R1200RT tire life??

[CopsRT]

For those of you who are riding the R1200RT, what are you getting for tire life and on what tires.

[keithb]

I have BT020's with 9,200 miles on them and they are the original tires on my 05 RT. Tire pressure is 38 front, and 42 in the rear. I just looked at them and I cannot believe the amount of tread left on them. I bought the bike w/4400 miles on it. Trust me on this, I do not lolligag down the road or thru the corners so I am pretty impressed with these tires so far. My buddy has been singing the Bridgestone praises for years and I am starting to believe him. I used to run lower pressure in the tires but no more. When two up touring I will increase rear tire to 44 lbs.

[CopsRT]

I have BT020's also, BUT.... I only got 6000 miles on the back and I was at a wear bar, so changed it for anouther BT020 to see if it does the same. Did not know how fast it would go after getting to the wear bar. Also running about 42 in the rear. The front looks good and I think it will make it to the end off this back tire if it also goes only 6000 miles. All of my milage was also in cool weather and 1 up. I got the bike the 1st of October and rode till November (temps of 28 to 60 degrees) here in MN. The same type of temps this spring. Some have recomended the Metz Z6 will get better milage. I plan on trying those when this rear wears out and see how they do.

[Tcreek]

I have 12,400mi on Road Pilots, rear tire is down to wear bars, front tire about the same. Already have new Conti Road Attacks, wanted to try them, will put them on in a week or so. there is nothing wrong with the Road pilots

[Mike05]

'05 R12RT, OEM Metzler Z6 tires. Rear lasted 6,500 miles, changed out the front as well (some scalloping, changed brands, wanted tires to be from the same manufacturer).

 

I liked the Z6's a lot but wasn't happy with the milage. After researching decided on two options: Avon Azaro's & Conti Road Attacks .

 

Ended up mounting the Avon's; I especially liked their "hazard" policy and the harder rubber down the middle of the tire, tapering to a softer compound in the "side" area for cornering. I'm no engineer but if it's propaganda, it worked on me.

 

As an aside, I've pretty much concluded tire choice is personal and tire wear is as much about tire pressure as riding style. When I had the Avon's mounted I asked several mechanics what pressure they recommended and to a person they quoted "36F, 38R, 40R w/passenger". Then, while hanging around waiting I asked the sales staff out front and the occasional sport bike customer what pressure they ran. All quoted higher numbers, 40F 42R being the most often cited.

 

Go figure. All I know is self-induced or not, I have confidence in the tires I chose and if the price for that feeling is new tires a little more often then I'll gladly pay.

[dan_forker]

 

 

No one ever has anything to say about the Metzler M1 tire, is there a reason? I have the Z6's on my bike that came on it at purchase and a pair of M1's waiting. I suspect the M1's won't last like the Z6 but it seems to have the reputation of being a really great handling tire. Does anyone have any experience with them?

 

 

Dan Forker

[Kannon]

I run M1's on my Guzzi LeMans and they are great for a sport bike that only gets a few thousand miles a year but I wouldn't put them on my 1200RT - I'ed be changing tires every other month. I had a set of z6's on the RT and liked them very much, got about 5,000 miles out of the set and thought they handled great in wet and dry. So far the RT has had Pilot Roads, Z6's and Avon Azaros on it. Tomorrow I will mount a pair of Pirelli Diablo Stradas. I'll let you know how they do after a few thousand miles

[dyvking]

For those of you who are riding the R1200RT, what are you getting for tire life and on what tires.

I got my R12RT in October and now have about 7000 miles in it. The read Michelin Pilot Road is just about gone. I'll probably get another 500 miles max on it. Front Pilot Road is about 60% gone right now.

[BamaRider]

My 05 RT has 15k miles. I replaced front and rear Road Pilots with the same at 14k, both tires still had enough tread for another 1,500 miles. Front tire cupped about 12k miles though.

 

I dunno why I get such good mileage, I ride conservative, and pretty light in the saddle, the only things I can think of.

[bobiverson]

Just curious --

 

How come most people here tend to inflate their tires a few pounds more than factory recommends? It seems common that everyone runs 38 front / 40 rear with one up and no gear, and that's higher than the manual states.

