Rear Tires

[Biff's R]

I have been using the Pilot Roads for the last 2 sets of tires. They seemed to wear more evenly than anything else that I have used. No cupping in over 8500 miles, and they felt great in the rain.

[chris]

I've had the Z6 for a few months now and found them to be excellent. Grippy wet or dry and no cupping after 3000 miles.

[socalrob]

Ranmar posted

There have been a lot of queries the last couple of years about how to tell when the no-centre-tread Z6 is worn-someone posted a link on another board-it's quite simple. Look at your sidewall-you will see the letters "TWI" Look inboard this mark at the tread, right up towards the centre end, and you will see a wear bar crossing the tread, just like on a conventional centre tread. This is your Tyre Wear Indicator Believe it.

I knew this, was watching my Z6's like a hawk, & the first sign of problems was when I saw a bit of the center of the rear tire looked a little "scuffed" up, like a race tire melted from heat. Down inside a craze I could see a tiny bright bit of steel.

I called for an appointment for new tires. I rode the bike to work for the week, looking at it very carefully. 100 miles later I had steel cord showing on maybe 20 percent of the tire diameter. I rode the 25 miles to the dealer & had steel cord showing all the way around. The tread wear indicators were still fine, BTW.

So just be aware that you have only about 150 miles or less from the first sign of anything to riding on steel.

I liked the Z6s, but have replaced them with Pilot Roads just to have a tread pattern across the middle. I also have been getting the pegs down now & then on the Pilot Roads.

I got 5,500 miles out of the Z6's, & 8,500 miles out of the Pilot Roads.

[chris]

I liked the Z6s, but have replaced them with Pilot Roads just to have a tread pattern across the middle. I also have been getting the pegs down now & then on the Pilot Roads.

I got 5,500 miles out of the Z6's, & 8,500 miles out of the Pilot Roads.

Like the sound of that!

[ranmar850]

Here on the mid-west coast of WA we are cursed with a lot of rather straight roads. Hence the tyres tend to wear on the centre and square off. The first two rears (207 and Z6) both actually went concave in the centre prior to going completely. Thinking about this led me to the conclusion that the natural growth in diameter of the tyre at high speeds causes wear in the very centre-when the bike is stopped, it retracts to a concavity. I'm talking about sustained back-road speeds of 130-150km on abrasive aggregate surfaced bitumen. Anyone care to comment?

[R4R&R]

Yes, the only 'problem' with the Z6's are telling when the center of the tire is getting worn out. You have to keep an eye on it, and with a close look, you can tell when it's going before the threads show through.