I Am Not Impressed

[Rinkydink]

My only disappointment with my new 1250 RT is it was delivered with Metzler Z8s. I have almost 4k miles and the front is severely cupped and noisy and the back is wearing fast. Headed to Wyoming (no BMW dealer) and then maybe Idaho. Knowing from past experiences the Z8 rear can go very quickly. So it looks like new tires are in my very near future. This is not a tire thread, just wishing it had been delivered with Road 6 tires. They seem to hold up better…for me. 
 

 

[Cap]

I had a similar experience with Metzler on my 2019 RT.  Picked it up in Chicago with fairly new tires, rode it home to Colorado on the interstate.  By the time I got home,  about 1000 miles, the tires were squared off and worn out.  I am a big fan of Bridgestone T-32’s.  They seem to wear more evenly, and I don’t get the cupping on the front like I always get with Michelins at the end of their life.

 

Cap

 

enjoy your ride to WY and ID!

[Bob H.]

If you are going to replace them before your trip West I'd highly recommend the new Michelin Road 6GTs, I just had a set put on a week ago and am very happy with them ..I've gone through several sets of the Road 5GTs and really liked the way they performed and I'm sure the Road 6GTs will be as good.

[MikeB60]

Dunlop has a 60 dollar rebate on the Roadsmart IV if you have them installed. 

[Scott9999]

I had the same experience with the Metzlers (circa 2012-2014, not sure what version they were back then).  They were top flight as far as the ride and cornering, but one only got that experience for about 4K to 5K miles, before it was time for a new set.  That's when I switched to Pilot Roads, which were as good as the Metzlers, but became less effective after maybe, 8K miles, when the softer portion of the tire began to wear through.   I considers those about 10K mile tires, even though others reported up to 20K miles, i.e. I'd just rather have fresh rubber.  But, since a lot of my riding time was slabbing on California freeways back then, the Pilots made the most sense. 

[wbw6cos]

This is what 7,408 miles looked like on my Metzeler rear tire, which came brand new in January 2019 on the bike.  It lasted until November, which was nice.  I think I changed the front out at around 8,200 miles, or so.  I ended up putting a set of Michelin Road 5 GT's.  I get 6,300 on the rear and about 8,000 on the front with cord showing.  

 

On my Metzelers, I never had any issue with cupping or squaring-off.  I kept pressures 36 F and 42 R.  Never really noticed noise from them, but on the Michelins........yeah, I noticed.    

 

The new Road 6 GT's go on next.

 

 

[9Mary7]

I've never been concerned about mileage.........handling and grip keeps the Metzler's on my BMW and Pirelli's on my Suzuki. 

[Twisties]

Haven't had the Z8.  Is it still the case that the center tread is solid, with no effective wear indicator in the center?  Can't tell you how many times I've seen riders end up on cord with earlier versions.  

[Lowndes]

I thought the white strings were the "wear indicator".  Not??

[Brodiepunker18]

I had a Z8 on my bike when I got it last spring…wasn’t new when I got it but definitely wore unevenly…I’ve never been a big fan of Metzelers though… I put a continental contiattack 2 on…I’ve heard good things about the continentals…and yes, I know the attack 2 is outdated with the attack3 prevalent and the attack 4 coming out with limited sizes currently…I got a killer deal on it though.

 

 

Continental in back and metzeler on rim…before it was installed.

[bendbill]

My 2018 RT came with Metzelers.  They felt squirrely to me at the front end, falling into turns too quickly for my style of riding.  My moto-dealer recommended Dunlop Roadsmarts used by the PD here.  I  immediately liked  the Roadsmarts better.  From now on, it's Dunlops or  tried-and-true Michelins

[Rinkydink]

On 5/27/2022 at 12:25 PM, Twisties said:

Haven't had the Z8.  Is it still the case that the center tread is solid, with no effective wear indicator in the center?  Can't tell you how many times I've seen riders end up on cord with earlier versions.  

Yes, that is still the case. I made it to SLC and got new Road 6 GTs at Harrison Eurosports 👍

Had me done by 10:30am. They gave me a very good price too. Feeling a whole lot better now!!

