We may rave about the NC’s low fuel costs, but any operational cost savings are almost overshadowed by tire replacements. I’m wild guessing that tires cost just as much per mile as fuel, at roughly 4 cents per mile each. Not to mention high maintenance costs from chain drive and internal combustion engine.
Yea I think you are right. I've never considered motorcycles particularly cost saving vehicles especially compared to a car. Even in the gas shortage years in the 70s when I was selling bikes and people came in wanting to save money by driving a motorcycle to work, instead of a car, I thought " if you only knew". Sure the gas mileage is better, but frequent tire replacements, oil changes, brake pad replacement, oil/air filter replacements, spark plug replacements, valve adjustments, chains and sprockets etc just drive the cost of owning a motorcycle through the roof, especially if like me you don't do your own service work. (I do change my own oil, but thats about it).
It's ok...debate is good... and this is a thread about tire wear
They are at the top of my list for this coming year, along with the Trail Attach 3 from Continental. I lke riding gravel roads now that I've got this lighter bike, so the TA3's and possibly the Michelin Anakee's are very temping.
My quick fuel vs tire cost math in-my-head was based off both tires being replaced for $350. For me it would be closer to $250, doing it myself, but I had no idea you would pay $560 for a set of tires mounted. That means your tire cost is way more than your fuel cost.
I just found this report on a Road 6 on the ST forum by PanRider 1300. The only Road 6 report I have found so far
Going back as far as the Pilot Road 2 & 3 this line of tires tended to wear unevenly on my ST1300 and NC700X. Very lumpy, scalloped, and feathering of tread design which I attributed to how Michelin constructed the dual compound thread which is harder in the center and softer on the edges. Where the thread goes from hard to soft on on each side of center seems to contribute to the weird wear patterns. I wrote off the brand for about 5 years but when I bought my RT in 2019 it was already on a set of Road 5s and those tires convinced me that Michelin had greatly improved how dual compound tires wore the last 50% of life. I have stuck with 5s on the RT and NC700X. The front 5 currently on the NC has 13,572 miles with more to go. The rear 5 went 12,287 before replacement. When the Road 6 came out I stayed away from it because the Road 5 was giving me great performance but in September of 2022 I needed replacement front and front 5s were out of stock so I went with a Road 6. It lasted 21,685 miles. The time came to replace it and I put a 5 back on I think because there was a promotion on sets of 5s.
I got 7,130 miles out of my original Metzler Tourance's and thought they were a pretty decent tire. No complaints about handling or wear pattern. They are difficult to find. However, I do think the Road 5 is a better tire than the Metzler for longevity, handling and rain stickiness.
ridermagazine.com
Haha! I remember years ago the stock Dunlop tires (maybe K630?) that came on the old Ninja 250 were almost always called Dunrocks, for being so hard and slippery.
