$350 rear tire?

[outnabout]

Yes, that's what it cost after I screwed up the bead on my new Dunlop Roadsmart rear tire. I started my beautiful Saturday 80 degree day by removing my old Pilot Road and easily removing it from the rim. I then began spooning on the Roadsmart and after a couple hours of blood and sweat (went too far), I gave up. I took the tire to my local Cyclegear to be installed on Sunday. The tech asked me to come back and see the problem he was having with the tire and I noted a buldge on the sidewall of the tire where the bead had slightly torn at 38 psi. He lowered the pressure to 23 psi and the buldge was still present. I decided to have the tire completely replaced with a new one. The wife was fairly understanding, but I still can't believe I messed up the tire after replacing numerous tires in the past. I guess it was my day to be a dumba** .

[enderw88]

For my own education, what exactly did you do wrong?

[outnabout]

I tried to stretch it too far. I let the tire warm up for a few hours in the sun to let it loosen up, but this particular tire was rally hard. But, needless to say, I just pulled too hard on it...ouch $$$

[enderw88]

Thanks.

[Preacher]

I hope your Dunlop works out. After the OEM Metzelers bit the dust at 8900mi, I dropped into a lot of forums to read what guys were saying about the PR2's. The old style PR's didn't remotely compare for mileage. I bought a set of Pilot Road 2CT's (relatively recent release) and those things were wonderful!!!! In 3000mi of fast riding on slabs up to 90mph constant speed, the PR2's were barely phased in the center, so the new dual compound (harder in center) has been the bomb. And the backroad, twisty handling was tremendously improved. They were top-rated in their class for both longevity and wet handling in lab tests over in Europe. Tremendous directional stability with them also.

[Dan-A]

I got a set of Conti Sport attacks at A & S for 1/2 price on special. Dunno how log they will last, but they sure handle nice.

[Preacher]

My new K13S came with Conti Sprt Atk's and really don't care for them so far with near 800mi on bike, 50-50 back roads and slabs to date. Will reserve final judgment 'til it's time to replace them. Good luck with yours.

[thepeacebullgrunt]

Me I am not obsessed with performance, twisties and such...I don't even really lean my bike in curves
I respect those who enjoy that but to me it's just not the way I use my bike.

In fact for my tires I just need a fair and precise handling of the bike, a good traction and mainly a great LONGEVITY compound.
Because I ride approximately 2000 miles per month mostly in urban context
and don't want to endlessly be forced to pay $$$ for new sets of tires every 3 months or so.

I am 6450K on my R now
I can see the tire slowly going away every week

Any recommendations for my next set of tires ?

[Dan-A]

My new K13S came with Conti Sprt Atk's and really don't care for them so far with near 800mi on bike, 50-50 back roads and slabs to date. Will reserve final judgment 'til it's time to replace them. Good luck with yours.

I have heard nothing but good things about the K1300's. With the tire shredding power it has, I can't imagine they will last long and you will be changing them in no time.

The R's came with Road Attacks, or Michelins, mine had michelins. I went to the sport rather than road attacks (because of the special price), and they seem good to me.

What is your issue with them?

[TPE3B]

After the OEM Metzelers bit the dust at 8900mi...

I have Metzlers on my brand new R (too young to comment, though), and also had them for three years on my late LT. OK, I understand, the bikes are very different, but the LT crowd always put lot more psi's in tires than manufacturer-recommended which really increased the longevity and the grip did not suffer either. I've always put 42/48 psi's front/rear, and consistently got 12K out of the rear, and 18K out of the front tire (and i don't ride slow...).

I just wonder if that should also be true for R-bikes. Any experience "overpumping" tires for longevity?

[bobw]

outnabout

That hurts, but at least you found out with it off the bike VS having a failure during a ride.

Safe travels.

Bob

[deilenberger]

After the OEM Metzelers bit the dust at 8900mi...

I have Metzlers on my brand new R (too young to comment, though), and also had them for three years on my late LT. OK, I understand, the bikes are very different, but the LT crowd always put lot more psi's in tires than manufacturer-recommended which really increased the longevity and the grip did not suffer either. I've always put 42/48 psi's front/rear, and consistently got 12K out of the rear, and 18K out of the front tire (and i don't ride slow...).

