Well, That Was Quick!

I have just shy of 6,000 miles on my 2108 R1200RT. I got back from a trip a couple weeks ago and started looking for tires as I knew the rear was getting close. I figured I had maybe 2,000 miles to go. I rode it to work today and one of the guys that also rides had some questions about the RT so we walked out to take a look. I happened to look at the rear tire and there was cord just starting to show in the middle of the tire. The funny thing is the rear Michelin worn funny, it has a valley worn in the center and a fair amount of tread left right off the center. When I get the wheel off I might take a picture and post it.

I ordered a set of Contiroad Attack 3's. Hopefully I can get a couple more miles out of them!

Looks like the Harley will get a few miles on it this weekend.

Usually it’s Metzler Tire’s that do that
My last PR4’s were changed with 7500 miles on them, still had some life in them, but wasn’t going to chance it leaving on a 2000 mile trip
Just wondering what pressure your running 42/36 or something else

I got the tire off, what a bugger! Anyway it definitely has a valley worn into it down the center. I held a straight edge across the tire and it is pretty obvious. Just eithe side of the center it measures 5/32nds of tread. As for pressure, i forget, but what ever the manual recommends 40 or 42 PSI.

I have neve seen a tire wear like this. On my Harley the center would wear first but not quite flat and gradually thicker to the edges. We don't have much for curves in this part of the country so the bulk of miles are running straight roads.

PoorUB said:

I ordered a set of Contiroad Attack 3's. Hopefully I can get a couple more miles out of them!

Click to expand...

In case you weren't aware they make a GT variant which is what I put on my '16 RT and discovered was clearly superior in all ways that matter to me compared to PR4GT, Angel GT, and Metz Z8: best turn-in behavior, line holding, lack of noise, resistance to squaring/maintaining shape, best in linear grooved pavement, wear is comparable to the others mentioned, and the tire requires no scrub in whatsoever. I will not look for any new tire models as this tire is the perfect match to wethead RT. Fascinating as well: when I recently replaced my front tire which had about 9,200 on it I noticed absolutely no difference in behavior with the new RA3GT which was never the case when replacing tires where it is typical to really notice what improvements come w/ new tires. The rear was initially replaced at about 5800 miles due to taking a big deck screw and as well when installing a new RA3GT I noticed zero difference in handling.

Yeah, ordered the GT's.

PoorUB said:

I have just shy of 6,000 miles on my 2108 R1200RT. I got back from a trip a couple weeks ago and started looking for tires as I knew the rear was getting close. I figured I had maybe 2,000 miles to go. I rode it to work today and one of the guys that also rides had some questions about the RT so we walked out to take a look. I happened to look at the rear tire and there was cord just starting to show in the middle of the tire. The funny thing is the rear Michelin worn funny, it has a valley worn in the center and a fair amount of tread left right off the center. When I get the wheel off I might take a picture and post it.

I ordered a set of Contiroad Attack 3's. Hopefully I can get a couple more miles out of them!

Looks like the Harley will get a few miles on it this weekend.

Click to expand...

That is almost exactly what happened to me. I went through two sets of PR3s and one set of PR4s. They all suddenly, almost overnight it seemed, went from looking fine to showing cords, and they all happened + or - 200 miles from 6000. The next set I got was Metzler, and they lasted about 6400 miles. Now I am on Dunlop Roadsmarts, and so far I have about 2000 miles on them.

I will never buy another set of Michelins!

ncpbmw1953 said:

they make a GT variant which is what I put on my '16 RT and discovered was clearly superior in all ways that matter to me

Click to expand...

I recently installed the Conti's on my '16 but not the GT variant. From the first ride the difference was evident and I'm convinced this will be my replacement tire one day. What I could not determine was why I'd want to get the GT. The description you provided mirrored my own experience.

emersont said:

I recently installed the Conti's on my '16 but not the GT variant. From the first ride the difference was evident and I'm convinced this will be my replacement tire one day. What I could not determine was why I'd want to get the GT. The description you provided mirrored my own experience.

Click to expand...

Welcome to the forum!
Gary

So you are aware...

The "last" belt of rubber that you see before the cords is not tread wear rubber, its typically a thin heat dispersion belt designed to yes, disperse heat from the centre of the tread out to the sides. That is why if one neglects to change their tires when one should, and you wear down to this layer, it disappears faster that you can say, "Well, that was quick!"

PoorUB said:

… As for pressure, i forget, but what ever the manual recommends 40 or 42 PSI …

Click to expand...

The biggest hint, to me at least, in this entire thread is the quote above. If you are not perfectly on top of your tire pressures, all sorts of weird--and dangerous--things can happen. A rider who says "as for pressure, I forget … " is one who probably doesn't pay close enough attention to the single most important thing about his/her bike. Remember: the only thing touching the Earth when you ride is that tiny patch of rubber.

Good luck.

(Sorry, didn't mean to sound preachy, but some things are too important to pussy-foot around.)

I have tire pressure monitoring and granted I don't get out the pressure gauge very often but I will check the tire pressure on the the dash first thing when I get rolling in the morning. It has always been consistent with my pressure gauge. So the pressure does get checked. I just don't recall the exact pressures when I have three motorcycles I ride regularly but figure it out when I do check them.

I do understand that there are riders that never check air pressure. I have seen enough threads on other groups about poor handling and both tires are pretty much flat!

Interesting thing with air pressures: all the Michelin’s I’ve had have needed air every couple of weeks. I tried the Metzeler roadtec this year and never needed air for the life of the tires! Mind you, I did use them up in less than three months.

Same here. I added air last fall when I bought it and again this spring, then no more air needed.