[Trojan]

Got about 4200 out of the original Bridgestone tires on my '09, and now about 5300 out of Metzeler Interact Z6 tires. The back was done, front probably would have been fine for a while, but I changed them both. Just had the Z8's put on yesterday. This seems like pretty dismal mileage compared to what I read some of you are getting.

I'm not a peg-scraper, and have never done any long-distance traveling with the bike, though I hope to make a run to AZ in September. With my usual short runs (25-75 miles or so), on every outing I'm often hitting the throttle hard, and enjoy downshifting to assist braking. It dawns on me that if I drove my car like that, I wouldn't be getting such hot mileage out of those tires either....

Anybody else riding it sort of hard and getting dismal tire mileage, or is it just me? Ran the Bridgestones at BMW recommended pressures, and ran the Metzelers at 40/40 cold, checked very frequently. If the cost of riding the way I do is more frequent tire changes, ok by me. Thoughts?

John

 

[heavynikonf3]

Got about 4200 out of the original Bridgestone tires on my '09, and now about 5300 out of Metzeler Interact Z6 tires. The back was done, front probably would have been fine for a while, but I changed them both. Just had the Z8's put on yesterday. This seems like pretty dismal mileage compared to what I read some of you are getting.

I'm not a peg-scraper, and have never done any long-distance traveling with the bike, though I hope to make a run to AZ in September. With my usual short runs (25-75 miles or so), on every outing I'm often hitting the throttle hard, and enjoy downshifting to assist braking. It dawns on me that if I drove my car like that, I wouldn't be getting such hot mileage out of those tires either....

Anybody else riding it sort of hard and getting dismal tire mileage, or is it just me? Ran the Bridgestones at BMW recommended pressures, and ran the Metzelers at 40/40 cold, checked very frequently. If the cost of riding the way I do is more frequent tire changes, ok by me. Thoughts?
John

By no means an expert, but I think you should be getting at least 9 to10 K out of a rear tire. On my 2010 the original rear Metzler went about 12K, one year. The current PR3's look to make an easy 12K. I ride solo, usually with no big load, I'm 200 pounds. Here in the desert we ride in some truly tire torturing heat----I can only imagine what temp the road surface is. Point being unless you take it out for track days, it should be better---I think.

 

[katnapinn]

Next time go with the Michelin Pilot Road 3. I took a set off a friends RT that had over 14,000 miles on them. He was only getting about 9K on PR2's & less on all other brands.

 

[cessna]

I changed my original Metzler Z6s out at 8200 only because I was going on a long road trip and didn't want any problems or have to change them in the middle of the ride. I felt that I had at least another 2000 miles left on them. I've got about 7500 on the PR3s and they are just starting to get the flat area down the middle. I do ride a bit less aggressively than most folks.

You didn't mention what sort of gas mileage you get. I am guessing that it is a bit lower than average too. Nothing wrong with how you ride but it may be costing you a little more to do so.

Just my $.02!

 

[sleepwalker]

I must be doing something wrong. I run Bridgestones. I got 19000 out of my rear Bridgestone. I got about 9000 out of the first front and 10000 out of the second front. I replaced both last year before going to Boise.

I keep the tire pressure at 42 front and 46 rear. Those are cold temps.

I have a tire pressure monitoring system and the front ends up around 46 and the rear goes up to 52.

So I get great mileage out of the tires. I read everyone complaining about tire mileage and I am perplexed since I get good mileage.

 

[tvguy]

I have 6500 of the factory Metezler Z6's... they are still going strong with plenty of tread. I do not run high tire pressure because I want grip in the corners and a softer ride. I tried the higher pressures and it didn't make the tire last any longer on other bikes. It just rode rough.

Check the suspension, that can cause problems...

 

[Atomicman]

I have 8400 miles on origial Pilot Roads on my '09! Still going strong!

I ride 1 up 38/42 PSI no Heavy loads and I am about 185 lBS.

