Tire Opinions for 2006 R1200RT

[njzanin]

Hi All

This past summer I got a 2006 R1200RT. At the time, it had brand new Michelin Road 5 tires. I like these tires and have them on a Honda CB500X. My issue is the tread-life and wear. I have about 5000 miles on the set of tires and they are practically to the wear bars. The front seems to be worn more than the rear, but only marginally. They also seem to wear unevenly on the shoulders where the softer compound is located with the center of the tire not wearing as quickly.

I would like to try some different tires next time and would like your input. I would say I am a "spirited" rider and ride year round in Maryland. I'm looking for a tire that would be good in all weather conditions, and have better longevity.

Any suggestions?

 

[rhbike]

For topics like what oil or tires to use, you are liable to get at least as many different answers as those answering.

I have personally been very happy with Dunlop Roadsmart IV tires (aka RS IV) for wear and wet/dry performance. I have a pair on my K1600, a bike that can consume tires in no time. The prior Dunlop RS III and any other tires I have tried on the K1600 were totally knackered in 3000-4000 miles. Even less, depending on much time I spent carving our NC mountain roads. My current RS IV's have around 3000 miles and still have a lot of meat left despite a couple trips to the NC mountains. The RS IV's are every bit as confidence inspiring as the RS III's but appear to last a lot longer too.

Just one opinion of what I am sure will be many more different answers...

 

[brownie0486]

For topics like what oil or tires to use, you are liable to get at least as many different answers as those answering.

I have personally been very happy with Dunlop Roadsmart IV tires (aka RS IV) for wear and wet/dry performance. I have a pair on my K1600, a bike that can consume tires in no time. The prior Dunlop RS III and any other tires I have tried on the K1600 were totally knackered in 3000-4000 miles. Even less, depending on much time I spent carving our NC mountain roads. My current RS IV's have around 3000 miles and still have a lot of meat left despite a couple trips to the NC mountains. The RS IV's are every bit as confidence inspiring as the RS III's but appear to last a lot longer too.

Just one opinion of what I am sure will be many more different answers...

I moved to the RS4's on both the 16RS and 11RT and both sets have 5500-6K on them and are at half life tread depth. I didn't like the PR5's at all for longevity, the PR4's were a little better in that regard.

The RS4's stick every bit as well as the PR series in dry or wet conditions and are lasting nearly 80% longer than the others mentioned. Until I hear reviews from actual riders on how they stick and how long they've lasted [ how I came to the RS4's to begin with ] I'm staying with that's on both bikes now.

Just ordered another set of them for install in June before I make a 3 week/5K mile trip. One of the local sport bike centers had 3 brands on sale this week. I got this pair for June for a total of 301.80 usd. A substantial savings over normal pricing

 

[drneo66]

Tire thread... must be winter...

Dunlops work well for me, but it's almost impossible to compare tire wear from one person to the next. These two tire sets went ~15k miles

x/32nds on the Y-axis

 

[ahd43]

Michelin Pilot Road 4GT.

 

[lkraus]

Nearly all of the dual-compound tires will wear unevenly, since they are designed with softer compounds on the sides than in the center. Which part wears first will depend on the proportion of curves/straights that you ride. It's unlikely that you will ever get them to wear evenly.

Riding styles and road surfaces vary too much to predict the mileage you will get from a particular set of tires. I've had Metzeler Z6, Michelin PR3, Michelin PR4 and several sets of Metzeler Roadtec O1 on my RT. They all lasted about 8000 to 9000 miles. I've seen others report anywhere from 3,500 to 17,000 miles from the same tires on the same bike.

The lack of a central tread wear indicator in the Z6 created a lot of worry near the end of it's life because I never knew how much rubber was left. They were good tires, but I'll never buy tires without a central TWI again.

The PR3 were very good, wet or dry, with great feel in the corners. I had high hopes for the PR4, but I never really trusted them in the corners, they felt kind of stiff. Both of the front Michelins developed quite a bit of cupping, not matter what tire pressures I used. The cupping didn't noticeably affect handling, it just looked bad and made them a bit noisier in the turns.

The Roadtec O1 is the best tire I've used, but can be a little pricey. Very good traction wet or dry, very good feel, no cupping, decent mileage.

 

[pglaves]

Riding styles and road surfaces vary too much to predict the mileage you will get from a particular set of tires.

Let me illustrate this with some data. We bought Voni's '94 R1100RS in May of 1993. It came with Bridgestone Battleaxe BT54 tires OEM and we continued with these tires for about the first 200,000 miles on the bike. I kept track of the mileage of all the tires. In that time the tires averaged right at 8,500 miles per tire - both front and rear, not counting a couple of early take-offs due to flat tires.

