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I'm a stupid rider...


KTsRidin

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yes, I was both embarrassed and grateful that nothing bad happened.

 

This past weekend I rode in a 30 hour rally commemorating Memorial Day by visiting a number of meaningful sites (Iwo Jima in DC, World Trade Center in NY, and Flight 93 in PA were a few). I did everything right. I took breaks as needed, was careful about my nutrition and remaining hydrated, I monitored my bike gauges, and still I missed a huge part of being safe...

 

I never looked at my tires. :dopeslap:

 

Yes, I made sure my tire pressure was spot on and was "flying by the seat of my pants" making sure everything felt and sounded right, but I still didn't check the condition of the tires.

 

After having a spirited return to rally HQ and getting through scoring, I headed back to the bike to unload and clean-up a bit. That's when I saw the steal showing through my rear tire.

 

At over an inch wide and nearly circling the tire, I'd been riding on steal for some time. After contemplating getting a tow (remember, this was Memorial Day weekend so no service was available to put on a new tire), I unloaded the bike to lighten it as much as possible and drove like a granny home and then to the shop the next day without incident.

 

Lesson - you're never too pressed for time to skip simple safety checks before getting on your scoot. I share my shame in hopes that it prevents this, or something much worse, from happening to one of you.

 

And yes, I've already got plans to make sure I've got fresh tread the entire Iron Butt Rally later this month :thumbsup:

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Z6?

 

Yeah, how did you know?!

 

Glad I'm running Road Pilots on the R1200RT for the Iron Butt Rally. I've always gotten good mileage out of them. I did switch to PR3s, for which I don't have experience. But I've heard nothing but good things about the 3s and I really liked the 2s.

 

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Z6?

 

Yeah, how did you know?!

 

Glad I'm running Road Pilots on the R1200RT for the Iron Butt Rally. I've always gotten good mileage out of them. I did switch to PR3s, for which I don't have experience. But I've heard nothing but good things about the 3s and I really liked the 2s.

 

Only a trained eye can tell when a Z6 is warn.

 

;)

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Joe Frickin' Friday
I never looked at my tires. :dopeslap:

 

You're not the only one. My first set of Z6's on my 1200RT got about 6000 miles, comparable to what I got out of them on my 1100RT.

 

My second set, the rear tire only lasted 4500 miles. I chalked it up to 800 miles of backroad-riding in Wisconsin that involved tons of decelleration (and therefore hard acceleration) due to twists, turns, and stops.

 

I put on brand new Z6's before leaving for Torrey last month. Planned on 5000 miles for the whole trip, and since several thousand of those miles were to be slab (or otherwise steady) cruising, I assumed the tires would make it safely through the whole trip.

 

I was wrong.

 

Last Wednesday I crossed Nebraska on the way home in some of the worst cross and headwinds I've ever had. My tires were a couple of PSI low in Denver (39 instead of 41), and the lower altitude as I moved east resulted in the tires being another 1.5 psi by the end of the day. I kept telling myself I ought to take a look at that rear tire, but I never did until I stopped for the night in Iowa City. And that's when I found the cords were showing. I got a new one installed at Gina's on Thursday morning and made it home just fine after that, but things coulda gone badly.

 

Moral of the story: check your tires before every ride. If you're covering a lot of miles in a day, and your tires are anywhere near the end of their expected life, check them several times throughout the day.

 

And don't underinflate them. :dopeslap:

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Glad you're OK.

 

Another reason I use the centerstand a lot.

EZ to spin the rear tire and give it an inspection frequently looking for road hazard materoal.

Best wishes.

Good luck w/the IB.

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Z6?

 

Yeah, how did you know?!

 

Welcome to the Z6 cord club.

 

I ride at night about once every 3 years. Guess what I found the next morning after a night ride....

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Witch_Doctor

Had the same thing happen to me, had about 4500 miles on a set, look good, took a short hop across the state for the day. When I got home cord. They went fast when they went. Went with Avon Storms instead this time around.

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Having just purchased a used RT with Z6s, with records indicating they had about 4000 miles on them, this thread made me a bit concerned. Went looking for the tread wear indicators, and all I found were elephants. (Nope, haven't been drinking). Googled up pictures here : http://rhhall.smugmug.com/gallery/795947_FWNLY

Looks like I'm OK for a while, just have to keep an eye on things.

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Francois_Dumas

I've got 12+ K out of all of my three Z6 sets so far. But when they go, they go real quick all of a sudden.

 

I want to try Road Pilot 3 for my next set. Heard a lot of good things about them!

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First, thanks everyone. I still feel stupid for not being more pro-active for my own safety, but I'm glad to know my experience isn't isolated.

 

I want to try Road Pilot 3 for my next set. Heard a lot of good things about them!

 

Well, I'll soon have some serious input on these puppies. I've got a fresh set on the R1200RT. The bike will be loaded with all my gear for the Iron Butt Rally, so I'll be able to report how well they handle in all kinds of conditions (severe weather, flooding, and plagues are on the list) and how many miles they hold up. I've got replacements lined up just in case they're needed as I expect to get in over 14,000 miles in the 11 days.

 

Again, thanks for the feedback :)

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Nope, uhhah... never happened to me, I always look and never leave without new rubber. Well unless I go to Torrey.... or Death Valley, or( fill the blank )

Well, once going to Torrey a 2" peace of steel in my front tire sloooowed me down outside of Ceder City.

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After the first set of Metz Z6s I found them to be a very predictable and easy to monitor tire. Here is a a link to I-BMW where I chronicled with pictures the life of one set. Pretty much after the wear bars become even with the surface you have about 500 miles left.

