Tire Wear on 2004 R1150RT

[Metromike]

I bought my bike last summer with 11k miles on it. The bike has a set of Metzler Z-6 tires that appear to have very little wear but I have no idea when they were purchased. I have put 5K miles on the bike since I bought it. I don't know how to determine if I need new tires. I am thinking about going to Bikeweek and Daytona BMW has a buy one get one free offer. Any thoughts on how to determine how much life is left in these tires?

[Knighthawk]

What does the tread depth look like? Are they "squared" off down the center?

 

IMO, a good set of tires is cheap insurance...when in doubt, mount a new set.

[Metromike]

They appear to be a little squared off but the tread looks good on the sides. I called Daytona BMW and they said there were wear indicators on the tires. I checked closely and I did not see any indicators. They want $130 to mount and balance. Seemed a little high to me!

[outpost22]

Made the mistake of leaving on a trip with the Z6 front at about 6000 miles on it and looked reasonably good. By 7000 miles it was totally thrashed and I still had 700 miles left to go on the trip. Really wished it was new when I left as the "sport" part of the ride was severely hampered by the lack of "turn in" with that tire.

[Couchrocket]

Unfortunately, w/ the Z6 the first real indication on the rear tire will be nice shiny steel cords showing in the center.

 

The "wear bars" on the rear are "there" but faint and they are nowhere near the center of the tread. And w/ 5k on them and let's assume they had 1k when you bought the bike, you're getting pretty close to the normal wear experienced on the DB here for Z6's ridden "normally." Some report 7-8 K on a rear, some much less when ridden aggressively.

 

So, long story short, I'd replace those Z6's before I went on any long trip. Around town, you could just keep an eye on them. Long trip, they might look fine in the morning and be "silver" in the afternoon.

 

Depending on the style of riding you do, you may want to look at something like Mich. Pilot Roads that have a "tread" going across the centerline of the rear tire. Decent ST tires, and longer wear, and much easier to assess useful like remaining.

[tjsven]

Depends on what the out the door price is on two tires mounted.. You can buy a set for a litte over $220 from a mail order firm.. You can take the wheels to an independent shop and maybe pay 30 to mount or ride in and pay a bit more..

[UberXY]

I am a cheap bastard until it comes to tires, car or bike. I wear the side tits off bike tires in 500 miles. If the center gets "square" I get new tires. If I get to 10k, new tires. Some people brag about high mileage tires - not me. I am gonna get new tires for my 4 corners trip and another set around 8k miles. go ahead - call- me stupid - i married and used to it, but my wife would never hassle me about new tires no matter the cost.

 

BTW for less than $200 (actually less than $150) you can buy tire dismounters, mounters, and well made balancers. It isn't hard work, especially if you trust yourself more than others. WEAR GOOD WORK GLOVES.

[ShovelStrokeEd]

Well, Orlando to Daytona is hardly what I would call a trip. You don't even have to do that as BMW of Orlando is owned by the same folks. I'm pretty sure there is a Cycle Gear shop in Orlando as well and, while they are a little more expensive than the mail order/internet thing, they usually offer good prices and mounting and balancing cost is minuscule compared to typical BMW shop prices.

 

I don't like the Z6 tires for exactly the reasons stated in re wear pattern and lack of indicators in the area that the tread wears first. I'd call around to the independent shops in the area if you're not into the DIY thing and get myself a set of Pilot Roads.

[Metromike]

I rode over to Daytona BMW and ask them to show me the wear indicators that they referred to by phone. Guess What-They couldn't find one on either tire. While I was there I decided to check out that Bikeweek Special. The price of the rear tire was 200% of the price that I found on the web. At those prices you can afford to "Give Away" front tires Anytime! I think I will check out other alternatives--The Mich Road Pilots sound good. Any comments on Bridgestone or Dunlop or anybody else for that matter?

[Couchrocket]

Avon has some newer "Storm ST" tires for the RT, but they've not been out long enough to have been reviewed "over their whole useful life" here on the DB, so far.

 

ME880's are VERY popular for the RT among this crowd for decent handling and very long wear. Then, IMO, the Pilot Roads seem pretty popular for a good compromise between handling and longevity.

 

I'm sure some others will chime in with opinions on other brands / models.

[Bob_Minor]

I rode over to Daytona BMW and ask them to show me the wear indicators that they referred to by phone. Guess What-They couldn't find one on either tire.

 

Look for the little Metzler elephant on the sidewall. From that point follow the tread toward the center of the tire. About halfway to the center is a wear bar. It's subtle, but it's there.

[Boffin]

For sheer good handling with great grip wet or dry and (in the UK at least) low price - Conti Road Attack (you need the 'C' construction for the front)

 

Andy

[Richard_D]

Cycle Goodies in Daytona will mount and balance for free if you buy from him. He rides a BMW and has the adapter needed to do the job.I believe he'll also mount and balance your tires cheap. He's a great guy with a fantastic reputation for many years. Give him a try. North west corner of Ridgewood and third street.

[Bruce H]

Tire prices are a tough subject. Some delaers mark them up a lot and others not. My BMW dealer is a few dollars higher than average web prices and charges $10.00 to mount and balance if you cary the rims in. Seems quite fair to me.

[50Joe]

How in the world do you guys get such high mileage out of your tires? The best I EVER get is 5,000 miles. Also, I always wear out the front tire before the rear tire, but I always change them at the same time. This is on an '02 R1150RT. I get about the same mileage weather it's Michelin Pilot Roads or Bridgestone's.

[Motonut]

I've never gotten particularly high milage... ever... on any bike.

 

I do believe that anyone getting high miles out of a motorcycle tire is riding fairly easy.