 

[jzzmusician]

I've got about 10k on my front PR2. Maybe 7k on the rear. (got a nail in the rear and had to replace it early)

I've still got a bit of tread on the front and could probably get another 1k or so but will replace both next week. Gotta love the ride with new rubber.

--Bob

 

[Trojan]

Morning guys. Thanks for the thoughts. Steve, I seem to average around 42-44 mpg. From what I read, I'm pretty sure my tires and bike are fine, but my frequent fairly aggressive riding style is the culprit. Guess I read that "ride it like you stole it" stuff during break-in, and haven't quit yet. Have about 9500 miles on it now.

I might back off the "aggressiveness" this year to see how that changes things. I imagine that makes the bike last longer too, which sure isn't a bad thing.

John

 

[1964Hall]

I don't consider myself an aggresive rider. I do like to get a move on when safe, and generally enjoy the bikes performance.
Now tyres, I was a PR2 man for quite a while, getting on average 8k from rear and around the same maybe a bit more from front.
But really the PR2 fronts go off from 5k onwards.
Recently I tried...
PR3, 5k front!, 7k rear
BT023GT, currently on about 7k front wearing fairly well a little cupping. BT023GT rear, 6k, 1mm left.
I've just fitted a Z8 on the rear, will see how it goes.

I do have a spare set of wheels with Conti Road Attacks on, not the 2's, I got em cheap here in a sale and will run them for my Europeon tour in a couple of months. I've heard good things about them.

I think tyres wear faster in colder weather, road surface also has a bearing on the wear rate.
\v/

 

[mwood7800]

there's a guy on the adventure sight selling an adapter plate to run a car rim and tire on the rt, 40,000 miles on a tire, haven't really read anything bad but worth keeping up with. Also the car tires are 40 to 60 bucks and seem to make little if any difference on the twistys..

 

[Ozonewanderer]

Tire mileage - even on the same brand of tires and with the same rider - will vary due to type of riding. I had about 6,000 miles on a set of tires on a Honda GL1800. They were getting worn and I was going on a long trip and didn't want to have to deal with new tire change en route so I replaced them before I left. Up to that point most of my riding was local, back roads, and twisty when I can find them.

My long trip was cross country (U.S.) - 6,000 miles in all. A lot of slab riding at 80-85 mph. When I got home my tires still looked like new as did the oil. Highway driving is just that much easier on a bike.

There's no way to compare tire mileage unless they are ridden in the same way. Good luck in finding two riders who do that!

 

[biometrics]

My 1999 R1100RT used to be an RT-P. It still has the same rear tire on it that was on it when I got it last May (2011)--a Dunlop Sportmax 160/60 ZR18. The service records provided by the servicing dealer in NJ (CrossCountryBMW) show the rear tire was installed at 49991 miles. This morning I have 61,375 miles and the rear tire still has more than 1/16" of tread, and the tire is beginning to show mild cupping. The front tire is a used tire I put at the end of last season so I can't comment on how well the front tires will wear. I will replace both some time this summer... but I think that 11,744 miles seems to be pretty good service from the back tire compared to some of the reports I have seen on this forum of less than half of that being pretty common. You guys must really ride them like you stole them to wear out tires that fast. Most of my driving is on the highway, a few back country roads, and about 5% is in town. Not sure if I will stay with the Dunlops since so many say that there are much better tires out there, but I certainly can't complain about the service the rear tire has given.

 

[Risky]

I must be doing something wrong. I run Bridgestones. I got 19000 out of my rear Bridgestone. I got about 9000 out of the first front and 10000 out of the second front. I replaced both last year before going to Boise.

I keep the tire pressure at 42 front and 46 rear. Those are cold temps.

I have a tire pressure monitoring system and the front ends up around 46 and the rear goes up to 52.

So I get great mileage out of the tires. I read everyone complaining about tire mileage and I am perplexed since I get good mileage.

I am running 38 front and 40 at rear and got 1200/k out out of rear tire. My dealer says that is really good! I don"t think so.... but that is just my riding style guess...

