BMW R1200R R1150R/T F800 K1200R R1100R/T R1250R RnineT Message Board

my Z6 are the best I ever had..I never heard anyone who dint love them!

What about none?

Dunlops?

my R came w/ z4's, which squared off a bit at about 6K mi. Now on second set of pilot roads--used them all winter and summer. good grip and no squaring off (although maybe i'm riding more aggressively ?). i may try z6
next as they seem to be a popular choice: z6--better grip; pilots--better wear?

I have Battlax Bridgestones,BT020s, and they are fine in all conditions. No problem with grip in the wet or dry. But I do try to warm them up before getting brave in corners.
Seem to be lasting a bit better than my previous Metzeler Mez4 which were really grippy but tramlined badly towards the end and I replced them after 4000miles.

I vote for the Z6 as well. I have about 19,000Kilometers on mine, I think that is around 11,000 miles. I check them once a week 38 front. 42 rear. and by the way I had the dealer put nitrogen in them, which was $25.00 per tire, they said I would get around 20% better tire life, which seems to be true.

Just out of interest, what reason did the guys give for the Nitrogen increasing tyre life? I just find it difficult to believe that what is on the inside of the tyre will affect the life of the outside of the tyre... Hmm..

Rog.

Rog -
When I got new Pirellis installed on my Ford Focus, they were nitrogen-filled (4 bux each) and it was explained to me that since the nitrogen atom (or molecule, I'm no rocket scientist) is much larger than regular air molecules, the tires will stay at the proper pressure longer, which lengthens service life.
I have found this to be true as far as it goes; the tires stay at 36psi period, and this set of tires has lasted longer than any set I have used.
Original factory Firestones, no nitrogen, were unsafe after 30,000 miles and were constantly in need of topping up.
The next set, Yokohamas, again no nitro, went about 45,000 miles and the final winter I had them on was very very scary.
These Pirellis have 50,000 on them and will easily last through this coming winter.
A more responsive feel is also claimed, but anytime you put fresh rubber on after worn-out ones come off always feels better.
Snakeoil or not, my mechanic says nitrogen in tires has benefits, at least in cars, and I'm inclined to agree.

We've been around and around on this issue before (you might try a search on the word "nitrogen",) but nitrogen has an atomic number of 7, while oxygen has a number of 8. Nitrogen atoms are slightly smaller than oxygen. Also, nitrogen composes about 80% of plain old compressed air, so the difference is really insignificant.

However, nitrogen is more inert than oxygen, so it won't interact with the rubber on the inside of the tire as much as oxygen will, but the difference is tiny compared to the wear caused by just riding around.

Some have suggested that the water vapor that may find its way into compressed air will condense and vaporize at normal temperatures, changing the pressure with temp variations more than nitrogen, which is supposed to be 'dryer' than air, so this may be a factor. If you pump up your tires on a dry day, there shouldn't be significant difference.

Had Z6's and replaced them with Pilot Roads which seem to be the preferred tires around here. I'm not an experienced rider, but felt the bike handled much better, especiallly in the curves. Doesn't rain that much here, but the tires seem fine in the rain. I got well over 8,000 miles on the last set of Pilot Roads.

I have put 5000 miles on the pilot roads that were new when I bought my 1150R in Aug. They have about 1500 miles left on them now. I live in the mountains with rough twisty (and wet roads). I inspected them tonight and was impressed they were not cupped visibly nor flat. Great tire, would like more milage thou. Not sure what to replace them with. I am going on a 2 week trip in a few days and am planning to replace them during my trip. I know I will end up on some unpaved desert roads. I would like to find a tire that has a bit more aggressive tread that fits the R for the occassional dirt/sand/mud/snow challenges, but still handles well on the pavement and at speed in the twisties. Is there such a thing out there?