New Tires!

Inspired by CycleRob, this section is devoted to all flavors of the F800.

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New Tires!

Post by CycleRob »

I ordered my new tires on the net weeks ago and they came in 5 days. This was in the plan to change them at Beemeridian's house in Virgina, combined with Ann & I going together with Dave to the Glenn Beck Honor America 8/28 Rally in D.C. Before we left home, both tires were removed, 1st with a car jack as a counterweight on the rear rack to elevate the front wheel for removal. Put the axle back in and rest it on a retracted jack stand to elevate the rear wheel for removal. A little easier than the 1150R because the rear brake caliper stays untouched and the muffler swing away is easier/quicker. Both wheels went into the car trunk for the 470 mile trip.

My tires had about another 1,500 miles on them, but I couldn't pass up the free (after barter) use of Dave's manual tire changer and balancer in one of his 2 backyard sheds. That, plus after 8,734 miles, I did not like those OEM supplied Bridgestone BT-020 tires. We balanced the font rim (no tire) to find the heavy spot, marked it, then put the tire's red dot (light spot) aligned with it to minimize the stick-on weights needed. The front rim's heavy spot was 12 clock minutes (72 degrees) away from the valve stem. With the tire in the perfect spot, the balancer showed it needed no weights!! SWEET!! We're unable to balance the rear wheel for lack of the specific newer BMW rear wheel adapter cones, but the wheel had no balance weights on it originally, so it should be OK (it was).

Friday evening at Dave's, changing the tires went pretty easy, even after being away for 5years from the service dept routines that were refined thru 10 years worth of repetition. We got back home very early about 2:30am Monday morning. Today I finally put the wheels back on and went for a ride. Wow, what a difference! The raised fork tubes and high rear suspension preload needed to make the bike handle good with worn out Bridgestons is now scary dangerous with new Metzeler Z-6 tires. Out on the road I stopped to back out 4 turns of rear preload . . . . and that made it much better, but the fork tube heights will have to be reduced from 15mm to 12mm to dial it in. Oh, yeah, there's no more singing tire whine when leaning into corners.

Thanks Dave & Nancy!! We enjoyed the visit, the 2 nite stay overs, the shared meals, the Blu-Ray movie "Australia", the 1.4GB of MP3 music files and the historic trip to stand tall with 500,000 other like minded patriots. :smt023 :smt026 =D> \:D/

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Re: New Tires!

Post by CycleRob »

Went for a 2-up ride this evening, supper at a Captain D's restaurant 21 miles away. Man, does it ever handle solid, even with a rider and the Givi tail trunk. Riding solo I finally got the suspension set right. It's not a "try this and see what happens" routine. After about 9 years of assisting my older brother, our suspension Doctor, Pappa John in setting up street and track bike suspensions, there is a sequence of operations to follow. Set rider sag, compression and rebound damping rates, then test ride. Ideally, when you let go of the bars midway thru a sharp corner, the bike should continue on the same course. Same curvature. Not fall in deeper or go upright (off the road). Knowing that test ride result, the correct final adjustment(s), if needed, can be made for neutral cornering. In adjusting the ride height (+/-), rebound and compression damping (+/-) and spring preload (+/-) there are a thousand wrong answers possible for those that just "wing it".

All it took to get the preload settings dialed in was 2 small trial-n-error adjustments in the negative direction. With the OEM tires I was limited to a 90% pace on back roads because of tires that were actually unremarkable when they were at their best (new), even with the proper suspension setup. Putting on the new Metzeler Z-6 Roadtec Interact Sport Touring tire set did not work well with the "stretched" suspension settings required to make the mediocre Bridgestone BT-020 tires handle well. Specifically, rear preload at a 1/2 turn from maximum and the front fork tubes raised 3mm in the triple trees. The rear preload at that near maximum setting still did not provide neutral cornering -and- it also did not provide the correct rear suspension rider sag. It wasn't enough rider sag, but it had to be set there to get closer to a setup that provides neutral cornering. That's why the forktubes were raised 3mm to fully dial it in, but that raised fork tube setting made putting the bike on the centerstand much harder. :oops:

Enter the new Metzeler Z-6 Interact. What a difference the proper tire profile makes when changing tire brands. There are very few heroes out there when it comes to tires that deliver full confidence handling at any lean angle. The Z-6, IMHO is such a hero. Just like on my R1150R, once the suspension was set up correctly, the Metzeler Z-6 tires made the handling as invincible and secure as it can get. Even at maximum cornering lean at crazy speeds, the bike feels like it is on railroad tracks. On the R1150R going thru the Tail-of-the-Dragon's 318 curves in 11 miles, the Z-6 tires got scuffed completely to the edge. Nearing the end of the Dragon the tires were pretty hot and I felt a wonderful combination of a high confidence, barely perceptible, 2 wheel drift and the sensation of totally being in complete control. Just like a dirtbike in the sand. On my new bike, I'll have to fully scuff the new Interact Z-6's in on the crazy mountain twisties of GA state routes 60 and 19 just 24 miles away . . . . real soon.

