• Welcome, Guest! We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMW MOA forum provides. Some forum content will be hidden from you if you remain logged out. If you want to view all content, please click the 'Log in' button above and enter your BMW MOA username and password.

    If you are not an MOA member, why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the BMW Owners News magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMW MOA offers?

going to need new tires soon

Stebe

Member
I'm on a 2016 R1200RT, do a good bit of two up riding, touring and secondary roads mostly. I'm at about 8,200 miles currently and still have the stock Michelin tires the bike came with. Overall, I've been pretty happy with them. No complaints except maybe that the bike seems twitchy to me, however it is my first non-Harley bike in over 30 years. Loved my Harleys, but this machine is uber-fantastic! I won't be returning to the fold, I'm a Beemer Believer now. :thumb

I see in the magazines a couple other choices, Bridgestone and Continental come to mind. I'm wondering what other RT riders are using? Has anyone made a switch and thought "oh my goodness, I wish I'd had these ___________'s a long time ago". Or, perhaps, "Oh no! I blew it, I should have stuck with the Michelins!

Thanks in advance for any replies. I tried the search function, but didn't find anything that answered my question.


Oh, and no I don't do doo-rags, loud pipes, beanie helmets, or ride to the local bar for drinks. Just sayin' :nono
 
Thanks. Love that blue! Is that the Quiet Werks windshield? I've got that. Much nicer than stock.

Any other voices are welcome! :wave

I should add, did you start with the Michelins? What about the Metzler's makes you like them more?
 
Last edited:
I've gone through various brands of tires and I could go on forever about issues I've had. The Michelin Pilot Road 4GT has been the best overall tire that I've had on the RT, current and past 05 RT.. This is based on my experience in close to 150,000km on R12RT's. I change tires about every 15,000km, so I've done at least 10 sets of tires since 2005 on two RTs. YMMV..
 
  1. ... Has anyone made a switch and thought "oh my goodness, I wish I'd had these ___________'s a long time ago"...
  2. ... Or, perhaps, "Oh no! I blew it, I should have stuck with the ...

#1 happens very often, but #2 nowhere near as often. However, the reason is what most folks attribute it to. The biggest difference any regular rider is likely to notice when putting on a new set of tires is the difference between a worn-out set of tires and a new set.

Magazines in Europe tend to do the most frequent and in-depth reviews of sport-touring tires like the R1200RT use.

I think TyrePress' statement is fairly accurate "No major weaknesses in test of six touring tyres".
The differences when professionals compare under strict testing with both objective and subjective in-depth analysis is that all the major brands are putting out very good tires today. I don't always agree with their results, but I think that has as much to do with my own personal biasis as it does with anything else.

https://www.tyrepress.com/2017/06/motorrad-no-major-weaknesses-in-test-of-six-touring-tyres/

motorrad-touring-tyre-test-2017-800x711.jpg

Moto-tyres: https://www.moto-tyres.ie/MCNews7818.html

From Moto-tyres:
This is the final ranking of the sport touring tyre test with final vote on a scale of 1-10:
1. METZELER ROADTEC™ 01 | 9.8/10
2. METZELER ROADTEC™ Z8 INTERACT™ | 9/10
3. Bridgestone Battlax T30 EVO | 8.1/10
4. Dunlop RoadSmart III | 7.7/10
5. Continental RoadAttack2 EVO | 7.5/10
6. Michelin Pilot Road 4 GT | 7.3/10

I'm not saying that I would rank these tires eactly the same, but I do currently have bikes with the Metzeler Roadtec 01 and the Bridgestone Battlax T30. Within the past two years I've had Metzeler Roadtec Z8 and Michelin Pilot Road 4 GT tires on my bikes.

For me, the I've been very happy with all of them except the Z8. It wore a little quicker than I would have liked and went from looking like it had a few thousand miles left in it to being corded in several places within 500 miles. By contrast, the Metzeler Roadtec 01 that I replaced the Z8 tires with has been great, has about the same mileage on it as my Z8 and PR4 tires when they were toast, but the Roadtec 01 has plenty of life (and wear-bar) left. I really like the grip and turn-in on the Battlax T30 but wear is greater.