But, on rear tires she got as much as 14,000 on one tire and as little as 6,100 on another tire. Same bike, same brand/model tire, same rider. The difference was where and when the bike was being ridden. The 14,000 miles were ridden in the fall, winter, and spring, almost all in a 35 mile commute to and from her teaching job, on mostly smooth machine-laid asphalt. The 6,100 miles were primarily ridden traveling in the summer on mostly chip-sealed secondary roads in Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Wyoming and Texas.

 

[brownie0486]

Let me illustrate this with some data. We bought Voni's '94 R1100RS in May of 1993. It came with Bridgestone Battleaxe BT54 tires OEM and we continued with these tires for about the first 200,000 miles on the bike. I kept track of the mileage of all the tires. In that time the tires averaged right at 8,500 miles per tire - both front and rear, not counting a couple of early take-offs due to flat tires.

But, on rear tires she got as much as 14,000 on one tire and as little as 6,100 on another tire. Same bike, same brand/model tire, same rider. The difference was where and when the bike was being ridden. The 14,000 miles were ridden in the fall, winter, and spring, almost all in a 35 mile commute to and from her teaching job, on mostly smooth machine-laid asphalt. The 6,100 miles were primarily ridden traveling in the summer on mostly chip-sealed secondary roads in Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Wyoming and Texas.

I pretty much make the same multi state 2-3 week tour every summer in Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota and NM [ about 3500 per trip every trip ]. The PR5's were done at around 5500 miles. Same basic trip with the Dunlop RS4's last summer putting 3500 on them and another 2K here in Az. Both are at about 1/2 life at 5500-5700 miles on them. This one an 11RT

My brothers K1200GT got about 5500 on the PR5's and he's now at about 1/2 life with the same miles with the RS4's. Other than the trip we make in the summer which nearly duplicates his riding on PR5's and the RS4's. He's seen the difference in longevity of those tires. He's happy with the differences in the two tire brands as well.

Chip seal will eat a tire a lot quicker as you suggest. I experienced that on the Alcan highway.

 

[Bugman98]

5000 miles from a tire on a 1200cc bike ridden by a "spirited" rider is actually pretty good! I usually see 4000k out of my rear tires on a 1200cc bike. FYI a powerful, heavy bike like an RT will eat up rear tires. Michelin makes great tires; keep buying those. To save money I buy two sets of tires at a time when/if there is a sale, and I bought a tire changing stand from harbor freight to change them myself. Since your RT has a center stand, you can remove both wheels and take those to any motorcycle shop and have them change the tire for you.

 

[juanbeemer]

Hi All

This past summer I got a 2006 R1200RT. At the time, it had brand new Michelin Road 5 tires. I like these tires and have them on a Honda CB500X. My issue is the tread-life and wear. I have about 5000 miles on the set of tires and they are practically to the wear bars. The front seems to be worn more than the rear, but only marginally. They also seem to wear unevenly on the shoulders where the softer compound is located with the center of the tire not wearing as quickly.

I would like to try some different tires next time and would like your input. I would say I am a "spirited" rider and ride year round in Maryland. I'm looking for a tire that would be good in all weather conditions, and have better longevity.

Any suggestions?i

I have a 2007 R1200RT. It came with Continental Attack 3s when I bought it just over 5 years ago, and I got about 12,000 miles on the rear and the front, while having plenty more tread had cupping so replaced both. Then I put Continental Attack 3s GT for a long, weighted down trip to the recent Great Falls MOA Rally. My current set of tires are the Michelin Road 6s (about 6,000 miles in and looks like I will get another 3-4K on the rear). Of the three tire variants I've now ridden, my favorite are the Continental Attack 3s. Great handling at speed....relatively quiet....great in the rain or blistering heat. I ride most of the year in Central Texas with 2-4K forays to other states each summer I am able.

 

[bicyclenut]

I purchased my 2010 RT used with new Metzeler Roadtec 01 HWM tires installed. I am now on my 5th set and will be replacing these with a 6th set in the next couple weeks. I have been getting between 11,400 and 12,800 miles per set and I usually replace them before they are really worn out so I am ready for trips and new riding season. My riding is a mix of commuting, short weekend day trips and long distance multi day trips with highway and twistys both. As these tires have worked well for me in both dry and torrential rain, and have proved to last an average of 12K miles, I have had no reason to switch to another brand. The new set I will install are the Metzeler Rodtec 01 SE, supposed to be a slight upgrade and they seemed to have dropped the HWM version whuch was designed with stiffer sidewalls for loaded sprt touring bikes like the RT. I did run a rear non HWM version with one of these sets as they shipped the wrong one and it worked as well as HWM version and had similar mileage.

 

[GregoryT]

Hello, did anybody try to use Shinko 005 Advance tires on 2009 - 2013 RT'S?
What was your experience with them?

 

[BC1100S]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned tire pressure as a huge contributing factor to tire wear. Run stock pressures always or risk paying for not doing it.

Also, as mentioned, the Continental Road Attack tires are excellent both in performance and longevity.