accelerated tire wear over time

[Abercrombie FJR]

Yeah I'd say if all your riding is this spirited, how can you not expect to have to pay the piper?

I was quite pleased with my first go around with the PR4GTs this past summer. 11K in 11 days plus an additional 6K of commuting and smaller trips before I needed new rubber. And if you're thinking I must ride quite conservative, you're right. Going down once was enough for me. But on the bright side, I now only need to change tires twice a summer now.

Dang Mike, I envy your tire wear but not enough to cause me to grow up and ride sensibly.

 

[TripperMike]

^^^ LOL

It's not so much growing up and riding sensibly, it's more of a need of getting back to ZARS for a little confidence training.

 

[bruinFJRguy]

Yeah I'd say if all your riding is this spirited, how can you not expect to have to pay the piper?

I was quite pleased with my first go around with the PR4GTs this past summer. 11K in 11 days plus an additional 6K of commuting and smaller trips before I needed new rubber.

Well, I guess I was thinking I already paid him, for the price of the PR4GT. There is some meat left, and after going over my maps I think I have put more than 3k on so far. If I do 4 or 4.5 k I guess that's not so bad, all considered.

I'd say your 17k is pretty impressive!

 

[Brodie]

2wheels4fun wrote:

Sort of off topic, has anybody tried car tire on FJR and ride spiritedly? Did this once with my goldwing and got less than 8,000 miles on a car tire. Would be be looking and less than 8,000 on fjr with car tire too?

Check out this thread...

https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php/topic/130946-if-i-didnt-see-it-with-my-own-eyes-i-would-not-have-believed-it/?p=766870&do=findComment&comment=766870

If memory serves me correctly, Brian told me he was around 20,000miles on that tire when he noticed it didnt perform quite the same way as when new. The wear bars werent anywhere close to showing, but he opted to change out to another Pilot Exalto for the kind of riding he put on that bike.

Brodie

 

[Uncle Hud]

Well, I don't get it either. Maybe our definitions of "sprited riding" are vastly different, but I get a least 9,000 to 10,000 miles on a set of tires. Metzelers, B-stones, Michelin. Write your odometer reading on the garage wall each tire change, and you'll always have it handy.

Best for mileage? Bridgestone T-30GTs. Smooth-riding and sticky, too.

 

[Bill Lumberg]

I never got 9 except for PR4GT’s. As my current set is on their last quarter of life, and the RSIII set that’s been sitting for months will soon be fitted, it’s time to order the next “garage stock” set. I may have to look at the T30GT’s.

 

[FJRMGM]

its a simple equation really:

big heavy bike + rider + big engine = back tire wearing out

you could make a back tire wear a little longer by going easy on throttle but whats the fun in having a big motor if you ride it like a Prius??

 

[rgonanFJR2008]

You kids are funny. The following is NOT meant to be a dig, or chest-thumping, bragging, arrogant behavior, but.....how do you do it?
42 psi, front and rear, PR2s on a 2008, ridden almost always solo. I'm putting new tires on tonight. They both have 3,395 miles on them. Rear tire is as bald as Kojak, front is just below the wear bars, with some tread left, but is firmly in the middle of the triangulated, "handles like a truck" phase. Yeah, I twist the zoomie handle pretty hard quite a bit, but so does everyone else. No burnouts, wheelies, or stunts. (Yeah, I'm boring). I know this subject has been beat to over one hundred deaths, and I have refrained from commenting through the first 99 deaths, but holy Moses. I'd love to get more mileage out of my tires, but not at the cost of all the fun I'm having. Consider yourself lucky to be smarter, better-restrained, more conscientious ("conscientiouser"?) and wiser with your tire budget than us dumber, poorer, no-self-control mental midgets. For undisciplined ***-hats like myself (probably not any others out there. No.), it's just too much fun to whip that lovely whore of a motorcycle, and let the big girl eat. Like the very wise and handsome Iggy said, buy tires, ride more, and worry less. (I'm speculating on the handsome part.....I've never met Iggy in person).

Feel free now to completely tear me a new one, since I'm sure I deserve it. Can't wait to get my new tires on tonight. Nothing like it.

(Can't wait to hear the retorts. Man, this place is great. Now that Bust is absent, somebody's got to do it)

+1 on your comments. I change my Angel GT A specs well before they need to be.....That said, I know I am extremely anal about the tires on a street bike.

 

[puppychow]

In my experience the T30 GT are stickier but also wear sooner than PR2. YMMV. Run 40 psi front, 42 psi rear.

About 5K to 6K per rear tire on the T30-GT on average and I am going to be putting on the 4th rear this weekend.