[simskid]

Just returned from an 8000 mile coast to coast starting in CT, out to Sacramento, up the coast and back to CT on my 16 RT.  All kinds of riding including a ton of mountain twisties, 2 inch slush/ice/hail on the road, cold and hot, rain and snow.  Started the trip with brand new Michelin 6 GTs.  Probably the best tire I've had.  No cupping.  Even wear.  Felt totally planted in cornering and wet roads. Never a pucker moment.    The tires still have several thousand miles of wear left.  I thought the Road 5s were ok, but this tire is a step above.  Used to ride Metzler's but the cupping on the front was always a problem.  

 

[robofavo]

Ditto on my new R1250RT - Front tire cupped badly after 5K miles, rear lasted only 7K

I switched to Dunlop Roadsmart lV's... love them still with 3K on them now.

Below is good article of Michhelin PR4GT vs. DL SM III 

 

[RTinNC]

I have never been a Metzler fan and has similar issues every time a bike came with them.   I really like the Pllot Roads (now called Roads)  Although I just bought a set of Dunlop Road Star 4's with the MOA buy the rear get the front free.  That amounts to about $200 for a set of tires.   Hey ... that is hard to pass up

[BigtowH8]

On 5/26/2022 at 4:05 PM, wbw6cos said:

This is what 7,408 miles looked like on my Metzeler rear tire, which came brand new in January 2019 on the bike.  It lasted until November, which was nice.  I think I changed the front out at around 8,200 miles, or so.  I ended up putting a set of Michelin Road 5 GT's.  I get 6,300 on the rear and about 8,000 on the front with cord showing.  

 

On my Metzelers, I never had any issue with cupping or squaring-off.  I kept pressures 36 F and 42 R.  Never really noticed noise from them, but on the Michelins........yeah, I noticed.    

 

The new Road 6 GT's go on next.

 

 

Tires, aka tyres, have three stages of wear indicators. This picture is a perfect example of stage two. 

Stage One: when a prudent rider sees the little 2/32” bumps manufactured into the tyre are even with the contact patch and heads to BMW service center.  Good boy.

Stage Two: when the ballsy rider sees cords, smiles and brags, *look at that, guess it’s time to look for tires*

Stage Three: BAD JUJU!  When you can see the air inside the tire.  When you reach stage three, hope your technique in evasive maneuvers is adequate, are a ATGATT believer, and you insurance is up to date.

Have a great day.

[Mellow]

On 5/26/2022 at 4:05 PM, wbw6cos said:

This is what 7,408 miles looked like on my Metzeler rear tire, which came brand new in January 2019 on the bike.  It lasted until November, which was nice.  I think I changed the front out at around 8,200 miles, or so.  I ended up putting a set of Michelin Road 5 GT's.  I get 6,300 on the rear and about 8,000 on the front with cord showing.  

 

On my Metzelers, I never had any issue with cupping or squaring-off.  I kept pressures 36 F and 42 R.  Never really noticed noise from them, but on the Michelins........yeah, I noticed.    

 

The new Road 6 GT's go on next.

 

 

Wow...  7,885 on these PR6s... great tire.. I have some RS III and BS T32s ready to try next to determine my favorite.

 

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

On 5/26/2022 at 7:55 AM, Rinkydink said:

My only disappointment with my new 1250 RT is it was delivered with Metzler Z8s. I have almost 4k miles and the front is severely cupped and noisy and the back is wearing fast. Headed to Wyoming (no BMW dealer) and then maybe Idaho. Knowing from past experiences the Z8 rear can go very quickly. So it looks like new tires are in my very near future. This is not a tire thread, just wishing it had been delivered with Road 6 tires. They seem to hold up better…for me. 

 

Possibly relevant:

 

 

Short version: if you check the details of your OEM tires, you may find that they were made with thin tread and cheap rubber that doesn't deliver the grip or longevity of the same make/model of aftermarket tire.  Best advice is to just accept this as a fact of life, wear out the tires that came with your bike, and move on to a better one from aftermarket.

 

[Skywagon]

On the Itchy Boots videos she experienced the same thing in her new bike in season 6

[9Mary7]

21 hours ago, Joe Frickin' Friday said:

Possibly relevant

Very...... The dealers I worked for didn't buy tires from the oem's  for the reasons Ryan stated.....even at screamin discounts. YMMV

[RandyShields]

On 7/18/2022 at 11:24 AM, Joe Frickin' Friday said:

Possibly relevant

Wow.  Should have suspected but did not.

[Colorado Jeff]

My PR6 after 6,065 miles.  At least they didn't cup like the PR5s, PR4s and PR3s, so that's an improvement.