I've heard great things and bad things about every tire, including the new Dunlop RoadSmart III. Some shops warn customers away from the II saying that they wear much quicker than the PR4, but when Dunlop hired the team that tested Michelin's tires (Texas Test Fleet Inc.), to do their comparison between the PR4 and the RoadSmart III, the RoadSmart III beat the PR4 noticably.

For my money, there's hardly a bad tire out there anymore, just like most bikes are very good now as well. I like my Metzeler Roadtec 01 tires a lot, but wouldn't be surprised if someone else preferred any of the others over it as they are very close and an individual motorcycle rider who puts 10k-20k a year on their bike and isn't doing back-to-back blind A-B tire testing with at least 2-3 other professional riders along with doing instrumented testing is not likely to be able to out judge the professionals, in my personal opinion.

RSIII_Charts-1.jpg
 
Aeroflow

Thanks. Love that blue! Is that the Quiet Werks windshield? I've got that. Much nicer than stock.

Any other voices are welcome! :wave

I should add, did you start with the Michelins? What about the Metzler's makes you like them more?

Thank you. It’s an Aeroflow Medium for the RT. Much better than stock windscreen. The good thing about living in this part of NorthEastern California, besides not being on fire, is that we have Aeroflow, Illum Works, and Clearwater Lights in the not too distant area.

My RT came with Metzler Z8’s which I swapped to the Roadtec 01. My BMW C650GT scooter has Metzlers too. That’s all I have ever known, and they haven’t given me any reason to look elsewhere. YMMV.
 
My 2016 came with Metzlers and I was not too happy with them. Swapped them out at about 7,000 miles for Dunlop Road Smart III's which I like better but not thrilled with them. They have about 8,000 miles on them and may go another 2000 at most. At that time I will probably go to Michelin PR4 GT's. Had them on my 2006 and liked them a lot.
 
"oh my goodness, I wish I'd had these ___________'s a long time ago".

Yep! I've used PR4GT, Pirelli Angel GT, Metzeler Z8, and none can compare w/ the positive experience I am having w/ Continental RoadAttack 3 GT which at this juncture, just shy of 5K miles, is clearly the best of the bunch. While I don't have longevity to show for them, I'm confident because of how well they are retaining their shape and tread at this mileage they might well be the best in terms of not only miles but shape retention. It's a little premature on that but so far they look very promising. Best grip in wet and dry, zero scalloping unlike PR4GT which the front became heinously scalloped in under 2K miles at standard 36psi, so of course we were forced to move up to close to 40psi to retard progression of scalloping, and these are quiet as well. What's most remarkable is how well they hold lines--absolutely the best. They don't squirm as much on grooved pavement as some tires are more prone to. There are a couple of local curves I've slid the rear wheel out with a little when taken too fast but these are the only tires that do not slide out in these turns at those speeds!

The RA3's are unique in that they are single compound tires which implement variable softness by zone due to how they heat-treat each zone. Also, they are able to be fully leaned immediately upon installation w/ no need for scrubbing as it were.

As a hopefully side point, immediately upon having these tires installed my TPC system began malfunctioning and persisted in this for 3,300 miles worth of touring, then sudden fixed itself. The dealer that installed them thought the tire carcass might be to blame which I guess is theoretically possible (radio freq interference due to something in the tire carcass). Anyway, TPC fixed itself after a 11d road trip and 3,300m.

If these tires last at least 9K miles, which they clearly will, I'll be getting a 2nd, and 3rd, and 4th set!

There, how's that?
 
My RT came with Metzler Z8’s which I swapped to the Roadtec 01.

Me too. I didn't like the Z8s, they wore funny for me (although part of that might have been a heavily loaded trip from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City and back last year). The Roadtec 01s are a bit loud, but I like the way they handle.

