Standard oem Metz Z8s, not good

[Guest SimonR]

Hi all,

Having just suffered a tyre-terminal puncture last week, I had to replace my standard Metz Z8 rear tyre. Could have done without the costs but...thank goodness!  I went to a BT023 Bridgestone as, with 2800miles done on roads of all sorts (so it wasn't squared off) it was twitching like a good'en on any road surface changes! God knows what they'd have been like with 5000+miles on them!  There was a very slight road surface sensitivity from new thinking back on it. Having run it for a week with the rear BT023 and Z8 front, before I changed to a BT023 on the front too, I know its the front Z8 that's the culprit. The Z8s were certainly good in the wet though, but shouldn't all normal road tyres be: 70miles a day in all weathers is a good test.

 

The BT023s are truly good; no road surface sensitivity at all and excellent in the wet and dry. I know the Z8s are supposed to be very good, but of the various tyres I've had over recent years, I'm not impressed! 

 

Have I had an unusual and bad Z8 experience? Perhaps on the NC700 they're often like this?  How've you found them...?

 

Cheers - Simon

[chris 357]

Mine came as standard with BT23's and I also find them good. 6500 km so far and look like new. There are only two things catch them out - even a slight slope and a bit of snow makes for dodgy riding - but I normally grage the bike for the winter. The other are the tar snakes they put on road repairs - they have the bike squirming horribly in the hot weather but they do that to most every bike.

Cheers

Chris

Edited February 14, 2014 by chris

[Guest engasal]

T30s man. I had 023s on my NC so I thought I'd get T30s for my Daytona. It's like someone fed a can of spinach to the 023. Immense tyre. I got 8000 miles out of my BT-023s before they needed changing, but that was absolute limit.

[Slowboy 20,653]

Like you I've had the z8 from new and am now on the second set. I've been pretty happy with the grip, but the front wore out at 7500 miles on the edges, it looked like a pyramid with the top squared off. I don't know how long the rear would last as I've had two terminal punctures on the back needing replacement tyres both times.

I think I know what you mean about the squirming, but I find the actual grip is ok, they just feel a bit funny. Having said that I used to have an early Hinckley Bonneville Thruxton and that was a squirrelly wobbly thing when you pressed on, no matter what tyres were on it. I will pop a set of Michelin Road Pilot 3s on next. I had those on my Ducati 998S and they were awesome, wet or dry, on the road, and even worked well on the track, though they did get a bit hot after 7 - 8 laps of Castle Combe.

[Mike5100 2,061]

On my 700 X I had 3 or 4 squirrelly moments with the OEM BT023s and changed them for PR3s which at first I thought cured the problem, but then I had at least 2 of the same type of event.  I have since concluded that these moments are not caused by the tyres at all - they usually occur when slowing down for a junction or roundabout just in normal riding hardly any braking.  I wondered at first whther it could be because I was running the chain too slack, but I have since wondered about a 'sticking' front fork or something to do with the linked braking.

So far I haven't experienced the same on the 750X but it's only at 800 miles

Mike

[Guest Flighttime]

I changed my Z8 at 14,000km when they were getting a little worn. Thought they were great. And after riding the demo bike with the BT023 the Z8 was noticeably quieter (Road noise) on the front. Have been running Maxiss front and rear since with no problems.

[Guest nc700]

@SimonR how fastidious were you with checking pressures?

I like my Z8's on my Daytona.

[embee 7,288]

I've been pretty happy with the Z8. I first fitted them on my Suzy SV650S and was quite impressed, the lack of road "noise" struck me particularly. I then fitted some to my NT650V Deauville to replace Z6's and they have been very reassuring.

 

My Integra has them, and while they've been fine so far I must say they do have a slightly different "look" to them, maybe it's the rubber mix or something, the surface just appears slightly different to the others I have. I've never been sure about the rumours you sometimes see about OE tyres being different to the aftermarket versions we get, maybe there's some truth in it? Not sure what I'll go for next, stay with the Z8 or maybe Mich PR3 or even the Pirelli Angel GT (should in theory be more or less the same as the Metz Z8). That's a while off yet though.

 

Note the 700 Integra manual specifies a version "E" of the Z8 on the front, Metz list the "E" or the "M" as options for the 700 while for the 750 Integra it says "E".

http://www.metzeler.com/site/uk/products/tyres-catalogue.html?

