New Metzler Roadtec Z6 Tires
 

I recently bought a set of the Metzler Roadtec Z6 tires. These tires are designed for sport touring. I have put about 1000 miles on them before writing this though...so almost new.
For people who are looking for long lasting, but incredible sticky tires, these would be great tires to check out. The tires, if balanced properly, wear very evenly, and I'm constantly pulling wheelies and riding the middle.
I went on a group ride to Tennessee Sunday to fully destroy my chicken strips and succeeded. These tires allowed me to lean way over, enough to scrap my knee. And you can feel the grip even when your barely on the bike in the corners. I was even able to full throttle out of fast corners with no tire spin.
I highly recommend these tires for people who love the mountain twisties but don't have the income to constantly be replacing tires.

YAY! Thanks for the tip. I bought a used set on Ebag for 150 delivered to test them out. It'll be a month or two before I'm thru with the Dunlop 208s...which I don't like at all. Greasy and wandering...if you ask me. Yes, I heat them up before pushing them.

I was told by a friend not to buy these Metz because of the heat...but he was basing his opinion on him owning some super sport Metz tires. I find that after a long hard day of riding, heat is not a problem.

I had the Z6 on my rear last year and they worked well until near the end of their life when they didn't offer much grip for breaking. I went to VIR and spent most of my day trying to control the fishtailing that came from these tires. In short, great for aggressive street riding, not so hot on the track.

That's why many racers don't use the rear brake at all. There is so little weight on the rear of a bike when braking hard that even the stickiest tires will skid.

The track is the last thing I'd think to take these on. But for aggressive street riding, these hold up very well.

Already put another 1500 miles on em and they still look new ;)

Uhm, this is hugely untrue. Well, the first part is, the second part is true only when all the weight has transfered to the front. Mick Doohan, a racer of some skill, went though the trouble of having a thumb rear brake installed when he messed his ankles up enough that he couldn't use the lever. The rear brake is very important to riding a motorcycle; you can help change your line mid turn (try that with the front brake) and your braking distances will be shorter if you know how to use it.

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Buy. Read. Improve.

Not hugely untrue. I said many, not most and not all. It's still true that MANY racers don't use the rear brake at all, including some very fast ones like Mat Mladin and Kevin Schwantz.
It's also true that a trackday rider using worn sport touring tires is asking for trouble using the rear brake.

rear braking is one of the top reasons for midturn skids off road into trees. Go to the dragon and see for yourself. There is a reason that they have implemented slipper clutches, if they needed more rear brake, they would have let the engine take care of it. Also, on race bikes, the rear caliper is downsized considerably. Usually 1" or less on the bore. On full brake from high speeds on the street, I can make the engine drag my ars end and dance without using the rear brake. I would have to agree that it is used, but for control in turns and less on actual braking.

If you're getting "fishtailing" on hard braking then your rear suspension needs to be set up properly. The shock is topping out which allows the rear to lose contact. Chatter and fishtailing is common in this case. More rear sag and/or less rebound damping will help your cause here.

So, is it wrong for me to assume that the guys racing on track have poor suspension settings. Valentino Rossi, MD has this problem, along with Duhamel, Kentucky Kid, Hayden and Hayden, Roberts and Roberts..........My opinion is that if you are braking extremely hard, you will do the dance.

I plan to do another track day in the Spring. I'll have Power Pilots, a Wilburs shock and a host of other bike improvements that will hopefully have this sorted out and I can just focus on my riding.

Well, that's because they're braking so hard that the rear end is off the ground. There's no real choice there. BUT, you might notice that when Hayden, Rossi, Toseland, etc. are wagging their tail all over they don't win, either. Duhamel usually doesn't have this problem. Hell, most of the GP guys don't either. WSB too. Most of their suspension guys have this sorted out.

The Z6 Roadtechs are awsome tires. I've been through 2 fronts and 4 rears of them. I typically get 8000 miles out of a front and 4500 miles out of a rear. I have never had grip issues, heat issues, or wear issues with these tires. I'm a big guy, and I ride the tires hard. I am smooth however.

The only complaint I have is the rear tread design doesn't really tell you how much tread life is left once it is worn down. You'll think you have enough tread, only to find belts showing the next day. It is a very small concern, and I probably stretch too many miles from a tire.

I'm going to try the M3's now. I've been hearing of good mileage reports out of them. We'll see how they fair for me :)

I was talking to Val the other day and...
 

he said he uses hardly ever uses the front now that he has pneumatic valves...

That would be "not knowing how to brake," not "rear braking" that is the problem. Yes, the rear brake is smaller. Yes, it does a lot less braking than the front brake, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be used.

You've obviously never watched these guys ride. :-|

Yes, you can be a "racer" (AKA backmarker) without ever using the rear brake. I see it at WERA and CCS races all the time. They all have yellow number plates and no results. When someone who reels off 5 straight world championships thinks it's important enough to have a thumb brake built, I'll give him the nod. (Especially since Schwantz wouldn't have won his championship if Doohan hadn't been injured in '93!)

And a trackday on worn sport-touring rubber? That's asking for trouble. Don't blame the brakes.

Dismissing the rear brake as "dangerous" is just as faulty reasoning as cruiser idiots who say not to use the front brake because "it'll flip you over the bike." Knowing how to brake is the largest part of knowing how to ride.