Tourance Next or the bike ?

[Wrinkly]

About 5 mls into my return journey of 75mls after having the bikes first service done it started to rain,after another 5mls it was raining heavily.

I embraced this as an opportunity to get to grips with the bike in heavy rain and to get a feel for the "Tourance next" in the wet.

All was going very well, the roads where very wet but also fairly clear and the tyres and the bike were performing admirably all in all I was having fun (rain mode by the way).

I'd already gone past a couple of cars without incident ,came to overtake another passed him nice and cleanly gave him a wide birth due to the spray and started to return to my side of the road as I'm crossing back over the white line the front wheel went over a raised catseye, OMG the front end gave a very alarming buck which certainly woke me up,it never at any point felt out of control but it made the bike shake it's head a bit !

Once on a quite stretch of road I deliberately ran over several more catseye's all with the same result.
Now I'm sure I must have ridden over lots in the dry and have had no adverse reactions at all.

I can't say that I've ever experienced anything quite as dramatic as that whilst hitting catseye's in wet conditions.

I do believe it's down to the tyre? It never felt dangerous or that I wasn't in control just a little disconcerting,and it kept me on my toes.

I checked the pressure on getting home which was fine.

Steve

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

About 5 mls into my return journey of 75mls after having the bikes first service done it started to rain,after another 5mls it was raining heavily.

I embraced this as an opportunity to get to grips with the bike in heavy rain and to get a feel for the "Tourance next" in the wet.

All was going very well, the roads where very wet but also fairly clear and the tyres and the bike were performing admirably all in all I was having fun (rain mode by the way).

I'd already gone past a couple of cars without incident ,came to overtake another passed him nice and cleanly gave him a wide birth due to the spray and started to return to my side of the road as I'm crossing back over the white line the front wheel went over a raised catseye, OMG the front end gave a very alarming buck which certainly woke me up,it never at any point felt out of control but it made the bike shake it's head a bit !

Once on a quite stretch of road I deliberately ran over several more catseye's all with the same result.
Now I'm sure I must have ridden over lots in the dry and have had no adverse reactions at all.

I can't say that I've ever experienced anything quite as dramatic as that whilst hitting catseye's in wet conditions.

I do believe it's down to the tyre? It never felt dangerous or that I wasn't in control just a little disconcerting,and it kept me on my toes.

I checked the pressure on getting home which was fine.

Steve

Really, not good to hear

 

[Nutty]

I was going to suggest tyre pressures, but you've checked that. I've ridden over lots of cats eyes in the wet with my Next tyres, and not had any issues. Could it be the tracking/ balancing of the tyres?

 

[Dellis]

It'll just be the tyre slipping off the wet metalwork of the cats eyes. My KTM does the same especially if you're off centre if you see what I mean.

Dave

 

[jonnyp]

About 5 mls into my return journey of 75mls after having the bikes first service done it started to rain,after another 5mls it was raining heavily.

I embraced this as an opportunity to get to grips with the bike in heavy rain and to get a feel for the "Tourance next" in the wet.

All was going very well, the roads where very wet but also fairly clear and the tyres and the bike were performing admirably all in all I was having fun (rain mode by the way).

I'd already gone past a couple of cars without incident ,came to overtake another passed him nice and cleanly gave him a wide birth due to the spray and started to return to my side of the road as I'm crossing back over the white line the front wheel went over a raised catseye, OMG the front end gave a very alarming buck which certainly woke me up,it never at any point felt out of control but it made the bike shake it's head a bit !

Once on a quite stretch of road I deliberately ran over several more catseye's all with the same result.
Now I'm sure I must have ridden over lots in the dry and have had no adverse reactions at all.

I can't say that I've ever experienced anything quite as dramatic as that whilst hitting catseye's in wet conditions.

I do believe it's down to the tyre? It never felt dangerous or that I wasn't in control just a little disconcerting,and it kept me on my toes.

I checked the pressure on getting home which was fine.

Steve

Hi Steve

I've not had quite the same reaction but I'm not sure about the Next's they seem to be ok but... If I'd had the options I would have gone for conti's

My front end (and I'm on spokes) seemed vague but then I let some air out and (2.4 bar on the dash) the feeling is much better.

Jon

 

[Wrinkly]

It'll just be the tyre slipping off the wet metalwork of the cats eyes. My KTM does the same especially if you're off centre if you see what I mean.

Dave

Got to say this was my thinking Dave.

After riding on standard Tourances for so long maybe I'm just not used to a fully road biased tyre ?

Steve

 

[Engineer]

I do a lot of riding in the wet and have Tourance Next's and not had a single disconcerting moment, they are a gazillion times better than the old Tourance's.

I keep my pressures at 36/42 because I often have luggage and a pillion. Not sure what caused your moment but I doubt that it was the tyres - perhaps just a greasy cats eye?

