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I'm only at about 3500 miles on my stock Dunlops, but on the rear I notice the indicators near the center are getting very close...  The edges are great.  The front is wearing more in the center, too, but still looks great even there.  Living in an area with plenty of twisty roads I did not expect the center of the tire to wear that quickly, but I guess I do too much straight-line riding anyway.  Shrug.  This is my first sporty bike, so maybe I am just having a rude awakening.  A few questions:

 

1)  Could this have been an inflation issue?  I check the pressure basically every time I ride, and kept the rear on 42 as directed.  I wonder if that was too much...

 

2)  Or do these tires just wear that quickly?  Reading through previous posts it doesn't seem uncommon at all, but then I'll see someone say they got 8k out of theirs.

 

3)  Given that I am not an aggressive sport rider and that I apparently am doing too much straight-line, then what tire would be a good one that would be more touring than sport?  Seems like everyone talks about good sport and/or rain performance, but not so much touring.  I only ride in the rain if I get caught out, and my internal sport rider is apparently less Rossi, and more Pussy, than I imagined.  I guess I need "touring sport" tires rather than "sport touring".

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1. Tire pressure should be 36/42 front/rear and is normally what you would want to run if it's just straight line miles. If you're riding in the canyons or twisty roads, dropping down a few PSI wouldn't hurt for better cornering.

 

2. Most OEM tires don't have a lot of mileage in them, at least from my experience. So plan on replacing them soon, most OEM tires are not that great to begin with, unless you're on a Ducati Diavel!

 

3. From the sound of it, you're mostly likely going to be best off with sport touring tires. A lot of us run the Michelin Pilot Road tires with great mileage a good cornering performance. A few have taken a liking to Pirelli Anget GT's, some the Bridgestone T30 EVO and a few with the Metzeler Roadtec.  There are tons of post on the forum in regards to what brand and model that suits the VFR so maybe do a search and see what might be more your cost/performance level.

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Sport touring tires should last longer that stickier sport tires, and sounds like would be more than fine for you.

Since you not pushing any envelopes.

Push all you want it's still stationery.

(insert groan here). :tongue:

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Funny you started this thread as I've been wondering the same things myself. I've only got about 2500 on the bike so far, but the tires seem to be wearing a little faster than I thought they would. I'm already looking at replacements. I cannot find a bad review of the Michelin PR3/4s so I think those are my number one choice right now. 

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I ran the stock tires for 8000 miles, and they were very much shot by then.  I put on Pilot Road 4s as replacements, I have always had good luck with them, and I love their wet road handling. 

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I have been a Michelin guy for years but you guys are missing the boat if you don't spoon on a set of the new tires from Bridgestone in the next year.

 

The T30 Evo is awesome for a sport touring tire, IMO every bit the equal of the PR4s that I have run if not better and at a substantial savings.


The same goes for the B'stone S21. The only tire close that I have run recently is the Dunlop Q3 at the track for a full sport tire and I have never been a fan of Dunlops.  Either of these two tires are equal to Pilot Powers and, again, cost less to boot.

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I hated the oem tires, but for the riding you describe, the pilot road series is a good bet. I've ran pilot powers and s20 evos, but if I didn't want the stickier tire, I wouldn't be afraid of the T30 evo. The S20 Evo is awesome for aggressive riding, so the new line of Stones is interesting to me. 

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I just spooned my 6th set of Bridgestone S20's on my VFR, run them on my 83VF750 and my 85VF1000R also. Have a 3rd gen rear rim and a 180 S20 evo ready to go as the 170's have been discontinued. They are the best rubber I've ever had on a bike.

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Now on my third VFR (an eighth gen.), my rear is shot as well.  I got 2700 miles out of it which may be a record for me for longevity.  Let it suffice that the Dunlop OEM's on the eighth gen. VFR's are junk.  The front is wearing OK right now but not stellar. They have almost no profile that enhances cornering (they don't help the bike/rider turn in a corner at all).  They are not a dual compound tire which means they were obsolete the day they were put on the rim.  If you want a decent tire at a fantastic price, check out BikeBandit right now for Bridgestone BT023's.  There is a $50 credit card on Bridgestones to boot.  The BT023 was never a bad tire (and in fact is a good one) and to get three of them for $253 net, is the best tire deal I ever made.  Were it not that tire, I would have gotten Michelin PR2's.  Living in Chattanooga, you are very near the best twisties in the country.  I'm not far from you and love the location.  ; )   

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Several of us in UK have found that the PR4s are great on the 8th gen for about 4-5000 miles and then the wet handling goes off well before they're worn out. I've now got over 5000 on the T30 EVOs and they're still going well, I'll be trying the new Dunlop Roadsmart 3 next.

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1 hour ago, Cheffish said:

Let me preface by saying I'm a Noob to road bikes, but what do you guys consider average mileage for a set of tires? Currently I'm about 50/50 commuting and weekend warrior. 

I'm lucky to get 3k miles out of a supersport rear tire. If I switch to sport touring, I can get 6k out of it, maybe 6500 depending. I commute during the week and head to the mountains on the weekends, although it is 1.5 hours each way to the mountains for me.

 

Currently I have a Bridgestone T30 Evo on the rear and a Bridgestone S21 on the front. 

