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going to need new tires soon

Took about an 85 mile loop on well known roads today, ran through a couple rain showers, these RA-3's are decidedly great tires. I'm very happy with the outcome. :dance

I too found the R1200RT with PR4s “twitchy” to say the least. How much better are the RA3s going in a straight line?
 
I too found the R1200RT with PR4s “twitchy” to say the least. How much better are the RA3s going in a straight line?

Still wanders easily, just not as much and more smoothly. Really holds the corner lines nicely. The bike feels more planted, so to speak, at least that's how it feels to me.
 
Still wanders easily...

Can't relate to this comment w/ these as I can ride 'no hands' for a mile and be able to hold a line w/ just a little arm rudder to offset the crown in the road, whereas it was harder to do with the other tires used. The RA3's do better on linear grooved pavement as well, I think due to their tread design.
 
Thanks for these inputs. I’m still riding both the 1150GS and 1200RTW. The 1150 holds a MUCH better line I’m hoping a tire change away from PR4s helps.
 
Can't relate to this comment w/ these as I can ride 'no hands' for a mile and be able to hold a line w/ just a little arm rudder to offset the crown in the road, whereas it was harder to do with the other tires used. The RA3's do better on linear grooved pavement as well, I think due to their tread design.

What I'm trying to get across is that the RT will change directions when I merely look away from a straight line, more a function of the rider input on a short wheelbase, not the tire. My comment was poorly worded. I said it because with the Michelins the "wander" was more like falling quickly away from straight, thus my calling them "twitchy", whereas the Continentals aren't as prone to it. They turn great when I want them to, but are less susceptible to tiny inputs that weren't meant to turn the bike off course. They do indeed hold a line quite well. I'm very happy with them so far, if they last the distance as well as they handle, I suspect I'm through shopping around for better tires.
 
What I'm trying to get across is that the RT will change directions when I merely look away from a straight line, more a function of the rider input on a short wheelbase, not the tire. My comment was poorly worded. I said it because with the Michelins the "wander" was more like falling quickly away from straight, thus my calling them "twitchy", whereas the Continentals aren't as prone to it. They turn great when I want them to, but are less susceptible to tiny inputs that weren't meant to turn the bike off course. They do indeed hold a line quite well. I'm very happy with them so far, if they last the distance as well as they handle, I suspect I'm through shopping around for better tires.

I never found the PR4GT's to be twitchy but Angle GTs I tried took me a full 300 miles or more to adjust to. Way oversensitive as far as turn-in goes for RTW. I feel the RA3's are absolute perfection for handling for RTW. Not sure how long they'll go it's too early to tell at 6,000m, but they have quite a bit of meat on them now and have retained profile very well w/ minimal center flattening so far, and handling at 6K miles I believe is unchanged from brand new. I went from Angle GT to RA3, so initially the RA3's felt understandably sluggish for turn-in. That resolved quickly and since they've been as I say perfect.
 
Tires to replace original Michelin Pilot Road

Hi all,
I need to replace a front tire on my '06 R1200RT. The bike is new to me (my 1st BMW) and only had 7k miles last summer. Looking at the tires I couldn't tell they were original as I'm used to replacing tires every 5k on another bike. Upon closer inspection they are original Michelin Pilot Roads with manufacture date of Week 40 in 2005! They could be a collector items now.

I now have 11,300 miles and shopping for tires. The rear looks to have a couple thousand more left although I'm thinking of early replacement as it will be turning 13 yrs old soon and I know it's best to keep the pair the same, and safer.

Since the Pilot Road was not a GT tire then I am thinking I can run the new Road 5s. I only ride solo, weigh 160, and don't carry all the luggage on my commute - just 46L topcase for laptop backpack.
So I'm thinking the Road 5 over the PR4 GT's since they are about the same $.

Or I would go with the Conti Road Attack 3. They too have a GT version. Is the RA3 GT truly needed?

Anyone have experience on either Conti or Mich non-GT tires with similarities to me?