 

[NorthWoods]

Got about 4200 out of the original Bridgestone tires on my '09, and now about 5300 out of Metzeler Interact Z6 tires. The back was done, front probably would have been fine for a while, but I changed them both.

John

I too, just replaced the Z6's on mine too at 10,700 miles.

The rear tire wear indicators closest to the center of the tire indicated that some more mileage (~1,500-2,000 miles) available. However, while inspecting the tire more closely, I noticed the steel belt was beginning to show through in the center tread in a couple places. Not a nice surprise. I read of several other riders (mainly on the FJR forum) having this problem too. The Z6's (as well as other tires without center-tread TWI's) are definitely off my short list for future tire purchases.

I mounted a PR2 front with a Shinko Raven rear. We'll see how that combo works out...

 

[Trojan]

I too, just replaced the Z6's on mine too at 10,700 miles.

The rear tire wear indicators closest to the center of the tire indicated that some more mileage (~1,500-2,000 miles) available. However, while inspecting the tire more closely, I noticed the steel belt was beginning to show through in the center tread in a couple places. Not a nice surprise. I read of several other riders (mainly on the FJR forum) having this problem too. The Z6's (as well as other tires without center-tread TWI's) are definitely off my short list for future tire purchases.

I mounted a PR2 front with a Shinko Raven rear. We'll see how that combo works out...

Same here on the discovery that the back was shot, and on no more tires with no tread in center. I rode very passively yesterday, got 52 mpg instead of usual 42 mpg, and it was a pleasant ride. Might just start riding less aggressively to see what happens. Fun to ride aggressively, as well as just tooling along. Hard to get that one wrong. Z8's handle well.

John

 

[fstone73]

Got about 4200 out of the original Bridgestone tires on my '09, and now about 5300 out of Metzeler Interact Z6 tires. The back was done, front probably would have been fine for a while, but I changed them both. Just had the Z8's put on yesterday. This seems like pretty dismal mileage compared to what I read some of you are getting.

I'm not a peg-scraper, and have never done any long-distance traveling with the bike, though I hope to make a run to AZ in September. With my usual short runs (25-75 miles or so), on every outing I'm often hitting the throttle hard, and enjoy downshifting to assist braking. It dawns on me that if I drove my car like that, I wouldn't be getting such hot mileage out of those tires either....

Anybody else riding it sort of hard and getting dismal tire mileage, or is it just me? Ran the Bridgestones at BMW recommended pressures, and ran the Metzelers at 40/40 cold, checked very frequently. If the cost of riding the way I do is more frequent tire changes, ok by me. Thoughts?

John

Hi, I have a 2011 RT and just replaced the original Z6 Metzlers with 12,440! I end up changing them during a ride when I noticed the steel belts on the rear tire! Stupid move on my part, but they still looked like they had some life. I found a Yamaha dealer and he immediately changed both front and rear with Michelin Pilot 2 CT. More of a race bike tire now that I have read up on them but they received great reviews and feel real sticky. I am sure I will only get between 4-6000 out of them but as long as they are a good safe tire it will be fine with me. I would have choose the Pilot Road 3 but they were not in stock and beggars cant be choosers! I was charges $400 for both tires installed in an hour which I felt was a good price. I'm sure BMW would have charged me $1,000!!! and had the bike for a week!!!!

Happy riding!

Frank

 

[Medic811]

I'm replacing the original Z6 rear at 13,800 miles. I do 50/50 interstate/back roads daily.

 

[Ponch]

I have 9200 miles on mine the PR2's are getting done. The rear will have to be replaced very soon as I am going to AZ with the bike next month (Permanently). I didn't 4200 miles last summer in 9 days and the tires are a little worn in the middle. I'd like to get either PR3s or Z8's.

 

[Risky]

Just installed Pirelli Diablo"s. I got 7456/miles out of Michelin pilot Roads.
First thing I noticed that the tire was much more balanced Before I put in the Dyna Beads.
I guess that is just luck having the balance right. I have about 100 miles on them now and I don"t find them any different than the Michelin"s.I should have ordered the front brake pads and did the job all at the same time.