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been using Meetzeler Z8s for a few yrs now, good for 8000miles, recommended by my fitter originally and I'm v happy with them. See no reason to change, nice to see them placed 2nd only surpassed by the new incarnation in the clip above

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8 hours ago, fatshoutybloke said:

Several of us in UK have found that the PR4s are great on the 8th gen for about 4-5000 miles and then the wet handling goes off well before they're worn out. I've now got over 5000 on the T30 EVOs and they're still going well, I'll be trying the new Dunlop Roadsmart 3 next.

 

 

Not too too keen on the turn in on the roadsmart3  can't put my finger on it but was never happy with them. Swapped to Pr3 and a big difference for the better.  I like you have heard reports from guys on 4s who say the same in fact one had the front wipe out on him  effectively writing the bike off.  It's not as if he doesn't use the bike he uses it every day In His job as a dispatch rider  think he has done something like 20 k miles already this year. Initially he thought it was himself but it was the 2nd set that convinced him.  Am going to try Angel GT next time. 

 

 

 

In response to oe to oe post about mileage.

 

OE tyres. About  3k roadsmart 3 

 

replacements roadsmart 3  5k

 

pr3  3k so far and still look good 

 

As a general rule.  Get 2.5 k from a soft sports tyre and about 5-6 k on  sports touring. 

 

Dont see the point of using soft tyres where I live as roads are very abrasive, it's cool and I ride all year round so sports tyres don't work as well in the cold and wet. 

 

Have used both  types on track with not much difference in track times. 

 

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11 hours ago, Exup said:

Dont think you will go wrong with any of these.

 

 

 

 

Thanks, that was great.  And thanks everyone else!  Sounds like I will probably be happy with just about any of the good ones, and rid of the oem ones.

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3 hours ago, vtwindr said:

been using Meetzeler Z8s for a few yrs now, good for 8000miles, recommended by my fitter originally and I'm v happy with them. See no reason to change, nice to see them placed 2nd only surpassed by the new incarnation in the clip above

 

Study was funded by Metzeler...jus sayin! 

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7 hours ago, Cheffish said:

Let me preface by saying I'm a Noob to road bikes, but what do you guys consider average mileage for a set of tires? Currently I'm about 50/50 commuting and weekend warrior. 

 

The honest answer is there is no meaningful average.  I've never gotten good tire mileage with any brand but that's just me.  Yes, I'm throttle happy in the twisties but not at all in straight line riding.  How people get 6K miles or above is beyond me.  You will likely do what everyone else does and that is try different tires until you settle in one you like.    

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I just replaced Donna's Pirelli AGTs last night. 2,800 miles, they were installed the middle or April . The AGTs replaced 2,300 mile Bridgestone T30 Evos that could have gone another 400 miles but we had a rally to attend, they were installed on February 21, 2016. The previous T30 Evos were installed for the fall ride last year and they had lasted 4K. Almost 12K on the Versys since we bought it last August and it has averaged much less than 6K on Sport Touring tires. Donna averages 2,400 miles a month through the summer and I usually change her tires every 6 weeks. I average 3,000 miles a month and I usually install 2 sets every month on my bikes but that is spread over 3 bikes.

 

I would love a tire that lasts 2,500 to 3,000 in the mountains but so far nothing is getting it done. 

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11 hours ago, Cheffish said:

Let me preface by saying I'm a Noob to road bikes, but what do you guys consider average mileage for a set of tires? Currently I'm about 50/50 commuting and weekend warrior. 

 

Your mileage will vary based on many variables. Road surface is one obvious differentiating factor so when comparing reported longevity of tires you  can't compare your tire life to someone elses.  

 

You can look at someone who consistently records their tire data and know that for your the tires will wear in a similar ratio but what may be acceptable mileage for someone who rides abrasive roads in the Southeast would unacceptable to someone is used to riding on smoother roads out west.

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9 hours ago, kebrider said:

I just replaced Donna's Pirelli AGTs last night. 2,800 miles, they were installed the middle or April . The AGTs replaced 2,300 mile Bridgestone T30 Evos that could have gone another 400 miles but we had a rally to attend, they were installed on February 21, 2016. The previous T30 Evos were installed for the fall ride last year and they had lasted 4K. Almost 12K on the Versys since we bought it last August and it has averaged much less than 6K on Sport Touring tires. Donna averages 2,400 miles a month through the summer and I usually change her tires every 6 weeks. I average 3,000 miles a month and I usually install 2 sets every month on my bikes but that is spread over 3 bikes.

 

I would love a tire that lasts 2,500 to 3,000 in the mountains but so far nothing is getting it done. 

Something definitely wrong with that then.   Even up in the highlands where the roads are very abrasive about 5k for a rear sports touring...  

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25 minutes ago, fink said:

Something definitely wrong with that then.   Even up in the highlands where the roads are very abrasive about 5k for a rear sports touring...  

 

The "problem" exists on all my bikes. I have researched potential causes but so far nothing positive. Forensic photographic evidence is inconclusive...

Collage.jpg

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This Michelin Pilot Road 4 GT was on the rear of my ST1300 for exactly 8 days. One TMAC and 2038 miles later it looked like this...

 

ST1300 Rear PR4GT from 2015 TMAC.jpg

 

The very best wearing tire I have used on the ST is that PR4 GT. Too squirmy for my riding style but that is a subjective opinion that will not apply to many riders. I managed to keep up with Baileyrock so the tire can't be that bad. I was leading too so that may have helped a bit but I still felt like I was never going to catch him. I'm sure if I had made one mistake he would have been a vapor trail.

 

If it hadn't been for those easy miles with Glory Racing earlier in the week I would have probably needed a new tire before the week was up. :wink:

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