I was underwhelmed with the Michelin PR3s and PR4s on my 2005 RT (lots of cupping of the front tire), so I haven't tried them on my 2016.

I'm likely to stick with the Roadtec 01 or try the Continentals because ncpbmw1953 has given them such good reviews in the last few months.
 
Me too. I didn't like the Z8s, they wore funny for me (although part of that might have been a heavily loaded trip from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City and back last year). The Roadtec 01s are a bit loud, but I like the way they handle.

I was underwhelmed with the Michelin PR3s and PR4s on my 2005 RT (lots of cupping of the front tire), so I haven't tried them on my 2016.

I'm likely to stick with the Roadtec 01 or try the Continentals because ncpbmw1953 has given them such good reviews in the last few months.

Interesting .... my 2016 RT came with Metzlers too but was not sure what model but based on your note I suspect they too were Z8's and I did not like them at all as the wear on the front tire was awful. Did not know there was another Metzler option but may look at the Roadtec 01's. Funny but on my 2006 RT the PR3's and PR4's were my favorites with very good and even front tire wear. What kind of mileage are you seeing on the Roadtec 01's?
 
I'm on a 2016 R1200RT, do a good bit of two up riding, touring and secondary roads mostly. I'm at about 8,200 miles currently and still have the stock Michelin tires the bike came with. Overall, I've been pretty happy with them. No complaints except maybe that the bike seems twitchy to me, ...

I test rode a 2018 with Metzeler Z8s and then bought a 2017 with PR4s. On the test ride I detected no twitchiness but on the 2017 I bought I noticed it immediately. After a lot of experimenting with tire pressure and riding position, I can live with it but will try Metzeler Z8 or 01 tires soon.
 
Alan, Thanks for this. Very useful.




#1 happens very often, but #2 nowhere near as often. However, the reason is what most folks attribute it to. The biggest difference any regular rider is likely to notice when putting on a new set of tires is the difference between a worn-out set of tires and a new set.

Magazines in Europe tend to do the most frequent and in-depth reviews of sport-touring tires like the R1200RT use.

I think TyrePress' statement is fairly accurate "No major weaknesses in test of six touring tyres".
The differences when professionals compare under strict testing with both objective and subjective in-depth analysis is that all the major brands are putting out very good tires today. I don't always agree with their results, but I think that has as much to do with my own personal biasis as it does with anything else.

https://www.tyrepress.com/2017/06/motorrad-no-major-weaknesses-in-test-of-six-touring-tyres/

View attachment 69586

Moto-tyres: https://www.moto-tyres.ie/MCNews7818.html

From Moto-tyres:


I'm not saying that I would rank these tires eactly the same, but I do currently have bikes with the Metzeler Roadtec 01 and the Bridgestone Battlax T30. Within the past two years I've had Metzeler Roadtec Z8 and Michelin Pilot Road 4 GT tires on my bikes.

For me, the I've been very happy with all of them except the Z8. It wore a little quicker than I would have liked and went from looking like it had a few thousand miles left in it to being corded in several places within 500 miles. By contrast, the Metzeler Roadtec 01 that I replaced the Z8 tires with has been great, has about the same mileage on it as my Z8 and PR4 tires when they were toast, but the Roadtec 01 has plenty of life (and wear-bar) left. I really like the grip and turn-in on the Battlax T30 but wear is greater.

I've heard great things and bad things about every tire, including the new Dunlop RoadSmart III. Some shops warn customers away from the II saying that they wear much quicker than the PR4, but when Dunlop hired the team that tested Michelin's tires (Texas Test Fleet Inc.), to do their comparison between the PR4 and the RoadSmart III, the RoadSmart III beat the PR4 noticably.

For my money, there's hardly a bad tire out there anymore, just like most bikes are very good now as well. I like my Metzeler Roadtec 01 tires a lot, but wouldn't be surprised if someone else preferred any of the others over it as they are very close and an individual motorcycle rider who puts 10k-20k a year on their bike and isn't doing back-to-back blind A-B tire testing with at least 2-3 other professional riders along with doing instrumented testing is not likely to be able to out judge the professionals, in my personal opinion.