 

I have a bud with an '02 RT and he got verifiable high miles out of a set (Metzlers, I think they were), anyhow, he rode 17k on the front and 14k on the rear. If I had not seen it with my own eyes I wouldn't believe it. He typically is a conservative rider and always has GENTLE take-offs. I tend to rock and roll on starts and am willing to pay for it in rubber.

[Charles Elms]

I'm running my second set of BT54s. Also liked Dunlop 205s and pilot roads. I'm a conservative rider and don't push it. Lot's of slab.

[TonyS]

How in the world do you guys get such high mileage out of your tires? The best I EVER get is 5,000 miles. Also, I always wear out the front tire before the rear tire, but I always change them at the same time. This is on an '02 R1150RT. I get about the same mileage weather it's Michelin Pilot Roads or Bridgestone's.

 

I also get about 1200 miles less out of the front than the rear. My riding style is conservative, but still fun. I think road surface must be the main factor in tire mileage. Where I ride the roads tend to be rough chip seal (great for traction). My bike (purchased used) had Z6s on it when I bought it. The front was gone in about 7500 miles (6000 of those mine). I'd always gotten about 11k miles on the front of my R1100R with Pilot Roads, so I put a set of PRs on the RT. The front was gone in the same 7500 miles as the Z6s. More PRs, this time with higher air pressure (4psi more in each tire); same tire life. The positive reports of the handling and life of the Metzler 880s convinced me to try those next. The front did indeed last longer, 7600 miles, a whole 100 miles more (or perhaps I just ran them deeper into the wear bars). It's back to the Michelin Pilot Roads (my favorite handling tire) and no longer being concerned with the mileage. It is what it is.

[tom collins]

it's a 630lb. bike, it's only going to do so good if you ride aggressively at all. there is a lot of weight concentrated on the front of an rt and that tends to eat the front tire faster. on other bikes i have had, the back used to wear out much faster than the front. on my airhead rs, i usually went 2 rears per 1 front. now, both seem to go about 6,000. you gotta pay to play.

 

tom collins

[boatzo]

What kind of tire pressure is recommended. I see one set of figures in the BMW manual and see a lot of other figures floating around. Do different makes of tires use different pressures? Solo, I am running 40 lbs front and rear,(I weigh 250) seems to ride well.

[Bruce H]

I use 36 front 38 rear on my Pilot Roads R1150RT. Your 40 seems a little high.

[Carnadero]

Look for the little Metzler elephant on the sidewall.

The letters "TWI" in the chicken strip areas are exactly parallel with where the bars should be.

[Redbrick]

How in the world do you guys get such high mileage out of your tires? The best I EVER get is 5,000 miles. Also, I always wear out the front tire before the rear tire, but I always change them at the same time. This is on an '02 R1150RT. I get about the same mileage weather it's Michelin Pilot Roads or Bridgestone's.

 

I found a big wear difference between Bridgestone Battletrax 020's and Pilot Roads on Kathy's 1150RT.........

The Bridgestone's lasted in the 6,000 mile range and front tires fish-scaled (cupped) on both sets...The current Michelin Pilot Roads have have gone 7,000 and have a whole lot of mileage left....

 

My 1200RT has over 9,000 on it's Pilot Roads and has a couple of thousand at least left...

 

We run 36 and 42 PSI on both bikes.....

 

Phil.........Redbrick

[n_tohet]

I've my 1150rt for almost 3 years now. Used BT14s for 1st 5months, horrible grip.Changed to Z6 for a year and half, fantastic piece of invention! Even in heavy rain it grips like a vice. I just changed to Pilot Road, so far it handles pretty well.

 

I'm quite a pushy rider on bends, I'll stick to Z6 whenever I can afford it.

 

From where I'm from(right smack in the equator) we don't usually check our tyre wear by mileage because the rubber would have hardden by the 10th to 12th months of use due to the moist and humidty...and we average out to 30 to 40,000km of use per pair.

 

I'm using 35psi in front and 42 on the rear.

[philbytx]

Besides the obvious wear bar check and to get some idea of the age of the tires, find the little "lozenge" on the sidewall that has stamped into it something like (325). That will indicate the week (32) and year (5 i.e. 2005) of manufacture. You can then extrapolate the mileage from that. To narrow it down even more, contact the P.O......

 

If the tyres are more than 3 years old, I would look into replacing them......but, then again, I am entirely anal

[wbrissette]

In October I put on a set of Maxxis Supermaxx on my RT. So far, so good. I did it because a) I got almost no reports of people using Maxxis on their RT, b) Because I've always like being a little different, and c) I've used Maxxis tires on a non-street bike and like them a lot.

 

All things said and done, I would certainly put them on again. When it comes time to put on a new set, I'm probably going to try the Avon tires and see how they feel, depending on what I find, I'll either stick with Maxxis or the Avon tires.

 

Wayne

[AndyT]

On my Concours and now on my R1150RT I have gotten about 10,000 miles on the front and rear. On the Concours I ran D205's and on the Rt I just went through my first set of tires after 10,000 miles. They were D220's which handled and wore well. I am carefull to keep 38 lbs of air front and 40 rear. (Both bikes)I presently have put Metzler ME 880's on the RT and anxious to see how it handles and wears. After about 500 miles on them before the COLD WX I liked the handling (althought different) and am waiting for some longer trips this Spring and Summer!

[wgasa]

As many others, I've settled on the Me880's for my tires. But, I don't ride it like I stole it either.

[DewNMoon]

Iv'e used a Maxxis Supermaxx on my R1100S. Pretty good tire! Traction was as good as the bridgestones originally on it but I put about 2000 more miles on it (on the rear).