I just wonder if that should also be true for R-bikes. Any experience "overpumping" tires for longevity?

Yeah - the ride quality really suffers. BTDT.

We don't have the 900lbs of road-hugging weight the LT has.. and running the tires above the factory recommended pressure (32F, 34R) results in a harsh ride over sharp bumps. If you load the bike up for touring, and put 200lbs additional on it, or a plump wife - then look under the seat - whaza! It has another recommendation for pressure two-up/touring.

Believe it or not - BMW probably actually designed the bike to work well at a certain tire pressure. Sure - you might get 1,000 more miles out of your tire - but you're not gonna enjoy it. Even as much as only 37/39 one-up will result in an uncomfortable ride. Really. Try it..

[lewellen]

In fact for my tires I just need a fair and precise handling of the bike, a good traction and mainly a great LONGEVITY compound.
Because I ride approximately 2000 miles per month mostly in urban context
and don't want to endlessly be forced to pay $$$ for new sets of tires every 3 months or so.

I am 6450K on my R now
I can see the tire slowly going away every week

Any recommendations for my next set of tires ?

I had a set of Metzeler Z6 Inspec's put on about 800 miles ago. So far, from mostly commuting (10 miles / day plus some 100+ mile weekend rides when I'm home), no real wear apparent on the rear.

Definitely improved the handling of the bike over the old Pilot Sports that came with the bike; but the rear was kinda flat in the middle and the front was wearing weirdly (the tech said he'd seen it a lot on those); so almost anything new would have been an improvement.

Re tread life, I got around 7k miles from my OEM tires; using that as a gauge of my riding style (or lack thereof), the tech guesstimated I'd get 9 - 10k out of the Z6s.

Good roads,

- Lewellen

[famousperson]

That's what my friendly local BMW stealer quoted me. That's not even mounted! I am curious to know what other people paid and from whom they bought them. Of course, if I don't get them from the stealer they charge more to mount them so I have to factor that in.

Please help me form being ripped off.

Peter

[Dale_K]

Check out these prices. Pretty expensive tires.

http://www.tiresunlimited.com/ALL%20TIR ... _Road2.htm

My dealer put on a new tire on the used bike I bought and apparently installed the cheapest possible tire, less than $135 for a rear. The tire actually feels pretty good but I can't compare to other brands because I'm new to the bike and haven't ridden on anything else.

http://www.tiresunlimited.com/ALL%20TIR ... al_005.htm

[famousperson]

Check out these prices. Pretty expensive tires.

http://www.tiresunlimited.com/ALL%20TIR ... _Road2.htm

With shipping, the most expensive PR2s are $60 cheaper than the dealer quoted me.

[RonR]

When I recently needed to replace my rear tire, I got a quote from my stealer. Michelin Pilot Road (not Road 2, in order to match my front that is relatively new) was quoted at $205, $223.96 w/ tax. Mounting and balance, if you buy from them: $39 + shop materials (weights?) + tire disposal. The mount/balance quote if I bought the tire elsewhere was $55!

I bought the tire from Ride Direct for $134.95 + $10 shipping, no tax. It arrived in 3 days. Had it mounted and balanced at an independent shop for $20. I saved roughly $100 on the rear alone. I'll do the same for the front when the time comes. Love the tires, BTW.

[NeilS]

Pilot Road 2s from http://www.motorcyclesuperstore.com, $307, free shipping.

[bobw]

Hey Dale, I know a high mile rider with an FJR that tried those 005's and they actually worked well. He went back to "normal" brands when the price difference wasn't as beneficial.

I go through several sets of tires a year and I don't mind supporting "my" dealer, but the last two sets I felt like my name was Ben Dover. This time I shopped price and took the wheels to another local major brand(s) shop and saved over $150.00 including the mounting/balancing @$20.00 a tire. I preach/practice paying a little more to support the dealership VS Internet sales allowing them to maintain good staff, etc., but that is way too disparate a range to ignore. On just tires alone I can easily save $500.00 -$600.00 a year and this other shop is still making a profit. Same UPS guy drops off the same tires for the same costs to both local shops...

Safe travels and +1 on Don's comments reference 1-2 LBS pressure changes making huge impacts on handling/ride quality.