Z6 tires

[taters]

i put a pair of z6s on my rt 5500 miles ago and i still have lots of tread left. so much so i think i am gonna get 12000 miles from a set. yahooooooooooooooooooooo

[No_Twilight]

i put a pair of z6s on my rt 5500 miles ago and i still have lots of tread left. so much so i think i am gonna get 12000 miles from a set. yahooooooooooooooooooooo

 

I thought the same thing but at 8K miles it's looking less rosy for the rear...

[BobFV1]

Jerry - that's exactly what happenned to me - at 8K the rear started to flatten out in the middle so I replaced them both. Still, 8K on those tires with the excellent performance they provided is quite suitable for my needs!

[TonyS]

Keep an eye on those wear bars! I thought I had a few thousand miles to go on my Z6s when the bars were saying I was through. When they are done they go in a hurry.

[BFish]

just replaced my z4's (original with bike) with z6's. the 4's had about 9500mi and still had tread. center of rear flattened somewhat. been running 40psi front 42 rear. bet i still had 500-1000mi left on rear, but didn't want to push it. we'll see how the z6's do now.

[jtb]

I have the Z4 tires on my 2001 RT, I was wondering if some other brand tire might give me a better performance/milage combination. I was hoping someone here would be able to help. I am getting the flat spot down the middle of my rear tire and the front is starting to cup. Is the Z6 a better choice? How about the Bridgstone BT020? I have the Dunlop D220 on my 05 RT, I have a feeling I will not stay with that tire.

[Ralph]

On my trip last week, I had a questionable front tire ( Pilot Road) and got the Z6 from Black Hills powersports. ( Yammi,Kawi. shop) That was the only tire that would fit it. It was on sale too for $110.00. 3700 miles latrer it still looks good.

[OlGeezer]

I just yanked the D220s off my 04 1150RT. THEY SUCK!

From the get-go, I hated the double rib on the front tire as it tracked the anti-hydroplane grooves in the SoCal freeways. Then the final blow. I hit cord at less than 5,500 miles on the rear! This after a lengthy dialog with the Dunlop rep who convinced me that I should get no less than 3/4 the mileage on the 220s as I got out of a dozen sets of 205s (I averaged about 10k on them).

 

I just put up with the noise. What the heck, I wear plugs.

 

I just put on my first set of Metzelers, Z6s, in a long, long time. I like the way they feel. If I get 7.5k - 8.0k out of the rear, I'll be happy.

 

My two centavos.

[tom collins]

i just hammered my z6's on the race track for 150 miles. stuck like glue, but probably took some of the life out of them. last set went for 6300 and probably could have gone to 7,000, but had to have new for the track. they were pretty square toward the end so it required much more body english than after the new ones were mounted. great tires.

 

tom collins

[jackflash]

I had planned to get Metler's the next "go round" but I can't believe the mileage you guys are getting. My new 1200RT will be lucky for the rear Battlax tire to make it to the 6000 mile service. It has 3700 miles on it now. I ride hard but not near as hard as a lot of people. Anyway, glad to hear the good about the Metzlers

[scottfarm2]

I've got 11K on my Roadtec Z-6's and have 1500 more miles left in them. I've already have another pair in the garage waiting to be installed. They last a little longer than the Pilot Roads without the whine.

[SteveHebert]

I agree with that assessment. I liked how the Pilot Roads performed, but the whine was annoying. That reminds me of a joke. Do you know the difference betweene an Apache Pilot and an Apache? The Apache stops whining when the engines stop

 

I really do love those guys, after all they are my fellow brothers-in-arms.

 

Back to tires, I get about 10K on average out of the Z4s or Z6s. The Z4s seem to last longer, for a longer time. The Z6s go very quickly at the end. On my last road trip, I was on the way home in Lagrange, GA and had 150 miles left. The tires looked fine, but as I got about 30-40 miles from home, they "felt" different. When I reached the house, I had chord showing all around the back tire

[Couchrocket]

I just put Pilot Roads on my bike, after a set of Z6's.

The Z6's are a much nicer tire, IMO, in the "ride quality" department. The PR's have adequate "stick" and area nice tire, but they feel harsh compared to the Z6's.

 

I'll be going back to the Z6's on my next tire change and just stay with them. Wear is "acceptable" and the difference in ride quality and stability in corners is noticeable to yours truly.

[webwzrd]

Since the rear normally wears out first, anyone have any thoughts on using a M6 Roadtec on the rear with a M1 Sportec on the front?

 

I have a friend with a Ducati who swears by it. One concern I have is that the M1 might wear out too quickly.

 

I appreciate any feedback as my current Z6's need replacing now.

[BobFV1]

I have never had a rear wear out before the front on a pair of motorcycle tires, but I giuess everyone is different. I have good experience using a very soft compound on the front and a harder one on the rear - on my Ducati I ran a Pilot Race front and Pilot Sport rear for a while. I ride that bike about 50/50 track/street and that mix worked well but guess what - the front wore out after about 1500 miles, including four hard track days. Back lasted about twicw as long.

[JRMSR]

I have had the same experience with my first set of Z6's. At 8K they were worn down the middle about 1.5" strip. 600 miles to get home and they were down to metal cord. First tire in 75K miles that I have not gotten 10K plus mileage on. I do not like the narrow flat wear pattern, too little surface area to spread out over.

Replaced with Pilot Roads, and the flat wear area on rear, is about 5", much better. I think I will like these, and the tread groove is all the way across tire, so can easily tell when 2/32 to 1/32 left.