Iron Butt Rally riders

[aviationfred]

My daughter and I went to the monthly Cassoday Bike Run this morning. We saw one bike that I have never seen before, another is the first time that I have seen in the wild. We also met and spent some time with 2 Iron Butt Rally finishers. One was an 8th place finisher and the other was a 17th place finisher.
I have never seen a Moto Guzzi Quota before and I have seen Kawasaki H2's in the dealerships, but never out on the road.

For those that are not familiar with the Iron Butt Association and their certified Mileage rides. The Iron Butt Rally is an Annual Rally that is 11 days and a minimum of 11,000 miles to be a finisher. My IBA number is 5 digits. The significance of both of the license plates are, as a IBA Rally finisher, you are given a 3 digit IBA number. I did get permission from both riders for the photos of their license plates.
Both of the Iron Butt Rally finishers have gone to the Dark Side for rear tires.


Fred

[Mike Ramos]

Howdy Fred!

Not sure why the need to run car tires...  Seems as if it cancels out any type of spirited/sport riding.  True cross country is just that; a good mix of secondary roads and the "taking the old highway" riding.

Recently changed out a set of Road 5's at 15,512 miles with perhaps more miles to go (switched to the R/S for summer) so it would seem as if the Road 5's would go the distance of the IBA Rally with miles to spare without sacrificing the safety/performance part of the equation. 

I encountered a minimum of rain so I do not know if Road 5's perform as well as the PR 4's in poor weather.  However from the high desert nighttime cold to sport riding in quite hot weather, I did run across plenty of opportunities to experience the sport side of the tires (including a FJ Rally) and they are very capable sport tires.

Ride safe,

Midget   

[Pat Conlon]

Holy smokes Mike!

Imagine 15k on a set of tires. On a FJ no less....Isn't technology wonderful?
I'm currently at 5k on my Pilot Road 5's and I have no clue when I'll need to replace them.

Do you guys remember when our rear tires would last only 3k? It doesn't seem like that long ago.

[Tuned forks]

How long did the old bias ply tires last Pat?  I'm referring to tires of the seventies and beyond.

Joe

[T Legg]

I still run old fashion bias ply tires Joe,sport demons.My tires are completely bald by 3000 miles.I have been through several sets and they are pretty consistent.They handle very well even when nearly worn out though.That probably makes them the most expensive tires you can buy for your FJ.

[Pat Conlon]

Hey Joe, just to echo what Travis said ^^

My last set of Michelin Pilot Road 4's (180/55) I got ~8400 miles out of the back tire. I thought that was incredible, but now our midnight road warrior gets 15.5k out of the new Road 5's? That's crazy...

....but not as crazy as running a car tire on your motorcycle.

[FJmonkey]

Has anyone figured out the cost per mile you are getting for your tires? factor in the cost of mount and balance (and removal from bike) if you pay others to perform it. I just paid $176.68 for a set of Conti Motions. If I replace both as a set after 4000 miles my cost is $.044 per mile. I do my own mount and balance so I have a cost advantage.  I am curious how the more costly but higher mileage tires factor. One advantage of the higher mile tire is less down time spent having to changing them. 

[aviationfred]

I have been able to do 8000 miles each on the two sets of Dunlop Roadsmart II tires. I have just purchased a set of the Metzeler RoadTec 01 tires. These are suppose to rival the Michelin PR4 for mileage and claim to be better in the rain. If I get 10,000 miles or better, I will be happy.




Fred

[T Legg]

The labor is probably more significant than the money .I put my own tires on also or I wouldn't be able to afford to ride.Ive changed tires three times since just before the last RPM rally and I can see these tires won't make it to the next one .Also put a set on the new fj and now my Honda's tires are worn out.Sport Demons work out to.093 cents per mile if you consider mounting and balancing free.

[Pat Conlon]

My previous back tire a PR4 lasted 8400 miles and cost me $208 plus $25 for mount and balance For 2.8 cents per mile. ($0.0277)
My current Road 5 back tire cost slightly less than the old Road 4 @ $204 plus $25 mount and balance...
Now if I get 15k miles out this tire like Mike did, that puts me at 1.5 cents per mile ($0.0152)

I dismount my wheels and take them down to my local shop. They charge me $25 per tire for mount and balance. $5 of that $25 is the shop cost to recycle my old tire.

