V-Strom rear tire life

[bogfro]

Just wanted to check and see how many miles you Strommers are getting out of your rear tire.  So far my Strom is eating rear tires for lunch.  5500 out of the first Trailwing.  And I've got 4000 on my new Pilot Road, and it looks like I'll be lucky to make it to 5000 before needing yet another one.

[Sport-Touring]

[AZstrom]

Tell me about it..... This friggen bike just blows though rear tires.. My new Trailwing is already toast at 5300 miles.. As were the last 6 rears.......

[DavidLSI]

I have always gotten 11 - 12K on the rear and about twice that on the front.  I must not be very hard on them.  The worst I had was on a Dunlop that I only got about 9K on.

[AZstrom]

 :headscratch:No kidding... Just turned over 29000 miles today and it is on its 5th rear and 3rd front... Am thinking of running pure street tires next go around to try and get some more mileage.

[Canuck]

When I had my V-Strom, I got around 8000 miles on the rear. I used Metzeler Tourances, but even the stock Trailwing did about 8000 miles. The Bandit 1250 I have now only gets about 4000-5000 miles on the rear so far.

[Scoop]

Well, I found that the trailwings sucked.  I have been using Avons, and like them, but not much off road at all.
On the other hand, my latest Avon only has about 4000 km on it and it's done.  Of course, that may have something to do with the nail I picked up
And, I had to do 200 miles on a plug today, hopefully I can find a replacement in Page AZ !

[Zerosum]

That's odd... I have 5200 miles on my Strom, and the stock Trailwing is doing fine.  Yeah, it's showing some wear, but I've got plenty of tread left...    I'm guessing I'll make it to at least 8000 before I need to start thinking about replacing it.

I do check the tire pressure at least once a week.  It's never more than 1lb low on any of my bikes.

People bash this tire a lot, but it hasn't let me down.  A few times I've hit some gravel or sand mid turn, had the bike go squirley on me for a moment, and the Trailwings hooked back up with the pavement.  In terms of my experience (and not what I've read on the internet) I have no complaints about them.

I am toying with the idea of going with a purely "street" tire when the time comes.  I hardly ever ride this thing off-road, and when I do, it's dirt/gravel roads... nothing a street tire can't handle.  This bike's "off-road assets" are its 19" front wheel and it's suspension travel, not so much the tires.

[bogfro]

Hmm... weird about the big differences in tire life.  I've got maybe 1 mm left to the tread wear indicators on my Pilot Road rear, and it's only got 4000 miles on it.  The rear Trailwing had 5500 and was all the way down to the indicators.

I don't really think I accelerate hard, and I always keep the tires at or above recommended pressure........so I don't know why I'm chewing them up so fast.  On the other hand, the front tire is showing significantly less wear....at this rate I'll probably replace the rear 3 times before the front needs it.

As far as street tires goes......I highly recommend the Pilot Road's.  Other than my rear tire wear issue, they handle and stick SOOO much better than the Trailwings, stick GREAT in the rain, and can do light duty dirt and gravel just as well as the Trailwings.

I wonder how much geographic location has to do with tire life.  Things like what the asphalt is made out of, etc......  I think I heard somewhere that Pennsylvania is really hard on tires.

That's odd... I have 5200 miles on my Strom, and the stock Trailwing is doing fine.  Yeah, it's showing some wear, but I've got plenty of tread left...    I'm guessing I'll make it to at least 8000 before I need to start thinking about replacing it.

I do check the tire pressure at least once a week.  It's never more than 1lb low on any of my bikes.

People bash this tire a lot, but it hasn't let me down.  A few times I've hit some gravel or sand mid turn, had the bike go squirley on me for a moment, and the Trailwings hooked back up with the pavement.  In terms of my experience (and not what I've read on the internet) I have no complaints about them.

I am toying with the idea of going with a purely "street" tire when the time comes.  I hardly ever ride this thing off-road, and when I do, it's dirt/gravel roads... nothing a street tire can't handle.  This bike's "off-road assets" are its 19" front wheel and it's suspension travel, not so much the tires.

