Out of curiosity, were they the Road 5 Trail or the regular Road 5's? I wonder if the stronger construction maybe shows it's reasoning here?
I had the R5 Trails fitted to my last 1250 GSA and found them far better in all circumstances than the standard tyres. Did 4000+ miles on them before trading the bike in and they still looked in good condition. I don't exactly ride everywhere flat out, but there was a fair mix of commuting as well as chasing friends on litre sportsbikes down country roads in those miles with no issues.