Better mileage rear tire

[tmcafe]

My rear Metzeler Sportec has practically no tread left in the center and is pretty squared, although it has only about 4k on it. Front looks better, but I m thinking of replacing the rear with something with better mileage and wear pattern. I dont want Roadtec Z because of the confusing lack of grooves in the center.

 

I know there have been good results with Pirelli Diablo Strada rear but dont know how it would match the front Metzeler.

 

Any suggestions appreciated!

[Steve G.]

I strongly reccomend the Michelin Pilot Road 2. Dual compound rear AND front. Tested best rain tire available.

I've got these on my FJR13 Yamaha, which can easily shred a tire in a weekend. It recently did eat a set of Continental Road Attacks in 3 weeks. While I've yet to put serious mileage on these things, feedback from others I know indicate that they are 16,000km tires on big power sport tourers. I can tell you the way I'm casually grinding pegs, when my Bridgestones are done on my V11, I'm going with these. I'm kind of funny, I'm not really a fan of French made stuff. As a result, these tires had to really prove themselves to a tough judge with no pre-confidence in the product. But these tires are the best radials I've ever used. Can't go wrong!

Steve

[mille108]

My rear Metzeler Sportec has practically no tread left in the center and is pretty squared, although it has only about 4k on it. Front looks better, but I m thinking of replacing the rear with something with better mileage and wear pattern. I dont want Roadtec Z because of the confusing lack of grooves in the center.

 

I know there have been good results with Pirelli Diablo Strada rear but dont know how it would match the front Metzeler.

 

Any suggestions appreciated!

 

 

Metzeler and Pirelli have basicly the same Motorcycle tyre factory so they are rather similar...should not be a problem

[Guest ratchethack]

I know there have been good results with Pirelli Diablo Strada rear but dont know how it would match the front Metzeler.

As pointed out above, Metz and Pirelli have shared the same engineering, compounds, and manufacturing on an increasing basis since somewhere around '86, when the acquisition went into transition, if memory serves.

I dont want Roadtec Z because of the confusing lack of grooves in the center

 

Both Diablo Strada and Z6 rears lack a center groove^. Some find this confusing when trying to gauge wear, but I haven't found it to be either confusing, or anything close to a drawback -- especially after having closely inspected my first Z6 rear for wear after it came off for replacement. I can easily get 8K miles on a Z6 rear with very little squaring off (I think I'm on my 4th one now), with no detectable loss of performance, replacing them before they start to seriously head South. The way I wear them, none of the elephants (Metz' tread wear margin indicators) remain but their feet. I absolutely LOVE Z6's for "inspired" mountain riding, and have never had a rear tire perform so well overall, wear so evenly, or wear with such little squaring off after anywhere close to so many miles.

 

In years past, Motorrad and Moto Revue comprehensively ranked these tires very closely, trading 1st & 2nd places at the top of the Sport Touring lists going from dry to wet, the Z6 getting very nearly double the mileage expectation rating of the Strada, IIRC.

 

The way I tend to think of going from a 4K tire to an 8K tire is that this is a "half price" consideration, and less again the price & bother of every other mount & balance, which makes that part half price overall also. Many trade-offs will be made with any such move, and you makes your picks accordingly.

 

And o' course, as always, YMMV.

 

EDIT: FWIW, this ranking (below, the emphasis is mine) is from waaaay back in '06. I've scoured the Web in recent years (though not lately) for any update without success.

 

Stolen and re-re-re-stolen from a previous thread:

 

The German mag MOTORRAD had an interesting tire comparo where they

determined the best sport-touring tire and the best sport tire for

street/trackday in the dry and wet with lap-times that don't lie and

also tire wear/longevity. Interesting was also that the difference in

corner speed between the best sport-touring tire and the best sport

tire was only 2,5 mph and they said todays best touring tires have

more than adequate traction for all kind of streetriding. Only if you

do trackdays and are fast enough to get the sport tires warm enough are

sport tires safer and the way to go...

 

Sport-Touring tires; dry:

 

1) Metzeler Z6 and Conti Road Attack

2)Pirelli Diablo Strada

3)Dunlop D220

4)Michelin Pilot Road

5)Bridgestone BT020

6)Avon Azaro

 

Sport-Touring tires; wet:

 

1)Pirelli Diablo Strada

2)Metzeler Z6

3)Michelin Pilot Road

4)Conti Road Attack

5)dunlop D220

6)Bridgestone BT020

7)Avon Azaro

 

Between the best and worst tire were 5,5 sec difference in lap time!

