With my second (free) Avon rear 46 at 2/32nds at 2800 miles it's time to try something else.

I like the fact that the rear Roadtec has no tread in the middle. That will allow a longer life (legally) since when I wear a tire out it's bald in the middle anyway.

I ordered a set from SW moto tires for $212 delivered. :grin: They're cheaper than the old Z4's and priced right with everything else.

I will also be mounting and balancing myself, just bought a Harbor Freight setup for $60. Can't wait to use it, but will be awhile till rear Avon is bald.

I will let it be known at work etc. that I will be doing tires so I can recoup my $60, lots of guys ride.

Please, please let us know how the Roadtecs perform and what you think about them!!! I almost bought a pair for my 03 XX a few weeks ago, but at the last minute I opted for the Metz M1 Sportecs. I too was kind of attracted to the design of the new Roadtecs with no tread in the middle. Also, the tire's profile looks like it gives you a decent sized contact patch when leaned over. I know that the Metz M1 Sportecs just ain't gonna last very long, but WOW do they grip in the twisties. And that's what I'm interested in knowing about the new Roadtecs; namely, how well they perform in the twisties. As you know, the XX is a pretty heavy bike with awesome acceleration, so a tire like the Sportec just ain't gonna last too long. So please keep us all posted. Lynx60

The Roadtecs were developed from tech. from the Sporttecs. similar carcass/profile but diff. compound.

Sadly it's going to be awhile till I mount them. I've got nothing but ice on my roads with more coming. :cry: :evil: I also will wear out the Avons first.

Pete, let ask you a question about the Roadtecs. I'm here in Taiwan where it rains a lot and where our roads are often littered with painted lettering, painted crosswalks, painted arrows, and other slippery lettering. I was a bit concerned that the Roadtecs with "no tread in the middle" wouldn't be able to disperse water so easily and would possibly be a bit hazardous, especially when braking on these surfaces. Tell me, what's your opinion about this concern. Would the absence of any tread in the middle make the tire handle more like a race slick on wet surfaces? It was precisely my concern about this, as well as the fact that no one else here has tried these new tires, that made me opt for the M1 Sportecs. Your comments would be most appreciated.

Lynx60

According to Metzler, they have been doing a lot of rain tests, and have found that the front tire actually clears a path, and moves water out of the way of the rear tire.
Metzler claims that it is not necessary to have tread in the middle of the rear tire.

They say in thier R-D of this tire, that the front cleared a path that the rear followed. They found that having a tread in the middle of the rear just wasn't needed. It makes perfect sence, but why hasn't any other tire company done this :???: ? We will see. In any case, I think this tire will be my next set.

Something sure isn't right, if Pete is wearing his rear tire out this quickly.

I think I have about 5K on my back tire, and it's still close to halfway, but I could measure to be sure. My AV36 went a tad over 6K, and the 46 is definitely going to last longer than that.

What pressures do you run? How fast do you ride in a straight line? How long is your commute? How much weight do you carry on a regular basis? Which tires did you run before, and how much life did you get out of them?


There's got to be an answer here somewhere. :???:

OK North I'll try to answer them all.

42 F@R

I'll do some speed runs, not my daily MO.

I commute 30 miles 1 way.

Just me, 280 lbs of me. :roll:

rear tire life of bike:
factory 57-----6667 mi.
Dunlop 205----4163 mi. to cord.
B,stone 54-----6103 mi. to cord.
B,stone020-----6407 mi. to bald in ctr.
another 205----4460 mi. to cord.
another 020----5300 mi. to bald in ctr.
Avon 46---------4733 mi. to bald in ctr.
free 46----------2800 mi. 2/32nds left in ctr.

Joe thinks it's our roads, lots of tar and chipping, You've seen them at NEXXT :cool:

I'm very interested in any input from y'all on tire wear.

I wonder what effect the weight has, as Don & Dave also report very low mileage from tires.

Only thing that makes me wonder about that is my GF is on the back of my bike at least 50% of the time, and my tire wear is still very good.