[Rinkydink]

50 minutes ago, Colorado Jeff said:

My PR6 after 6,065 miles.  At least they didn't cup like the PR5s, PR4s and PR3s, so that's an improvement.

Looks like you’ve got a couple of more city blocks left on that baby. 

[steveg]

I've got dunlop roadsmart 3s and have 15000 miles and are still not down to the wear bars on the rear and front is wearing 

nicely thats on a 2020R1250RT and they're less expensive because they are not the latest and greatest new version

[RTinNC]

1 hour ago, steveg said:

I've got dunlop roadsmart 3s and have 15000 miles and are still not down to the wear bars on the rear and front is wearing 

nicely thats on a 2020R1250RT and they're less expensive because they are not the latest and greatest new version

WOW ... that is some amazing mileage!  Best I have gotten was about 9500 on Pilot Road 4's.   I have a set of Roadsmart 4's I got last month with the buy one get one free deal.  They will go on next spring.   I hope I get your kind of mileage. 

[Rougarou]

On 8/22/2022 at 6:45 AM, steveg said:

I've got dunlop roadsmart 3s and have 15000 miles and are still not down to the wear bars on the rear and front is wearing 

nicely thats on a 2020R1250RT and they're less expensive because they are not the latest and greatest new version

 

 Are you freakin' serious,.....15K and still not on the wear bars,.....man, I only wish I could pull that off.

[Paul De]

Steveg wins the smooth throttle and braking hand award.   Wonder if he ever raced open class dirt bikes

[Skywagon]

I’ve been getting 12-14,000 on the PR’s since they came out. They have tread when I change them. I generally change them at 12k service. My most recent set are T-3’s. They are at about 4000 so we’ll see how they do. Terry recommended them so I’m giving them a try. So far I like them and they were a lot less expensive than PR5’s

[Rougarou]

50 minutes ago, Skywagon said:

I’ve been getting 12-14,000 on the PR’s since they came out. They have tread when I change them. I generally change them at 12k service. My most recent set are T-3’s. They are at about 4000 so we’ll see how they do. Terry recommended them so I’m giving them a try. So far I like them and they were a lot less expensive than PR5’s

 

There are those that ride and there are those that glide 

 

When I got back into riding in 2010 after being off of a bike since 1994, I got 'bout 12k on a set, now, 8k-10k'ish

[RandyShields]

2 hours ago, Rougarou said:

When I got back into riding in 2010 after being off of a bike since 1994, I got 'bout 12k on a set, now, 8k-10k'ish

So you were a better rider back then?

[Rougarou]

23 minutes ago, RandyShields said:

So you were a better rider back then?

 

Less aggressive on the throttle and braking back then.  

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

On 8/22/2022 at 8:46 AM, RTinNC said:

Best I have gotten was about 9500 on Pilot Road 4's.

 

Curious how you ride.  My current rear PR4 is going to be into the wear bars at 4500 miles.  You must be super gentle on the gas and brakes.  

[RTinNC]

28 minutes ago, Joe Frickin' Friday said:

 

Curious how you ride.  My current rear PR4 is going to be into the wear bars at 4500 miles.  You must be super gentle on the gas and brakes.  

I consider myself a pretty conservative rider but will wick it up a bit in the twisties.  I had always gotten 10-12K on my 2006 RT running PR3's.   When I got my 2016 RT I was shocked that I was getting 6-8K at best out of my tires ... Metzler and Dunlop then I switched to the PR4s and on my last set was able to get just over 9K and wear bars were not quite showing but very close.  I am shocked when I hear guys getting 12-15K on a set of tires.   My 2018 GS is about the same as I ride 98% street and get 7-9K on a set of tires.   I am running Road 6's on the GS now and we'll see how they do.   I ride about 50% secondary roads and 25% local highways and 25% interstate ... that is a guess.  So far the Michelins are my favorite but I did buy a set if the Road Smart 4's with the buy one get one deal just because they were such a bargain.   I tried the Road Smart 3's when they came out and was not happy with them ... cupped and did not have the mileage that Dunlop was claiming ... at least not for me.   But I realize everyone is different.   I will mount up the RS4's next spring. 

 

But man if you are going through tires at 4500 miles I would ask how do YOU ride?  Man that would upset me for sure. 

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

27 minutes ago, RTinNC said:

But man if you are going through tires at 4500 miles I would ask how do YOU ride?  Man that would upset me for sure. 

