Read tire life

[twangin4u]

Read tire. Those of you who have gone through some rest tires in your day... What's the average life expectancy? I know their are variables, but I'm curious

[Bill_Rockoff]

If we're talking about rear tires, the shortest I've had a bias-ply tire last is 3,500 miles, which was the stock OEM tires.  Twice.  (2 different bikes.)  These were terrible tires.

I was getting about 5,000 miles out of Metzler ME-99 or ME-55 tires.   These were really good tires, for bias-ply in OEM sizes.

I had a Bridgestone S-11 rear tire that lasted over 9,000 miles once, but every inch of it sucked.  That is the only tire I've ever had that 1) stepped out while accelerating in a corner 2) spun on dry pavement while accelerating in a straight line  3) spun while accelerating in 5th gear on a rainy highway. 

Metzler sport-touring radials generally lasted 6,000 miles or more, but it's getting harder to find those in sizes that will fit the 16" rear FJ wheels.  Avons seem to be the go-to tires for FJ sizes.

Just more data points, hope it helps.

[simi_ed]

I remember the OEM Dunlop on the FJ (IIRC?, it's been 26 years!) made it 2200 miles.  Flat in the middle, worn on the edges.  Done!
The Continental Conti Road Attack 2 on my KTM SMT only made 2950.  Hmmmm, I see a pattern here ...
OTOH, I've also had Michelin Pilot Road 2 go about 6K on the FJ.

Ed

[FJmonkey]

I get about 3K on the rear and about twice that on the front. Continental Motions, really good price, not the best wear but they stick well enough for me on both wet and dry. Not that we get much rain here in SoCal. But it did rain and hail on me yesterday when I tried to sneak out for a quick run up the Crest to Newcomb's Ranch.

[Flynt]

I know their are variables, but I'm curious

Same bike comparisons are your friend on this one...  FJs are not all the same and neither are the riders.

I'm in the sporty end of the curve and have used Avons, Dunlop, and Michelins mainly.  Other experiences with Metzler and Bridgestone have not left me happy.  The Bridgestone experience was with a set of older tires mounted on some wheels I bought.  They were OK date wise, but felt like they had too many heat cycles and were quite hard as a result.  Launched them immediately due to no traction and constant staining of my shorts.

I ran the Q2/Q3 Dunlops for 15K at least and absolutely love the progressive feedback and confidence they inspire, but they last 3K maximum on the rear of Wizard.  They do wear quite evenly.  Front would go 4.5K, but would start to triangulate...  I just swapped both.  Since the most recent Wiz rebuild I'm at ~2,650 miles and the Michelin Pilot Sport 3s Randy put on look pretty much new...  They are not quite the telepathic Dunlops, but they are also a fine tire with nice feel and confidence inspiring traction limits. 

For tires that fit 16" stock wheels, I have had limited but great experience with the Avons...  Stock bike they should go 4K+ I'd think and they have nice traction and very progressive behavior at the limit.  They're also not cheap...  The Metzlers I had were the newer LaserTecs and they were terrible for me.  Slipped in almost every corner exit and sometimes just when accelerating hard straight...  The rear also burned away in 2K miles. 

Frank