Metzlers

[Steve Hamm]

First of all I have to say sorry for bringing it up . I have seen quite a few threats on here about tires , LOL , any way , I heard some bad things about Metzler tires that are made in Brazil , compared to the ones made in Germany . Has any one here experienced this . As stated before I am heading to Bute Montana for Evil Knevil days next week , so I booked in for new tires in Great Falls , thinking that they would be much cheaper than here , WRONG , LOL , almost more there than here ,,, any way I called down there today and they have the tires , front one is made in Germany and the rear in brazil ,, they are the 880's ... Any words of wisdom out there ??????

[kevin-vic-b.c.]

My brother had Metzlers on his BMW, German I would think, they went for a crap in no time. I had Metzlers on my 1st Gen and loved them, no issues. Never looked to see where they were made.

[saddlebum]

A few here on the site have had some serious mishaps with the Metzlers and yet I also know of some who have done very well with them so I guess you can take that for what it's worth. Personally I have been very happy with my Dunlap E3 and before that Dunlap e2

[ricksbike]

I sometimes wonder why people have all these strange issues with name brand tires,I think the tires that the dealers are selling are already old,the only tires I ever had an issue with were the Continentals I got last year,and they were on clearance,I`ve run Avons for about the last 10 years and had absolutely no issues with them,I ran metzlers before that and had no problems with those either,I just didn`t like the noise hey made when on a curve,they whined,I think if you take care of them they will be fine,just check the date of manufacture on them before you buy them.

[OrlinEngh]

I ran a set of the 880 last year I got close to 8,000 out of the rear tire and still had some to go on the front tire. I did really like the way the bike handled with them and the rear did make a howl when going around the curves. When I was at the shop looking at getting a set there was a rep for Metzler there and I got to talk with him about the issues with the tires. And he told me that the tire's that they had most of the problems with were the ones from Brazil that they had put the wrong tire pressure on the side of the tire and people were running them under inflated and that they had moved the production of the 880 back to Germany because of the quality of the rubber so I would think that the one tire you are looking at that was made in Brazil my be getting kind of old. He did tell me to run 50 pounds in the rear tire that I would get better ware out of the tire with it being on a heavy bike and ridding two up most of the time. I did that and had no problems with the 880

[JohnT]

I had OK luck with a set of 880's. They held up OK. I changed them with only about 9000 miles on them so I didn't have to be down part way through a season getting tires mounted. Like to do that early before riding season if they are going to have to be changed in a few thousand miles. (We play hell getting a decent turn around time around Watertown in the summer) Toward the end they were really noisy.

My E3's are a fantastic tire. To soon to tell about wear, but the handling? Oh boy! I grew accustomed to my forward pegs scraping with any tire I mount. But running the E3 I am now finding my foot (on the standard pegs) scrubbing pavement at times.

[Atoolnut]

on my second set...no problems..run pressure as by metzlers web site...at least +4 lbs...got mine from petes superbike in montreal ..best price around shipped in 2 days...12000 kms on this set

[Steve Hamm]

I did check the dates on the tires as well when I called , the german made was 4113 and the brazil one was 1115 , so they should be fine . Just all the stories a guy hears ,,LOL

Any way thanks for the in but ,

Ride safe

[2WHEELSFORME]

Avon's and Metz both got around 9 to 10K on the rear. Pirellis were 5 to 6 but really cheap so ran two rears in a row. The E-3s I have on now are at 11k with plenty of tread left. I'm convinced it is E-3s for me unless I decide to try a Mitchelln, I hear they are long lasting but maybe not so good on wet pavement so prob not.

[bj66]

Buddy has a set of Metz's on his wing. Loves them. He was running E3's. He had 2 of his fronts on the .wing start cupping on him. He is done with the E3's. I remember him saying how much he liked the rear tire too. Dunno how much longer he will keep this bike, he usually trades every 4 years or so. Not sure how many miles he has on the Metz's either. I did hear him say he should make it through the Sturgis week. He usually gets about 1500 miles or so over that week. Not too bad considering he lives in SD. So I would say he's had the Metz on long enough to make a good decision on them. No cupping on his Metz front, looks pretty good

[jakester]

Ive ran metzlers, avons and now Michelins. All good, up to 16000 miles on one set of metzlers on a road star. Toward the end of tread wear life on the last metzlers over 10000, I did have the tread start to peal on the outside edges, up to then geat. Avons have all been great, I know some have had trouble. Now I have a fresh set of comander2. I should get about 4000 miles in the next few weeks to Sturgis and back. Great road test.

Bill

[saddlebum]

I tied the Avons. great ride and nice on wet roads but above 100KM/H i would get a rear end waggle and apperantly I was not the only one with this issue on a 1st gen (I have not heard of this occurring on any 2nd gens). My avons developed sidewall cracking and the dealer swapped for a set of dunlop E2 which were great. I later replaced with E3 and so far love them. some complain they are noisy but I have not experienced that. What I have experienced is great ride and excellent grip in hard cornering or wet roads. They do take a little longer to scrub in but once they are scrubbed in they have good road bite.

