Tires tires Tires - what tires are best for touring?

[kiterider]

that's my estimate for my M5/Z8 combo...the ZRX isn't that hard on fronts

I'm running z8's now and love them, i use to get 17000 or 18000 out of m3's so I'm hoping to get better than that from these.

I got 12k out of the orginal BT-015's that came with mine. Hopefully I get the same out of these. More would be awesome, but I'd be happy with 12-15k just coz the handling is so great with the Z8's compared to the BT 015's

[slowbird]

Just came back from a 5,000kms trip to Deals Gap through the Blue Ridge Parkway. My BT-023's held up great and stuck well through all the twisties.
They also did well at 65mph+ speeds on the interstates/hwys in pouring rain.

I'm pretty happy with them. Over 10,000kms on them and they still look good.

[canadianshark74]

What's your bike's weight, torque and what's your riding style? There is no way in the universe that a PR2 rear would look like that after 20,000Km on my bike with my acceleration-loving riding . More like 2,000, but definitely no more than 5,000. The last two I had were worn beyond wear markers and flattened (not a lot, but visibly) by 18-20,000Km.

My bike is around 450lbs, around 100hp too.
My riding style is mostly touring around, with a few spirited corners from the few we can find in southern Ontario.
Needless to say, I don't ride the wheels off it, as you can tell.
The PR2's performed really well on "the Dragon" the constant curves helped the softer sides of the tire to heat up and get nice and sticky.
After a few runs on the Dragon, we were back at the Motel and all we could smell was hot rubber. We could feel the heat in the tire and see the little marbles forming.
In Ontario, we just don't have the constant right to left turns that keeps the heat in the sides of the PR2's.

[Vlad]

My bike is around 450lbs, around 100hp too.

Well, my B12 is about 50lbs heavier (even without three hard cases and a tank bag with 160L of total storage) and has about 10% more power (110Hp on the dyno). What counts the most though is torque - I doubt your bike comes even close to 80fp, especially in the lower two thirds of the rev range. Couple that with my love for good acceleration (not primarily from a stop but also on corner exits, even on the highway - Bandit pulls hard at 120Km/h and positively hauls if I downshift a gear) and you have a tire-eating combo.

Your riding style has probably a big effect on your tire's even wear, but I think the extent of wear is mostly your bike's "fault". Impressive nonetheless, on anything bigger than 500cc and ridden even remotely hard.