The only other difference I see is that I run my tires 36/38 for spirited riding, and 37/39 if I'm going to cover longer distances particularly in straight lines.

Avon recommends 36/38 for the XX when using their tires, and that would make sense, allowing a larger footprint, and spreading the wear out in a straight line.

Might be worth trying for the rest of the life of the tire, to note any difference.

From talking to John at Avon he said with higher press. the carcass wont heat up as much so it wont be as soft and wear faster. He even said try all the way up to 45-47 psi. :shock:

On the other hand, I agree with the fact that a higher press. narrows the contact patch so you concentrate wear in the middle.

My quest continues....................

Your road surfaces must really suck.

I have 5k on my Avons with over half of that with a passenger and I think I will get at least another 2k out of the back. The front still looks good.

That would be great for very high speeds, in hot ambient temperatures, for long periods, but will work against you during "commuting", IMHO.

My vote is for over-inflated tires. Make sure you're checking them with a digital gauge, too. Some gauges are way out on accuracy.

I ran my first set of Avon's at 41/43 once, due to a faulty gauge, and was less than impressed with traction, to the point that I was going to replace the tires. I found the gauge problem, corrected it, and was thoroughly impressed with the grip, and the overall feel of the tires after that.

Metzeler just e-mailed me and said for max tire life on the XX, 36-38 front and 38-42 rear. I'm not far off so that isn't the problem.

Northman what pressures did you end up running after getting an accurate tire gauge?

I just got my 45/46 on my bike and was curious what air pressure other bird owners were running?

I do mostly 75% normal play riding and 25% wide open anything goes :wink:

You're too high, Pete, and I'll bet money that's contributing to your low mileage out of tires.

Try it, and see if there is actually a difference.


I'm running 36 front/38 rear with my 45/46 combo, and it works well at that (at least for me). The 46 can be a little slick when it's cold, but seems to work nice once warmed up. Not as much grip as the 36, and nowhere near the 40, but adequate for all but the most insane street riding.

Pete,
When you say "free", are you saying that this was a replacement for one that came from that bad batch....or was it from a road hazard warranty?
I couldn't find the thread about the bad batch to find the #'s, but figured I'd ask since it hasn't been mentioned here.

I've only got about 2500 miles or so on my 46 and it seems to be wearing pretty fast also. Of course, 1000 of that was at speeds over 100 for hours on end......the NeXXt attempt. :roll: 40psi F&R for the trip.
Normally, I run the same pressures as Chris..36/38.

Does anyone have a handy link to the thread about the batch that was wearing prematurely....or know the #s?

It was a free tire for the early batch.

It was never established what the DOT# range was to my knowlege.

Call Avon at 1-800-624-7470 and ask for John. Have your DOT # ready.

Good luck.

Got my Z 6's yesterday, looks like a good set of tires.

For those interested:
Front has 6/32nds in the middle.
Rear has 8/32nds as close to the middle as you can get.

IRL the middle no tread part isn't as wide as it looks in pics.

Looking forward to running them but will be awhile.

Pete: Keep us posted on the performance & handling of those Z 6's. And don't baby them once you've scrubbed them in. We want some true feedback on those tires. Lynx60

Pete

I have a Harbor Freight in my town as well. What came with the setup you bought? Did you have a part #/item description that you could post? I would be interested in purchasing this as well. Please keep us posted as to how well the setup worked out for mounting and balancing.

The price you got the Z6 for is the lowest I've seen. Been searching Google on these tires. So far, there hasn't been a negative review. Most are impressed with the neutral handling characteristics, especially while leaned over.

www.harborfreight.com

Click on automotive, when that comes up, click on auto shop. It will be there.

34542-9VGA $34.99 for the car changer.
42927-4VGA $39.99 for the motorcycle attachment.

I caught them on sale at an even lower price.

I haven't used it yet for tubeless. I did mount a tube type though. It works great. Just to have a way to solidly mount the rim helps a lot. I've done it with just tire irons before and you can't get the leverage without the rim moving.

