There was thread started by dthegey last week re: tire mileage. Seems that average tire mileage on an LT m/c is in the 7,000 mile range.
I just bought a set of tires for one of my cars from Costco. Total out the door price was $500. For four tires, or around $125 per tire (Michelins) installed, balanced, etc. Seems that m/c tires are about the same price plus installation so a little bit more expensive. However, the big difference is the mileage. When I asked how many miles the Michelins would give me I was told *90,000* miles! Good grief, I said. I'll be dead before I put in that many miles.
So why are m/c tires more expensive and give less miles yet they support less weight?

They are much softer than car tires and go through a lot more shearing forces in all directions. Not to mention the contact patch is much smaller than a car tire. I run Avon Storm 2's and get 9500 on the rear and a little more on the front.

Oh no, not another tire thread!

Tire life varies with type of riding, air pressure in the tire, brand of tire, and whether you are wearing your luck pair of brow corduroy pants and hang your tongue just right. I have run the Avons, after two defective fronts in a row (thank you DennisKirk.com for making it right so quickly and easily) I am done with them, although others love them. Bridgestone BattleAx is what I have run the past two or three sets, by my next set I am going back to the Metzeler ME880.

Tire thread, as you will see, are like oil threads. Fifty people will post and you will get 75-100 opinions.

I've come to the conclusion the price is almost entirely based on economics of volume.
It does not take substantially more material or time to manufacture a car tire vs a m/c tire. It can be argued the car tire has more material in it and takes longer to manufacture. It can also be argued it is more difficult to develop a tread that will last 90,000 miles and not let you slide off the road at the first curve.

So what's left? Development cost, or as we say the non-recurring engineering cost. It probably cost about the same amount of time and money to design, develop and test tires before they hit the market. The higher performance a tire, the more development and testing it will undergo. These costs are put back into the sale price of the tire, amortized over the projected production run. So it's obvious if you will be making and selling less total tires, you will end up charging more for each one.

Also notice most m/c tires have a unique front and rear tire design. A manufacturer will sell 1 front and 1 rear tire for a motorcycle. Whereas they can sell 4 of the same tires for a car. Now consider how many cars and trucks consumers are buying tires for compared to the number of motorcycles. Economics of volume.

I've got to think there is some liability built into the price. A blow-out on a car due to a manufacturing defect might result in serious injury or death, a blow-out on a motorcycle has a significantly higher probability of having that outcome.

Economy of scale as mentioned before is also a part, but as to why a Metzler costs about twice as much as a Bridgestone I can't seem to understand.

As far a replacement goes, these are high performance tires, if you had put high performance tires on your car you would only get about 10,000 miles. My brother used to put those on his souped up mustang and that is about what he got before cords started showing.

The LT chews tires a little faster than other bikes because of the weight (I am guessing) and the loads it carries.

Dave beat me to the punch. i try to look at things from the manufacturers viewpoint whenever possible. try to figure out why they do/charge/act (etc) as they do. i get it right 20% of the time i guess

i have run Mettler 880's on both my previous Ace Tourers and (although i don't remember the numbers) recall that i got very good mileage and performance.

when i bought my 2002 LT the previous owner had just put on two new 880's. i was tickled!

so my vote is for higher mileage and performance with 880's! i'd hope to get 9k miles out of them. i have 2k on them now.

so. tell me folks, why does my dog look at me so forlornly when he is sitting by the front door when i walk by but don't take him out?

oh. oops. wrong thread.

sorry

My Camel

SIDEBAR: Mike, your signature's link to your Yahoo group yields the following message:

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SIDEBAR

thanks for pointing that out. Forgot an "s". (8th Radio Research Field Station).seems computers don't like it when you leave out something. wonder why that is?

added a couple of things to the Sig. Wish i could remember the year and model of the Suzi!! loved it. rode it down here from Chicago one spring. Long ass drive but it was fun. i didn't like the trucks along 65, 24, 75 but it had to be to get her here. ah. the memories of younger years.

Sorry, should have searched FAQ. Have done that and found a wealth of information there on tires.
I'm new, so hope you understand.
But I do appreciate your input.
Now, regarding oil, what -- - - oops, never mind.
EL

Just thought I'd add to Eddielo's post, you mentioned expense of getting the tires installed....Although I don't mount my own tires, I do find it is very easy to get the wheels off the bike and take them to the shop for mounting and balancing, which saves a bunch at check out! I tried the mail order tire saving thing, got a bad tire, the dealer that installed the tire said too bad that they didn't sell me the tire, or they would have replaced it free (of course) but because I brought the tire in, they had to charge to replace it...suck! I now buy tires from a shop and have them mounted and balanced to insure a good tire and free replacement if it isn't..and the shop didn't charge much more than online tire sellers.

Hey EddieLo

Allow me to be one of the100 folks to give you another answer/thought.
I've used nothing but ME 880's on my 05 LT. Have NEVER gotten less than 11 or 12,000 miles. Maybe it's because the PNW has softer roads? And I ride all but maaayybe 3 or 4 weeks of the year. Welcome to the greatest "House of Knowledge for LT's"

Pat

I'm with Pat, i've run nothing but the 880 on my 2001, avg, 10,000-12,000 per tire. I thing they get the prices because they can. One of thoughs facts of mc life

Ditto .... I plan on at least 12K on a set.

If you have a lead wrist (lead foot) you will only get about 6-8,000 out of a Metzeler rear. If you drive a little more conservatively you can get more. I only get 8K max out of mine .