 

I'm assuming this leads to longer tire life, but since you're making the contact patch a bit smaller, doesn't this result in reduced traction?

 

BOB

[Boffin]

Just curious --

 

How come most people here tend to inflate their tires a few pounds more than factory recommends? It seems common that everyone runs 38 front / 40 rear with one up and no gear, and that's higher than the manual states.

 

I'm assuming this leads to longer tire life, but since you're making the contact patch a bit smaller, doesn't this result in reduced traction?

 

BOB

 

There is traction to spare. More importantly, the pressures most people run are what the tyre manufacturers recommend. The BMW figures are biased towards a more compliant, comfortable ride, the tyres being part of the overall suspension setup - lower pressures adsorb minor bumps.

 

Andy

[jackflash]

In addition to finding the right tire pressure, make no mistake, how much you twist the throttle has a LOT to do with tire life. Tire pressure though, is just as important. I won't get into tire pressure....it's almost a science and I just find what works for me.

 

I'm on my last set of Z6's though. They're junk. I never thought much of Bridgestone cycle tires but they're a heck of a lot stickier and lasted longer than the Z6's. Just my experience. I ride fast and corner very hard.

[Bob_Mc]

I just turn 8,000 on my '05 RT with BT020s and they look like they could go at least another 2,000. The majority of my riding is one up on freeways, although I ride the canyons on weekends.

 

I noticed radial cupping on both front and rear early on, so I upped the pressure to 38 and 40 respectively. The cupping is still there, but it isn't getting worse.

 

My dealer doesn't recommend pressures greater than 40 psi front or rear. He says it accelerates wear and tear on the suspension.

[ShovelStrokeEd]

Ahh, tire life. An enduring (some would say neverending) topic about endurance.

 

A balance between traction and tread life, comfort and control, wet and dry, yin and yang, George and Gracie.

 

Would that or tires lasted like those on our cars. Actually they could if we didn't need to lean the pesky things they are attatched to in order to steer. Anyone for a square tire??

 

But I need all the traction I can get? Doubtful, at best. Probably no more than 1% of the riders here approach the limits of their tires traction while cornering on the street, maybe another 5% more can get near those limits while braking and not crash without the assistance of ABS. So, why not go to harder compounds? Get a "touring" tire rather than a "sport touring tire".

 

No insult intended here, btw. Most of us would like to think that we can ride like Troy Corser if only given the bike and the opportunity. It just ain't so and neither would it be prudent to ride at those percentages of the performance envelope on the street.

 

Back to the touring vs sport touring tire question. BMW markets the RT and ST as sport touring bikes and clever folk that they are, fit sport touring tires to them. Tire manufacturers take note of the preponderance of race replica bikes out there and offer tires sized and suited to that role. If you want the most available in traction and control, fit sport type tires to your bike, just don't go defeating their purpose by inflating them all to hell trying to get them to take the greater load and squeeze another 500 miles out of them. They will cook at about 3 or 4K and that's all you can expect. A touring tire like a Metzler 880 can reasonable be expected to give around 10K of service and is usually designed to work at heavier loads/inflation.

 

In between we have sport touring tires that compromise this equation and yield a useful service life of 6 to 8K in most cases. Those are the choices. There ain't no magic tire that will offer maximum traction and super long life.

 

The main factors are bike mass, road composition, rider input. Variations of those can lead to some extremes of tire life and natrually some overlap between categories. You are pretty much stuck with the tire size that comes on your bike without investing in custom wheels. You might be able to up or down one size but you could also screw up your bike's handling.

 

Ride till your tires are worn and then replace them. If you are not happy with the life/performance, change brands/style. About the time you have run through the various permutations and combinations, your bike will be worn out and you can start over again.

[Firefight911]

Ed,

 

As always, to the point, direct, and could not agree more!

[keithb]

I have a correction on the mileage on my first set of tires for my 05 RT. I changed them at 8200 miles and they still had probably 200-300 miles left on them. I have 2 RT's right now and I was getting them mixed up.

[Gordon K Phillips]

Ditto; I have BT020 on my 05 R12RT and I am on the wear bars on the rear at 6100 and just off the bars on the front. I am going in Thur.for Road Pilots, had good wear with them on my R1150RT. I run 36 front and 42 on the rear, with about half of the mileage touring with bags loaded. There is no cupping on either front or rear tire. Traction and handling have been good. All of the travel has been in the Northwest US and Canada.