Also check out www.clarity.net/~adam/tire-changing-doc.html
has more info with balancing.

I'm there! thanks for the #'s. Not sure how much it normally costs to mount & balance a set of tires, but it seems like that should pay for itself within 3 sets. Not to mention avoiding the embarrassment of asking a dealer that you didn't buy the tires from to mount them. :oops:

280....... that definetly has an effect on your tire wear.... if you don't have your tire at the right inflation.

The million dollar question in some raceing circle is tire pressure. The lower the pressure the hotter the tire will get, which makes it stick better but wear out faster. The higher the pressure, the less tire deformation, the less heat and wear but also the less traction in the twisties.

Years ago I researched this at lenght, calling manufacturers and raceing friends. How do you know if you have the proper inflation? As you can imagine, my friends responces all were "you can feel it".... well I don't race enough I guess and I wanted a better answer than that so, I called Manufacturers. At the time the only company that was will to say anything was Metzler (I didn't try Avon). They said... as a general rule, the best tire inflation is when the inflation pressure doesn't vary more than 10% during its heat cycle. But not to exceed 44 psi. So for me, after severall rides , checking air pressure, adjusting, and feeling the tire (by hand), I arrived at 38R/36F for my D205's. I understand the tire should feel Hot, like the outside of a coffee cup, not so Hot that you don't want to touch it, but hot enough that you don't want to keep your hand there either. I also way 210, so I am just assumeing that you need more air than me. I consider those pressures my normal rideing pressures, comuting and long road trips, but I drop them by 2 psi. if I hit the twisties for a day.
I recently purchased a Mini temperature gun, to messure the tire temperature, but haven't been able to use it yet.

Hope that helps.

http://www.us.metzelermoto.com/metzeler_fu...glio.asp?id=202

Apparently WE aren't supposed to use this "B" tire on our bikes. I don't see why.

When I wear the non-"B" out, maybe I'll put the "B" one on since I'll still have a good amount of mileage left in the front.

Pete,
do you have two stands (the blue and the red one), or just one with 2 different top attachments ? It brakes the bead as well , correct ?

Cheers,

Everything I've got is the same shade of red and yes it breaks the bead. It is the auto tire changer (bottom) and the motorcycle attachment on top.

Still waiting to use it. Maybe another 500 miles and the rear Avon will be down to the cords.

Mounted the Z6's (MYSELF :!: :grin: :cycle: )

Harbor Freight setup worked great. Went easier than I thought it would.

When I pulled the wheels I checked their balance (with old tires) and it was off but no vibes while riding.

I also found the heaviest spot on the bare rim and marked it. Neither the front or rear was at the valve stem so this will save some added weights.

The front only needed 1/4 ounce the rear none!

NOTHING LIKE THE SATISFACTION OF DOING IT YOURSELF! NO MORE DEALERS EVER!!! (except PA state inspection)

Now on to the Z6's!

Put 100 miles on them, almost all cornering. Great stick, no stripes on rear. Elephants already starting to wear off. :grin: Front just starting to wear elephants head off.

These elephants are going to sell these tires.

Does anyone else think these tires are tall? With all that leaning I never touched down the feelers.

When putting on centerstand it goes up way easier then it used to.

Very stable at 130, great at absorbing bumps etc.

In short I love them. As good as or better then Avons.

I've put about 5-600 miles on my new Z6's and love them! Very confidence inspiring in the rain too. I've decided to put the same tires on my old Suz VX800 when it comes together after rebuild.

T.

They're not bad on the side of the tire (and I didn't push that much, I ain't that guy), but I felt accelerating in a straight line had it spinning more in the wet than I'm accustomed to with other tires. Nothing horrible, but I had the rear spin up a bit on a couple staight up and down highway passing situations. Just my $.02

Don't waste your money. I never get any of mine inspected. They won't nail you unless you get pulled over for something else. It is a joke anyway with the XX.