View attachment 69587
 
You're welcome Roger like one of the articles says and I tend to agree, there isn't a huge difference between the top tires in performance when the pressures and other conditions are all controlled properly. We must remember though that these tests are short-term controlled tests that identify how the tires work/react/wear under those conditions but they provide great info on what the tires will actually do.

Like others, after putting 5k-10k on any given set of tires there will have been times when the air pressure wasn't spot on for the load, etc. My real-world experience has been that the original Z8 wore quicker than my 01 which seems to be lasting better than any previous tire I've run on the RT. I too, had more noticable scalloping on the PR3, PR4 and and Z8 with very little on the 01.
 
I plan to replace the Z8's that came stock on my "18 RT with RoadSmart 3's. I went through several sets on a K1300GT and developed great confidence in their performance, especially cornering and braking stability. I also found that handling performance did not fall off sharply with wear beyond about 4K miles, compared to the PR4's I ran previously. Hopefully they will perform equally well on the RT. FWIW, I don't value high milage as much as some others. I change and balance my own tires, and usually change in pairs, giving up some potential milage on the fronts. With the rebates available from Dunlop, a set can be had for about 225.
 
I am getting close to the end-of-life on my Michelins, and even at 17k, the only issue I am having is some moderate cupping on the front tire. I used to run the Pirelli Angel's on my Hexhead R1200 R, and they were a durable tire with good handling characteristics, but life expectancy was about 13-15k. With a heavier bike, I'm certain those numbers would be less.
 
New tires

I do change & balance my own tires.

Ran on my 2015 RT PR4. I like them.
Ran a set of RSIII on My ST1300 Really like the feel, no problems wet Or dry.
Mounted a set on the 2015 RT1200. Just got back running in a bit of rain in the Northeast, 3 days. RSIII solid performance. Hit 2 tar snake roads, Some push, nothing to write about. The same U get from any tire.


The answer= would I buy them again? Yes.
 
This is a very interesting thread. It pretty much says there are some fans of each tire made and no strong majority for any one.

Some love P4's and some dislike them.

Some love the Metzlers and others dislike them.

:dunno
 
Thanks to all who responded, great information and gives me something to think about. Alan Coles especially with that detailed study, I loved that. I have to say that one point you made resonates with me, there are very few really bad tires out there today. I've thought about this often, especially in the last 20 years, how much better tire technology is than when I started riding in 1973. Back then the quality between different tires could vary widely, and at their best, most of them were not good, at least when compared to today. Rain, tar snakes, grooved roads, grate bridges, all sphincter-tightening experiences. Now? Ride on, no fear.

Good conversation. :clap
 
This is a very interesting thread. It pretty much says there are some fans of each tire made and no strong majority for any one.

Some love P4's and some dislike them.

Some love the Metzlers and others dislike them.

:dunno

Exactly, and some get 4 for 5K miles out of a set and others get 15K. Its all preference and riding style.
 
I'm on a 2016 R1200RT, do a good bit of two up riding, touring and secondary roads mostly. I'm at about 8,200 miles currently and still have the stock Michelin tires the bike came with. Overall, I've been pretty happy with them. No complaints except maybe that the bike seems twitchy to me, however it is my first non-Harley bike in over 30 years. Loved my Harleys, but this machine is uber-fantastic! I won't be returning to the fold, I'm a Beemer Believer now.

I went through about eight sets of PR4GTs on my 04RT and ten sets on my 14RT , I usually get 10-11K miles average wear for a set so after 180k miles on PR4GTs I think I'll be sticking with them ,I also have them on my current ride an 18RT. Excellent tire in any type of weather ( I ride year round here in PA ) and will probably go with the PR5GTs when they come out next year. I racked up forty years on Harleys before going to BMW in 2010 and have never looked back.
 
Back
Top