[Rev Ken 6,347]

We had a talk from a Bridgstone lad who confirmed some makers insist on their own spec for tyres. They are still labelled as 'normal' tyres but replacements will have a different spec. By the way I've seen the latest PR4s which don't cost a lot more than PR3s and are claimed to have at least 20% extra life as well as giving even better wet performance.

[Guest SimonR]

Hi nc700,

I'm very careful with my tyre pressures. Normally that would have been my first thought, and could well have accounted for the over sensitivity of my tyres...but it wasn't that!  I've had Metz types on a couple of other bikes and thought they were good, so that wasn't my first Metz experience. Very strange!

cheers

[Steve Blackdog 687]

So how often do people check their tyre pressures?  

How do you check them? At home or at garage? What pressure do you fill to?

 

I'm pretty hopeless at checking pressures, and I think I need to get better discipline. 

[chris 357]

I've found mine lose a small amount of pressure over a month so I check them at least every 4 weeks.

I always use the pressure gauge I bought for the job - filling station pumps and the gauges on foot or electric pumps are very inaccurate.

I fill to the recommended pressures - they work fine for me whether solo or two up. I usually notice the handling deteriorating once the tyres have lost 5 to 10% pressure.

[prr 153]

Actually last year I found that the tires are under pressured when I had a slide on a roundabout. They tires were 1.6 bars while the recommended is 2.0-2.1. Since then I'm checking the pressure every 2-3weeks ... and normally they are 0.1-0.2 down. 

 

Another thing that I found out is that under pressured tires are evenly hard to heat up as the over pressured.

[Guest scrumpymike]

I've found mine lose a small amount of pressure over a month so I check them at least every 4 weeks.

I always use the pressure gauge I bought for the job - filling station pumps and the gauges on foot or electric pumps are very inaccurate.

I fill to the recommended pressures - they work fine for me whether solo or two up. I usually notice the handling deteriorating once the tyres have lost 5 to 10% pressure.

 

+1 and I bought the best dial-type analogue pressure gauge I could find to get accurate readings.

[PNE 96]

I check very often, I consider tyre pressure to be very important when only having two off them. I too don't use the one's at the fill up staitions just not accurate enough. I use a large dial meter with a button to realese air pressure, I then use a plunger style air pump to slightly over inflate the tyre then reconnect my meter (which is more accurate) and use the air release button to deflate to correct pressure. 36 psi front, 42 psi rear.

On my 700S I had BT023's and found them rock solid. On my 750S I have Z8's and although at first I was a bit dubious am now beginning to like them having no probs after 500 miles but still a bit early yet. I have found that the Metz are quieter with less road noise.

[Guest nc700]

 

Another thing that I found out is that under pressured tires are evenly hard to heat up as the over pressured.

That is very strange! underinflated tyres move around more so they should heat up quicker than correctly inflated tyres which are in turn quicker to heat up than overinflated tyres.

[prr 153]

I though so too but what I found is that the contact surface stays cool while the sides are warm. Maybe the contact patch becomes too wide to heat up. I don't really know.

[Guest SimonR]

I do my checks mileage dependent. Commuting 70miles a day I check them weekly unless anything leads to me think they need an interim check. 36psi front 42psi rear on the NC, and for accuracy I've always used a foot pump and a separate digital gauge at home.

 

Its worth always looking at the tyre manufacturer's website as I've sometimes found that their recommended psi is not the same as the oem tyre one via the bike's user manual: Avon is a case in point on one bike I had (a BMW F800GS if I recall the correct bike) where the Avon recommended psi for their tyre on that bike was different to the oem/standard one; odd but it seemed to work!

[Guest GBH]

We have Z8 on both bikes and our new 750 has them fitted also. Best tyre I have had to date on my VFR12. I had bridgestone on it from new and took them off when they were half worn due to the rear spinning up in the wet so I'm totally off Bridgestones. I did have a set of PR-2 on a XT66X which were very good but I'm hearing the PR-3 front is not good with the weight of the VFR12 plus it looks a little strange with all the sips.

[Guest jonty03]

I have the Metzeler Z8's and I've always found them to be sensitive to changes in tyre pressure - I can usually feel when they are off. Always been happy with the wet weather performance but I would like to try Michelin Road Pilots - will swop the pair when the front needs replacing.