Original tyre life?

[Oop North John]

What sort of tyre life have owners being getting out of the original tyres, and if you've replaced them, what with?

I' know some will get 10 000 miles from the tyres and 90 mpg out of their bike, while others have the tyres gone after 4000 miles and only get 85mpg    I'm thinking of the TKC70 as we live in an area where the farmers consider it a requirement to spread the soil from their fields onto the roads all year round    but would like decent mileage out of the tyre as well.

[Laava]

My shop bloke warned me about my front when I replaced the rear at about 9500km. Told me it was on the edge. Now he has changed it at 14000km and it still has about one mm to go to the TWI's. I asked him if he remembered warning me about it and he was abit surprised. Have put Tourance Next on which is more road orientated. Plus it is more fun sliding through the farmers road coverings! Yes, they do that here as well.

[SimonW]

My V has done about 4.5k and the rear squared off about 1k ago, although it still has plenty of tread left. Not sure what to replace it with when the time comes.

[bosnjo]

When I had my Glee, I replaced original rear tyre at 8.000 km's. It still had something like 2.000 km's to go, but I wanted Michelin PR4, so I changed it. Bike traded in after 500 km's for Vee2, but both front and rear were put from traded Glee to new Vee2. Both front and rear were (and are) Michelin PR4. The dealer was hapy as he was left with my traded Glee with new OEM tyres removed from new Vee2. I ride only tarmac, so PR4 is exceptional tyre for that, dry or wet road.
Just to clarify why I had PR4 at the front:
I got my Glee 2nd hand and quickly found out that original front tyre had some problems. It looked like a new but if you look closer, it was full of tiny cracks both on side walls and tread. Must have been replaced at the dealer I got the Glee from, before I purchased it.
Now I have 5.000 km's on the rear one and 11.000 on the front one and both look like new.
And again, I never go off road but I don't baby my bike on twisties either.

[Oop North John]

Scottish roads must be hard on the Trailwings as I reckoned they'd be doing less miles than you've been getting on your litre bikes. I don't expect to do any planned "off road" riding, but the amount of sh1t the farmers dump onto the roads around here, having something with a bit of agressive tread might be helpful I think. Plus we're planning on going to Buckinghamshire this year, and then Morocco next year where the roads are allegedly better than the Bucks ones, so having a dual purpose tyre will probably be helpful.

[V-Strom3]

I seem to get 10k ish out of the rear and 20k ish out if the front.
I also have changed from the trailwing to the battlewing which is a lot better even though same make.

[kirky1298]

12500 mls out of my tyres (Anakee 2s) including 3 euro runs from Scotland fully laden . Still around 3000 mls left on them .
Best tyres ever.  

[fear_factory84]

my stock bridgestone bw have 17k km and tyre depth is still good.
I don't stress too much my Tyres...
I think that I'll wait some more thousand kms before changing them..
I had those tyres also on my old DL650 for two times and they are lasting in a similar way. Maybe rear tyre is less squared because on DL1000 pressure is higher..

[Oop North John]

Just measured the tread depth on the Battlewings and here says the depth is 5mm for the front and 9mm for the rear:

http://www.intobikes.co.uk/promotions/b ... bw502-tyre

my tyres with about 1000 miles on them are down to 4mm and 6mm  

Must have extra grippy roads up here, or the 5 / 9mm information is incorrect.

[Mr Nick]

It must be the East coast air eats Bridgestone rubber or something as my originals came off at 2k and they were noticably more worn than the replacement Anakee2s were 5k later.

[Oop North John]

Anakee 3's are high on the list of possibilities, especially as they're on offer:

http://www.morebikes.co.uk/fancy-35-off ... lin-tyres/

I've read that Bridgestone tread depth is greater than other makes, but wear a lot more quickly, so you get the same miles out of them. At the moment I don't think they'd last the 2 000 miles of summer holiday trip to Montengro based on the current usage.

[Downunder]

7,500 miles so far on the Battlewings on my Vee2. All solo riding, mostly on country roads at 50 to 75 mph. Probably have another 500 miles left on the rear and 2,000 + miles on the front.

[stevecro]

One year old today, 14,500kms (9,000 miles) on original Bridgestones so far. Will get just over 10,000 miles, maybe 11,000.
1,000 miles was 2 up and luggage, the balance included a trip to central Australia of flat road running which squared them off a bit.
Fuel consumption 21.3km/litre lifetime average (60mpg)

[Witches70]

I have had my DL1000 for 6months now and covered 4500 miles , now going for its second service  

Still on original bridge stones and they look like they have done nothing. Not sure how long they will last.

But a lot depends on how mad you ride,  I read an article in Ride magazine when they were test riding the DL1000 they slated the original tyres and got through them under 4000 miles and they fitted Michelin Pilot 4 tyres .

So it all depends on how you ride , so as far as I can see for me I will at least get the same millage again out of my tyres " so well pleased"

witches70 )

[Oop North John]

I usually get at least 50mpg so wouldn't say I was heavy on the throttle. Maybe some tyres are from a batch that wears quicker than others?

[Blade]

Approaching 5000 on mine now and the battle wings are still looking good. I,d expect another 2000 from the rear and probably double that from the front. Most of my riding is the peak district or the Yorkshire dales and they,ve done a track day at Cadwell so no complaints from me. When it's time to change I'm going for road attack 2 evo,s but only because I like the tread pattern

[mr_diver]

the Trailwings on the Wee lasted 6k miles.

The rear was very square, the front was badly cupped and loads of little cracks between the blocks. The front felt disconnected from the rest of the bike and rear stepped out with the slightest throttle. (I bought the bike @4,401 miles) I put Pilot Road 1's on then (end of 2010)

I'd highly recommend Anakee 2's. Had 3 sets of them and used to get 8-9k from a rear and change the front every other rear. Another 1-2k would have been had from the front, but It made sense to change the pair.
They are very suited to road riding where you can end up on a fairly rough road or patch of gravel or farm mud.

I've gone for Heidenau K60's now. They are a fair bit more aggressive than the Anakee 2's or TKC 70's. Lifespan is about the same as the Anakee 2's, but they start off with far more tread depth.
I've taken the Strom 2up on some light trails and the things gripped well. If a little noisy on tarmac.

I've still the original trailwing front on the VaraBeast and replacement Battlewing on the rear. I can't wait to get the K60's fitted. 11k miles and the front is toasted- Cracked, cupped and like riding with wooden tyres. I can honestly say the Battlewing has a better profile and better road manners than the TrailWing but they are still shiyt and slide under moderate throttle even on warm dry roads. I have no confidence in the corners with a big heavy bike with 100bhp with the WoodWings fitted.

Anakee 2's are a very very good compromise touring tyre with a little off road ability.

[Oop North John]

Just back from a trip down to Fort William, and with 1700 miles on the clock the rear has 5mm depth now. Admittedly the last 550 miles were two up with full luggage, but the roads weren't baking hot, more like this:  

[stevecro]

One year old today, 14,500kms (9,000 miles) on original Bridgestones so far. Will get just over 10,000 miles, maybe 11,000.
1,000 miles was 2 up and luggage, the balance included a trip to central Australia of flat road running which squared them off a bit.
Fuel consumption 21.3km/litre lifetime average (60mpg)

10,250 miles on originals now and will change them before my next central Australia trip in 7 weeks time. Will just see 11,000 miles but the thing I'm really happy about is for first time on a big bike my front and rear have expired together - that's very convenient.
Feels like a win. Next tyres ...

Conti TKC80?   or
Pirelli Scorpion Rally?  or
Heidenau Scout K60?      
....... I've no idea at this stage