[farmerp]

5200 miles and my BT020 just exploded tonight. No Sunday ride for me.

[MrR1200RT]

I think it would be helpful if everyone states one or two up, weight of rider/riders and usage twisties or highway commute. This information is helpful when looking at tire life

[lawnchairboy]

z-6's new in jan 06, I have 7700 miles on them and one El Paseo... front and rear to be replaced this week, At El Paseo, I actually got to ride on the sides of the tires, what a concept...all one up...

[Dolph]

My bike came with Bridgestones, nice handling tires. Rear was badly worn at 4,000 miles. a lot of that riding quickly over rough pavement two up with luggage. Changed to Metz Z6s made the slow speed handling heavy, good at higher speeds, steel cords in rear tire visible at 6,000 miles. Just put on pair of Michelin pilot roads, neutral handling have to see about the wear. Lots of rough chip seal in Texas also high temps. Tough on tires.

[MooreDriven]

Dolph,

 

My bike came with Dunlops. While handling is good, cupping is rapidly appearing. The groan of the tires in the corners is annoying. I am considering either the Michelin Road Pilots, or Bridgestone Batilax next.

 

There have been many post lately on tire wear for the RT's. While some post they are getting 10,000 miles on a set, other are getting less than 5,000. I think in Texas, the heat and rough roads eat a tire. Tire pressure plays a big part too. If you ride two-up a lot, expect greater wear. I think if we could get 7-8k per tire, then we are doing good.

 

I would be curious to hear from other Texan's, and their experiences.

[MrR1200RT]

I still have the stock tires on my bike after 20,300 miles. I measured the tread depth 3mm in the rear and 2mm in the front. The BMW reference states to replace at 1mm tread depth. I be replacing the tires soon as I noticed the front has a different feeling when turning that I notice more often.

[marcopolo]

I still have the stock tires on my bike after 20,300 miles. I measured the tread depth 3mm in the rear and 2mm in the front. The BMW reference states to replace at 1mm tread depth. I be replacing the tires soon as I noticed the front has a different feeling when turning that I notice more often.

 

What? What brand of tires do you have?

[Redbrick]

I still have the stock tires on my bike after 20,300 miles. I measured the tread depth 3mm in the rear and 2mm in the front. The BMW reference states to replace at 1mm tread depth. I be replacing the tires soon as I noticed the front has a different feeling when turning that I notice more often.

 

This must be a record .......Anybody get near that many miles on any brand of tire....?

 

Phil........Redbrick

[bakerzdosen]

I still have the stock tires on my bike after 20,300 miles. I measured the tread depth 3mm in the rear and 2mm in the front. The BMW reference states to replace at 1mm tread depth. I be replacing the tires soon as I noticed the front has a different feeling when turning that I notice more often.

 

This must be a record .......Anybody get near that many miles on any brand of tire....?

Well, on a BMW I've never seen anything approaching that. However, on some Honda's (GW's & VTX's for example) people are throwing a car tire on back. A guy I work with just did that to his VTX. He expects at least 20k from that thing. It's kinda eerie looking seeing it out in the parking lot.

[MrR1200RT]

Michelin Road Pilots. I was going to replace them with Avon Azaro's but I think I will replace with the same stock tire. I really like the Avon as they have given me on average 19k to 23k per tire change on my Yamaha FZ1 (Currently at 78k miles). I've been riding my RT since Jan 06 and have only ridden my FZ1 a couple of times since Jan, I love my RT. I'm not sure why I get such great mileage on tires other than I travel about 80 miles per day on mostly straight road on Hwy 80 from Napa CA to San Francisco CA at traffic speed. Most of this mileage is commute mileage so it's only one up riding with 185 lbs total weight on bike.

[velomoto]

Dolph,

 

My bike came with Dunlops. While handling is good, cupping is rapidly appearing. The groan of the tires in the corners is annoying. I am considering either the Michelin Road Pilots, or Bridgestone Batilax next.

I hear ya man! Same tires, same groan (whine?). Most of Colorado's two lane roads are chip-n-seal. I'll be lucky to get to 7K with my Dunlops.

