2002 B12S tires

[DaveG]

came with macadam 90s - crap, headshake at 3,000km.

replaced with ME Z4's - huge improvement, rear is worn after 17,000 km and 5 (yes 5 years) they seem to be getting a little slippery now

figure i will replace both front and rear due to age.
looking at M1's (really liked the metzlers) 
with the low annual kilometerage i might wear them out before they get too old. if i can get two seasons at 3kkm. each that would be fine.


the way i ride the Z6's might last forever.

SO, with long life not being a real factor, will i like the M1's
seems to me that the Bandit does not like circumferal groves on the front tire. the M1's like the M4's do not have it.

[txbanditrydr]

IMHO..... go with Pilot Powers and get your 2 seasons (6,000 km) with sticky rubber - you won't be disappointed in the handling and you will need a new set by then.

[klondike]

Depending on your riding style you might not need to spend the money on Pilot Powers.  If you don't ride "hard" the Pilot Road is a good tire.
I spend a lot of time getting to my mountain curves, and I sometimes will commute on my bike, so I have the Pilot Road 2CT.   They are a two compound tire and they work great!  I love them.

[02bandito1200S]

Have you considered the Continental Road Attacks?  I put a set on mine earlier this year and with 6500+ miles on them they are wearing quite well. I do not ride agressively and given the current wear rate I am thinking 15K might be reachable.  I have found both grip and ride quality to be very good.  One thing to note is that they require a slightly higher pressure.  The Continental site recommends 42psi in the rear.  I am running 38 front and 43 rear.

[DaveG]

yes i have considered the contis
glad to see a good report
they actually were at the top of my list

[02bandito1200S]

 No problem.  As I said, I put them on earlier this year. End of May actually.  I do have to make one correction, I only have 5200 miles on them not the 6800 stated before.  Even so I feel the wear to very good and still think 13K is probably a more realistic mileage for them.  This is even taking into account the roads in DE.  Many of the back roads are a bit abrasive.  One decent highway trip was included in the mix, a round trip from central DE to the Albany NY area.  Round trip of about 670 miles.  On each leg of the trip I ended up riding in some very heavy rain.  The tires handled the rain very well and this was running 65-70 mph down the highway.  For me the grip is quite good, but then again I do not expect to ever push the bike or tires close to their limit so race level grio really is not an issue.  Ride is very nice and I notice that they are less inclined to follow roads groves compared to the Michelins that came on the bike.  This might have something to do with them being a zero degree radial.  I have also found the tires to warm up pretty quickly.


 While I was doing my research, I did find some folks who felt they lost some grip below temps below forty and a few that grip was not on par with some "sportier" tires.  Researching other posts from these folks lead me to notice that they were in what would call the Johnny Racer crowd and would guess they were expecting a street tire to compare with a race slick. 

 Here a couple things I came across
 -- http://www.canyonchasers.net/blog/archives/75-Continental-Road-Attacks-Tested.html
 -- http://onewheeldrive.net/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=475&Itemid=130
 

[Have Blue]

I've been using Road Attacks on my 03 B12S since removing the OEM tires in 04 when I bought the bike.  I have to agree with the article, grip is excellent in all weather, road feedback is outstanding, and they drop into a turn with light input.  Traction wise, I have run out of ground clearance on the center stand and foot pegs before any protest from the tires.  Ground clearance on the bike is the limiting lean factor.  Its certainly not the traction of the tires.   I average about 6000 miles per set.  The B12 is the only bike I've owned that wears the front and rear tire at the same rate.  Maybe due to my riding style, front/rear balance of the bike or the hilly, winding roads I travel, I dont know.  LOL  I do know I am not going to be changing to a different brand of tire.  The Attacks are the best handling tire I have found.  Ride a set of Attacks, you wont go back to Pilots or anything else.  :-)  GREAT tire!

Earl

[solman]

I've used Metzlers and now have Pilot Powers.  I actually like the Metzlers better for the Bandit which create better feedback for the Bandit.  If you don't put a lot of miles on the bike, you probably would be better off going with a sport tire.

i will replace both front and rear due to age.

By going with a longer lasting tire, you may go past the useful time frame (as in years).  You might as well get the advantages of the stickier tire.

[Dave 02 1200]

I recently installed a pair of Shinko 009 Ravens on my B 1200.

So far so good.  Cheap too.

Others here have had good luck with them so I decided to give them a try.

Good luck,

Dave

[02bandito1200S]

By going with a longer lasting tire, you may go past the useful time frame (as in years).  You might as well get the advantages of the stickier tire.

Assuming the bike is covered or garage kept, which reduce sun aging, what do you see as the useful time frame of a tire?

[Daytona]

By going with a longer lasting tire, you may go past the useful time frame (as in years).  You might as well get the advantages of the stickier tire.

Assuming the bike is covered or garage kept, which reduce sun aging, what do you see as the useful time frame of a tire?

If you put 3K a year on it go with a sticky like the Dunlop Q, I use mine for commuting! The stinko rear gave me 8K from the middle, Q's 2 to 3 but felt better in the tristy,s. The Avon storms work best all around and give close to 10K on the rear if you keep your rear braking at a min!

[pmackie]

Assuming the bike is covered or garage kept, which reduce sun aging, what do you see as the useful time frame of a tire?

A quick search of the internet brings up a LOT of opinions, but not a lot of facts.

Dunlop's site seems to indicate 6 years (72 months) - at least for servicability/warrantee
WHAT IS WARRANTED
Every new Dunlop motorcycle tire that becomes unserviceable within six years or 72 months of the date of manufacture for conditions other than those which are listed under "WHAT IS NOT COVERED" will be replaced on the basis specified under "REPLACEMENT COST" below.

Metzler seems to hedge their bets a lot more:
Is there a maximum allowed age for tires?
The mere passage of time (age) does not cause tires to deteriorate. Exposure to outside forces causes tires to deteriorate. Such outside forces can include road hazards, punctures, improper repairs, misalignment, under-inflated operation, over-deflected operation, excessive heat caused by over-deflected operation, excessive exposure to ozone (such as storage near electric motors), improper storage conditions, etc. Tire companies can only have impact on a few of these exposures. Tire companies add anti-ozinants and anti-oxidants (anti-degradation compounds) to minimize degradation and carbon black is known to have excellent anti-degradant properties. Metzeler believes that since there is no way to predict what outside forces a tire will be exposed to there is no scientifically supportable age limit that can be set for tires. Some tires may be perfectly serviceable after 10 years while other tires should not be in service after only 2 years.

The easy answer seems to be many years if stored correctly and much less if not. All manufacturers sites recommend replacing tires that have any signs of ageing and/or checking (small cracks starting to appear). The all also indicate that exposure to magnetic forces, oil or gasoline, as well as UV/sunlight can severly reduce life.