R1100 tires

[Rolland]

I did not want to hijack James post so I will start another. Question is ....what is a recommended tire for the R1100 as I am going to need to replace it very soon. 

[Michaelr11]

You left out some information. Is this an RT with original alloy wheels? Where are you located?

 

1100RT with alloy wheels are 17” front and 18” rear.  Front takes a 120/70-17, rear takes a 160/60-18. Any good sport touring tire is good enough. Don’t worry about mixing tires from different vendors, there won’t be any noticeable difference. Radial tires, not bias ply.

 

A lot might depend on you and the type of riding you do. Some tires are more attuned to grip rather than long wear.  The 18” rear is a bit difficult to find and typically more expensive, but you can find one. Personally, I prefer the Michelin Road 4 GT or the Dunlop Roadsmart IV in front. I like the Michelin PR3 in the rear or the Pirelli Angel GT . 
 

[Rolland]

30 minutes ago, Michaelr11 said:

You left out some information. Is this an RT with original alloy wheels? Where are you located?

Its an R1100RS I am in Arizona. 

They are alloy wheels, in fact I have an extra wheel than came with the bike it is an 18 inch as well

[dirtrider]

13 hours ago, Rolland said:

Its an R1100RS I am in Arizona. 

They are alloy wheels, in fact I have an extra wheel than came with the bike it is an 18 inch as well

Evening Rolland

 

I don't believe the 1100RS never came with spoke wheels. At least I can't ever remember seeing one. All I have seen are the 4.50x18 alloy.  

[Michaelr11]

2 hours ago, Rolland said:

an R1100RS I am in Arizona. 

the RS has the same wheels and tires as the RT.  Round and black…. Any good tires will work.

[Rolland]

I much study I had came to the conclusion that what I wanted was round and black tires, now what I was hoping for what people were running on the 1100 since 18 inch tires are not a prevalent as the 17 and 16 inch. Is there a pattern or brand that works better or not for touring my go fast days are behind me. My background was V twin metric cruisers and this is the first bike I have owned of this style so I am still learning and asking silly questions. 

[dirtrider]

10 hours ago, Rolland said:

I much study I had came to the conclusion that what I wanted was round and black tires, now what I was hoping for what people were running on the 1100 since 18 inch tires are not a prevalent as the 17 and 16 inch. Is there a pattern or brand that works better or not for touring my go fast days are behind me. My background was V twin metric cruisers and this is the first bike I have owned of this style so I am still learning and asking silly questions. 

Morning Rolland

 

I wish I could give you more info, I still have a couple of 1100 bikes but one has knobbies on it for back road usage. I haven't put a rear tire on the other for many years now. 

 

The thing is, everyone rides differently on different road surfaces, with individual cornering & braking habits.   

[Michaelr11]

13 hours ago, Rolland said:

was hoping for what people were running on the 1100 since 18 inch tires are not a prevalent as the 17 and 16 inch. Is there a pattern or brand that works better or not for touring my go fast days are behind me. My background was V twin metric cruisers and this is the first bike I have owned of this style so I am still learning and asking silly questions. 

I posted the tires that I normally choose, but they may not be right for you. Lots of factors will affect tire wear and longevity, aside from the tire itself. Touring or curvy roads, go fast or enjoy the scenery, smooth asphalt or chip seal, or concrete. You will have to make a choice and then try another after that until you find what fits your riding style and expectations about tire life. I can tell you that some guys are changing tires after 5,000 miles and some are getting 12,000. There isn’t one single answer.

 

[SDCRJohn]

18 hours ago, Rolland said:

I did not want to hijack James post so I will start another. Question is ....what is a recommended tire for the R1100 as I am going to need to replace it very soon. 

As you will find out, the 160/60-18 rear tire is in limited selection. Michelin no longer makes the Pilot Road in that size, or at least I cannot find any.

 

i am currently using the Avon Storm, which is giving me pretty good mileage on the rear, but the front (120-17) wore pretty quick, around 4k miles.

the storm is a good handling tire, but I will try the Metzler for the next rear. I already have a Metzler on the front.

[Redfoxx]

1 hour ago, SDCRJohn said:

As you will find out, the 160/60-18 rear tire is in limited selection. Michelin no longer makes the Pilot Road in that size, or at least I cannot find any.

