07 R12R The Life of Ti(re)

[cycl2day]

I read about riders who get lots of miles from their rubber, 10,000 miles and some say more. Whether I run Metzelers or Michelins (PR3) I seem to never get past 6,000. I ride between 5,000 and 7,000 miles per year with maybe 10 - 15% on dirt roads. Give me some advice here, should I move to Bridgestone's? Am I missing something? Is going beyond 6k unusual ??

[Polarbear]

My tire life is usually 9000Rear and 10000Fronts. I wear them out, to the wear indicators. All types of uses, on and offroad. Bridgestones(BattleWings) have served me best, beating the Metzlers(Tourances) in price and wear. Not by much in wear, but the BSs seem to wear better towards the end of tire life! The Ms get rough around the edges of tread, noisy and the BSs do NOT. I mount my own, trying to save dollars! I tried a budget Shinko asian tire recently on the GSA and it was fine for about 1500miles and the tread started splitting. An experiment failed, but built for the GSA. They need more RandD at home base Shinko. I use their tires on smaller CC bikes with no issues, but mileage is not superior on cheaper tires. My #1 is still B'Stones. Randy. PS;My tires run more air too at sidewall recommendations, NOT bike manual settings. 40 rear, 38front. Fully loaded for touring, max weight. I may run very slightly less air on an unladen bike. Best to ya.

[KJ6OCL]

My R12C had Micheline Commander on when I purchased it. I did not like the way they handled, so as soon as they got near the wear marks, I put a set of Pirelli MT66 Route's on. These tires made a huge difference in handling! The front got to the wear marks at just 5K. The rear is maybe 50% or less in wear. I live in a place that has only 3 routes to the outside world, and each of these is over an 1.5 hours of riding on twisties (almost no straight stretches) to get to regular roads. Not sure if that is the reason for the low mileage or not. I just put a new Pirelli on the front just before winter set in, so not many miles on it yet.

Once the rear Pirelli wears down, I would like to try a different tire. Anyone have experience with the tires that use a harder rubber in the center tread area?

[pffog]

it is impossible to compare mileage from tires with different riders, the most I ever got, in 50K of riding, was 2700 miles on a set of PR2's, and it was bald as a baby's butt. Only took 10 days of riding the NC twisty's Front was slightly better but still to wear bars.

Road surface, riding style, tire pressures, weight carried, main vs backroads, interstate vs stop and go rural roads.

I don't really look at mileage as that important, traction and handling, could save your bacon, hard long wearing tires will only save your wallet. Those 2 black doughnuts are the only connection to the pavement, and effect braking and handling more than any other component on the bike.

[siman00]

First, I'm an old guy who rides pretty easily and mostly not on the twisty stuff. 09 RT and tour a lot all over the country. Best mileage tires on my bike are Angel ST (B model). I can go 12K to 14K on rear and 15K-17K on front. Worst tires for me, mileag-wise were Michelin Pilot 2CT that gave me about 6,500 on a rear tire.

My experience....

[cycl2day]

Some great thoughts there.....particularly reminding me what we all know, that handling is more important than wear. Also interesting that I am hearing from many riders who run highr pressure than recommended. I think I will move in that direction. Now I jus need to choose......is it Bridgestone (battleax), Michelin PR3, Conti Sport attacks or Metzelers Z8's

[RoboRider]

I have an 05 R12RT and I get about 4-5000 decent miles on a PRII. I get about 2000 out of Z6 (no longer available). I find the PRII wears longer than the PRIII.

The more aggressive rider you are, the less life you get from your tires.

I change my own tires and go through 2-4 sets a year.

[MAXSCYCLE]

I read about riders who get lots of miles from their rubber, 10,000 miles and some say more. Give me some advice here

You asked for advice, here it is. (my rear oem metzeler tourance went 19,400 miles before it was at the treadbar, the front went 23,500. The replacement Metzeler ME880's went about the same, I ride solo almost all of the time. 270 pounds). I never exceed 4,000 rpm unless I'm in high gear on the interstate. I normally shift at 3700 to 3800 rpm. Most other vehicles out accelerate me. Tire press is 36/42.
max

[cookie]

I love the Michelin PR2 but I too just can't seem to go beyond 6-7,000 miles.
The front has about 5k and the noise/vibration from the cupping is driving me nuts. The rear has pleanty of tread left but I am starting to feel the flat spot when I corner.
So, to me it is not all about tread wear it is about the usable life of a tire and what you can tolerate.
I ride about 80% solo with the pressure on the higher end of the spectrum.

[toooldtocare]

I never get much more than 5K out of the rear and 7K out of the front. Just the nature of the tires and bikes we ride, and the way we ride them.

[bdimon]

I have 11,000 miles on my Michelin Pilot Road 3 and they still have a one or two thousand miles left. As per their customer service hotline, I keep the front inflated to 36PSI and the rear inflated to 42PSI. I ride solo so that helps. Frankly, I love these tires so much that I'm not inclined to try another brand.

[RoboRider]

So, to me it is not all about tread wear it is about the usable life of a tire and what you can tolerate.

This is a great point. My tires are "done" due to the shape of the tire (the sides are worn so that the tire is "pointy") even though they might have some center tread left. Tire wear on a motorcycle is not all about how much tread is left--if you are an aggressive rider.

[Polarbear]

Tires mostly wear from two phenoms, braking and throttle control. Both of these kill tires life if managed poorly OR if you're just a road racer and brake hard all the time. Tire pressures help a tad and in my case, yes indeed. I like more air in the basement, by sidewall recommendations and loading the bike situation. It takes patience and skill to change ones techniques, riding skills to see some difference and miles added to any tires life. I am amazed one rider here says so many miles on a Tourance, high teens and even near 20000k on a rear. THATS a WOW! Randy

[jdubick]

The PR3 rear also comes with a heavy load compound. There is a price difference between the PR3 standard and heavy. I think it was about $10.00. It's supposed to last longer if you are two up.

[siman00]

I can't speak for the PR 3s and extra miles with the heavier duty tire, but I get about 3k more miles from a "B" Pirelli ST than a normal tire of same kind. I ride solo about 98% of the time and pressures of 38 Front; 44 Rear.