BMW R1200R R1150R/T F800 K1200R R1100R/T R1250R RnineT Message Board

Hi yawl,

Interested to read the various comments about tyres and I am astonished at the high mileages (eg 15000kls) some riders get out of their tyres. How do you do it 'cause tyres aren't cheap and it hurts to buy newies. I don't consider myself to be a particularly hard rider but my Bridgestone BT056's were illegal at 9000 kls and should have been replace at 5000kls. Like most Bridgestones (maybe the dual compound) they flattened out on the sides causing the bike to fall into corners and making it hard to corner comfortably. I have seen this with Bridgestones on many bikes apart from my own.

I am currently running Pilot Roads and so far so good, but it is a bit early to tell about longevity.

Cheers,
par

I routinely achieved 6500 miles on a set of Bridgestones - BT56, BT 20, BT 14. Isn't that 10,000 km?

I ride neither aggressively nor timidly and I pack a weekends gear for the longer trips.

My supposition is that the rider's weight (gear included) and the road surface - macadam, gravel, concrete and texture are the big determinants. Riding style then contributes a bit more.

Unless you routinely do burnouts and sliding turns.

I got 20,000klms out of the original Macadams....and also got 20,000klms out of my Perelli Diablo's..........they call me Mr Smooth...

DJ

While my bike is in storage this winter I am changing my original set of MEZ 4's. I put 24.5k KMS on them over 1.5 seasons. I am having Pilot Roads installed for this season.

I average 15k kms/season. Many of these miles were 2-up, with luggage.
I keep the front at 36, rear at 39 while solo. With passenger and cases, I pump the rear up to 41 psi. These are teh BMW recommended values.

Sometimes I ride agressively, mostly just touring. Not too much gravel, but if I'm faced with it, I'll take it.

I check tire pressures every weekend, or before a long mid-week ride. I also keep tabs on the tread depth.

I found this practice adds longivity to the tires. We'll see how the Pilot Roads do with the same regiment!

Hi Phil -
Tyre wear on the R relies a lot on use. I do 20K per annum of commuting around Sydney, then I go riding with sportsbike loonies about every 3rd Saturday and then I do trips like Phillip Is and Snowy Ride. I have got the best mileage out of Metzler Z6. The rear will do 10K of pretty hard riding BUT ONLY if you are particular about maintaining pressures. They grip pretty well in most situations but can be skatey in the wet. Again - the pressures are important to maintain grip. I got better grip from Bridgie 020 but only 6K from a rear.

Have a look at my website to get an idea of the abuse levels.....

Tom

http://members.optusnet.com.au/~lonergans/

As alluded to by others, mileage is dependent on riding style, weight and your paying attention to air pressure, in addition to what brand you use. Some of us use the same tires and get drastically different results.

Interesting enough, the type of pavement you ride on affects wear also. My car tire dealer says the stone our DOT used to pave around here is harder than the stone from the eastern part of the state and therefore is tougher on tires.

Board members have had good, though varied, results from Metzlers, Avons and the Pilots (probably the 3 most popular). I think I have read somewhere (probably here! ) that the Pirellis DJ refers to are the same as Metzler Z6s, only cheaper.

Tires are almost like the boxer vs brief argument. Just get a good brand and experiment until you find what you like!

One time I was hard to change tars but got too tard and started working with wars and made enough munny to buy a stallion that sard two foles. One of'em we called WahlFar.

Thass all I know 'bout tars.