 

i am currently using the Avon Storm, which is giving me pretty good mileage on the rear, but the front (120-17) wore pretty quick, around 4k miles.

the storm is a good handling tire, but I will try the Metzler for the next rear. I already have a Metzler on the front.

Michelin only makes there Scorcher 11 in that size. 

[Paul De]

I just put on Avon Spirit ST on my ‘99 RT. Avon had the Spirit ST in the needed 160/60 ZR18 for the rear as well as the more common size for the front.   The price was very attractive.  But I have read that Avon and the last plant making motorcycle tires in the UK was shut down late in 2023.  So availability might get scarce soon enough and any warranty might be worthless.  Not enough miles on them to comment on longevity.  

The rear is very good on the RT, but the front Spirit ST has a V shaped profile and I always felt the more U shaped profile tires made my ‘99 RT handle best overall.

[Michaelr11]

I don’t know where they are getting sourced from, but recently I have seen and bought the Michelin PR3 rear tire in the 160/60-18 size. It had a fairly recent date code, so they are clearly still getting manufactured. It was very pricey, and went out of stock in a few days. It reappeared recently, and again sold out in a few days. 
 

I tried an Avon Storm in the 18” rear size. It actually gave me the longest life of any of the different brands I have tried. Even though it is marked as a 160/60, it is about 1/2 inch wider than other brands once it was mounted. This made installing it a bit more difficult, and the tire profile was much flatter than others.

[Jim Moore]

3 hours ago, Michaelr11 said:

I don’t know where they are getting sourced from, but recently I have seen and bought the Michelin PR3 rear tire in the 160/60-18 size.

Same here. it actually came from out of the country. I was starting to think I had gotten scammed.

[King Herald]

I have used 8 sets of Bridgestone Battlax 023 on my 1100r, which has different size wheels to your bike I think, though they come in various sizes.
 

They last around 8000 miles, front and back, but I don’t ride hard enough to really comment on the handling in the twisty bits. They do their job, for me. 

I swapped to Dunlop Roadsmart 4’s earlier this year, having heard they are a longer lasting tyre. Well, they cost 50% more than the Battlax and didn’t last more than 6000 miles or so. They’ve now been replaced with Battlax again. 

[SDCRJohn]

2 hours ago, King Herald said:

I have used 8 sets of Bridgestone Battlax 023 on my 1100r, which has different size wheels to your bike I think, though they come in various sizes.
 

They last around 8000 miles, front and back, but I don’t ride hard enough to really comment on the handling in the twisty bits. They do their job, for me. 

I swapped to Dunlop Roadsmart 4’s earlier this year, having heard they are a longer lasting tyre. Well, they cost 50% more than the Battlax and didn’t last more than 6000 miles or so. They’ve now been replaced with Battlax again. 

What size are the wheels on the R1100 R, and what size tires have you used?

 

thanks for the tip about the Dunlap Roadsmart. I was considering this, but will instead try the Battleaxe.

[dirtrider]

31 minutes ago, SDCRJohn said:

What size are the wheels on the R1100 R, and what size tires have you used?

Morning  SDCRJohn

 

Depends on, if the 1100R has alloy wheels or spoke wheels. So you also need to define that when talking about rear wheel size  & rear tire size. 

[King Herald]

5 hours ago, SDCRJohn said:

What size are the wheels on the R1100 R, and what size tires have you used?

 

thanks for the tip about the Dunlap Roadsmart. I was considering this, but will instead try the Battleaxe.

Rear is 160/60/18 and front is 120/70/17, cast wheels. 

[SDCRJohn]

33 minutes ago, King Herald said:

Rear is 160/60/18 and front is 120/70/17, cast wheels. 

Thanks.

so, same as the RS and RT models.

[Brodiepunker18]

It really depends on what you want and need. My RT has spoked wheels which are a completely different animal(17 rear and 18 front)—I have more options but availability is the key.

 

I personally like continental tires but they weren’t available this year when I needed tires so I got pirellis. I’ll see how they go. I didn’t like the metzeler and Michelins that were on the bike when I got it.

 

once you find what you like for how you ride and expected longevity or lackthereof…then keep buying those—or don’t, if you don’t like a specific tire that you try.

[dmsantam]

On the RT, I really like the Pirelli angel GT. I do high speed road touring with lots of twisties in all weather except below freezing. 

[Bistro]

It's getting harder to find matched front/rear rubber as the 18" rear is hard to find. I've had luck recently with https://www.americanmototire.com/ - got Metzlers.