Recommend me some sport touring/commuting tyres for K1300S?
Discussion
Bike is currently in having some warranty work and after 2k miles they've noted that the tyres are already close to needing to be replaced. Thought it was a bit odd but then remembered that the dealer I bought it from had put Metzeler Racetec K3s on it which are more performance orientated / mileage limited than what I need!
What would be good replacements? In terms of Metzeler, Roadtec Z8s on paper seem to be a good choice. What else might be good?
What would be good replacements? In terms of Metzeler, Roadtec Z8s on paper seem to be a good choice. What else might be good?
Michelin PR4s & Pirelli Angel GTs, no complaints about either from me. Good all weather grip & good wear life from both.
Also tried Michelin Pilot Power 3, provided good grip & feel but much shorter life than the other two.
Interestingly Michelin website shows PR4 (& PR4GT) as not suitable for the K1300S.
Also tried Michelin Pilot Power 3, provided good grip & feel but much shorter life than the other two.
Interestingly Michelin website shows PR4 (& PR4GT) as not suitable for the K1300S.
Update:
Went for the Metzeler Roadtec 01 at the recommendation of Bahnstormer. £297 fitted from them while I waited, surprisingly the cheapest in my local area, and they gave my bike a clean
First impressions on the 20 mins home: at the same pressures as the Racetec K3, the ride is noticeably busier, although not uncomfortable.
Tread pattern appears reversed on the front tyre which is def going to mess with my OCD a bit
Won't post a pic of it as it'll irritate me 
Also fitted an MRA vario touring screen the other day, v pleased so far. Looks good and the wind blast on the mmotorway has gone from starting a couple of inches below my collar bones and catching the outer halves of my arms, to just about half way up my helmet. Noise hasn't reduced much but the extra wind protection reduces buffeting of my head at "higher" speed and also keeps me a bit warmer. Doesn't look too bad either and only took 15 mins to fit. Was about £97 delivered which is less than I was expecting to pay tbh.
Went for the Metzeler Roadtec 01 at the recommendation of Bahnstormer. £297 fitted from them while I waited, surprisingly the cheapest in my local area, and they gave my bike a clean
First impressions on the 20 mins home: at the same pressures as the Racetec K3, the ride is noticeably busier, although not uncomfortable. Tread pattern appears reversed on the front tyre which is def going to mess with my OCD a bit
Won't post a pic of it as it'll irritate me Also fitted an MRA vario touring screen the other day, v pleased so far. Looks good and the wind blast on the mmotorway has gone from starting a couple of inches below my collar bones and catching the outer halves of my arms, to just about half way up my helmet. Noise hasn't reduced much but the extra wind protection reduces buffeting of my head at "higher" speed and also keeps me a bit warmer. Doesn't look too bad either and only took 15 mins to fit. Was about £97 delivered which is less than I was expecting to pay tbh.
Baldbiker73 said:
Hi I've just joined and would be interested to hear how you have got on with the tyres as I will need some on my k1300 and the screen as I had one delivered yesterday.
Tyres have been fine, I don't ride the bike hard enough to notice any difference in grip in performance terms, but they certainly feel okay and the psychological benefit of having tyres with meaningful tread in wet weather is priceless I've not done many miles on them (maybe 1K?) as I haven't been riding into work for a while (Grenfell Tower fire caused massive smoke damage to our building next door so we moved to an office where I couldn't ride in, and have now started a new job where it makes no sense to ride in either), but it seems they're squaring off a lot slower than the K3s.Screen is still good, although now that there's less wind blast my wrists take more pressure as well as my lower back - so when I haven't ridden for a while I start to feel some discomfort after an hour or so. That said, if I was riding regularly I have no doubt the appropriate muscles would get fitter and it wouldn't be a problem.
I've used many pairs of PR4s and PR4GTs for commuting, long distance touring and blatting around various fun roads in Europe. I've always been very happy with the PR4s both in the wet and in the dry but decided to try the Roadtec 01s at the last change. This was immediately prior to a week in the South od France and around the French alps. The bike was taken down on a trailer so I arrived in the south of France with only 75 miles on the tyres.
They were brilliant! We had one wet day on the trip and the Metzler's were even better than the Michelin's (and the Michelin's are really good!) giving loads of confidence and allowing some pretty serious fun to be had even on wet roads. In the dry the tyres were good enough to allow almost complete removal of the chicken strips.After almost 1800 fun filled miles, I was sold. these were the best sports touring tyres I had ever used.
Back to reality (again via a trailer) and back to long range commuting which immediately showed the weakness in the Metzlers. Right from the first trip into work they were white lining really badly. It was enough to cause me to tense up when crossing white lines and was way worse the the Michelin's ever got to. The Metzlers had less the 2000 miles on them and felt worse than a Michelin with 7000 miles. It makes filtering where you're riding on a white line really uncomfortable.
The good wet and dry grip has remained and the tyres have nearly 6000 on them now. The white lining has not got any worse, but it's not got any better either. I will be replacing them in about 1000 miles, though I think they'd possibly go 1000 miles further still, but I don't like running my tyres to the very end of their life. The thought of having to ride home from work in a heavy rain storm on tyres with only 1mm doesn't seem worth the small amount of lose by replacing the tyres a little early.
That'll mean the Metzlers will have done pretty much the same mileage as the PR4s and PR4 GTs I've had previously. My next tyres will again be PR4 GTs. Both in the dry and in the wet, the Metzlers offer very slightly more feel and are slightly easier to turn in. They last as long but are slightly more expensive. Were it not for the white lining when still relatively new (the michelins don't start white lining until about 5000 miles) I would have be fitting another set of Metzler RoadTec 01s.
They were brilliant! We had one wet day on the trip and the Metzler's were even better than the Michelin's (and the Michelin's are really good!) giving loads of confidence and allowing some pretty serious fun to be had even on wet roads. In the dry the tyres were good enough to allow almost complete removal of the chicken strips.After almost 1800 fun filled miles, I was sold. these were the best sports touring tyres I had ever used.
Back to reality (again via a trailer) and back to long range commuting which immediately showed the weakness in the Metzlers. Right from the first trip into work they were white lining really badly. It was enough to cause me to tense up when crossing white lines and was way worse the the Michelin's ever got to. The Metzlers had less the 2000 miles on them and felt worse than a Michelin with 7000 miles. It makes filtering where you're riding on a white line really uncomfortable.
The good wet and dry grip has remained and the tyres have nearly 6000 on them now. The white lining has not got any worse, but it's not got any better either. I will be replacing them in about 1000 miles, though I think they'd possibly go 1000 miles further still, but I don't like running my tyres to the very end of their life. The thought of having to ride home from work in a heavy rain storm on tyres with only 1mm doesn't seem worth the small amount of lose by replacing the tyres a little early.
That'll mean the Metzlers will have done pretty much the same mileage as the PR4s and PR4 GTs I've had previously. My next tyres will again be PR4 GTs. Both in the dry and in the wet, the Metzlers offer very slightly more feel and are slightly easier to turn in. They last as long but are slightly more expensive. Were it not for the white lining when still relatively new (the michelins don't start white lining until about 5000 miles) I would have be fitting another set of Metzler RoadTec 01s.
Edited by black-k1 on Friday 18th August 09:23
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