Been looking through the forum and little about choice of tyres for the V4. Present Scorpion Trails are fine but wonder about the usual other options- Metzler Roadrec, Michelin Pilots etc. Metzlers were great on my 1260.
Fitted Dunlop Sport Smart TTs to mine and even though the average temps are still hovering between 5 to 8 DegC they have made the bike feel a lot easier to get into and out of a bend , and made the Scorp II feel like a sluggish tyre. You do need to run the TTs as significantly lower pressures than other tyres makes and currently at 30psi front/33 rear to get the front to warm up, pressure recommendations for the TTs are on the Dunlop site, I might go up (or down) a psi when it warms up . I haven't pushed them hard given the cold air and road temps and would ride with a light touch if it were wet, but sofar they are working better than I'd expected for the temps I've ridden in. These are usually a bit spendy new but I located each tyre at knock down prices from separate sources and had them fitted when I had the (spare/summer!) wheels powdercoated. PS my thoughts on the new Dunlops are vs nearly new Scorp II (probably less than 500mile old) so not a worn/squared off handles like a 3 wheeled tea trolley to new profile placebo effect you normally get when swapping to new tyres. One downside is they don't grip the grass/mud bank that is the entrance to my garage when its wet as well as the Scorps so need to take a more direct line up/ in as any side slope approach can cause the rear to twitch a smidge, so I'd class the TTs as having vey limited offroad capabilities /if any!.
If these are the 19” fronts, I would be interested in feedback. Last time I checked they were not available so fitted more cra3s…
We all know, tyres are a personal preference, what works for some, doesn't work for others, but here's my tuppence worth. I changed my first set of Scorpion trail 2's just last month after a little over 7500 miles (with the same tyres), which is the longest range I've had from any set of tyres. I ride all year round and these tyres have been excellent in all conditions, cold damp, cold wet and hot & dry roads, I'm not a slow rider and I'm certainly not the fastest, but I have pushed these tyres in all the fore mentioned conditions and I've never had an issue. I had the Metzler Roadtec 01's on my previous BMW R1200GS which worked really well also in all conditions, but the rear squared off after about 4000 miles, even though I don't don't do a lot of straight line riding, so I was going through 3 rears & 2 fronts every year.
Early days , only done 300 miles on the set so far ( one ride) they feel great , stable , planted and good on the roads I normally ride on , Wales . Conditions were wet when I first went out and they had the usual sure feel even when new that the Contis always give , so tic there. They also deal with changeable road surface well (wet/damp/rough/smooth/drying out , another tic. So so far a good set , did notice a bit of wear in the centre , but first time out on them so accelerated and braked hard to feel the tyres, will keep an eye on that. The V4 can be a bit brutal on the tyres if you push hard on mixed roads , plus the engine just goads you to push and wheelie lol. So far they feel as the TA3 does , not edged them yet as the conditions were not ideal , they did keep the heat well and warmed up fast but pushing to the edge with inconsistent heat on the Welsh roads can spell trouble , not far off tho so feel they will perform once cranked well over as the TA3 will do , but the RA4 does have a solid edge so feel you may be able to push harder as no intermittent tread breaksthat the TA3 has , but again for me the TA3 is a great set. I have pondered with the M9RR set or even the TTs but feel these would not last, for me or were I ride and how I ride . IMHO
My feeling is that the M9rr would be excellent for grip, but wear rate would be around double. Having previously used the M7rr on an S1r… Currently running cra3 on the 1250gs, but loved them on the previous GS and before that a 1290gt. They can start to fry if pushed to the edge on hot roads (yes, even on the GS!) but a brilliant all round tyre that is hard to unstick in road use. They keep their shape and grip well to end of life. Subject to not too many miles on motorways. Two trips last year, one to Germany, one to the Picos. Around 5000-6000 miles total, but starting from central France both times. The middle of the rear had tread left, the edges were ragged. I have not tried the highly rated trail version as I do not like the big tread ‘gap’ at the edge of the tyre. The new RA4 does have the solid edge, which I think must be an improvement for on the edge performance over the old RA3.
The Ta3 , even with its gaps can be pushed , okay this was on Spanish roads which have better grip but even with the gaps they perform , will be interested how the 4 RA does in similar situations. The TA managed 2.5K plus a slow ride back from Plymouth to Worcester. The photos show the limits not anything else before I get ribbed. Oh , I had the 1250 gs before and they still performed the same , perfect .
They look like they have done a track day I have Michelin Road 6 on the 1290 at the moment. But because of their profile I reckon there will be parts of those tyre that I will never actually use ! Previously tried the Metzeler Next 2 over about 4,000 miles of Euro trips last year - saw a fair it of rain, some of it torrential. All fine, just fancy to try the Contis next !
Not a track day , just magical Spanish mountain roads . These were on a track day but on the R1250 gs
I dont know about the TT but the SS were always my tyre of choice for commuting and weekend hooning, durable and lots of feel even in the cold, great all round tyre. All a personal preference though isnt it
Interesting. Hopefully I will be in Spain in June. The plan is to ride down to Segovia and ride around the area for a few days. A few light dirt roads, but really prefer sweeping grippy tarmac !
friends, be careful with the roads in Spain, look very closely at the limits of when it is considered that you have transgressed the road safety law, you can end up in jail if you exceed a certain percentage of the established speed, many hidden mobile laser radars, very difficult to see, and not announced, "Pegasus" helicopters that record the speed at 3 km high etc. Every so often in the news, people who have been "caught" and stopped by the highway police, now they are very hard on it, and economically, it can also be a good pinch
Thanks Chuki , must admitt always on the look out for the cameras but to be honest where we ride I have never come across one . On the big open roads we always keep to a reasonable speed as they are present there and also the police , but Its easy to go fast on a big open road so that is where we tend to back off , and have our fun on the twisty back roads, just hope things are not getting hotter as over the last 20 years of riding in Spain we have never been caught out . Oh , once but that was on the main road back to the lorry depot and was a small fine , my mistake as I should have know better. Thanks for the heads up tho , always best to hear from the locals.
We did Valencia to Santander in a day a few years ago (to make a ferry in time), sat at three figures all the way back. Remember shitting myself for a few weeks after waiting for a summons back to Spain lol (after I’d stopped aching). It’s not big and it’s not clever kids.
For the OP Edit: meant to attach a metzeler ad announcing they’re the tyre for the IOM tt this year but it won’t let me