[Dieselman7.3]

How well are these tires that last 8-10k miles good in the rain/wet roads.  Seams to me to be able to get the mileage they have to be a harder compound giving up traction in corners and wet roads? I'm currently running a Bridgestone exerda max bias ply on the rear (price was good and the speed rating was well above the Fjs requirement). Doesn't seem to bad in the rain and cornering is pretty good I have about 1k miles on them and the seam to be wearing good

[aviationfred]

How well are these tires that last 8-10k miles good in the rain/wet roads.  Seams to me to be able to get the mileage they have to be a harder compound giving up traction in corners and wet roads?

The answer to the 1st part is... Pretty much ALL of the Sport Touring Radial tires do very well in the rain and on wet roads. These tires are required to do 3 things very well. Grip well at full lean angles at almost track day cornering speeds, give very long mileage for the long distance rider and because Sport Touring riders often ride many miles just to get to the twisty roads, getting caught in the rain is often the case, the tires need to have exceptional rain/wet road capabilities.

The answer to the 2nd part is... these tires are Dual Compound. Typically a harder, silica infused rubber in the center and softer rubber on the edges.

Here are a couple of videos on Sport Touring tires.

https://youtu.be/w1leVfe5EGg

https://youtu.be/DBREB9bzv_Y

https://youtu.be/Y88EbYGJhEg

https://youtu.be/Kw8EpgcBGGg

https://youtu.be/ZU9IwGgZh1Y

As an added note... all of these tires are Radials and specifically for 17" front and 17" rear. The one exception is the Avon, they do offer a 150/80/16 rear

Fred

[Dieselman7.3]

Thank you. I know I need to change to 17s there isn't a whole lot out there for 16s.
What wheel is direct bolt on for the rear?  Planning on doing 89 forks and 17x3.5 front wheel this winter.

[aviationfred]

Thank you. I know I need to change to 17s there isn't a whole lot out there for 16s.
What wheel is direct bolt on for the rear?  Planning on doing 89 forks and 17x3.5 front wheel this winter.

Click on the pdf file in the first post

http://www.fjowners.com/index.php?topic=3380.0

The following link shows what years will work.


http://www.fjowners.com/index.php?topic=2465.0


Fred

[ribbert]

How well are these tires that last 8-10k miles good in the rain/wet roads.  Seams to me to be able to get the mileage they have to be a harder compound giving up traction in corners and wet roads? I'm currently running a Bridgestone exerda max bias ply on the rear (price was good and the speed rating was well above the Fjs requirement). Doesn't seem to bad in the rain and cornering is pretty good I have about 1k miles on them and the seam to be wearing good

Dieselman, only a very few short years ago you would have been right. The grip from the tyres delivering these phenomenal mileages is amazing, they have all but killed off the track day tyre market.

At 6k in second gear coming out of a corner with all the hard bits scraping, I can snap the throttle wide open and it's like a slingshot, just grips and goes, no hint of breaking loose. You can't get close to out leaning good tyres on an FJ. Even with the centre stand and belly pan removed, raised rear end, RPM shocker and toes tucked as inboard and as far back as possible on the pegs, there is plenty of reserve grip. I even find my boots clipping the road in the wet.

Cost does not come into consideration with tyres for me. If I can't afford what i want, it stays in the garage, and that has happened.
These have been my favourites for the last few sets, Metzeler 01's.



I bought a set of RP4's without my usual research and didn't like them. Problem then was, I couldn't wear the bastards out!  Michelin shook my confidence in their tyres with those and it will take a glowing recommendation from a couple of trusted riders before I'll go anywhere near the 5's. Having just re shod everything though, it might be a while.

If anyone can suggest a seriously water proof boot with steel sliders, I would appreciate some recommendations, I have been unable to find any in Oz. I bought these (and others), with plastic sliders and a bag of spares but being plastic they're gone in less than a day. This is not from "dragging' but rather striking. The instant my boot hits I lift it but enough strikes and it wears them out. I end up throwing out perfectly good boots, except for the toe.

a

The thought of my little toe scraping the bitumen at speed doesn't warrant thinking about.

As for mileage, I don't keep records but I know I used to replace them so often I could remember, not so much anymore (mind you, that could age related)



The main reason for sticky tyres however, is safety, increasing your reserve grip for corners and braking when riding normally.

Noel