RoadSmart IV

NobodySpecial · Nov 15, 2023

The bike is currently down for end-of-season maintenance (new tires, new brakes, brake fluid flush, caliper clean, final drive oil change, the coolant hoses that go to the oil cooler, and a valve check and I dearly hope not an adjustment) but I'm pretty sure I got about 8,000 out of the RoadSmart IV's. I could have probably gotten another 1,000 or so but with winter coming I figured I might as well change 'em now. If I wait until spring I'll be too excited to ride to do any fixing.

@Catmandu2 what kind of relative mileage are you getting with that Metzeler combo. I'm not asking about mileage per-se, but really is it better or worse for you and the roads you ride and the way you ride. Have you tried the Dunlops? So far they are my favorite.

Catmandu2 · Nov 16, 2023

NobodySpecial said:
@Catmandu2 what kind of relative mileage are you getting with that Metzeler combo. I'm not asking about mileage per-se, but really is it better or worse for you and the roads you ride and the way you ride. Have you tried the Dunlops? So far they are my favorite.

thanks for posting your experiences listed in post #1. I have had similar experiences with some of the brands and spec's that you have run. I don't have any experience with the Dunlop's, on my ST13's,, so no opinion. You reminded me of the cupping that happened for me on the front Angel GT. I replaced that front tire with the Z8, which ran great,, so good in fact that I have 2 spare new front Z8's in the basement for use in 2024. I bought them at a great price when rumor was going around that Metz was going to discontinue the Z8 model. But they are still making them. The troublesome harmonic vibe that I had with the Z8 rear is fairly well known across several sport touring marques. Although random, I would not risk my money on another rear Z8,,, since they refused my warranty claim. I was about to test a set of T32's,,, as a price point alternative to the Z8/road-tech-01 combo that is working very well for me. Then Metz came out with a summer $100 rebate that swayed my choice. So it looks like I will be using that combo on both ST13's until at least 2025. Oh,,, my typical tire life averages about 12k km's,,, cheers,,, CAt' ps: keep up the great reporting