My bike only has 4000 miles on it, mostly highway miles but the rear tire is almost gone. Is that normal?

In any case I'll be needing a new one soon but have never shopped for tires for a street bike before so I'm clueless. I need something that will last a long time as I rack of highway miles very quickly, and it should be something allweatherish because I ride in pretty nasty conditions, everything from freezing cold to blisteringly hot, wet and dry.

And as always, something affordable. I don't need top of the line. Any suggestions?

 

It depends on what kind of tire it is on your bike. A sport tire will not last long on the highway. You can try sport touring tire, like a Dunlop D220, Metzler Z6, or a Michelin Pilot Road. These will give you some high mileage. I run Metzer M3's on my ZRX and got about 6500 from a set. I always change mine in pairs. I'm sure I could have got a little more from the front.

 

I'm pretty sure the D220 isn't available for the 500R. None of the other high-performance sport tires are.

The OEM tires on the 500 don't last very long, but the other Dunlops that are available for our bike do better. You won't have to worry about accidentally getting these (OEM) tires again because Dunlop stopped importing them into the US and now makes them exclusively for Kawasaki.
The Metzlers are also decent and they seem to last a little longer. It's almost always a trade-off: the stickier the tires, the shorter the life.
The one downfall to our bike is that we don't have as wide a variety of tire choices as the larger bikes. But all of the available tires will last longer than those that came on the bike. And the wear advantage between the Dunlops and Metzelers is probably negligible.
Good luck and ride safe!
-CCinC

 

I bought a set of avon roadriders for $120 for both.Supposted to be long wearing tires.Haven't put them on yet.I got other issues to straighten out first.

 

I've found its more about the way you drive than the tire itself. My 04' has 8200 miles on it with all oem tires. Apart from a patch it the rear tire after hitting some road glass the tire still has significant tred. I am estimating I could get another 3,000 off the front and another 1000 off the back no joke!

It just my opinion but I believe if you drive your rear a "little" underinflated you will get significantly more milage off of it because of the increased displacement of weight and wear. I've been doing it for years after owning a 250 that got 4,000 to a rear(then 7,000). Acceleration is a big factor as well, I always shift on a low tac just think about and let the crew know how it works.


Volvo9de40

 

it depends on the tire - some of the compounds running them low will overheat them ont he highway and the rubber will wear out much faster.

the continental road attack tires i just picked up actually call for higher than stock pressures to run properly. but the've been shown to last 6000 miles thanks to the dual compound while still handling like stickies.

 

I've narrowed it down, I think, to Pirelli Diablo 150/60/17 or Metzeler M1 130/70/17. What do you guys think will last longer and better suit my needs?

 

those are two completely different sized tires - what is your stock size?

 

Stock is 130/70/17 but I've read that both those sizes will fit and 150/60 is the only size the diablo comes in that fits the ninja 500.

I think I'm going with the Metzeler though so it probably doesn't matter.