[Zerosum]

I wonder how much geographic location has to do with tire life.  Things like what the asphalt is made out of, etc......  I think I heard somewhere that Pennsylvania is really hard on tires.

Yeah, that's true. Most of the roads in PA have the texture of a grinding wheel. It's amusing when you cross from MD into PA... the difference is night and day     MD has among the best-paved roads in the country (we sure as hell pay for it!), so that might be part of why my tires are lasting.

Another thing might be weight... if you're a big guy, I could see that wearing down a tire more quickly.  (No offense... )  I'm no feather, though... I weigh in at around 190.

[bogfro]

Another thing might be weight... if you're a big guy, I could see that wearing down a tire more quickly.  (No offense... )  

Sorry to disappoint, but I weigh a mere 172.  
Maybe the road texture really is the culprit here.......

[Scoop]

I had to put a 150/80 17 on the back, as that was the only choice in Pages AZ.  Makes the bike taller and changes the gearing.  Hope that this one doesn't last too long  

[SWriverstone]

Yeah, everyone DEFINITELY needs to post their weight (and whether you ever ride 2-up). That...and "throttle hand habits"...make a BIG difference in tire wear. I weigh about 220lbs and am a fairly mellow rider...and I've been getting around 6K out of my rear tires.

I've only gotten around 6K out of *any* tire on *any* bike I've ever owned...but then again, I hate square tires...so when they get squared-off, I get rid of 'em (even if they still have decent tread left). No way I'm gonna rode a tire down to the cords!  

Scott

[Cablebandit]

I agree PA is HARD on tires.  We have tons of tar and chip roads that are like 40 grit sandpaper.  Great for traction but it does chew up tires.  We also have lots of concrete roads that are just as abrasive.

I got about 9000 out of my stock rear Trailwing and should have changed it about 1000 miles earlier.  I'm only getting about 5-6000 out of the rear Tourance EXP's

Rob, I thought the stock Trailwings were fine also until I switched them out for the Tourance EXP's.  It was a night and day difference, especially in the wet.

I think I'm going to try the Continental Trail Attack next.  It starts with a deeper tread than the Tourance and gets good reviews on the Vstrom forums.

Stats:
180# + ATGATT
topcase and caribou sidebags on 90% of the time
riding style: moderate, with occasional aggressive outbursts  

[keppyou812]

Stats:
180# + ATGATT
topcase and caribou sidebags on 90% of the time
riding style: moderate, with occasional aggressive outbursts  

Hooligan!!!  

[Cablebandit]

NO!

You see the sidebags cancel out the hooligan status.  It throws off the fuzz too!  

[Skee]

Yeah, everyone DEFINITELY needs to post their weight (and whether you ever ride 2-up). That...and "throttle hand habits"...make a BIG difference in tire wear. I weigh about 220lbs and am a fairly mellow rider...and I've been getting around 6K out of my rear tires.

6k is about what I'm getting out of the stock TWs, I'm ready for a new rear.  Thinking Conti TAs.

Of course, the front's not showing much wear at all yet.

And I must weigh every bit of 2 lbs. less than Scott.

But my rear is only worn around the edges.  NOT

[BlueRidgeKat]

I have always gotten 11 - 12K on the rear and about twice that on the front.

I changed both front and rear at 11K. Probably should have changed the rear at 10k.

[bogfro]

Holy crap!  I must be doing something wrong...... that tire made it to 4500 and was completely down to the wear bars.  Then it got a piece of metal in it, and it's now completely shot.

I changed both front and rear at 11K. Probably should have changed the rear at 10k.

[The Shepherd]

DL1000, Metzeler Tourance at 19500km.

[JIMLARCH]

DL1000, Metzeler Tourance at 19500km.

You got some decent mileage out of that tire.  What I can't understand is how you can have so much tread left close to the centre of the tire where the cords are showing.  The tire doesn't look very squared off in the photo.