Thanks in advance,
Kevin
 
Not exactly responsive to your post but I've been very happy with the Dunlop RoadSmart III. I went through 4 or 5 sets on a K1300GT and now have them on a R1200RT LC. Decent wear, excellent handling and stability, no cupping, and usually available with a manufacturer rebate of 50-100 per set. These are not a "GT" spec tire, but perform very well for my 235 lb carcass. Considering your size, you shouldn't feel restricted to a GT build.
 
Anyone have experience on either Conti or Mich non-GT tires with similarities to me?

I have had two RTs (one 2005, one 2016) and experience with the following tires on them:

- Michelin PR 3 (not sure if they were GT or not)
- Michelin PR 4 non-gt
- Metzeler Z8 - OEM tires on the 2016
- Metzeler Roadtec 01 HWM (HWM is the equivalent of GT)
- Continental RoadAttack 3 GT (currently on the 2016)

I have not been able to tell if the tires were or were not GT, meaning that the bike rides the way it rides. Potentially if there were two identical bikes, with the only difference being the GT and non GT version of the same tires, I might be able to feel a difference.

The biggest then I can comment on is the handling characteristics and wear on each of the tires for me (because riding styles and circumstances differ).

The Michelins PR3 and PR4 handled well, but not great IMO, and the front tires would scallop and wear almost to a very triangular point. I am not a fan of these. I went through 2 front tires to 1 rear.

The Metzeler Z8 were a little more sticky than the PR3/PR4 but I was not a fan of these tires either... they wore quickly and also scalloped up front and squared off in the rear. No wear bars in the middle of the rear tire made it tough to know when they were truely "used up".

The Metzeler Roadtec 01 handled great IMO, but they were a bit loud and on my bike there was a bit of vibration that the tire guy and I couldn't identify (he checked the balance once when I brought it back because of the vibration). I lived with the vibration and noise, and overall I was pleased with these tires.

The Continental Road Attack 3 are new to me, and I only have about 500 miles on them. So far they are superior to all of the above in my opinon. They don't handle quite as quickly as the Roadtec 01, but at least as well as the rest of the tires I've listed. The bike is dead smooth with these tires on it (so the vibration with the Roadtecs was definitely to do with the tires or balancing) and the tires are silent.

IMO you could run the non GT tires and be fine because the weight rating is the same between the GT and non GT variety of all of these. Michelin says not to run the PR5 standard tires on an RT, but that's the only one that I've heard of that specifically cautions against the non GT version of their tires.

Since tires are wear items, try a few different ones until you find your favorites. The day you put on a new set of tires is the day you start wearing them out.
 
Thanks all for the feedback!

I considered the Conti RA3 and Dunlop RS3 to be on the same level as the Mich PR4GTs as I believe they came out later and where targeted at the PR4GT's market share.
The Mich PR5 and future PR5GTs may leapfrog over the RA3 and RS3 but I think it's too soon to know especially since the GT is not yet available.
With a Conti and Dunlop set priced the same at $300, the decision maker for me was the $50 Dunlop rebate offer ending this month. So for $250 a fresh set of rubber compared to the 13 year PR set I'm running on now should feel like a world of difference! The next time I need a set there will probably be another generation or two of new tires to evaluate :dance
 
Thought I'd bump this back to the front page for rwl1955, hope it helps.
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Thanks for the bump, I'm still undecided. I'll call AJ's this morning and probably stick with the stock 4's. I talked to Kyle at Max BMW and he didn't recommend the 5's for the RT but I know he was just quoting the manufacturer.
 
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Thanks for the bump, I'm still undecided. I'll call AJ's this morning and probably stick with the stock 4's. I talked to Kyle at Max BMW and he didn't recommend the 5's for the RT but I know he was just quoting the manufacturer.
******
went with the stock 4's, $605.00 installed. They broke the key on my FOB trying to take the bags off. AJ's is ordering me a new FOB, I can still use the key thou.
 
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