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Metzler vs Michelin (please redirect?), R1150 R

alohagrit

alohagrit

JD, PhD, OBE
Aloha all, my first post to ask ye learned cats:

Is there a particular tyre you folks prefer for the 2004 r1150r? Mine has the ABS and although I have been riding off and on again for about 20 years, I am just now returning, so I consider myself a newbie. I am fine with nice n easy, so I don't need to break the LSR on my commute. Terrain is superslab or the usual two lane country road, so I prefer it be comfortable over cornering ability. Durable would be nice, but rain channels would be far better. I just bought this bike, my first BMW, and we are still learning to get along. Her eventual mission profile will include some touring, with the occasional two-up, but mostly just me puttering around the Austin (TX) area and commuting to work as much as my schedule permits.

Right now she has a mismatched Metzler rear and Michellin front. Looking at the born on date from several years ago on each, I am electing to yank them both off and start fresh. I have new Michellins on my Ducati, and am basically happy with them, but I also realize part of the price is marketing. Dealer will be putting them on (I don't have the time to mess with it).

Any advice, re-direction, direction, diction, and so on is most appreciated

Mahalo (Thanks!)
 
We have been very happy with Michelin Pilot Road tires on Voni's R1100RS and on my R1150R.That is what we have had for the last several sets of tires.
 
PGlaves said:
We have been very happy with Michelin Pilot Road tires on Voni's R1100RS and on my R1150R.That is what we have had for the last several sets of tires.
Click to expand...
I really liked these as well, only ran the 4’s, but they handled well in the conditions described and here in Texas.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Chris
 
Tires

I have a R1100 RS and have had sets of Metzeler’s, Michelin, Continental Road Attack 2, and several sets of Bridgestone tires. I have not tried other premium brands but I assume they are also good. On the brands I have tried I have noticed very little difference in wet or dry performance also not much difference in mileage, in my opinion go for the best price among premium brands. Very often if Michelin’s are thought of as the gold standard for the cost of a set of Michelin’s I can buy a set of Bridgestone tires and save enough to get a 2nd front tire.
To sum things up premium brand lowest price best deal INMHO.
 
I think you'll find that all modern tires work well. Having had Michelin, Avon, Metzeler, Dunlop, and Continental, I have a preference for the Continental Conti Road Attack 3.
 
I’ve found the Michelin Pilots to be very good, for both comfort and handling.

Is there still a good source for the 160/60-18 rear Michelin Pilots? My local dealer tells me they are NLA.

PGlaves said:
We have been very happy with Michelin Pilot Road tires on Voni's R1100RS and on my R1150R.That is what we have had for the last several sets of tires.
Click to expand...
 
awesome thanks! yea I wondered since I hear in BMW circles that is so often comes down to Bibendum vs The Elephant, but I am open to any suggestions. I am just getting back into bikes again, and my files on tyre tech are all dated around 2002.
 
I have mostly run Metzelers on my R1150R, but a while back I decided to try Michelin PR4s. Unfortunately, the only PR4s available in the appropriate size at the time were the PR4 GTs, so that’s what I got.

They we’re absolutely unsuitable for my bike, which as set up weighs about 500 lbs. The handling felt very strange, with heavy steering inputs required, and on anything but a perfectly surfaced road the bike “wandered” constantly. It was bad enough that I suspected some kind of suspension or chassis issue might be causing this, until I recalled that this was a relatively new phenomenon. I switched the PR4s out before they were fully used up and went back to Metzeler Z8 Interacts, and the handling was again normal.

I assume that the problem was the GT version of these tires with their stiffer sidewalls, but can’t say for sure since I never tried the standard version. Strangely, I don’t know of anybody else who has had this experience.
 
Cam,

My R 1100 RS takes a rear size 160/60-18, but I don’t see the AVON spirit st with that size listed.

Is that the rear tire size on your R1100R?

If so, where did you find that size.

I am Interested, as I need to find an alternate for the Michelin Pilot Roads, that are NLA in the 160/60-18 size.

Thanks.

cam_on_van_isle said:
I had Michelin RP3's on my R1100R, replaced with Avon Spirit ST tires, love them, nice tire.
Click to expand...
 
walsj1024 said:
Cam,

My R 1100 RS takes a rear size 160/60-18, but I don’t see the AVON spirit st with that size listed.

Is that the rear tire size on your R1100R?

If so, where did you find that size.

I am Interested, as I need to find an alternate for the Michelin Pilot Roads, that are NLA in the 160/60-18 size.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Offerings in that size from Continental, Pirelli, and Metzeler can be found here.

Best,
DeVern
 
DeVern,

Thanks for that info.

As Cam had mentioned the Avon’s on his R1100, I was hoping he could shed some light on whether they are available in the 160/60-18 size.
Cheers.


GTRider said:
Offerings in that size from Continental, Pirelli, and Metzeler can be found here.

Best,
DeVern
Click to expand...
 
alohagrit said:
Aloha all, my first post to ask ye learned cats:

Is there a particular tyre you folks prefer for the 2004 r1150r? Mine has the ABS and although I have been riding off and on again for about 20 years, I am just now returning, so I consider myself a newbie. I am fine with nice n easy, so I don't need to break the LSR on my commute. Terrain is superslab or the usual two lane country road, so I prefer it be comfortable over cornering ability. Durable would be nice, but rain channels would be far better. I just bought this bike, my first BMW, and we are still learning to get along. Her eventual mission profile will include some touring, with the occasional two-up, but mostly just me puttering around the Austin (TX) area and commuting to work as much as my schedule permits.

Right now she has a mismatched Metzler rear and Michellin front. Looking at the born on date from several years ago on each, I am electing to yank them both off and start fresh. I have new Michellins on my Ducati, and am basically happy with them, but I also realize part of the price is marketing. Dealer will be putting them on (I don't have the time to mess with it).

Any advice, re-direction, direction, diction, and so on is most appreciated

Mahalo (Thanks!)
Click to expand...

My R1150R came with Michelin Battle-ax tires. I was new to oilheads having an airhead with Metzler's before. When it was time for new, I bought Michelin again because between the prior owner and I, it seems to get get hood life out of them. I'm not an aggressive rider but will lean it a bit. I've not done a "lot" of rain riding but been caught out a couple times and it felt fine.
 
R65_Steve said:
My R1150R came with Michelin Battle-ax tires. I was new to oilheads having an airhead with Metzler's before. When it was time for new, I bought Michelin again because between the prior owner and I, it seems to get get hood life out of them. I'm not an aggressive rider but will lean it a bit. I've not done a "lot" of rain riding but been caught out a couple times and it felt fine.
Click to expand...

Battle-axe is the name used with Bridgestone tires. Michelin uses Pilot/Pilot Road/Road and Power.

Frank
 
Well...like many of the others have posted here, I’ve had a set Michelin Pilot Road tires myself and was happy with them, but when it was time for a new set of tires, I opted for a set of Metzler Roadtec 01’s. A couple years ago it was Metzler’s latest offering and was targeted at the Michelin PR’s. Being a newer design than the Michelin’s (at the time) and that it got great reviews I felt confident in my decision. Since then I’ve been very impressed with the performance of these tires, especially in the wet stuff. That was a focus of Metzler’s design team so they added special siping to aid in water dispersion and higher silica content in the rubber to offer better wet traction and at the same time extend the life of the tire. How tire engineers figure all this stuff out is amazing to me, but anyway.... How much your bike weighs and what type of riding you do also plays a factor in all of this. I’d encourage you to strongly consider the Roadtec 01’s as you do your research. I believe there’s one or two other members on this forum who’s running them as well.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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