[Greg Field]

My favorite is the D. Strada, since they tend to be cheaper than a Z6 or Roadsmart or P. Road 2 but wear just as well and handle really well and are plenty stiff in the sidewall for 500-lb bikes and stick plenty well for 75-hp bikes. I pair them with a front that is 2-3 steps stickier, such as a D. Rosso or D. Corsa III, which gives me an extry margin of stick at the front should I need it for cornering or emergency braking in a corner, and I just accept that front and rear tires will need changing at the same mileage. For me, this is typically 8,000 miles.

[tmcafe]

Thanks! I like the idea of the front and rear being replaced at the same time. Clear and simple, and one thing less to worry about.

 

Curious if anybody changes their own tires with levers (I know that some of you have tire machines). I've worked with levers on tubeless tires (even managed to seat the bead with a small hand pump), but it was on tube-type rims and not as wide as the fat rear on V11. Is it doable, worth the experience?

[Steve G.]

Just pulled off a set of Conti Attacks. POS, waste of time.

Steve

[Guest ratchethack]

Curious if anybody changes their own tires with levers (I know that some of you have tire machines). I've worked with levers on tubeless tires (even managed to seat the bead with a small hand pump), but it was on tube-type rims and not as wide as the fat rear on V11. Is it doable, worth the experience?

I used to do all my own for decades. Even made up my own "no scratch" set of delrin tire levers and "home brew" Ru-glyde tire lubricant. When steel radials came out, the effort and time for the task -- though still doable -- jumped well over the outer limit of the effort/benefit threshold for Yours Truly. For $20, my tire guy now does wot would take me a min. of 30 minutes to an hour in just a few, does it to perfection, throws in an accurate balance, and saves me the time, effort and cleanup.

 

But o' course, that's just me.

[Slavomir Musilek (R.I.P.)]

try the Michelin Pilot Power 2CT if you are sporty driver who hides from the rain (these are rather slippy on wet surface)

[rocker59]

1200 miles ago, I went to a new tire combo.

 

Metzeler Z6 Roadtec front in 120/70-17

Metzeler ME880 Marathon rear in 170/60-17 (reinforced)

 

Initially, I didn't like the combo. The first couple hundred miles... I started out with 36psi front and 40psi rear...

 

After a couple hundred miles, I dropped the pressure to 33psi front and 36 psi rear. Much better feel...

 

Initially the tires had the "falling into the turns" feel that I don't care for... That seems to be diminishing...

 

The bike holds a line real nice, but quick transitions on tight curves is a little slow...

 

I chose this combo because of tread life. I've heard reports that this combo will last 12,000 miles... We'll see...

 

I really liked the Dunlop RoadSmart that I tried last time, but the rear flat spotted real bad by 4,000 miles and though it lasted to 7,000 miles, it was no fun riding the bike...

 

I'll report back about how this combo works out for me... I'll be going to Saint Louis next week, then in June, it's off to Colorado...

[tmcafe]

Thanks again. I remember rocker's story about the Roadsmart, kind of disappointing and it's not cheap either. Me880 are more like cruiser type, right? I'm tempted to try the Diablo Strada for now, and then switch to a softer front (Pilot Power, Diablo, etc). But for now I may go with what the dealers have here so they can mount it too, and perhaps I'll save the levers and the tire work for the winter

[rocker59]

Thanks again. I remember rocker's story about the Roadsmart, kind of disappointing and it's not cheap either. Me880 are more like cruiser type, right? I'm tempted to try the Diablo Strada for now, and then switch to a softer front (Pilot Power, Diablo, etc). But for now I may go with what the dealers have here so they can mount it too, and perhaps I'll save the levers and the tire work for the winter

 

Your local BMW dealer should have the ME880 in stock...

[tmcafe]

Your local BMW dealer should have the ME880 in stock...

Until recently dealer of everything Piaggio including Aprilia and Guzzi too... Tough market here, I guess.

[savagehenry]

I have just over 6,000 miles on a set of Diablo Stradas. They still have plenty of rubber down the middle (JUST starting to show the first signs of squaring), and most of my riding is around town and commuting. I plan to go with at least a new rear later in this season, and the only change planned is to move to the 170 from the stock 180 width.

[OldButNotDead]

I have just over 6,000 miles on a set of Diablo Stradas. They still have plenty of rubber down the middle (JUST starting to show the first signs of squaring), and most of my riding is around town and commuting. I plan to go with at least a new rear later in this season, and the only change planned is to move to the 170 from the stock 180 width.

 

 

I recently moved to a Diablo Strada 170 on the back (Diablo front), and am pleased with the easier turn in. I've been doing changes on a manual machine and found the 170 significantly harder to mount. Ended up bringing that wheel to the shop....