Tire Profiles: How do you know when it’s OK to mix?

[pearsonm]

Bridgestone 010/020 and Dunlop 208/220 combos don’t last and Metzler M1/Z6 combos feel funny. I’m tired of guessing. What information do you need to analyze tire profiles and where do you go to get it?

[MarcS]

You think M1/Z6 combos feel funny? Interesting, as lots of folks run that and I was thinking of switching myself.


Tire profiles aren't mix-and-match. I'd say there's no scientific way to do it other than to run matching sets. I definately wouldn't mix-and-match from different manufacturers, as differing belt designs and compound interactions could be unsafe. The same could be said of different lines from one manufacturer...

[pearsonm]

The one M1/Z6 I had was actually a new rear with an old front, so the front's profile may have been a problem but it was never an issue with all the 208/220's I've run thru the years, which leads into another related topic - is it better to stick with the same design but go thru two rears for every front or mix a soft front with a hard rear?
 
Again, I'm tired of guessing. There has to be a way to determine if two profiles are compatible.

[pushrod]

I'm no expert, but am running a Mich. Pilot Power rear w/ the oem BT014 front on a big Gix. Its worked very well, though my skills - compared to the bike would not be a worthy test. I'm loving that Pilot Power - already 1/3 more miles than the OEM  BT14, and not quite at half tread depth yet. I expect to get at least 7K out of the rear. That makes me a happy camper.

[GilaMonster]

I have Z6's on both my K12GT and my Multistrada.  They are reasonably sticky, predictable, and wear well (10K on the last set).

[Lawn Dart]

Personally I just don't see the value in mixing tires profiles.  Some people do and claim great luck out of such combo's as the PP front / PR rear, or an M1/3 front / Z6 rear.  IMO, tire profiles are made to work together and changing the profiles may well change the handling.  
 
I once had mounted a Pilot Sport front and a Pilot Road rear - the two profiles were so dramatically different that I found the bike at the time (ZX11) was very unstable - and only got scarier and scarier as the miles wore on.
 
Personally, I don't have any issue "wasting" 25% remaining life by disposing of a Front tire just a little early.  I'd much rather have matched front/rear tires than unmatched and questionable ones.
 
YMMV.

[Busy Little Whiner]

Bridgestone 010/020 and Dunlop 208/220 combos don’t last and Metzler M1/Z6 combos feel funny. I’m tired of guessing. What information do you need to analyze tire profiles and where do you go to get it?

You may mix and match brands so long as the profiles are the same... round profile front gives the best feel when matched with a round profile rear... same goes for tires with more a pointy profile... use your eye to establish round versus pointy...

U = round
V = pointy

[Thor]

I have found that mixing and matching tires works fine as long as you don't ride very fast.

When you wind up the speed and get in situations (rough pavement, gravel) and have mismatched tires they will move and slide differently.

If you are skilled at taking a proper line through corners and are left with 1/2 to 3/4, or more, of an inch of untouched tire, you will most likely be fine.

If you like to venture out to unfamilar, rural, twisty roads, I wouldn't mix and match.  There are too many opportunities to be surprised by decreasing radius  turns, gravel, rough pavement, etc...

If you can afford it, don't mix.

Personally, I would rather wear a 3/4 helmet before I "cheaped out" on tires.  But I ride twisty roads for pleasure and seldomly commute.

[rodm850g]

Guys,
I have done this on different bikes to maximise mileage or handling depending on the bike and tires. On my TL1000 it came from Suzi with MEZ-1, for sure the rear went away first....so I put on a MEZ-4 for mileage. I got the mileage but what it had there it lost some of the handling I wanted. as far as profiles 60,65,70 aspect ratios will also effect handling, quicker turn in....and in some cases the contact patch can be larger depending on accel or decel......straight line or in a turn.....
Most mfg suggest to run same brands....on my ST  most folk say the D220 go away to quickly and the BT020 last better....my only gripe with them is
they do not like tar placed on the roadway to fill cracks.....had an event once turning to side road...hit tar strip....back end stepped out a bit and got my attention....on the antiques I manitain I usually run a bias ply tire...not the radials.... I have noticed a lack of tread on the high performance tires as well.....roughly half the amount of tread a bias ply tire has....the S21s on my old GS850 has about 10-11/32 of rubber and the ZR rated ones about 5-6....
I guess some of this is trial and error and references given by other riders....most tire mfg have pages with their recomendations of their tires
to which bike and sometimes a well worder e-mail to them will get yuo a response or a reccomendation.....I'm mostly hoping they hold air and last a few months.....
                               Rodm850g

[jschmidt]

You're unlikely to have a problem mixing within the same performance class. Even outside of that you're unlikely to have a problem if you go slow. Stick to one or the other rule and you'll almost always be fine mixing tire types and brands.

[pearsonm]

I wrote Metzeler and got the following response:
 

Hello
 
Thanks for the question. We cannot suggest mixing tire segments (sport
tires & sport touring tires) because of many reasons. For instance the
Sportec series uses different tire shapes, compounds and constructions
to meet the needs of the sport bike segment where the Roadtec Z6 series
must meet the performance needs of the sport touring segment. This
simply means mixing the two could cause handling issues and this is the
reason we have not tested and approved the segment mixing. Thanks for the
e-mail.
 
US Metzeler Moto
 
-----Original Message-----
From: m-y.pearson@prodigy.net [mailto:m-y.pearson@prodigy.net]
Sent: Tuesday, December 05, 2006 9:01 PM
To: Metzeler B2C Moto, US
Subject: From: mark pearson
 
Does Metzeler approve of combining a M1 front with a Z6 rear in order
to avoid having to go thru two rears for every one front? Specifically,
are the profiles compatible?
Thank you,
Mark

[Desmo Demon]

Here are the combos that I've run....
 
1) Pirelli Diablo front; Diablo Corsa rear
2) Diablo front; Diablo Strada rear (both wore at the same rate for me)
3) Diablo front; Metzeler ME-Z6 rear (wore at same rate)
4) Pirelli Dragon Supercorsa front; Diablo Corsa rear (wore at the same rate)
5) Dragon Evo front; Diablo rear
6) Diablo front; Diablo III rear
7) Dragon front; Dragon Evo rear
 
(Note - the Dragon and Dragon Evo were replaced by the Diablo)
 
I have never had any issues with mixing these Pirelli and Metzeler products, no matter how hard I run the bike(s). I have noticed that, with my riding, I get an even wear rate when running a sportbike tire in the front and a sport-touring tire on the rear (both wear at about 3k-3.5k miles) with my Ducati ST2.
 
The LARGEST issue I've had with any tire combination is putting a new rear on a bike with a front tire that only has about half it's life left or less. Since I typically wear my front tires out on the sides before the middle, a worn front tire has a "V" shape and a new rear has a "U" shape. At certain speeds, this causes the front to dive dramatically in a curve, and I actually have to do anti-counter-steering to hold the front into a safe position.
 
For the most part, I typically get 2000-2500 miles to a rear and 3000-3500 to a front tire, so I'm rarely changing both tires at the same time.
 
 
Edit - And, naturally, no manufacturer will EVER recommend that you mix tires. That would probably open them up to far too many lawsuits in our sue-happy society.

[1KPerDay]

I currently run a Pilot Power front and a Pilot Road rear... feels great to me.