Don't be like Mike!
You've gotten all the good out of a tire way before that, all there is here is bad riding and regrets. And we don't even know how many miles got him to this sad state. :stickpoke:
Maybe it doesn't matter though, other than being anecdotally interesting. This thread isolates 2 variable in the tire-life equation: Versys on tire X. As pointed out above, twice, the unknowns are: Rider, Roads, and how that rider rides those roads.
Hi, I'm Rob, and I'm a Hard user. I generally ride with fast guys on bikes that have twice the horsepower or more. Corner speed is my friend. Chains are a wear item for me, and I get bad mileage.
I'm on my 11th set of tires with my '09 at 50k miles. I eventually settled on a Bridgestone S20 Front and an 023 rear. I found that they were generally ready to be swapped at about the same time, meaning the rear was at the wear bars in the middle and the front was getting faceted (angled off at my default lean). I generally get about 5k miles out of them. They've been averaging about $220 a pair, delivered. It costs me $80 to get them mounted and balanced with the disposal fee for the old tires (this comes to $.06 per mile). Then they stopped making the 023.
I just mounted up a set of S20's, I have a set of T30's in the garage ready to go. I buy tires when they are on sale. These last two I bought as a set because Bridgestone was offering a $40 rebate on sets. The best mileage I ever got was 8k on an S20 front, and the worst was 2.5k from an S20 rear. This was the same set, when they were first introduced. My theory is they switched the rubber formulas front to rear. I have no proof, but I never got that kind of mileage from a front again, and I hear the rears got a lot better. This is the first one I've run since that first one. Feels Good!
News Flash: New tires feel better than old tires. Switching back to OEM after wearing out a set of PR4's and you'd swear that the OEM tires were miles better. New tires feel better than old tires.
After OEM (5.5k)
Unpredictable, I went to Roadsmart II (5.5k)
Uninspired, then Conti Motion Super Moto-
Awesome! but (3.5k) too Short-lived. I then tried the Scorpion Trail for a couple sets with a 4.5k average. All loose surface traction was gone pretty quick though, so
kinda gimmicky. I next tried the PR2 and got about 3k from them
Disappointing! but in fairness I took a trip to Eastern Oregon where the chip-sealed roads eat motorcycle tires. Then I bought that first pair of S20's and a Metzeler Z8
Meh to finish what the S20 rear started. After that it was an S20/023 cocktail all the way. I found that if I aired down the tires for gravel and dirt roads they worked every bit as good as the Scorpion Trails. I carry a mini compressor so getting back to street pressure is easy.
I'm curious to see how the T30's do. They have a new formula for the S20 as well. Pirelli has a new Scorpion Trail with a comically bad press release. Anybody put on some tires lately?