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Rear Tire Wear

11K views 66 replies 39 participants last post by  Rolex 
#1 ·
Can't find what I'm looking for with the search function,so here goes. Getting ready to turn over 5000 miles on my V. Here in NC we have to get an inspection,well my rear tire(stock) ain't going to cut it. It is shot. What are you guys getting as far as mileage. I know it will vary with the rider and condition,but I am not an aggressive rider and was really hoping for between 7-10,000 miles. Stock tire is good,but expensive to only get 5000 miles. Anybody running something different with better results. Was peaking at the Shinko 712-anybody have any feed back?
 
#2 ·
Been using the Tourance tires for the last 2 years with a rough avg of 9-10,000 km on the rear & twice that on the front. Will be going to the Heidenau K76's as these are reported to get better mileage. The K76 are also less expensive. The rubber is harder on the K76 so more attention on wet roads might be required?

Brian
 
#3 ·
I'm beginning my search as well and have no experience with thm but I keep hearing Michelin PR4 Trail if not going off road and ride year round. They are pricier than I'd like to spend but am told I won't be disappointed.

Unrelated but NC rider here too, I have the Arrow slip-on without DB killer. Do you know if I'll have to reinstall my oem pipe for my Inspection? (Apologize for thread jack)
 
#4 ·
Bridgestone has an update for the Battlewing called the A40 (kind'a catchy name, don'cha think?), and they claim better longevity as well as better wet traction. It still is a so-called 90-10 tire.

What surfaces do you ride on? The Shinko does good, maybe 80-20 traction, but is low mileage. Mine made a tread noise, but maybe that was mainly the front. Factor in the cost of getting the tire changed at low mileage if you don't do it yourself. For pavement-only, Michelin Pilot Road 4 might be the best wet traction tire and good life. Bridgestone T30 is lower cost, not quite the wet performance. Avon Storm 3D X-M is claimed to have good tread life.
 
#7 ·
I know a lot depends on where you ride, but my stock tire on my 2015 DL1000 was replaced at almost exactly 10,000 miles and probably would have been passable for another thousand or so. (I would have thought NC gets much more tire life since I'd be spending so much more on the sides of the tires!)

..Tom
 
#11 ·
I have Michelin PR4 front and rear from day one on my bike. Now, 8.000 miles, rear is only half way (or a bit more) through and front one is as good as new. I ride only paved roads, sometimes agressive, sometimes not. Ah, and 10% of my riding is with pillion.
 
#13 ·
I still have the original trailwings on my 2012 DL650A. Just over 13,000 miles on them now. Still some tread left. I do mostly steady highway riding commuting to work so I am easy on them. Will replace them in the spring as it is almost time to put the bike away for the winter. Want to try Pirelli scorpion trails.
 
#18 ·
I changed my Heidenau K60's out at 15000km. They had lots of life left in them but 1. they were getting poor performance on wet pavement and 2. I was in north eastern Ontario on a Friday and had a 3000km drive home in what the weather forecast was saying was going to be rain all the way. The dealership I stopped at did not carry Heidenau but did have the Michelin Anakee 3's so I put them on. I like the anakee's a lot. Not as aggressive (80/20 vs 50/50) but way nicer on the pavement and not to bad on the service roads I do.
 
#20 ·
Went through my front and rear stock tires at about 7,000 mi. I use my Glee for commuting and put on about 250-300 mi minimum per week, with about 80% of that on the highway. I'm about 5,000 miles into the Metzeler Tourances I installed, and they are doing better than the stock set was 5,000 mi in.

Another note...by 5,000 my stock front and rear wheels were showing uneven wear (just off-center of the tire midline). Running the Tourances with the same pressures and without any major changes to riding style or paths, I haven't yet noticed any sign of uneven wear. Go figure.
 
#21 ·
I ran a set of the Shinko 712 on a Harley Dyna Superglide which is quite a bit heavier around 600 pounds.

I like Shinko tires but not really the 712.
Tall, narrow profile felt unstable at low speed (mpg increased - extra 10-20 miles on every tank)
Held the road and curves just fine
VERY important to keep pressure correct within 2 psi. Could really tell in the handling.
I only got about 7,000 miles on the rear and had been getting almost 10,000 on the Dunlop H-D tires.

If the Shinko 777 fits, it is a really good tire (like a Metzeler 880/888). Currently have on two other of my bikes. Good handling, price, wear, looks etc.

Also just replaced a Bridgestone Battleax on the rear of V-Strom. Great tire but went with something better for dirt/gravel .
roads.

Hope this helps.
 
#22 ·
I don't have any particular suggestions, but I'm wondering if any decently grippy tire is going to give you twice the mileage, i.e 10,000 compared to the 5k or so you got out of the stock tires. I know the TrailWings aren't the grippiest or longest lasting tires out there, but they're not terrible in that regard. I tried a lot of different tires on my Vee and I don't think any of them gave me 100% more mileage than the OEM tires. Having said that, Metzeler Tourance rears definitely wore better, not squaring off as quick and giving me more (maybe 25-50% more mileage). But then they're quite a bit more expensive than the OEM tires, too. Same for Michelins or other high-end tires.

I think the suggestion, since you say you're not a very aggressive rider, to go for cheaper tires with similar riding characteristics and grip is probably a good one.

I have no experience with the new Bridgestone A-series tires, but I'm running a Bridgestone S20 rear and S20evo front on my Fazer 8 and they're definitely wearing quite a bit better than the original BT-021 tires did, for about the same money. I know a lot of people are down on Bridgestones, but I've had good experiences with them. Even the stock TrailWing front, which matched up well with a Tourance rear, even when riding fairly aggressively on wet roads.
 
#23 ·
I replaced the OEM tires with the same at 14K kilometers. Then replaced those 13K later with Anakee IIIs. What a difference! Yeah, a little noisy - just ride faster. And do they make it easy to do that! I've currently got 17K on them and expect to get at least another 3K so, yeah - 20,0000 kilometers!

And not all the riding was in sub-arctic Alberta. I rode two weeks in the American Southwest in June where temperatures ranged from 35 to 50 Celsius (95 - 122F) in Death Valley. And grip - OMG! A fully laden V2 cranking out the twisty bits in the Sierras hour after hour - exhausting, really! And get this, they are still providing enough grip at 0 Celsius to scrape the pegs.

Am I going to get another set of Anikee 3's? YOU BET!!!
 
#26 ·
Thanks for the input. Keep the info coming. I have had no problems with the stock tires. For my style of riding, the grip and performance are fine. I have no "chicken Strips" on the rear and only a slight strip left on the front. I was just hoping for a little more mileage from them. I guess I am just cheap, but can't see putting alot more money in a set of tires that will only give me slightly better mileage. Front is still good. So I might just go back to stock,don't know yet.
 
#27 ·
09 Vee, me 6'2", 235 lbs., 35 - 50 lbs in the top case most of the time, 17,000 miles on my current set of Pilot Road 3's, front looks almost new, rear is about 1 - 2mm from the wear bars, already have a PR 4 rear on order for when the day comes to replace. Sometimes I run aggressive, sometimes not. Commute to work everyday if it's not raining when I'm ready to leave.

Check tire pressure every few weeks or before a long ride. Keep 36 lbs in the front and 39 - 41 in the rear.

Don't know why I seem to be getting so much better mileage out of these tires than others are stating here, but it seems so.

Just saying.........
 
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