I replace as soon as flush to wear bars.

 

[roger dodger]

Bruin et al, You are definitely a 'spirited' rider, and the stock Stones are probably the worst example of a quality tire.

My suggestion is to air them up more than 41psi, and get a second gauge to double check it. Since you are hot and fast in the desert, I have found the Michelin's run plenty smooth yet firm at 42 -44 psi. on road trips, and actually heat up less if they are at max pressure (42psi) .

Also, I've tried 3 different gauges and gotten 3 different readings. I now use a dial gauge w/ bleeder valve and bring it down to 42/42 for daily riding, and 42/44 for road trips.

I mostly end up w/ 8k+ on the rear and 10k+ on the front on PR4s. I don't spend extra on GTs and think PR2s are your best bang for the buck. Buy them online and find a friend to help you mount them. Keep a spare set because you'll need them soon enough... rather than pay for 'on the road prices' for tires and mounting. YMMV

 

[Cookie]

I've been running PR4 GT on my 05 FJR. I usually get a bit over 9000 miles per set. I do some 2 up with gear and have to admit that my wife and I weigh a lot more than Roger Dodger and his wife. That's why I get the GT.

I did pick up a 14 ES last fall. It had 4500 miles on it with the original Bridgestone BT 023. The rear tire is down to the wear bars. I think the reason is that the previous owner weighted 130 pounds more than me, and I'm not a light weight guy. With 4500 mile on the bike in three years, it wasn't from excessive riding. I will be putting on a new set this spring. Right now the Minnesota frozen tundra makes it impossible to ride and too cold to work in the garage.

Bottom line, if you ride hard, weigh a lot and ride two up with gear, take Roger's advice and have a spare set on hand. Having your own tire changer also makes sense. If your planning a trip and don't think the tires will make it, throw on a new set and save the partially worn ones for when you get back. I've had to buy tires on the road and it gets expensive. It's still a lot less costly and painful than crashing.

FYI, Roger Dodger, his son and I went in on a No Mar changer. I know it will get plenty of use this summer.

 

[Uncle Hud]

Cookie posted, in part: ... I think the reason is that the previous owner weighted 130 pounds more than me, and I'm not a light weight guy. With 4500 mile on the bike in three years, it wasn't from excessive riding.

Well, that could be the reason, but I think it's more like the tires that come with new FJRs are NOT full-spec Bridgestone tires. They're some cheap "bedroom slippers" that get the bike off the showroom floor and carry you far enough to know if you like riding an FJR.

Too bad, because that disappointed me enough to go through three sets of tires from other manufacturers before I bought Bridgestones again.

 

[Fred W]

As an analogy, my truck is a Ford F-150 4x4 3.5 V6 EcoBoost. On the forums for those trucks the running joke is: You can have your Eco, or you can have Boost. And its true. If I set the cruise control at the 65 mph speed limit I can get 21 to 22 mpg, which coupled with the standard 32 gallon tank gives me some outstanding highway range. But the twin turbo engine begs to be stomped on, and you can watch the fuel gauge go down when you do.

Yeah. Tires on an FJR are just like that.

 

[philter]

Sort of off topic, has anybody tried car tire on FJR and ride spiritedly? Did this once with my goldwing and got less than 8,000 miles on a car tire. Would be be looking and less than 8,000 on fjr with car tire too?

You got less than 8000 miles on a CT. NOW YOUR BRAGGIN!!! LOL

My CT on my FJR did not show any wear till 8000 miles, I am close to16,000 and about 1/2 worn.

 

[2wheels4fun]

Sort of off topic, has anybody tried car tire on FJR and ride spiritedly? Did this once with my goldwing and got less than 8,000 miles on a car tire. Would be be looking and less than 8,000 on fjr with car tire too?

You got less than 8000 miles on a CT. NOW YOUR BRAGGIN!!! LOL

My CT on my FJR did not show any wear till 8000 miles, I am close to16,000 and about 1/2 worn.

So you think I can get more than ~7,850 miles on '14 FJR compare to this on my '03 Goldwing? FYI, it really is the left side bald and not the right as shown in the picture. I almost always wear out my tires on lef and center before right. Most likly due to crown of two lane roads.

 

[RossKean]

Depending on the CT, something north of 30,000 miles is not uncommon on an FJR. (No accelerated tire wear there!)

You can check out the 4200 posts and 211 pages of testimony on the Darkside thread:

https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php/topic/141913-going-to-the-dark-side/

Some riders amply demonstrated "spirited" riding.

Here is a picture posted by SkooterG