LTs came from the factory with them in 2000, and early 2001 due to the poor mileage the original Bridgestone Excedras were producing. That did not last too long though, BMW stopped using the Dunlops when Metzeler came out with the 880. Then Bridgestone came out with the Battlax 020 to replace the Excedras for the LT, BMW then began shipping with either 880s or 020s and has continued to do so to the present time.

My first LT, a 2000, had the Dunlops from the factory. I would classify them as mediocre at best. Absolutely the noisest tire of all after about half worn, screamed like frightened banshees in any lean angle. Reasonable grip in wet, but only fair handling in the twisties.

Hopefully they have made changes to them since then though. The tire companies do make running changes with no notification, so the D205s you have now may not be the same as the ones I had in 2000.

[barryst1100]

Hi Dave,
Perhaps they have made running changes in the Dunlops as you've suggested.
I've also run them on my St1100 prior to getting my LT and had a great run out of them.

Tyres are a personal preference. Strangely enough I had the Bridgestone 020's on my St1100 and swapped over to the Dunlops (and then worn out three sets of Dunlops on the ST) as the Bridgestone 020's scalloped really badly, and were very noisy. I'd worn out two sets of 020's on the ST before giving the Dunlops a try at the advise of my tyre guy.

And funnily enough, it's in the twisties, that I find the Dunlops are at their best. Which is the opposite of your experience with them. So I guess it comes down to personal preference, and each riders style of riding.

The only down side to the Dunlops is that I don't feel "completely confident" in the wet. However, that is most likely "phycological", and perhaps even a good thing, as I don't push my luck in the wet, and as a result I've never felt the Dunlops "slip" in the wet.

Cheers

Barry

[Harby]

Last Friday I took the LT out for a reasonable run (250 miles) to scrub the Lasertec in and to see how I felt. Well, sadly it was as bad as Phil Ward said it would be. In a straight line the bike just seemed to weave and react to any imperfection or camber in the road. It would not track round bends, it always seemed to want to sit up and it was desperately hard to get the bike to lean and then it would just drop into it in a very scary manner. It was all very disconcerting and I just felt as if I was not in control of the bike and my confidence drained away.

So that evening I went on the Metzeler website and lo and behold it still recommends the 880 and not the Lasertecs which are for Sports Tourers (VFRs, Triumph Sprints etc) bikes that are at least 100kgs lighter. So I used the Metzeler contact section to send an email to their technical department telling them of my experience....to date I have had no reply! I also emailed Mike at the service shop who fitted the tyre with my findings. To his credit I had an email 24 hours later apologising, he had been misinformed by his tyre wholesaler, they in turn apologised to Mike and have sent a replacement 880 at no cost and they have not charged Mike either. So yesterday I had the 880 fitted and it was like riding a different bike, the difference is so pronounced. All of my confidence in the bike came flooding back and I am now looking forward to the trip to the Alps once again.

So avoid Lasertecs like the plague; they are just not suited to the bike.

I'm happy with the outcome, Mike was great and responded as I hoped but I am disappointed that Metzeler have not responded. After all, what is the point of providing a contact section for your customers if you have no intention of responding to them.

[PhillWard]

Last Friday I took the LT out for a reasonable run (250 miles) to scrub the Lasertec in and to see how I felt. Well, sadly it was as bad as Phil Ward said it would be. <snip>

I also emailed Mike at the service shop who fitted the tyre with my findings. To his credit I had an email 24 hours later apologising, he had been misinformed by his tyre wholesaler, they in turn apologised to Mike and have sent a replacement 880 at no cost and they have not charged Mike either. So yesterday I had the 880 fitted and it was like riding a different bike, the difference is so pronounced. All of my confidence in the bike came flooding back and I am now looking forward to the trip to the Alps once again.

So avoid Lasertecs like the plague; they are just not suited to the bike

G'day Harby,
Well ...there you go..."alls well that ends well"......(old pommy saying...) I could foresee that your trip around the Alps woulda been mighty disappointing, as I was with this cretin of a tyre....

Ahhhhh the misinformation by the misinformed trick....works every time, but at least you got a couple of hundred miles worth outta Metzeler for nothing.

I see you are in the next county to my old stomping ground, being from Hereford myself. I often reflect back to my 1960 Triumph T110 (complete with "bathtub fairing") days when a rear tyre cost me 4 quid.....wayyyy expensive..hehehehhheh so more often than not it was used to the extreme limits. The weather tended to get me a bit pickled at times...rain rain an more rain....boring.....and now with Eurotunnel it just seems soooooooo easy for you guys to flip over to Spain or Portugal for the weekend....London (memory) is about 160 mile from Hereford...wayyy too far to go for a ride...."Doh!"

how times have changed???

I went to Grenoble, for a week, work related from Sydney, once...thought then what a great place to tramp around on a bike....you going close to Grenoble at all?

cheers, and have a great holiday...expect to see some pix when you get back...

[Harby]

Hey Phil, I know Hereford, I do a lot of riding into Wales which has some glorious roads and scenery to explore, you probably did a lot of riding in Wales yourself.

We are heading for a place called Verchaix which is about 40 miles north east of Annecy, it is located between Lake Leman and Mont Blanc. It is a ski chalet with five bedrooms, dead cheap out of ski season. Gonna do some mountain walking as well while we are there. We are going with a mate and his girl, they were round here last night and we went through some of the routes we are going to take whilst supping a decent bottle of red. We may take a day trip out to Grenoble.

Will post pics when we return.