Keep the reports coming on those Z6s. My M-1s are getting used up really fast. Any performance comparisons between the Z6s & M-1s would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Lynx60

[size=9][/size]
Just ordered a set of Z6's for $212 delivered. The Avon 45/46 combo has given me 17,100 miles on the front... with plenty of tread left. The rear tire has 13,000 miles and is almost to the wear bars.

For the record, I weigh about 170 and run 40 pounds of air front and rear. Also, my riding style is more on the conservative side.

Great Day!
:grin:

Jeez, with mileage like that why change from the Avons?

You must ride conservatively!

Quit rubbing it in John, ya fuck!!!!!!
I wish i could get mileage like that out of tires!!!

I just seen MAW or someone has 100X's.

I just put about 150 miles in the Z6... Me likes! I did that and the 6mm spacer on the shock! Totally transformed the bike... Of course that was coming from bald/squared off/scalloped/old D205's...I do believe that the XX is a keeper!

My Metz M-1 Sportec tires are history. Got only 2,500 km out of the rear. So, I too made the switch to Metz Z6s, front & rear, and also did the 6mm spacer on the rear shock. So far, I've put about 500 km on the Z6s, mainly on tight, twisting mountain roads. The Z6s, together with the 6mm spacer, definitely improve the bike's handling. The first thing I noticed was that the bike seemed lighter & easier to flick back & forth in the corners. The Z6s are supposed to provide better grip on wet roads than the M-1s, but in all honesty I won't be able to make a realistic comparison here because I never got a good opportunity to check the M-1s in rainy conditions. I did like the M-1's grip on dry roads; however it's pretty hard to live with a tire that gets only 2,500 km from the rear. If the Z6s can give me about 85% of the grip performance of the M-1s, and also produce significantly higher mileage, then they'll be "keepers" IMHO. I pushed them really hard yesterday on one of my favorite mountain roads, even scrubbing off one half of the little elephants, and they seemed to perform very well. The only slightest difference that I noticed, and this may be totally subjective, is that the Z6s didn't feel as "planted" on the road as the M-1s. But this may have more to do with the tire's profile than with the grip effectiveness of the rubber compound. I need a few more "good" runs up & down my favorite roads before I can make a definitive judgment on which tires provides better grip on dry roads.

Thanks guys for the tip about the 6mm spacer. Will keep you posted on the Z6s.

Lynx60

I've got 1000 miles on the Z6's still like them. lost 1/32nd of tread on the rear so far, not too bad.

I've got no elephants left on the rear, and 1/2 elephants on the front. :bike:

Been in the rain, had no problems but then I don't experiment with cornering,accelerating and braking in the rain.

Put the MeZ6's on March 19 and just figured out the mileage to be 1,978 today. The elephants on the rear tires have been worn off and half on the front. 98% of the rides are enjoyed on curvy back roads, up, down and through mountainsides while careening along roadways that race along side snow melt rivers and streams. The front center has way more tread than the sides; however, there is a decent amount of tread left on those sides. Very pleased with how these things wear and stick to the back roads of N. Cali. Impressive for sure. They wear very nicely, evenly and are no comparison to their ponderous cousin the MeZ4. Where the MeZ4 felt vague and cautious the MeZ6 feels spry and sure footed. The MeZ6 provides decent feed back while they dance with traction on their edge limits. I like to try different brands of tires to feel what they're like; staying within the sport-touring tire range. There's allot to like about these tires. I'll be buying the MeZ6's again real soon.

:smokin:

Rear Z6 is showing second rubber type (at cords) at 4k miles. :roll:

"B" version still not available, going to order a 020 for the rear. Noticed swmototires.com has a 020 for the FJ 1300 designated "N" wonder if this would be better then standard 020 for our CBR's. Both same price.

I NEED MILEAGE :!: :!:

Front Z6 doing ok, has gone from 6/32nds to 4/32nds in the same 4k miles.

Pete, this is mine after a hair over 5K. How close to done do you think I might be in the center?

