After much research.... Well, a bit anyway. And FWIW I do tend to ride aggressively.
I do like Pirelli Angel GTs although they are much closer to the sport end of the Sport/Tourer spectrum. They seem to be good for about 10,000 klm or maybe a tad more. Lots of fun in the twisties and nearly as good as a low mileage flat out sport tyre. just looking at them shows their heritage and the sipes are few and far between.
The Michelin PR4 (am putting on next) are the best wet tyre of the current crop and also the longest lasting by all reports and I am expecting about 20,000 klm. I expect this to be at the loss of some side grip, but the traction control can keep me shiny side up I suppose. I have a 12,000 klm run to complete shortly and need to replace the current Pirelli's. Makes no sense to fit more Pirelli's and have to swap them again at the end of the ride. My close quarters finance controller would have a fit. And by all reports the Michelin's are still a sporty tyre in general terms. Just not quite as edgy as the Pirelli's.
By all reports the Metzler 01 is [a] the most expensive and the best all-rounder with good mileage and good sport grip. But I do expect the mileage to fall somewhere between the Pirelli and the Michelin. At this point that means the Michelin wins for my next fitting. Maybe the Metzler after that.
The Bridgestone E30 Evo is the cheapest of the bunch. From what I can find, it is a solid tyre but does not overachieve at anything. So I have not put a lot of consideration into it.
Just IMHO of course....

 

I had PR4's on my 2016 R and just changed to Roadtec 01's at the 6,000 service. The front would probably only have done another 1,000 miles. As reference, I don't do many motorway miles, I ride solo, weigh 75kg and generally ride at the posted limit + 10% (I'm a member of the IAM so supposed to be reasonably sensible).

I liked the PR4's, no problems at all. My initial impression of the 01's is that they are slightly sportier but obviously can't comment on the longevity.

 

Rode to work today and noticed a nail in my tire. The Metzler Z8's have been fine, but I am thinking about a switch to PR4's based on other's comments and to just try something new. If anyone can chime in that has done this swtich , comments would be appreciated.

 

Followup on my April post above. The Z8's were replaced with PR4's and now have almost 900 miles on them. I had previously thought the R1200R was the perfect bike, but I guess I was wrong because now the bike is even better that it was. For my riding, which is mostly winding, country roads, the tires grip and lean much better. I had been thinking it would be hard to tell the difference based on how conservatively I ride, but wow, there is a very big improvement. Between the tires and MAX BMW doing the 6,000 mile service with a software update and adjusting the Shift Assist, I feel like I have a new bike. And this new one is perfect.

 

The angle of entry of that nail looks like you dodged a bullet, Tom!

I, too, enjoyed my Z8 original tyres. Replaced them with Bridgestone T30 based on others' recommendations but wasn't particularly impressed with the feel or wear. The Evo version was well written up and I scored a pair of them at a good price - eons ahead of my previous set on all counts. I've used Pirelli Angel GTs before but felt they 'went off' in the last third of their life, not providing the feedback or grip they had when new.

Now transitioning to PR4 GT, having changed the rear a while ago and about to change out the front. I've had good experience with Michelin, having used PR 2 & 3 on my f800ST, and I do tend to enjoy corners; original PR the ST came with wasn't much chop in the feel department though - PRs have come a long way since.

In summary, from my experience PR 2-4 give good feel, good mileage and are easy to fit, having more flexible sidewalls than Pirelli, Bridgestone and Metzeler.

 

My Z8's lasted for 13000 km and there was "meat" left for about 1000km more, but I decided to replace them with Roadtec's 01 which I, honestly, don't like.
I find them lazy when riding aggressively, especially when quickly throwing the bike from corner to corner, they are noisy and the rear doesn't like high lean angles combined with early acceleration - it starts to wobble, pump, which disturbs the rear end of a bike. For me, Z8's are better than R01's. I had no issues with them like I do with R01's

 

Have you tried different tire pressure? It sounds like it could be low to me. The only time I had any weird behavior from the R01 the rear pressure was low. Lower than I run, but not lower than what some use (2.3 bar 34 PSI if I recall. May have been slightly less). I added air and it was fine.

