OEM tires: experiences, how long 'til I can get new ones?

[SF_Hooligan]

I'm coming up on 4,000 miles on my R1200R. I didn't mind the stock Metzelers at first, but on my ride yesterday the back end was stepping out on me quite a bit.

I can't say for sure it was the tires. I had tinkered with the suspension - stiffened it up just a touch, and cranked up the preload a bit, although I wouldn't consider these radical adjustments. Also, it was quite cold (for California). It got down to 34 degrees for a while. And there was a fair amount of stuff on the road here and there. But I rode these same roads the previous weekend and it didn't feel so sketchy.

So... questions:
1. Anyone run into issues like this on the stockers? Around how many miles?
2. How many miles did you get out of the stock shoes? Or did you give up and upgrade before they were toasted?
3. Anyone run into issues when tweaking the suspenders?
4. Am I just overthinking sketchy behavior due to winter crap on the roads, in an attempt to justify throwing down some cash on some sweet PR3s?

[michael Tobias]

i got my new r12r in 2008 with Bridgestones and the rear went less than 1800 miles and the front was gone by 2700. switched to PR2's and after nearly 8k to PR3's they have been wonderful in all kinds of weather....not tried in this cold however but i imagine once they warm up they will do fine...excluding ice

[qfman]

I'm on what must be my 12th set of Metzlers (100K on R1150R and 40K on R12R). I find they are pretty consistent through their entire life. I get 10,000 hard KM from a rear and 14,000km from the front. That said I replace them in pairs these days. They feel very consistent and are particularly good in cooler conditions. The downside of their consistency is that they can lack 'feel' when pressure is too low or when surface is skatey. One one or two occasions I have over-heated the rear but only after sustained abuse. This makes the rear tyre behave like a black crayon...

Tom

[VDV]

After 10.000 miles, I changed the OEM Metzeler Z6 for a Michelin PR3.

[hjsbmw]

I can't say for sure it was the tires. I had tinkered with the suspension - stiffened it up just a touch, and cranked up the preload a bit, although I wouldn't consider these radical adjustments.

Everybody gets different mileages out of the same tire, and different tires work for different people. It's not easy to comment on that.

However, stiffened it up: if you increase the rear's damping then the loss of traction can be explained by that as the shock will expand less rapidly. Likewise, more preload: depends on how much more, but less sag means less room to follow bumps downward, and that can also explain the loss of traction. If you didn't have problems before then I'd suspect the recent suspension changes.

[waynemathews]

2. How many miles did you get out of the stock shoes?

I got 6500 miles out of this Pilot Road before it became too noisy to ride on.

[Catchina]

I am at 8,400 miles on the 2011 r1200r I got in March and will need new rear tire in the spring.

[SF_Hooligan]

i got my new r12r in 2008 with Bridgestones and the rear went less than 1800 miles and the front was gone by 2700. switched to PR2's and after nearly 8k to PR3's they have been wonderful in all kinds of weather....not tried in this cold however but i imagine once they warm up they will do fine...excluding ice

Wow, that's a fast burn - I have some wear on the peg feelers of my R1200R already and don't go through tires that fast.

I'm on what must be my 12th set of Metzlers (100K on R1150R and 40K on R12R). I find they are pretty consistent through their entire life. I get 10,000 hard KM from a rear and 14,000km from the front. That said I replace them in pairs these days. They feel very consistent and are particularly good in cooler conditions. The downside of their consistency is that they can lack 'feel' when pressure is too low or when surface is skatey. One one or two occasions I have over-heated the rear but only after sustained abuse. This makes the rear tyre behave like a black crayon...

Tom

I checked the pressure and adjusted to 36/42 (front/back) before heading out. I'm thinking I might lower that some for excursions to the twisties. Not sure I'm even capable of overheating them, though - I'm just not that fast.

Everybody gets different mileages out of the same tire, and different tires work for different people. It's not easy to comment on that.

However, stiffened it up: if you increase the rear's damping then the loss of traction can be explained by that as the shock will expand less rapidly. Likewise, more preload: depends on how much more, but less sag means less room to follow bumps downward, and that can also explain the loss of traction. If you didn't have problems before then I'd suspect the recent suspension changes.

Agreed. I added about half a turn in stiffness, and several clicks of preload - stiffness was still at factory settings, preload had already been increased but was still a bit low. I made these adjustments after dragging the pegs recently - bike was sagging too much in the back. To be clear, I'm not using the preload as a ride height adjuster, just trying to get the sag right.

The roads I was on are pretty bumpy in places (route here) but I don't recall the bike stepping out in the really rough stuff - but that's really hard to gauge. Also, I had my VFR800 set up really stiff and it rarely got squirrely on me - wearing Bridgestone BT023s - so it just got me thinking.

Thanks to everyone for your comments. Sounds like what I really need is a set of PR3s, Ohlins suspension, and crash bars. Oh, and maybe some Clearwater lights. All in good time, but I figure I'll wear out the stock suspenders before I replace 'em - so maybe next year.

[ammolab]

I have 4000 miles on my OEM Bridgestones and I am wearing a nice flat stripe right down the center of the tread....

See I commute in Houston Texas where the roads are as straight as a RIFLE SHOT! Hard to 'carve the canyons' when there aint one within many, many miles from here.

Until I get some time to get away from here....I should make a deal to exchange my tires at the 'halfway' mark with one of you guys that hits the twistys every day. Then we could both throw away a really evenly worn out set of tires!!

[GBag]

Conti's - 6000, Metzler - 10000, Michelin 12000. These are my experiences. Others may vary. This is also rear tire mileage as front tires will go roughly 2000 - 4000 more.

[pistonbroke]

hi
pirelli scorpians for me , deep winter tread .
rear lasted 8500, front was ok but changed as pair.
piston.

[deilenberger]

Conti's - 6000, Metzler - 10000, Michelin 12000. These are my experiences. Others may vary. This is also rear tire mileage as front tires will go roughly 2000 - 4000 more.

I didn't do the Metzler - but I agree on Conti and Michelin's.. you get twice the miles on the Michelin Pilot-Road series (I'm running PR-III's now) and better wet handling.