They have good cold and wet grip, are immune to road seams or open mesh iron bridge grates, are long lived and run silently. On two very different bikes (50R/F800), they also handle amazing! So far I'm really pleased!

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Re: New Tires!

Post by CycleRob »

The full confidence, extreme cornering capability of these tires on an F800ST are phenomenal. The only limitation for not going 100% crazy in the tight twisties would be the unpredictability of the yet unseen road surface and the possibility of meeting an oncoming or sitting LEO, both of which must be respected at your peril.

Love these tires!! They make the stock Bridgestones BT-020 tire set "not acceptable".

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Re: New Tires!

Post by CycleRob »

Tires have 4,000 miles (6,437km) on them and do not even look half worn. The handling is still excellent. Running 42psi rear (2.95 kg/sq-cent), 39psi front (2.74 kg/sq-cent) returns 64--66 MPG (27.2--28.0 km/L) riding conservative legal speeds under winter riding conditions, with 4 or 5 cold engine starts (trips) per tankful.

My 45.7 mile (73.5km) trip today was pure delight! I seen displayed 68.7F (20.4C) on the way out (a 2011 record for me) and 58.7F (14.7C) as I turned onto my street and end of the trip. Pretty good for Feb 17th, when the weather forecaster said these temps are 15 degF (8.3C) above normal.
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Re: New Tires!

Post by OU812 »

I have been running the Dunlap Roadsmarts and I am happy with them.
Next time I will give the Z's a shot.
Thanks for your informative post(as always!) =D>
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Re: New Tires!

Post by Buckeye Beemer »

Well, was thinking of Michelin Pilot Road 3s for the 50R but might need a change in plan. Thanks for the info!
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Re: New Tires!

Post by Buckeye Beemer »

CycleRob---man your mileage numbers with the 800 are awesome. I am seriously thinking of moving in that direction. I get about 45 or so MPG with the 50R. Maybe I need to clean out the stable a bit.
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Re: New Tires!

Post by OU812 »

Buckeye Beemer wrote:Well, was thinking of Michelin Pilot Road 3s for the 50R but might need a change in plan. Thanks for the info!
That may be another option. :badgrin:
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Re: New Tires!

Post by Rider Rick »

Have you been on any dirt or gravelly roads with the Metz tires, or gotten into any mud? i'm looking for something that will give me any advantage possible on my 1150r for an AK run in June. I understand it will be mostly paved with some construction and sand thrown in here and there, with all bets off on the Haul Road. I'll be swapping tires anyway when I get to Fairbanks, if these are about as good as any in most conditions I'll have another set waiting there. Thanks.
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Re: New Tires!

Post by OU812 »

Mud and sand yell for knobby's. ;)
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Re: New Tires!

Post by Rider Rick »

I agree, but from here to AK they could get kind of buzzy :)
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Re: New Tires!

Post by OU812 »

Yep, they sure would and wear down to much of nothing by the time you need them. #-o
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Re: New Tires!

Post by sweatmark »

These aren't knobbies, but at least they have some block tread:

http://www.us.pirelli.com/web/tyres-cat ... fault.page

Despite rapid wear & "squaring" of the rear tire, I do like these Pirellis, even used them for a wet & dry trackday.
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Re: New Tires!

Post by angellr »

sweatmark wrote:These aren't knobbies, but at least they have some block tread:

http://www.us.pirelli.com/web/tyres-cat ... fault.page

Despite rapid wear & "squaring" of the rear tire, I do like these Pirellis, even used them for a wet & dry trackday.
These are what I use on my R12. Really like the tire.
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Re: New Tires!

Post by OU812 »

I wish they made them for my RT...... :cry:
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Re: New Tires!

Post by angellr »

OU812 wrote:I wish they made them for my RT...... :cry:
Thought both bikes had the same tire size? What year is your RT?
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Re: New Tires!

Post by OU812 »

After talking to Cyclerob today, they do. =D>
180 rear. #-o
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Re: New Tires!

Post by angellr »

Problem solved! Online at the Motorcycle Superstore they are $152.00 plus shipping. Thinking of ordering a pair for when I *need* them.
-Bob-

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Re: New Tires!

Post by OU812 »

After further investigation a dual compound is the only way for me. :oops:
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Re: New Tires!

Post by angellr »

OU812 wrote:After further investigation a dual compound is the only way for me. :oops:
Dual compound might also be my next tire ... remember Don/Harry talking about the PR3 and I might just splurge and get me a set of those for the front/back. Also, no need to :oops:, as it has forced me to do some more research in this matter.

BTW, does anyone have a good estimate on the number of miles one should expect/get out of a set of tires? I know this is a loaded question, but merely trying to get a reasonable ballpark figure. Thanks!
-Bob-

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