Best Tire for a Norge

[Bluntly]

Sorry to barge in here like this, i did try and search this... But found nothing.

My son's Norge 850 needs a new rear tire, the OEM was the Metzeler Z6 Roadtec, which being a fan of Metzeler I'd normally tell him to renew...However it's scrubbed after only 6500km (4050miles) which is not good! :evil:

He bought the bike at 2800km and has done very little highway riding, most of it being mountain twistys, I've done almost exactly the same mileage on the same roads at the same speeds (spirited ) on my Stelvio's OEM Tourances, some of it with a pillion which my son never has, and they'll make the 11000+km I expect.
One explanation could be the previous owner never bothered to check pressures, but bearing in mind the low mileage; Could that result in such fast wear?

Anyway, he needs a new rear tire and the choices locally are:

Roadtec Z6
Roadtec Z6 Interact
Pirelli Angels.

Any experienced advice would be appreciated!

 

[jdgretz]

I have not used the tires you have listed other than the stock Z6, but I can tell you that my Norge 1200 really likes the Dunlop RoadSmarts, so when you get ready to change them both, that would be my suggestion. Until then, I'd probably stay with the Z6 (although I changed out both when my original back looked like it needed changing, even though the front was still good - I hate not having tread in the center of the tire). What I would not do is put the Pirelli on the back with a Metzler on the front.
jdg

 

[draidt]

I am having very good service from my Dunlop Roadsmarts on my Norge 1200 a little over 5000 miles they look like they will go another 3 K easy.

Great dry and wet performance very confidence inspiring in the twisties

 

[Brevabrabo]

I replaced my Michelin Pilot Road after 14000 km last year for Michelin Pilot Road II . The first ones didn't really need to be replaced, but I did it because I went to Norway for my holiday. I knew it would be a lot of "Autobahn" riding and the roadsurface is pretty rough in Norway. I also wanted to ride unpaved roads. After 6000 km the new ones are still good for another 10-12000 km I guess. So I can recommend Michelin Pilot Road II. (dual compound).

Ciao Dolf.

 

[guzzibob]

Here's another vote for Michelin Pilot Road II's. A caveat, though. My Norge gets more long distance than canyon scratching. Still, when I do hit the canyon's I have had no complaints with the Michelins in that environment. My Norge came with the Metzler Z6. Front lasted 9300 miles, & I have no complaint with it. Rear lasted 5600-and I will never use another Z6 rear again. Reason is lack of center tread, hence lack of wear bands in the center. Therefore when used primarily for touring, impossible to tell that you are running out of tread until the cord starts showing through. That happened to me a long way from home, & I was lucky to came across a suitable replacement right away, as there was no leeway to go running around looking for one. have heard similar complaints from others. I had no problem about mixing the Metzler front with other similar premium tires for the almost 4000 miles it outlasted the Z6 rear. I've been doing that for 40 years and several hundred thousand miles and NEVER felt that was any kind of problem.

After the Meztlers, had Dunlop Roadsmarts, which were decent enough & lasted approx 6500, front and rear. Had no complaints, but on recomendation of several other Norge riders went to the Pilot II's. So far have 5000 miles on each, with plenty of tread remaining. Looks to me like they will outlast the Roadsmarts on both ends, maybe more so on the rear. In terms of corner stick seems similar to the other two. So for me it's definitely the Pilot II's on the rear, and either those or Z6's on the front depending on how long it turns out the Pilot II front lasts.

Don't see why you care about what is available right now on the spot. Anything can be had in a very few days internet/mail order, or the local guy should be able to get anything from his supplier just as quickly if you want to be loyal to him.

 

[Zapa]

I'm currently on my second set of Pilot Road 2s and they are excellent rubber. Nice grip, nice mileage.

I'm surprised the harder Z6 didn't last more than 6,500Km though...

 

[GTM®]

Blunty, same size as the 1200 Norge? 180/55-17? Tire threads are a "slippery" slope (pun intended). Of the choices you mention, I don't know the difference(s) between the Z6 and Z6 interact. IMO, PIrelli's are not well designed for heavier bikes like Guzzis. Roadsmarts get the nod. My Norge had newer Michelin PR II's when it arrived, so I'll see how they fair.

 

[Bluntly]

Thanks to all for the feedback, as the front seems pretty good my son son has decided to get a Z6 interact now but switch to either the Dunlops or Michelins on the next full swap. He'll skip the Pirelli's

 

[baloches]

I'm extremely happy with the Pilot Road 2's. Don't have any mileage numbers,but they last very long compared to the OEM Metzelers, with excellent grip, no matter the weather.

 

[Cat City Rider]

My vote is for the Road Smarts. Don't know about the Pilot Roads. The Z6's as Bob stated, give no warning other than looking kinda flat in the center. It can go from maybe to dangerous in no time.

 

[Bluntly]

.. I don't know the difference(s) between the Z6 and Z6 interact.

The Blurb...

The successor of Roadtec Z6, able thanks to the revolutionary INTERACT™ technology to offer the best performance answering the new needs of the modern sport touring riders.
New INTERACT™ technology guarantees a progressive and intelligent pressure distribution all along the profile ensuring performance exactly where needed for high adaptability to different riding styles
Flexibility of usage thanks to new highly efficient compound mixing technology designed to give maximum stability in all riding conditions
Increased silica / carbon balck ratio improves total wet behaviour for maximum confidence in every weather condition

Interact Z6...

Z6...

That's progress :?:

One good point is that my son got the Interact and fitted at below the retail price of the Z6...Which tells me they aren't flying off the racks :roll:

...same size as the 1200 Norge? 180/55-17?...

Yes BTW; The 850 seems exactly the same as the 1200 apart from the engine and not having ABS or a centre stand, which is on order.

 

[azccj]

I currently have over 25k miles on my Norge. I liked the original Z6 rear having got over 10K miles before seeing the built in wear indicators, the steel belts. So I put on another rear Z6 and replaced it at about 9.5K not wanting to see the steel belts again. My only gripe with the Z6 is it's lack of a proper wear indicator or center groove to let you know the tire is worn out. For the third rear I went with the Pilot Road 2 which now has 5.5K miles on it and still looks new without any sign of squaring yet. As for the Z6 front, I have no complaints having got 14K miles out of the original and the current one has over 11K miles and it still looks good. The front Z6 has a center groove so you know when its toast. In about 3K miles when my current front Z6 needs replacement, I'm going to try the Pilot Road 2 front and see what kind of mileage I can get out of it.

As most of my miles are freeway touring miles, I want a tire that last a long time and if the PR2 rear will last more than 10K+ miles then I will be happy.

 

[alfaguzzi]

The Metzeler Z6 Interact are completly new inside but looks like the old ones on the outside.
They have better performance but the same wear. As you can see on the picture I have great grip even on the whitelines of the Isle of Man TT course ...

 

[blackcat]

I am almost finished with my third set of Roadsmarts but the best I can get out of these tires is 5,500 miles. Like the tire but just wish it would last a bit longer.