new guy needs tires

[toddprosky]

Well guys time for some new tires, I know this is an old question but can I get your opinion on tire selection, I'm looking for good grip but I don't do track days so I don't need anything super sticky nor do I need tires that get 20k miles, I like to lean through the turns and would like a good street tire that performs on Michigan streets in other words pretty poor condition in half the area I ride through.

[johnnyjs1]

Pilot Power 2CT are what i've used and use. Love em

[Biff's R]

Check the FAQ page on this site. http://r1150r.org/board/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=11850

The Michelin Pilot Road 1 tires are my personal favorite. good wear, good grip, and good in the rain. Bridgestone BT021's have good grip, but are wearing out quick. Metzeler z6 seemed to have a spongy feel to me.

[MartinW]

Metzeler Z6 for me. 36psi front 42psi back. Confidence-inspiring grip - not necessarily a good thing and 6k on rear so far with plenty left to go (as far as one can tell).

There's a tyre survey (poll) somewhere on site if you care to look for it.

Good luck.

Martin

[jeremell]

+1 for Michelin Pilot Roads.

[jm1515]

FWIW...

OE Pilot Roads lasted 11200mi @ 38psi Fr & 40psi Rr...could have gotten more out of the Front, but I wanted to try the
Pirelli Diablo Stradas when they were giving away a Front if you bought a Rear in '06. They lasted just over 8000mi. Same pressures...replaced both at the same time.
Went back to the PilotRoads LY a ~19300miles. I still have the front on @32200mi..that's 12900mi and counting.
I had to change the rear @ 30500mi, so I got 11200mi out if it....same pressures.
I ride solo only, ~15lbs pillon bag, smooth take-offs but semi aggressive riding after that.
I don't commute & don't do the highway...unless it's a means to get to a twisty road somewhere, so I spend more than average time on the sides of my tires. That also means I can be picky about the weather I ride in.....
Honestly, I could not tell much if any difference between the Pirellis and the Michelins...except the 3000mi less the Stradas gave me. I guess I'm just not that 'good'....
I went with the new PR 2s for this last set, rear only so far. In the last 1700mi or so on the rear, I have to say I like 'em.
Can't wait for the PR1 on front to wear out so I can have new rubber all around....

[dnat928]

Continental Road Attacks - on my 2nd set. Got 10k on rear, nearly 20k on front. Grip nice & consistent...too much time on the concrete slab though - always looking for some turns to lean into and work the edges.

[tkm]

I get 8to 10K miles on a set of Z 6.s, they wear evenly and grip well all the way to the end................tkm

[kantuckid]

7k so far on z-6's, with typical center wear on the rear-I'll guess the front will almost last another rear and maybe 3k more left on the original rear. I can say that they DO stick in the rain! Even wear and great ride.I am hard pressed to decide if I want the PR 2's next or keep with the 6's and the rear wear issue?

[Airman]

I liked the ME-Z4's that came on the bike. I got 13,500 miles on those. I then installed Pirelli Diablo Stradas. I still have those on my bike at 28,000. The Pirellis are good tires, I think they're the same tire (pretty much) as the Metzler Z6's. I get great mileage for some reason. Some guys with the same tires get half or less mileage I do, don't know why. I might buy the Stradas again as it's getting near time for a change. And speaking of that, does anyone know of any tire promotionals or smoking rebates on tires?

[bmwr1150rbmw]

Michelin Pilot Roads +1 11,000 and still going. Albeit slowly at this point...

[kantuckid]

I went with Buymoto in San Diego last time and they matched any deal you can find anywhere. Ron Ayers has a good price for one -web will tell you the answer... That is amazing mileage on the Pirelli!Do you walk/ride on water?

[BoiseBeemer]

Metzeler Z6 for me. 36psi front 42psi back. Confidence-inspiring grip - not necessarily a good thing and 6k on rear so far with plenty left to go (as far as one can tell).

Hmm...

Last weekend my wife and I took a little 1100-mile trek up the back spine of the Idaho/Montana border to Whitefish and back down the wondrous US 12 to Boise--pure motorcycle bliss with about 700 of those miles being river canyons of one kind or another. I started out with a pair of slightly squared-off, but decent-looking, Z-6's and decided I could get one last run before changing them out. They still looked good-to-go at the half-way turnaround in Whitefish, so we started back down US 12 on a Sunday and stopped for the night at a riverside lodge. I had checked my tires both times at midway gas fill-ups earlier in the day-still okay. When I checked them again at day's-end, however, I was shocked to discover that I had just covered the last (who knows how many) miles running hard down a river road on a bald back tire. In the center around the entire tire was a 3/4"-wide strip with NO RUBBER and the naked belt showing through (maybe that's why the handling was feeling a little squirrelly?). The tire had gone from looking like it had "plenty left to go" to "fifty feet to blow-out" in the space of a hundred miles. As many have noted, there is no tread across the center of the tire and virtually no way to gauge wear in the center.

Mea culpa... I hadn't been paying much attention to my mileage and when I found the bald strip I realized that I had almost 8500 miles on the tires--certainly not bad mileage, but if I'd had the usual warnings, I'd have changed THIS tire out at least a thousand miles earlier. The annoying thing is that playing this game correctly requires you to be a little bit paranoid; to be safe, you need, imo, to swap this tire out WAY before you see any recognizable signs of dangerous wear, and since you have no way of calculating when that will be, you're always going to be thinking that you just wasted money throwing away a tire that still had miles to burn.

I limped home on a bias-belted 130-series tire that I found in a local ATV shop (hey, YOU try finding a motorcycle dealer out in the country who's open on a Monday--at least this one had RUBBER on the tread) and had a new Micheline PR2 mounted the next day. We'll see how this one goes, but, as much as I enjoyed the handling characteristics of the Z6, for me, the "mystery mileage" component is just not worth the risk. I've NEVER ridden a tire to the nubs, and I don't intend to ever again. What the heck was Metzeler thinking anyway?

YM, of course, MV.

[kantuckid]

I said earlier in the thread, "maybe 3k more on the rear", and I hope they are not my famous last words! There was an accident note in my Lexington,KY paper saying a couple near Marietta,OH, had a rear blow out and hit a guardrail on their bike the other day-both died. I have 7k on my Metzeler and this rear wear thing (no rear wear indicators) is not a new subject.On my rear there is still the curve of the tread design into the center section, but a pronounced flat area. Could it serve a purpose to measure the width of the flat area to estimate the depth of tread rubber left? I see no change in compound variations in my tire as yet. I am wondering about trying a mix of a PR2 on the back and finish my Metzeler on the front? Anybody tried a mix of brands? Yeh,I know , you're not supposed to do that ...

[philbytx]

Used to be a Metzler ME880 fan with my RT but bought Conti Road Attacks for my R.
After 2k miles, I REALLY like the Conti RA's...really roll quickly into a turn, set well plus they give good feedback. In fact, I am replacing a "nailed" ME880 rear (only 2k on it ) with the RA's this week and replacing an almost worn out ME880 front with an RA as well.

[Biff's R]

I see no change in compound variations in my tire as yet. I am wondering about trying a mix of a PR2 on the back and finish my Metzeler on the front? Anybody tried a mix of brands? Yeh,I know , you're not supposed to do that ...

I ran a PR1 front and a Bridgestone rear for a couple thousand miles, and I will mix tires again here shortly. The BT021 are not lasting very long.