1998 R1100RT Tires...

Hey gang!

So, the last two tire changes, I've run Metzeler Roadtech Z6s on front and back. I have been super-happy with them. I had bought a new Z6 for a good price for the front a while back and have been waiting for the current tires to need changing before buying the rear.
They are now ready for swapping. I was looking for a rear Z6, but couldn't find any in the right size, and they have been discontinued. So I bought a Roadtech Z8. They are the same rating, but technically they're not the EXACT same tires. I am guessing that it shouldn't be a problem to run a Z6 on the front and a Z8 on the rear?

Thanks!
N

I had always lived by the adage to match same/same front and rear. I don't know where that came from and I haven't found any professional opinion or any empirical evidence to support it.

There certainly is enough empirical evidence to support not running different tires, even of the same size on the same axle.

Without any opinion or evidence, I decided to run PR4GT on the front and PR3 on the rear and have done so for a few years on several different bikes and I can't tell or my riding buddies can't tell their is an issue.

The only complaint any of has is that the PR's make it too easy too twist the throttle.

dieselyoda said:

The only complaint any of has is that the PR's make it too easy too twist the throttle.

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Thanks!

I moved from the same tires to the PR3'S both front and back and have been happy with them thus far. only like 1k on them but not many options out there for the R1100RT wheels

I’m running Metzler Roadtec01’s on my R1150RT and I’ve been very happy with the performance. I recommend them highly.


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tangoalpha said:

I’m running Metzler Roadtec01’s on my R1150RT and I’ve been very happy with the performance. I recommend them highly.


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do you have 160/60ZR18 on the rear? I was not able to find that rubber in the roadtec 01'S

tmasselle said:

do you have 160/60ZR18 on the rear? I was not able to find that rubber in the roadtec 01'S

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Different bikes, different tires. The OP asks about the R1100RT, which has the 18" wheel standard. The R1150RT standard rear wheel is a 17" rim.

Personally, I have been running with the Michelin Road 5 on the front and the PR3 160/60 - 18 on the rear. Very happy with this combo. For my R1100RT.

Tires

I just replaced a set of Metzler Z6’s which were the worst set of tires I have had on my bike, replaced at 8,000 miles. Previous 3 sets of tires Bridgestone Battleaxe’s 10,000 mile average life but had front tire cupping problems, possibly helped by the bike needing new shocks for the last 40,000 miles. I have had one set of Michelin Pilot road tires which lasted 12,000 miles.
For my riding style wet and dry road handling not significantly different among all sets.
I would say the pilot road tires the best but not by much ( lasted 1,000 or 2,000 miles more ) the Chinese made Metzlers the worst.
The significant difference price, Michelin’s much higher.
The latest set



They have tread in the middle of tire and I think I really like the way they handle but only 1,000 miles so far, it will not be a fair comparison long term because new shocks coming soon.
Bike 1994 R1100RS

Probably too late to be helpful, but when I got my R1100 RS it came with the Z6s on it. By the time the first tire replacements came, I went with the Z8s (the 01s had not yet been released). Found them to be better than the Z6, all around. Next time around for the change, went with an 01 for the front (road debris), and was looking forward to the switch when time came for the rear; bad news is that the 01 has no 160/60 18 size available. So I kept running the same combo – 01 in front, Z8 in rear. Just replaced the rear this week after 12.5k miles, had a couple mm left above the wear bar but now was a better time than another month or so. The front is still well above the bar at about 7k miles. With regard to mixing tire lines, I would rather have the better tire in front, and older “tech” in the rear, but I think staying within the same “style” and manufacturer is the more critical part.

Hope this may offer some perspective.