Rear tyre life expectancy

Hi guys, this is my first 'proper' post on here. The good Admin introduced me to the forum after I bought some parts off him on ebay.

I've always had very poor tyre life on my T80. Some makes (e.g. V-rubber) last me less than 1000 miles before they are down to below 1mm in the central tread region. Better quality makes typically last around 1500-2000 miles. Front tyres on the other hand i've only had to replace due to perishing, not wear!

This suprises me because I always keep the tyres correctly inflated, I'm not excessively large nor carry heavy luggage. I also avoid harsh braking, and if I do brake heavily it is mostly the front brake.

My journeys are usually on a stretch of NSL dual carriageway with several roundabouts so lots of 'full power' riding or on rural B and C roads. However I don't think the power output of the T80 is enough to scrub the rear tyre out!

Given the cost of tyres for the T80 it doesn't really bother me, it's just tedious changing the rear tyre 3 times a year. I'd be interested to know if this is normal?

The engine amazes me though. Despite being thrashed within an inch of its life every time I ride it (25 in 2nd, 40 in 3rd and the rest in 4th, all at full throttle), usually even when it is still cold as I have to join a dual carriageway within 400 yards of my home, the engine still sounds happy and doesn't smoke at all. All I do is change the oil every 1000 miles.

I wouldn't worry even if it did blow up as I have two good spare engines and a whole spare bike in the garage   

I get around 3000 miles on Vee Rubber or Cougar budget tyres, Buster Motorcycle Accessories  http://www.busters-accessories.co.uk/ do them on line cheap if you by a pair either two rears or a front & a rear. I use mine on urban & normal A & B roads a lot of stop starting at traffic lights & junctions. Have never tried the higher priced brands.

Must just be the way I ride then I guess

The longest lasting ones that I have found so far are the Michelin Gazelle. Seem to get nearly 2000 miles out of one of them and they are not overly expensive at £31 each.

teapot wrote:Must just be the way I ride then I guess :)not overly expensive at £31 each.

Over twice the price of Cougar from Busters @£12.99 each!!!!!!  
http://www.busters-accessories.co.uk/productInfo.aspx?catRef=MAP557130
The current Cougar rear tyre on my T80 has so far covered 2634 miles & there is enough tread left another 500.
I wonder if the length of each journey has any bearing on tyre life, as looking back I was at one time only getting around 2000 miles per rear tyre but at the time I was doing a journey of some 10 miles each way with about 5 miles on a main A road. I now only do 5 miles each way on mainly urban roads with 30 or 40 mph speed limits. So I wonder if the more the tyre heats up the quicker it wears. I usually run my tyres down to 1 mm (the legal limit) on the centre part of tread, (the tyres always wear more in the centre) this can be taken over a third of tread. Thing is the more worn the tread the more likely you are to get a puncture. I run the pressure at 28 to 30 psi

ive just put a me22 on my bike an done just over 1000 miles on it this weekend doesnt look like been touched yet

Have just replaced my rear tyre a Cougar 'economy' one from Busters M/Cs http://www.busters-accessories.co.uk/productInfo.aspx?catRef=MAP557130 at 3030 miles. It was just down to the legal limit of 1mm in the centre part of tread.