mitzler z8

[mwood7800]

anyone tried the z8 on there RT

[dirtrider]

Afternoon mwood7800

 

I presume you mean Metzler Z-8.

 

You will probably get mixed feedback of the Z-8 tire on the BMW RT.

 

Some love them & some hate them. I haven't run the Z-8 on anything but the 1200RT but FOR MY RIDING STYLE, on the ROADS I PERSONALLY RIDE ON they are the best tire I have run on that bike.

 

The tire that most riders like-- the PR-2 or PR-3 don't wear good for my riding style & definitely don't handle as good after a few thousand miles for me personally.

 

Everybody is different in how they use a motorcycle tire, what they expect from a motorcycle tire, & how a certain tire brand/type holds up for their riding style & road surfaces.

 

My best suggestion is to buy what sounds good to you then see how it works FOR YOU ON YOUR BIKE. If it doesn't work out then try a different brand next tire. It shouldn't take long to find a tire that works for you on your bike on the roads that YOU ride.

 

[bikebits]

My dealer thinks so highly of Z8s it's the only RT tire he keeps in stock.

 

The best compliment you can pay any tires is that they work so well you don't think about them at all. That's the case with the Z8.

[CVA-42]

I put Z8's on my 1200RT last year. I had narrowed it down to Z8's or PR3's. You will find advocates for each of these as well as other brands in many discussions. But I've always been a Metzeler guy -- never had a set (bias or radial) that I didn't like in the rain, in the twisties, or on the sweepers. All have gotten good or excellent mileage. I may yet try the PR3's but I love the Z8's. Just an outstanding tire.

[Dave_in_TX]

Afternoon mwood7800

 

I presume you mean Metzler Z-8.

 

You will probably get mixed feedback of the Z-8 tire on the BMW RT.

 

Some love them & some hate them. I haven't run the Z-8 on anything but the 1200RT but FOR MY RIDING STYLE, on the ROADS I PERSONALLY RIDE ON they are the best tire I have run on that bike.

 

The tire that most riders like-- the PR-2 or PR-3 don't wear good for my riding style & definitely don't handle as good after a few thousand miles for me personally.

 

Everybody is different in how they use a motorcycle tire, what they expect from a motorcycle tire, & how a certain tire brand/type holds up for their riding style & road surfaces.

 

My best suggestion is to buy what sounds good to you then see how it works FOR YOU ON YOUR BIKE. If it doesn't work out then try a different brand next tire. It shouldn't take long to find a tire that works for you on your bike on the roads that YOU ride.

 

DR, are you saying that in your situation, the Z8 provides more mileage than a PR2 or PR3?

[dirtrider]

Afternoon Dave

 

Yes, but that really isn't saying much as high tire mileage is not one of my strong suits.

 

Also, to be fair I have only tried one set of PR-3's & probably won't try another as long as Z-8's are available to me.

 

[CVA-42]

D.R. - - You say that you favor the Z8 for your riding style and the roads that you ride. How would you describe those two things and what is it about the Z8 that makes it a good tire for you? Just trying to compare notes. As I've said, I love the Z8's myself.

[dirtrider]

Afternoon CVA-42

 

The roads I ride are a mixture of concrete, rough tar & stone back roads, & repaired repairs over last years repaired repairs. Some of the roads have a lot of crown.

 

As for riding style (or some say lack there of) I ride fast, am a late apex rider so ride in hard & fast, then brake HARD right up to layover & throttle out. For the most part I turn in fairly late rather than early (makes passing on the up-&-out much easier) that lays the bike over farther but for a shorter period.

If they give me 2" of pavement outside the fog line I will use it.

 

Unfortunately I'm not a lazy laid back rider so ride pretty hard even when riding to work or just out cruising.

 

Freeway riding is usually in the upper 80's to mid-upper 90's & very slow & smooth deliberate lane changes but usually lots of them.

 

I get very even tire wear just not real good tire life. Probably the even wear is more due to squared low speed corners (I don't cheat & cut L/H corners).

 

[CVA-42]

D.R. - - Yeah, I hear you. Most of our riding is in the mountains where a lot of the roads are chip-sealed, some not in the greatest condition. We may start out saying "let's just take a nice ride up to so-and-so for lunch and take it easy" but it never happens that way and we wind up riding pretty hard, charging the corners, braking late, powering through the sweepers. I've been very satisfied with the Z8's - - not sure why, technically. Maybe the absence of dual compound rubber and the way Metzeler goes about their tire construction which I've read about but don't completely understand.

[macx]

I'm not a hard charger, more moderate but still "spirited".

 

Best of 4 sets I had were the Z6 Interacts - very stable,best tire life at near 12k. After a set of PR3's that wore very quickly and unevenly, I tried the Z8s. Mostly a rougher surface road, but only about 8.5 k, with quite uneven wear early, esp in the area of the longitudinal grooves near the center. No more Z6 Interacts that I could find, so went with the non-Int Z6's that seem to be flat topping on the rear pretty early but otherwise even wear. We'll see.

[CVA-42]

Z6 Interacts are great tires, no doubt about it. I ran Z6 and then Z6 Interacts on my 1150RT for years. Haven't had the Z8's on my 1200RT long enough to compare mileage but I believe they're a better performer than the Z6's although, really, I'm sure I never rode the Z6's to their limits. I sold my 1150 last year with about 4K on the Interacts. The buyer flew in here and I picked him up at the airport. Back in my garage, we completed the paperwork, etc., and he suited up and immediately took off for Key West which is quite a hike from north Georgia. After touring around south Florida for awhile he returned to his home in Mississippi. After changing the oil, he then took off for California. After riding around on the coast out there for a few days, he started for home. He called me from somewhere in Arizona to tell me that his tires, especially the rear, were looking a little "worn". Turns out, he rode more than 8K miles after leaving my house, so he got well over 12K miles out of the Interacts. He asked me what he could have done to get more. I told him he done good.