 

I had a set of Metzeler Z-6 tires on the bike for my 2011 trip to Torrey, and that rear was well into the cords at 4500 miles:

 

 

Not much braking or WOT acceleration, lots of long steady cruising on that tire (albeit at high speeds). 

 

My current Michelin PR4 tires have been through two trips to Wisconsin, and a bunch of local riding.  The Wisconsin trips incurred about 1200 miles of interstate highway riding to get there/back,  and another 1300 miles of hammering through the twisties while there (quite a bit of hard braking and accel).  My local afternoon rides in the countryside west of Ann Arbor tend to be more mellow, since there's just not a lot of tight curves around here that would encourage heavy braking/accel - although when the curves do show up, I ride accordingly. 

[dirtrider]

1 hour ago, Joe Frickin' Friday said:

 

Curious how you ride.  My current rear PR4 is going to be into the wear bars at 4500 miles.  You must be super gentle on the gas and brakes.  

Moring Mitch

 

It might be our road surfaces or the higher speeds on the roads on the Ohio/Michigan area. 

 

I seldom get much over 5,000- 5,500 miles on a tire/usually rear goes first as I tend to ride single unloaded a lot at very high speeds so there is usually a little constant rear tire slippage. 

 

On (street)  motorcycle tires, I usually look for a tire that I can get even tire wear on, not longer mileage, as nothing bothers me more than a noisy or howling tire then last couple of  thousand miles.  

[RTinNC]

26 minutes ago, Joe Frickin' Friday said:

 

I had a set of Metzeler Z-6 tires on the bike for my 2011 trip to Torrey, and that rear was well into the cords at 4500 miles:

 

 

Not much braking or WOT acceleration, lots of long steady cruising on that tire (albeit at high speeds). 

 

My current Michelin PR4 tires have been through two trips to Wisconsin, and a bunch of local riding.  The Wisconsin trips incurred about 1200 miles of interstate highway riding to get there/back,  and another 1300 miles of hammering through the twisties while there (quite a bit of hard braking and accel).  My local afternoon rides in the countryside west of Ann Arbor tend to be more mellow, since there's just not a lot of tight curves around here that would encourage heavy braking/accel - although when the curves do show up, I ride accordingly. 

I’ve had zero luck with Metzlers.  I’d think the hotter temps here in the Southeast would be a negative.   I’ve ridden in Ohio but don’t recall the road surfaces.  Lots of factors I suspect. 
 

The pilot roads are the first tire I could actually tell handled differently and for the better

[Tpoppa]

There are lots of good choices in sport touring tires these days.  I tend to ride a fun sporting pace and rarely get more than 5k out of a rear tire.

 

I have burned through 30+ sets of ST tires in the last decade. For my money, the Conti Road Attack & Pirelli Angel GT are the most sport capable in the category. Z8s perform well enough, but don't last as long as some others.  Bridgestone don't work for me. Dunlop Roadsmarts have good longevity, but less dry grip. If I did a lot of riding in wet weather (I don't), I would opt for the Michelin...honestly, I think Michelin has become too focused on wet weather, to the point where they lose some dry weather performance and can feel a bit "squirmy." 

 

This is why I love the Conti Road Attack 3 and look forward to trying the RA4.  They stick like glue, and last as long as long as anything else. This was after a fast pass on the TOTD (at first light, before the typical squid convention was even out of bed).  That tire lasted about 4700 miles, which is good for me :)

 

 

[wbw6cos]

My '19 RT came from the factory with Metzler tires (Z8???  Don't recall) and I managed to get 7,400 miles before chord showed up.  Pretty impressive considering the info I learned about factory installed tires from a video that FortNine posted.   Hmmm, I may try them out again after my PR6 tires.   Maybe I can order a set that has more tread and get a few more miles out of that rear.  I believe the front lasted to about 8,000 miles +/-, but my mind remembers things I don't need to recall.  

[steveg]

On 8/23/2022 at 10:50 AM, Paul De said:

Steveg wins the smooth throttle and braking hand award.   Wonder if he ever raced open class dirt bikes

I'm a smooth operator lol

[ADulay]

The Metzlers came with my new bike earlier this year.

 

At 10,000 miles they were showing cord.

 

Well, they were probably showing cord earlier than that but I was coming back from Sturgis and didn’t actually check all that closely out on the road at night.   Got home at midnight and didn’t notice it until the next day when I went to check tire pressures. 

 

Putting the Michelins on this Saturday along with the 12K check.