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[Richard230]

I am getting pretty good mileage out of the original Metzeler Z8 tires on my BMW R1200RS. 8K miles so far and it looks like they might get to 10K miles.  That is really good wear as the RS is no lightweight bike and has done its share of high speed freeway riding.  Usually I get around 6-7,000 miles from most tires on my Z1, but this is the first time I have ever had Z8's (as I was always too cheap to buy them myself, typically going for less expensive brands such as Shinko, Bridgestone, or Dunlop).

[hubert]

Hello,

My rear stock IRC is now near the TWI at 11kkm. I'm considering mounting a Michelin Pilot Street Radial as others here did successfully.

However, it is unclear for me if it is safe or even legal to mix a radial tire (rear) and a diagonal tire (front).

Any thoughts?

[Tony]

Interesting thread.

I know nothing about tires, but noticed my DSR easily loose grip on wet asphalt when accelerating. So, now I just switch to ECO mode for safety whenever it is raining. However, it would be nice with some new tires that has better grip, if possible. It would generally make me feel safer in roundabouts and other situations where a wet road could cause problems.

Any recommendations for how to achieve this?

[stevenh]

I just put Metzler Tourance Next tires on the front and rear (stock sizes) on my DSR.   I really like them.  They really quieted down the ride (like a lot!).  Cornering feels better as well.

Steve

[morimaxx]

Hello,

My rear stock IRC is now near the TWI at 11kkm. I'm considering mounting a Michelin Pilot Street Radial as others here did successfully.

However, it is unclear for me if it is safe or even legal to mix a radial tire (rear) and a diagonal tire (front).

Any thoughts?

It's not legal to mix radial and diagonal tyres, at least in Germany. But why do you want to mix? Using the IRC until worn down? Get rid of them as soon as possible and use Michelin Pilot Street, but the radial ones. They lasted longer as the diagonal ones, 12000 km the others only 7000 km. Both have more grip at cold and wet weather compared to IRC Tyres, and this is a mayor safety plus.

[MrDude_1]

Hello,

My rear stock IRC is now near the TWI at 11kkm. I'm considering mounting a Michelin Pilot Street Radial as others here did successfully.

However, it is unclear for me if it is safe or even legal to mix a radial tire (rear) and a diagonal tire (front).

Any thoughts?

It's not legal to mix radial and diagonal tyres, at least in Germany. But why do you want to mix? Using the IRC until worn down? Get rid of them as soon as possible and use Michelin Pilot Street, but the radial ones. They lasted longer as the diagonal ones, 12000 km the others only 7000 km. Both have more grip at cold and wet weather compared to IRC Tyres, and this is a mayor safety plus.

wait. what zero comes with bias-ply tires? I thought they were all radials?

[Richard230]

Hello,

My rear stock IRC is now near the TWI at 11kkm. I'm considering mounting a Michelin Pilot Street Radial as others here did successfully.

However, it is unclear for me if it is safe or even legal to mix a radial tire (rear) and a diagonal tire (front).

Any thoughts?

It's not legal to mix radial and diagonal tyres, at least in Germany. But why do you want to mix? Using the IRC until worn down? Get rid of them as soon as possible and use Michelin Pilot Street, but the radial ones. They lasted longer as the diagonal ones, 12000 km the others only 7000 km. Both have more grip at cold and wet weather compared to IRC Tyres, and this is a mayor safety plus.

My 1997 BMW F650 Funduro, my 2009 F650GS twin and my 2005 Triumph Bonneville all came from the factory with a bias-ply tire on the front wheel and a radial on the rear wheel.

[clay.leihy]

wait. what zero comes with bias-ply tires? I thought they were all radials?

The dual sport tires that come with the FX are bias ply and have TUBES!


Sent from my Z982 using Tapatalk

[SRich]

wait. what zero comes with bias-ply tires? I thought they were all radials?
[/quote]

My 2015 S came with Pirelli Sport Demon bias ply tires.  Replaced the back at 8k miles and the front at 15k miles  with Michelin Pilot Street tires.  Much better tires in my opinion due in part to the fact they are radial tires.   I am at 17k miles now and still have approximately half the tread left on the the rear after 9k miles.   So not only is the feel better (smoother, less jarring, more confidence inspiring etc. ) the wear is definitely better. I plan on buying the Michelins again.

[hubert]

Some surprising news.

Purchased a Michelin Street Pilot Radial, and also a bike stand, removed the rear wheel, cleaned it up, and carried both the wheel and the tire to a guy who runs a small business in replacing tires for both cars and bikes, maybe also trucks.

Unfortunately the guy was very sorry telling me that he did something wrong while unounting the IRC tire... He just broke the pulley. Of course he would bear the cost of replacing it, but I became nervous thinking of the time needed to get the spare part (from Cal to EU?).

And what? Less than a week later, the new pulley was arrived (EU w/h probably)! Good surprise. Just mounted everything together, and again is the Zero on the road. :-)

The pulley made of cast aluminium is quite easy breakable, if you apply any stress other than the one expected from the belt.

[benswing]

I got 7,000 miles out of the original Pirelli Diablo II's, both front and rear.  Then I got the IIRC Road Winners.  2,000 miles (mostly eco riding) and the rear is finished, while the front still looks new.  The grip on the IIRC's is good but I am very disappointed with the short lifespan.  I'm considering getting the Angel GT's which only come in 150 size.  I bet it fits just fine.

I was very happy with Angel GT’s (120/150).  I did get a longer DS kickstand for my SR.

[Causemoi]

Hey all, first post here. I bought a demo 2016 SR, no power/charge tank, with 600 miles in April 2017. I now have over 8K miles and am needing tires. After extensive online research for tires for my type of riding (70% commute/20% errands/10% twisties in the mountains), I've decided to get the Michelin Street Pilot RADIALs. Hoping I'll get more miles on these than the original stock Pirellis. Will update after several thousand miles. (north Denver suburbs)

[JaimeC]

Some interesting observations here.  In my experience, bias-ply motorcycle tires outlast bias-ply radial tires (the opposite of what I saw in automobiles) but here it looks like some of you are getting better mileage out of the Michelin radials.

FWIW, my 2016 S has a little over 17,000 miles and is finally starting to show the wear bars on the stock, bias-ply Pirelli Sport Demons.  I'm looking to experiment with Dunlop radial GPR tires, which come in the correct sizes.  I've always preferred Metzelers for all of my bikes, but it doesn't look like they have ANY rear tires in the correct size for the Zero so they're out of the running this time.

[dukecola]

What about the Michilin Street Pilot 4 GT radial?  Says the GT version is for heavier bikes. I often ride with passenger and 25lbs of chargers and assorted paraphernalia, plusside bags with stuff.

[brose]

I am mostly ignorant on motorcycle tires and I am going to get new tires for wet/winter conditions. My dealer is a 75 min drive away making it a bit difficult to get there. Can I go to any motorcycle shop that installs tires to or are there any special concerns with a Zero (belt drive?) to make me want to specifically go to a Zero dealer?