[bimmers]

4,000 miles and that's it. Must be the twisties in N georgia and TN and NC. Getting 20k out of a tire must mean no fun in riding just along for the ride, sorry my bluntness. Unfortunately my 740iS only gives me 12-15k on rear tires without the twisties. Dunlops on bike and Michelin Pilot Sports on car.

Cost of having fun I guess

h

[h2000fb]

4,000 miles and that's it. Must be the twisties in N georgia and TN and NC. Getting 20k out of a tire must mean no fun in riding just along for the ride, sorry my bluntness. Unfortunately my 740iS only gives me 12-15k on rear tires without the twisties. Dunlops on bike and Michelin Pilot Sports on car.

Cost of having fun I guess

h

 

I have to agree. 15-20k on tires means you must take forever to get to speed (barely to the speed limit), mild acceleration, all highway, and taking long distances to stop. These guys have to work to get that milage per tire. I bet they are also the ones getting the best gas milage by a long shot. For example, I once got 54 miles to the gallon on my RT, but it was work... and slow(averaged 55-60)... and boring. This should tell you something about how to get more miles per tire. It is simple physics. Differences between tires are not great. My R1200RT, 4,000 miles per rear tire and I don't run the beans out of it! Had Dunlaps, Avon, and now trying Conti Road Attacks. We will see if the tire milage improves.

[JayW]

There is no doubt that aggressive riding wears a tire quickly. When I do a track day, I can easily see the toll on my tires at the end of the day. I mounted a set of new Michelin Pilot Powers right before a track day, and at the end of the day the tire surface was visibly textured and there were tiny bits of tire all over my rims! What fun though, and the learning experience is well worth it!

 

Jay

[CoarsegoldKid]

For what it's worth...BT020s = 5000 miles sides worn out many miles remain on center front and rear, no track days. Z6s= 3500miles on front and it looks like about 1000 more to go, no track days. Rear Z6 replaced a Z6 with a nail at 1800 miles on the front so the this rear has some catching up to do. Mostly I ride solo.

It's a touring bike for goodness sakes how many miles were you expecting? I know I was expecting more myself.

[Exploreinman]

I got 9400 miles on my first set of Michelin Pilot Roads. That included a trip up to Quebec last summer from Georgia. I replaced with the same tire, but I am curious about the new Avon Storms.

 

SI

[Dave_in_TX]

My bike came with Bridgestones, nice handling tires. Rear was badly worn at 4,000 miles. a lot of that riding quickly over rough pavement two up with luggage. Changed to Metz Z6s made the slow speed handling heavy, good at higher speeds, steel cords in rear tire visible at 6,000 miles. Just put on pair of Michelin pilot roads, neutral handling have to see about the wear. Lots of rough chip seal in Texas also high temps. Tough on tires.

 

Must be those rough surfaced hill country roads! The rear Dunlop 220 on my new 1200RT has about 3500 miles on it and it needs replacement.

[Redbrick]

I got 9400 miles on my first set of Michelin Pilot Roads. That included a trip up to Quebec last summer from Georgia. I replaced with the same tire, but I am curious about the new Avon Storms.

 

SI

 

We're getting about the same Pilot Road's mileage (or better) on 1150RT and 1200RT....

 

Phil........Redbrick

[Don_F]

uk all year riding Bt020 Changed both tyres as front didn't have much life left in it @ 7400 mi. Got about the same with my old r850r Metzeler mez3, but much prefer the handling of r1200rt, don't know if it's all the tyres or if the rt handles better than r850r? seems to me uk roads wear tyres more than US roads? do you guy's have troudle stopping, if your roads arn't as grippy??

[HandyAndy]

My 05 RT came with BT020's, the rear lasted 15,000km and the front about 20,000km.

I replaced them with Metzeller ME880's. Yeah I know the rear tire is slightly smaller as they don't make a 180/55 17 so it it a 170/60 17.

There is now 25,000km on the rear tire and it is almost down to the wear bars in the center of the tread. The front has 20,000 km and is around half worn out. Both tires have become noisy when leaning, but there are not too many twisties around here, mostly slab riding.

I have a spare ME880 waiting but was thinking of trying the Storm ST.

 

Andy