Hmmm... looks like your really close to me, just from the picture. Wipe it down with a wet rag and then look at it again. Maybe it's just the picture but I almost see a stripe.... :???:

No, not there yet, but I have a feeling I'm getting close. I'm thinking maybe 6K total (sorry, Pete), which is fine by me for the grip these things have.

I'd say pretty close, the tread closest to the center on mine on the left, is just about flush and I've got the secondary rubber showing at one spot in the middle. Going to run it more today and see how deep this rubber is till I see cord.

When your rear is close to worn out always pop it up on the centerstand when you stop, and check all the way around. Mine is just at one small spot.

Why is my rear wearing more on the left than the right. I've had this on fronts but not rears.

any input on using the FJ1300 version of the B'stone 020 on the rear of my CBR???????

I think since it's for a heavier bike it might last longer on mine.

Anyone??????

Need to order tomorrow or Tuesday.

Well I can now attest to the fact that the Z6 rear is a steel belted radial.

Good it's suposed to rain all week, she's now parked till I get a rear tire and my cush drive rubbers. :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

I've also got a weird, but seperate, left/right issue with the rear Z6. Left side is scrubbed to the very edge, elephants long gone- but there is a tiny sliver of chicken strip on the right side that just won't go away, even after grounding the right peg on a few occasions.

They feel fine, great, really, but that little point has been bugging me, especially seeing how I'm more comfortable going right, anyway.

Ya know… I thought I might have had the rear tire miss-aligned compared to the front. But, the rear tire on my MeZ6 also was significantly more worn on the left than the right. I also noticed the front was more worn on the right than the left. As if the tires were working against each other. I've never noticed this on any other tire set before. My tires are always replaced as a set regardless of wear. Now I don't feel so bad knowing that I'm not the only one with this weird wear pattern. They worked great and handled really well... but this wear??? The rear was bald and the front sides shot after 3300 miles. :shock: Thought they'd last a little longer than that. Michelin Pilot Roads are now the MeZ6’s replacement.

Pete,
That's something I too, have considered... about using 020's for the FJR on our machines. I've not yet seen the release of 020's that they buy over in Europe (those that are specific to the XX) here in the good ‘ol USA. The only thing that turns me off about the 020's is their tendency to cup in the front. So if a guy was to buy the rear for the heavier FJR it might just be feasible to buy the "N" version for the front too. Perhaps that'd stop the dreaded front cupping. I’ve wondered if their carcass would be much more stiff, being designed for a bike that’s 150lbs heavier. If so, that’d make for a taut ride. After going back and forth with that idea; I finally went with the Roads from Michelin. I miss the sportier ride from the MeZ6’s, 020’s and the like, but, I’ll get the mileage from them. After the experience from the MeZ6’s; I wanna see how those Continental “Road Attack” tires work out for people. They may be the next choice.
Cheers

I might wind up using a Z6 on the front and a 020 on the rear as my permanent setup.

020 is a good rear, lousy front. Z6 is a good front (so far) but lousy rear. (no mileage)

I got more mileage out of a Dunlop 205 on the rear and that tire sucked.

With your front worn more on the right and the rear worn more on the left I would suspect something IS wrong. That has never happened to me. (yet)

Did you change the way you allign the rear wheel or is it still the same as with previous tires?

You would think I've seen it all on my bikes with tire wear, but then something new comes along.

Maybe everything is OK. :???:

I loved my 205's!!! I think i went through 2-3 sets on my XX.
I got like 5883 miles out of the rear. I ran the front for the same mileage, but badly cupped.

Z6 or M1 or 020... good grip, lasts long --- but, but... man, throw away the cigarettes and drink one less beer a day and then you can afford a tire that will make your XX a whole new bike. Guess???

Yes, it's the Diablo Corsa. Z6's parent company's premiere tire. So much grip and ripping down the road you'll think be reminded of the day you test road that R1.

Enough said, just try it. It's worth it for the mega bliss factor alone.