Mixing tires sets. What are your thoughts or experience?

I am looking for the wealth of experience here! I lost the back OEM tire with 2,200+ miles on it. I have never had a flat before the end of this season on three different bikes and 60,000 miles of riding. I want to get the T30 Evo's but I am short on cash. Anyone ever just replaced one tire and switched brands before? This scares me thinking that the two different tires could cause some major issues. Let me know and thanks in advance!

 

When I bought my 02 it had a Metzler on the front and a Michelin on the rear, why haven't a clue since it only had 1800 miles on the bike.
Noticed absolutely no adverse affect in handling at all.
JMO


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Your cheapest option would be to get a Dunlop Roadsmart 2 (same tire as OEM, but with dual compound). Perfect match to the OEM front you still have.

I also have the T30 EVO on my 8th gen, and don't like the fast wear. I will probably go back to the Roadsmart 2 for my next set.

 

That would be me! The main difference between the PP3 and PR3/PR4 is the profile. The PP3 has a more 'V' shape, where the PR3/PR4 has a more 'U' shape to it. That and there are more sipes on the PR tires, which is supposed to be better for wet weather. I can say that I did a 2.5 hour ride in the rain in Yosemite and didn't have any issues with the PP3.

I like the more sporty feel and grip of the PP3 front than I did of the last PR I had (PR2) and being that both series of tires are the 2CT variety, both seem to last about the same mileage (front/rear that is). Last run wth this setup I logged over 14k miles. This was with commuting/touring and a few sport rides thrown in every now and then.

On my 5 Gen, I was running the PP3 front/rear but my last tire change I decide to try the Bridgestone S21s, as they were less than $150 with a $50 rebate. With the PP3 f/r I was averaging about 5.5k miles and this was pure sport riding.

 

This may be what I am involved in that they had a flat and changed due to better performance on the one that needed changing?

 

Anne I have a plug in it. I have no confidence in a rear tire having a 3-4mm hole in it. Do you? if so let me know. I did my best at repairing it and never doing it before. I know that I and you and most do 70mph or more most of the time. In a car with four wheels and a cage I would be fine but having only two that you are depending on with a 2-21/2 inch road contact that is scary to me. The hole is left of center.

 

Anne I have a plug in it. I have no confidence in a rear tire having a 3-4mm hole in it. Do you? if so let me know. I did my best at repairing it and never doing it before. I know that I and you and most do 70mph or more most of the time. In a car with four wheels and a cage I would be fine but having only two that you are depending on with a 2-21/2 inch road contact that is scary to me. The hole is left of center.

 

If I was in your spot I'd look for the the same tire. not oem though. Now that being said OEM rubber is different from the factory than what you can get over the counter. I wouldn't worry in so much a style. IMO more in the brand staying the same, not what Ducc had at first. LOL that gets me scratching my head, but with most situations doubt if there would be any ill side effects in which route you decide. only thing known for sure are the stock ties are Shiet, so getting rid of one is a up grade.

 

I've been a careful tyre matcher for a long, long time, but when I bought my ST1100 it had a mismatch of a Pirelli crossply front and Conti radial rear, the rear was not even the correct size. Bike worked fine, it is all a question of what you get used to.

I wanted to replace the tyres as a set but was unable to, and ran a Metzeler Lasertec front tyre with that Conti rear. Didn't like this combination much, and wouldn't recommend it. The Conti died, and I bought a Bridgestone BT020 crossply for the back (limited choice of the right size). Didn't like this combination much either. Now have a Pirelli Angel GT radial up front, and that works fabulously with the Bridgestone out back. Conclusion: the Metzeler was not a very nice tyre.

Replacing tyres as a set is always best practice, they start out with an even profile, and will wear together. Putting a new profile tyre with part-worn tyre might not deliver optimum handling, but won't be dangerous.

 

I got a nail in the rear tire of my 6 Gen while up at Laguna Seca back in July. I plugged it and rode another few thousand miles, all at various speeds and the fore mentioned riding types. If done right the plug should hold no problem. Although a plug is considered an emergency repair and should only be to get you back on the road and hopefully home, I was barely into the mileage of the tire and really didn't have any reservations about riding with the plug. Of course not everyone feels the same way.

 

I've been in the same spot and have used two different tires on my bikes several times without any problems. If you want to nit pick the fine stuff I'm sure you could find something you don't like. Over all no problem IMO. I've also ridden with a plug in one of my rears for several thousand miles at what ever speed I wanted without problems also. Hell there's yahoos out there running car tires on the back and say they don't really have problems. I say BS they must only ride straight roads straight up, cause I can feel the difference when a tire gets 5#'s low. Can't even imagine a flat face car tire!!

AM I had just the opposite with having to get a Dunlop Q3 for the back of my bird. Only lasted a little over 5k miles. My T30 Evo's are going the distance AFAIC. I'll have at least 12k on the front and around 8k on the rear. Cause it got flat spotted doing highway cross country coming home this year. I still love those tires, they handle great and stick!

Are you running 42lbs in them as factory says? Less air more wear is what the factory Dunlop tech explained to me a couple of years ago. It does make a difference I've found.

 

Although we all give our tire mileage for reference, there are many variables that go into tire life. The obvious is bike, tire air pressure, riding weight, riding style (Throttle and braking control), type of riding (Sport, touring, commuting, etc.) and road surface. All of these have a factor in tire life, so those looking at what I have listed as my experienced should consider that unless they ride in the same manner, locale and air pressure, may not get the same results. Again for reference, on my 6 Gen I run 36/42 (f/r) and on my 5 Gen, depending on where I'm riding, will vary from 36/42 to 34/40 all the way down to 32/34. The latter being track air pressure.

 

I have had really good luck buying tires from junkyards. It's kind of a hassle but sometime I run rear tires on the front and front tires on the rear.

 

I've done it a bunch of times with no worries and all I ride is twisties, some of them tight and fast. The key is having a great "feel" for what's going on with each tire separately. I suspect not many people can feel it. Straight line riding won't teach you that. FWIW.