 

I transitioned from Pirelli Angel GTs to PR4 GTs. I am on to my second set, and for my money, they are the best all-around touring tyre with outstanding wet weather performance.

 

There are people who would only buy Michelin tyres and then there are the others.
I belong to the "others"

But seriously... One person swears by product A and the other person by product B.
Tyres are a very personal choice, as riding styles also differ.

There are no bad tyres on the market IMO, some are better than others in certain areas.

I really don't care about the wet performance of a tyre that much (even though my current tyre is apparently the best tyre in this regard), as I don't ride when it is bucketing down.

 

My tyres of choice when it's buckets down are the down are the ones I have on my car. However, should I get caught out in a wet weather event 400k it's nice to have PR4s onboard. As I don't tend to ride on the edge, I have not noticed dry weather performance compromises. Anyway, for rider like myself they work for me. Just my own personal choice/opinion.


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My :2centsn this are that I personal think marcimark has hit the nail on the head no pun intended TomCT .
IMO tyres are a personal thing and as much a mental thing as the tyres ability to perform. If you feel confident in the tyres ability then that's half the battle. So if as you say TG "your very satisfied " with the Z8's why go a changing. You might not like what you change to.
Keep it sunny side up.
UKBB

 

Good advice. If it's not broken, why fix it.

I am probably going to end up changing tires at some random dealer somewhere in the middle of a trip of about 10,000 km before I return. Are tires routinely available at dealers without special ordering and waiting. I don't mind a down time of a couple of days to get them changed, but would rather not be held up for a week or something.

 

I recently replaced my Z8s with another pair of same. I enjoyed the handling of my 2014 camhead with the Z8s after buying the bike last year but found the rear tyre had squared off and effected the handling after the 5k miles I'd added. They had about 3mm front and rear when I changed them. I thought the degradation happened pretty quick in the last 1k miles.
I stuck with the Z8s as I had no issue with the handling and every report I read says the PR4s, Z8s and Z01s are all pretty much as good as each other, overall (have you seen the MCN review in 2016

?). I had PR3s fitted my last Tiger 800 and Conti Trails on my previous GS 1200. I thought both the tyres were a great improvement on the OEM Scorpions but at the same time knew other riders who still rode quite happily on Scorpions.
So, I agree its all down to personal preference. I chose to stick with Z8s that I know give a good performance, feel and suit my riding style. The £70 (fitted) saving compared to Z01s clinched it, well I am a Yorkshireman!

 

I realize that many R1200R riders like to raise their bars and lower the footpegs.
If you are in that category of riders you might want to go for milage on your tires. I assume this because you are probably
not enjoying going through corners in high speed ;-)
My self, coming from a MV Agusta Brutale, enjoy the twisty B-roads, went for a pair of Rosso III and it transformed the bike.
A lot more entertaining. I will not get the milage out of them, but after 10 000 km on the Z08 my wonderful R1200R felt like a tractor...

//M

 

Speaking of tyres, I made an interesting observation today. At a stop, I noted a sticky patch on my rear tyre. Examination showed it was spearmint flavour rather than any tyre compound defect.

At my next stop, I noted the patch had smeared across the tyre. The smear paralleled the wear pattern on the tyre (not surprisingly) illustrating why the tyre feathers and abrades on the leading and trailing edges of the tyre tread edges caused by engine braking as the bike leans into corners.

In the photo, a fairly circular splodge was previously centred around the area - now smeared at an angle towards tyre's edge.

 

Hi BMWBOO. I agree that Rosso III are a great tyre for track days and local twisties. But I am half way through a 21000 klm run around the country. On my previous Speed Triples I usually got 2-3000 of Rossor Super Corsa and finally Rosso IIIs. So - I would be changing tyres conservatively about 8 times in one ride. or once if a lose a tad of outside edge stiction for a ****load of longevity. It is a no-brainer now. But I will run something with a shorter life and more edginess when I get back to my home town.

