Fast wearing Metzler sport radial, scarry belt exposure

[canuck750]

This morning I checked my tire before leaving Mojave Ca for the coast. 14000km on factory Metzler rear on my K1600GTL, left Phoenix the day before with a good tire, shocked to see this. I was running 40 psi, 2 lbs lower than factory spec due to heat and light load and I like a little more grip.
Sorry can’t get the picture to load automatically from my phone, if you click the link slide to 1st picture of the steel belts exposed through the tread.
http://s249.photobucket.com/user/canuck750/media/CRASH/s-l1600_zpsbav9ox3o.jpg.html

Limped to Bakersfield to get a new tire, longest 100km I have ridden in a long time.

2 psi under caused this??

[yogidozer]

looks like a Ferris wheel to me

[ITSec]

Well, I have a couple of observations that are only as relevant as the reader may choose to make them.

First, factory tires are often not the more durable versions available in the aftermarket. For example, a number of sport-touring bikes that are delivered with the Michelin Pilot Road tire are delivered with the standard and not the longer wearing GT version.

Second, any bike like the K16 as far as both weight and power that gets 14,000 km (call it 8,000 miles) from anything other than a heavy-load spec tire is not doing all that badly - maybe not as well as hoped or desired, but certainly in shouting distance of decent wear.

Third, pressure is always a game you have to learn for a specific bike, a specific riding pattern, and a specific climate. I'm of the opinion that lower pressure (mildly, such as described to increase grip) does not in fact reduce wear and may increase it by increasing the heat in the tire. Even living in Las Vegas, I tend to run pressures towards the higher end of the range of reasonable values. On my Norge with Michelin PR4 GTs, I get about 12,000 riding solo. I am 205 lbs without riding gear, ride solo almost all the time, and tend to run 10 mph over the posted limit.

If I had a K16GTL, I'd put on the PR4 or PR5 GTs, put the rear pressure up at 42 or so (depending on what's at the high end of recommended), and think of getting about 10,000 miles or a bit more from the tire.

[kingoffleece]

I live near the Dunlop plant where they make M/C tires.  We've had the guys from there at our BMW club meetings several times and the head guy's daughter and mine are good buds.  They all tell us the same thing.  5% wear min from tire slip just going down the road.  This goes up with high torque bikes.

One of the guys who came to talk is the same guy who travels with the MotoGP crew that does all the tire stuff at the races.  Very interesting.

As an aside, I never got more than 6000 out of a tire on my Norge.

[Chuck in Indiana]

^^^^^ 6000 is about it for me, too.

[Vagrant]

I saw a brand new 1600 in Germany eat 75%-80% of it's tire in 1100 miles on Alps roads. You got a lot of life from that bikes torque.

[rocker59]

factory Metzler rear on my K1600GTL, 

I was running 40 psi, 2 lbs lower than factory spec due to heat and light load and I like a little more grip.
 

Which tire model is the "factory Metzeler" ?? 

Yes, It's a heavy, powerful bike with 8600 miles on the tire.  About the only rear I've seen go more on a sport-touring bike is the Metzeler ME880 REINFTL heavy-duty tire, and I'd get 10,000 from them on my V11 LeMans riding mostly 2-up.

[pressureangle]

Hot pavement wears tires faster as well. I'd expect the SW to have a tire store on every corner.

[canuck750]

Thanks for the great information guys, the K1600 is new to me and judging tire wear needs to be learned. The shop in Bakersfield only had a Dunlop sport 3, I will bump pressures back up and pay attention to wear. My R1150RT got a little more life out of Michelin Pilot�s in my 12 years of ownership. The K1600 weighs in about 100 lbs more and has more almost twice the power.

[chuck peterson]

Have you tried measuring cold and hot pressures? I find a 10% rise between the two takes into account all the variables of load/size/weight/grip/torque/temperature/riding style...

Less than 10% rise, over inflated to start..
More than 10%? Under inflated cold..

At least it gives a baseline to start

I'm impressed you got so many miles out of a rear on a beast like that 1600

[kingoffleece]

Correct.  The 10% rule is a great place to start.

Now, I only ever got 3500 miles max on my Rocket 3, which dyno'd  148 pound-feet at the rear wheel! $330.00 a pop for rear tire, too. UGH!

[chuck peterson]

Correct.  The 10% rule is a great place to start.

Now, I only ever got 3500 miles max on my Rocket 3, which dyno'd  148 pound-feet at the rear wheel! $330.00 a pop for rear tire, too. UGH!

Let's see 3500 divided by 330 equals...10 cents a mile! Yup, asphalt shredding 148 ft pounds will do it....remember 175cc? A tire would wear out...in a decade or two...

[pressureangle]

If you're willing to do the homework, there is a way to maximize your tire life on any particular motorcycle/load/speed.
Carry an infrared thermometer. Carry a small bicycle hand pump, or electric if you can. Ride 15 minutes at the conditions you expect to travel. Adjust tire pressures until you find the lowest rubber temperatures. This will take some time, you should record over time and terrains so you get a good average of road temps, speeds, etc. until you find the best average low temp. You may be surprised to find that lower pressures produce lower temperatures, simply due to having a bit more rubber to spread out the load. It's important that you measure temps as quickly as possible after your test runs, so the tire cools and distributes heat as little as possible in the time it takes to stop and check. Cold rubber doesn't stick better, but it does last longer.

[canuck750]

I adjusted pressure until both front and rear where 42psi when hot. Highway 33 noth out of Ventura Ca and at the end of the day the road through the Kern canyon west of Bakersfield was just fantastic on the new rear tire. California is so blessed with amazing motorcycle roads. Even though the K1600 is a whale it handles pretty good and it’s torque coming out of corners is awesome, engine braking rowing through the gears into twisty corners is just as good as the launching out. Nothing like a new tire.