JMR Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 Looking to see if anyone had any experience with the Z6 Interact that they could share? Thanks. Link to comment
krussell Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 I'm interested too. There is a lot of material on their website. Not surprisingly they claim it improves over the z6 in every dimension, especially wet traction. They have a couple of videos that are relatively content free but fun to watch. Link to comment
smiller Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 The Z6 are good tires, both perform and wear well but the rear had one significant problem -- the wear bars are rather far over on the side of the tread and there are no sipes in the center so it can be difficult to tell when the tire should be replaced. More than one rider (including me) has accidentally gone down to the cord in the center well before the wear bars indicated replacement. I hope they addressed this problem in the new model and if so I'd be interested... pretty good tires otherwise. Link to comment
cactuscurve Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 Do not know much about the z6. I am driving an 08 R1200RT with almost 7k and needing new tires. I have the original tires the continental road attack. Looking for some good tires that also last better than 7k. Any ideas about tires. Krussell I think our bikes are much the same even the same color. Are you looking to replace the original tires? Link to comment
krussell Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 The Z6 are good tires, both perform and wear well but the rear had one significant problem -- the wear bars are rather far over on the side of the tread and there are no sipes in the center so it can be difficult to tell when the tire should be replaced. More than one rider (including me) has accidentally gone down to the cord in the center well before the wear bars indicated replacement. I hope they addressed this problem in the new model and if so I'd be interested... pretty good tires otherwise. Based on the pictures on their website, I don't think they have changed the tread enough to avoid the lack of clear wear indication. Link to comment
krussell Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 Do not know much about the z6. I am driving an 08 R1200RT with almost 7k and needing new tires. I have the original tires the continental road attack. Looking for some good tires that also last better than 7k. Any ideas about tires. Krussell I think our bikes are much the same even the same color. Are you looking to replace the original tires? My RT came with the Z6. I liked them, but they front cupped a bit. I replaced them with Michelin PR2s, and then replaced those with PR2s. The PR2s cupped too, and they have uneven wear as well. I am think of trying something else, these new Z6 INTERACT may be worth a go. Link to comment
SageRider Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 The Z6 are good tires, both perform and wear well but the rear had one significant problem -- the wear bars are rather far over on the side of the tread and there are no sipes in the center so it can be difficult to tell when the tire should be replaced. More than one rider (including me) has accidentally gone down to the cord in the center well before the wear bars indicated replacement. I hope they addressed this problem in the new model and if so I'd be interested... pretty good tires otherwise. Based on the pictures on their website, I don't think they have changed the tread enough to avoid the lack of clear wear indication. According to the web site, the tread has not changed. I will also not buy these tires due to the lack of any wear indicator in the center tread. Link to comment
Rotor Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 Do not know much about the z6. I am driving an 08 R1200RT with almost 7k and needing new tires. I have the original tires the continental road attack. Looking for some good tires that also last better than 7k. Any ideas about tires. Krussell I think our bikes are much the same even the same color. Are you looking to replace the original tires? My RT came with the Z6. I liked them, but they front cupped a bit. I replaced them with Michelin PR2s, and then replaced those with PR2s. The PR2s cupped too, and they have uneven wear as well. I am think of trying something else, these new Z6 INTERACT may be worth a go. I ran a set of Z6's for a little over 11000 miles - yes, without the cords showing. That's the best wear I've ever gotten from a bike tire. I didn't have a cupping issue, but I tend to run the pressure a little higher: 38 front and 40 rear. The cupping didn't show up until just before I changed the tires out. The others are correct about the rear tire wear bars. You really can't tell what shape the tire is in. And as for me, I thought they got really loud just before replacement. Especially when cornering. I'm running a second set of them now but I would be interested in what others have to say about the new design. Link to comment
AZRTRDR Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 I had them on my 07 RT when purchased used. The front was very noisy and I do not care for their handling characteristics . They seemed to resist turn in at medium speeds so I removed them at 4K miles and returned to the Conti. R/As. They went almost 9K on my previous RT. Link to comment
Penforhire Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 I love my OEM Z6's at 3K miles. My wet grip is very good after they warm up. I imagine in cold enough weather they'd be not so good because they are slippery when cold. Somebody needs to try these Interacts and post a review! Link to comment
bgf50 Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 I ran the Z6's on my 1150RT. I liked them a lot for the first 3 or 4 thousand miles but then they went down hill fast. I never got more than 6,000 miles on a rear tire. I run PR2's on my 1200 and am very happy with them. I still only get about 7500 miles out of a rear . Bill 07 R1200Rt 09 KLR Link to comment
JayW Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 I am driving an 08 R1200RT with almost 7k and needing new tires. I have the original tires the continental road attack. Looking for some good tires that also last better than 7k... That is about the most miles you can expect out of the rear tire on an RT. You may get a few more thousand out of the front one. I have tried 5 different kinds of tires on my own RT, and none were wonderful for durability. The shortest life was less than 4000 miles on the OEM Dunlop. The longest-lasting rear tire was a Michelin Pilot Road which went for 10,000 miles. These particular miles were accumulated in just 28 days, so it was subject to fewer starts and stops than a tire normally would experience, which I think is why it wore longer. Your riding habits make a huge difference. Rapid acceleration is particularly hard on a rear tire, but may be worth it. Jay Link to comment
JMR Posted January 25, 2009 Author Share Posted January 25, 2009 Thanks for all the feedback and replies...I should have checked back on my thread before now, sorry. I have been through a set if Z6's and am familiar with those, I'm looking to know what's up with the new Z6 Interact . I can't tell from the web info if this is Metzler's new player in the dual-compound market? I'd think they would have used the phrase "dual compound" somewhere in their info if so. (?) Thoughts? (Facts too, for that matter! ) Link to comment
jasonTDI Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 They do have a wear feature built in. The layer of cloth then more rubber. Once you see it you replace the tire. A lot of others have commented about this in other forums and it mimics my experience with them. Link to comment
Lone_RT_rider Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Your riding habits make a huge difference. Rapid acceleration is particularly hard on a rear tire, but may be worth it. Jay Road surface can also be a key factor in tire wear. Geographic location and materials used for road construction are the main differences. Link to comment
JayW Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 You're right - I should have mentioned that too. Jay Link to comment
Mr. Frank Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 One of the pictures on the Metzeler website shows small dimples in the center of the rear tire tread. Maybe they have added those as TWI. Link to comment
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