Thank goodness for all the choices out there as it makes it easy to choose the best weapon for the job.

Yeehaaa

 

You must have got more milage on the Rosso III`s compared to the Super Corsa´s (I hope). My son has a pair of Super Corsa on his Street Triple, but I guess he will go for the Rosso III next time.
I agree that it´s good with many alternatives, I were really surprised and impressed with the milage I´ve got out of the Z8. There were still a lot of meat on them when I replaced them at 13000 km. But they were really square and no fun to ride any more...I guess the new Mezelers (01 I think) can be a really good alternative.

My son is always mocking me, saying that I have a touring bike, I disagree. I think the R1200R is a true roadster and deserves a good pair of sporty tires.
But If you are doing the kind of run´s you are doing it makes no sense to have tires that don´t last more than 5000 km...

Cheers!

//M

 

I was looking to buy PR4's also but the weren't available in Mexico at that moment so I bought Conti Road Attack 2 EVO GT and let me tell you that they are awesome. I just came from a 900 mile trip with 113ºF weather in some places and heavy rain and curvy roads in others and let me tell you that they are amazing. Far better than the Z8's I believe they will last less but they give a better feedback.

 

Just replaced the Z8's that came on my 2016 R12R. Only got 6k miles out of them. Not sure why they went so quickly.
I decided to go with the Metzler Roadtec 01 HWM on both front a back. I have only 150 miles on them, but I am very happy with how they handle. For me they seem to inspire a bit more confidence than the Z8's.

The question now is how long will they last. I am hoping to get 8k miles out of these or maybe a little more.

Really, really like them so far!

 

The third photo, of your Z8s, was disturbing. There seems to be a lot of tread left in the grooves, but none on the centerline of the tire. Before I saw that photo I assumed that the depth of the grooves was a good measure of the rubber left on the tire. Now I am not so sure. Looking at the tips of grooves nearest the centerline, I now see that probably my tires are closer to the end of their life than I thought.

 

PR4's for me, been decent since put on 1500 miles ago. Showing slight signs of wear & handle well.

 

I was fooled by that too, TundraGreen. I had been watching the wear indicators but the center kind of snuck up on me and suddenly I could see a bit of cord in the seam. I guess I can't really complain as that was at 11,500 miles.

 

I thought that cord stuff was the wear indicator :grin2:

 

Only if it forms a complete circle:grin2:

 

Hey TomCT,

Did you fit PR4 GTs or standard?


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Hey TomCT,

Did you fit PR4 GTs or standard?

Standard

 

I have fitted 2 sets of GTs (on my Camhead) but often wondered if the standard would be a better choice.


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I used to ride Z8 then changed to Angel GTs and no my second set of Pilot Road 4.
My impression is that the Angel is more sporty than the Z8 but considerable harder on on bad roads. The Road 4 is not as sporty into a corner as the Angel GT but much more comfortable for sport touring and great on gravel for a sport touring Tyre.

 

TomCT: MAX put PR4s on my R1200S and and they worked well with the aggressive riding I did on that bike. I was very happy to have them when caught out in the Canadian Maritimes during heavy downpours. Now I have a low mileage 2015 R1200R with the Z8s and they are OK but I look forward to getting the PR4s on when the time comes. I'll be curious to see how the bike feels after MAX does my 6K check up. My real agony is with the run-flats that came on my BMW X5. God they are terrible! Harsh and stiff. Can't wait to get conventionals on.
(I'll gladly buy a spare.)

 

Try Metzeler Roadtec 01's. Just as good, if not better, than PR4's.

 

Metzeler Roadtec 01

My 2015 R1200RS came with Metzeler Roadtec Z8 tires. I take about 18,000 km, and I was really happy about driving with these tires.
New I replace it with the Metzeler Roadtec 01 and take about 2'800 km in three weeks.
The profile looks a little strange but never I add so good tires. Big advantage about the Z8, tested on many road conditions.
I could only suggest it to all BMW R1200R(S) drivers.