 

Measuring tire wear

 

They were no worse for monitoring tire wear than the few sets of Michelins PR2s and Dunlop Q2s and this spring the Roadsmarts. (The Roadsmarts have the wear bars showing now and overall have the best remaining profile of the bunch at the end of service)

 

NCS

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  • 4 weeks later...

And now for the rest of the story...

 

I did a much better job of tire management in the last three weeks. Wore out a set of PR3s and took a bit more of a bite out of a set of PR2s on spare rims. Now on my second set of PR3s and still really like the wear and feel of them. After 10k+ miles there was little if any cupping of the front tire and usable tread on the back, but I switched out the pair for the 3k ride home.

 

Kirsten

(a.k.a., not on Z6s any longer :)

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What is the best method to minimize cupping on front tire when running mostly on interstate highways. More or less air pressure?

Thanks.

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I've always found that a little more pressure in the front tire helps. Running my front PR2's at 39-40 psi gets me very little to no noticable cupping on the front tire. Anything under 38 psi always gave me weird wear patterns regardless of the model of tire.

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I've always found that a little more pressure in the front tire helps. Running my front PR2's at 39-40 psi gets me very little to no noticable cupping on the front tire. Anything under 38 psi always gave me weird wear patterns regardless of the model of tire.

thanks

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I've always found that a little more pressure in the front tire helps. Running my front PR2's at 39-40 psi gets me very little to no noticable cupping on the front tire. Anything under 38 psi always gave me weird wear patterns regardless of the model of tire.

 

Right on the money with the info and pressure. A number of folks in the Iron Butt Rally ran high 30's to 40+ PSI in the front and mid 40's in the rear. It makes for a harder ride and you may find that you'll want to vary the pressure depending on road conditions and your comfort level.

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Z6's?

 

I'm on my third set of Z6's and have gotten over 13000 miles on each set. I don't ride fast but do get into the corners when I can. What am I doing wrong?

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Bill_Walker
Z6's?

 

I'm on my third set of Z6's and have gotten over 13000 miles on each set. I don't ride fast but do get into the corners when I can. What am I doing wrong?

 

You're not going to Torrey.

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Nice n Easy Rider
Z6's?

 

I'm on my third set of Z6's and have gotten over 13000 miles on each set. I don't ride fast but do get into the corners when I can. What am I doing wrong?

 

Geez, I've only been getting about 8K out of my Z6's. I run about 38/42 on the front/rear. I can't believe our roads here in the Piedmont of NC are that much worse than down east. I guess I'm a lot tougher on tires than I thought! :(

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Actually I need to update my location. The last two sets have been in the Winston Salem area. I run 39/42 on the front/rear. I weigh 160 lbs so the bike is fairly lightly loaded. For me, gentle braking seemed to have a lot to do with the increased mileage. With Z4's I was only getting 8-9k. That was a real shocker when I was getting close to 20k on my previous ride, an R100rt.

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I had 2 sets of Z6's and got just under 24,000 Kms (14,912 miles)on the first and just a tad over 23,000 Kms (14,291 miles) on the second running the tire pressure at 38-39 on the front and 41-42 on the rear. The cords showed up on the first set in a couple of spots and you could see where they where going to show on the second.

 

Now I've got about 9000 Kms on a set of PR2's with lots of tread left.

 

As for PR3's I don't like the looks of this...

 

http://www.wristtwisters.com/forums/f289/heads-up-possible-michelin-pilot-road-pr3-tire-problem-27393.html

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wow looks like a dog got after that tire...I usually do well by Z6s.. last pair ran for 13,500 miles I bought a pair before a trip out west 3 weeks ago. i did well until I got to Omaha..tore a hole in the rear from an odd shaped chunk of road debris..no way to patch or plug too big..thanks to a local shop open on Sunday 4th July weekend..last Z6 in house sale price...thanks again Omaha.. road for another 3500 miles through Colorado,AZ, Utah and back home to Wisconsin only to puncture the rear tire again. Just lucky I guess...I just replaced the the rear again....L8tr Jeff

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I have to agree that I initially thought it was a bit worrying.

However if you follow the post on 'til the end (closed due to slanging match), there are some

valid counter claims, indicating the cause may not be Michelin's fault.

Most of them occurred to me on reading through the post, and some of his previous postings.

e.g. tyre blow out at 130+ in mustang due to underinflation, so now he takes good care of his tyres!!

I can't corner says he, then next post is I've ground my footpegs down on a twisty road !!

 

I also wish my tyres looked twice as worn as his do at 10,000 miles.

I don't profess to know what happened, but if he got the only two faulty Michelins in existence he had

a pretty raw deal, especially since the batches of compound make many more than a single tyre.

I wouldn't be too surprised to find wheelies, donuts and stoppies in his repertoir too, which may just give

some of the symptoms he describes.

 

Call it my LEO cynicism, but the post re the PR3s 'smells'.

 

I don't wish ill on anyone, or wish for anyone to befall an accident, but there really does seem a LOT more

to this than he is telling. I'm sure it'll all come out in the wash, but unless it makes the news headlines,

or I'm way off the mark and he is being totally honest, we won't hear about it again IMHO.

 

Anyhow, my tyres (PR2) still have upwards of 4,000 miles left (assuming usual wear and not falling in holes),

and will probably be replaced with PR3s in due course, after due deliberation, and consideration of the evidence

from reputable sources.

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Dude

The Z6's on my RT say cold max is 42#. The owners manual recommends 32#. I talked to a couple of guys who run theirs at cold max and maybe a couple of extra pounds. What do you think?

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