[cowpuc]

Stuck a brand new Metz on Tweeks before heading west a couple rides ago. It was purchased from our local bike shop brand new (no idea if it was German or Brazillian) - didnt check manufacture date on tire BUT the shop where I got it from has been in business for many years - sells a LOT of tires and I KNOW they sell their outdated tires on a separate rack from their new stuff and this 880 was NOT from that rack. I keep a really close eye on my tire pressures (always run to sidewall spec) when traveling - tire gave NO indication of air loss on the whole trip. The Metz got excellent mileage (both fuel and distance), handled the heat and cornered well in the twisties. Never got to experience it in the rain cause we went 2 months without seeing much of it.. Checked the tread depth and air pressures before we left The Dalles Venture West Rally (I think @Coffey would vouch for this cause I also checked his after checking Tweeks) and headed back to Sacramento Cali.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words - see pic of what the tire looked liked when we got back to Sac. Any one who has ever had the opportunity to ride a fully loaded 1st Gen with two people on it from 70 mph down to a stop when traveling mountains (unfortunately I have had to a couple times) will probably appreciate this --- fortunately the Metz did NOT go flat and I found it in the shape it was in BEFORE it let go. I have actually ridden more than one tire down to its complete failure - thru the rubber, thru the carcess and then thru the cords and have never experienced what the picture shows with any other brand of tire.. In the pic you can clearly see an area where rubber is missing, also take notice of the little piece of red wood holding up part of a "V" of tread. I took that picture specifically to show how other "V"'s had delaminated from the tire carcess - there were several other "V" area's on both sides of the tire where this was the case..

I believe that @Squidley and Lonna also had something similar to this happen to them - may be wrong on this - will let Squid speak for himself if he chooses to.

I personally will not run Metz's again unless I have to but THAT is just my opinion based on my experience as shown in the pics.

[Yammer Dan]

It makes me think. I just put a good looking Metz on the back of Silver cause I was looking for a extra wheel and it came with it . I try to keep a extra wheel so I can swap tires easier when its riding time. But I wasn't impressed with that stop I made at all. Just another thing to get inside my head!! Stopping power of a Metz??? Now I gotta go look at it!!

[Squidley]

I believe that @Squidley and Lonna also had something similar to this happen to them - may be wrong on this - will let Squid speak for himself if he chooses to.

I personally will not run Metz's again unless I have to but THAT is just my opinion based on my experience as shown in the pics.

 

My take on the Metzlers is that I will NEVER own another set again. I did have a set on my 1st '99 and as mentioned by other they performed well. What I have seen personally is precisely what had happened to Puc, delamination of the tire and chunks flying off, not just on 1 tire but on several tires of people I ride with and who are competent with keeping tires properly inflated. I have talked with a few who have gotten the blow off by Metzler, saying it was their fault. Guess what, wrong answer, Metzler will never see a dime of my money or anyone else I can talk with about their product 0.02

[GeorgeS]

Running my 4th E3 now on rear, NO problems, Wet roads in Seattle, I have no problems.

I do a lot of Rain Rideing

E3, #5, is sitting on my rack, ready to be installed if need be.

 

All of them have run 18000 miles and over. Also have them on front, No problems.

 

Ran them on my 89, and now the 08 RSTD

[Shamue]

I run Metzler 880s front and rear.

Had 1 rear loose a patch like cowpuc. It had 8000 on it was getting down to wear marks though.

Talking to the dealer, I found out running 40lbs front and 42lbs rear would giver better performance.

Stayed with Metzler's an have had 4 sets since, keep a closer eye on the pressure and have not had any more issues.

I change front and rear at the same time, fronts always have plenty of tread to run more but have always done both tire changes at the same time, Pease of mind thing. Am averaging 9000-10000 per rear tire. Mostly 2 up and tow a cargo or camper trailer about 3500 miles per set. like the hardness of the rubber and handling.

I do keep the pressure up and check them more than most since I lost the rubber chunk, because I think low pressure is what caused my issue.

[zagger]

For whatever it is worth: I have Metzler 880's on two bikes ridden by me for a total of approx. 75,000 miles. No problems with any of the 880's over the years. I don't pull trailers but I have done plenty of long trips at highway speeds with the bikes fully loaded. Plenty of aggressive acceleration/deceleration/cornering. Tires last a few thousand miles but I don't keep tabs on the total miles since wear depends on the type of riding - when the tread is gone, I get a new one. I inflate to the mid-30's psi but I don't regard checking tire pressure as a precision measurement! I think I might have heart failure if my tires ever started tossing off pieces!

zag