 

[RobertG]

I'm finding they don't like road anomalies. However a little lower pressure helps a lot.

 

[Dellis]

Got to say this was my thinking Dave.

After riding on standard Tourances for so long maybe I'm just not used to a fully road biased tyre ?

Steve

Have you settled into them yet Steve?

Dave

 

[Flipfly]

I do a lot of riding in the wet and have Tourance Next's and not had a single disconcerting moment, they are a gazillion times better than the old Tourance's.

I keep my pressures at 36/42 because I often have luggage and a pillion. Not sure what caused your moment but I doubt that it was the tyres - perhaps just a greasy cats eye?

Sorry but that is utter shite. Lots of people running tourances and have 0 chicken strips. The old ones are a fantastic tyre and very secure wet or dry.

Hitting a cats eye in the wet or dry at the wrong angle will cause the steering to shake a little. calm down and enjoy the feeling of being alive

Had a moment today in the car where it let go momentarily on a right hander thanks to standing water. Caused an "oooh ya fucker" moment but I was making progress and totally to blame

 

[Wrinkly]

Have you settled into them yet Steve?

Dave

I've now done around 2500mls in all sorts of weather on all sorts of roads both solo and two up.

On good roads the Tourance next is a very capable tyre, in either dry damp wet or very wet conditions.

However,it's not my kind of tyre despite having tried several different pressure setting.

Pro's....
Get on a nice piece of tarmac and the bike really do feel as though it's on rails ,dips into corners very nicely and changes direction very confidently for a big bike.
It's a long time since I rode a bike in the wet at the same speeds I ride in the dry (and I like to make progress)

Con's....
It would appear that the tyre has a very firm sidewall which makes the ride seem fairly harsh in some conditions.

It absolutely hates imperfections in the road and tracks quite badly in certain circumstances.

It's not the greatest on gnarly gravelly back roads (on which I spend a lot of my riding time) both the front and back end skip and jump about a lot.

If I only road fast twisties and A roads then it would be a difficult tyre to fault
but I don't so I'll be looking for something else to try when the time comes.

The original tourance is still my favourate tyre,and everything I say is just my opinion

Steve

 

[Dellis]

I've now done around 2500mls in all sorts of weather on all sorts of roads both solo and two up.

On good roads the Tourance next is a very capable tyre, in either dry damp wet or very wet conditions.

However,it's not my kind of tyre despite having tried several different pressure setting.

Pro's....
Get on a nice piece of tarmac and the bike really do feel as though it's on rails ,dips into corners very nicely and changes direction very confidently for a big bike.
It's a long time since I rode a bike in the wet at the same speeds I ride in the dry (and I like to make progress)

Con's....
It would appear that the tyre has a very firm sidewall which makes the ride seem fairly harsh in some conditions.

It absolutely hates imperfections in the road and tracks quite badly in certain circumstances.

It's not the greatest on gnarly gravelly back roads (on which I spend a lot of my riding time) both the front and back end skip and jump about a lot.

If I only road fast twisties and A roads then it would be a difficult tyre to fault
but I don't so I'll be looking for something else to try when the time comes.

The original tourance is still my favourate tyre,and everything I say is just my opinion

Steve

Steve,

I agree, the original Tourance really is an excellent tyre great wet grip very predictable and a decent wear rate, I've done over 100,000 miles on Tourances and was getting between 5,000 - 5,500 for a rear and just under 10,000 out of a front. I'm off them since I've swapped my last GS for a KTM and am now on Continental Trail Attacks which are also pretty good.

Dave

 

[Engineer]

Tis funny how people 'feel' things differently, I'd say the Tourance Next is head and shoulders above the old one, wet or dry, never had a single moment on them when crossing either cats eyes or road imperfections - I run them at max pressure all the time i.e. 36/42 as recommended by BMW and Metzeler no matter what the load.

I have done over 3500 miles on the new bike and would not hesitate in fitting the Nexts again.

 

[GC6269]

Sorry but that is utter shite.

Mind you don't get covered in creosote from all that fence sitting

I get the same reaction from the bike, but I'm running Anakee III's.

I'm very much in agreement with an earlier post that this is down to stiff tyre walls. I don't think it's as harsh as it feels and the suspension is stil doing it's job.

I'd also like to offer another explanation: this bike 'appears' to have a greater rear weight bias than others I have ridden. I have no scientific facts to base this theory on, other than the steering feels incredibly light for a big bike, especially under power. This, I reckon, gives the steering a level of 'nervousness' that may feel unsettling but doesn't seem to get any worse that a little 'wag' of the bars. Having done my mc apprenitiship on 350LC's and early Fireblades, wagging bars don't worry me too much!

Anyway, feel free to jump all over my theory. After all, it's just that, a theory.

 

[edwgordon]

Tis funny how people 'feel' things differently, I'd say the Tourance Next is head and shoulders above the old one, wet or dry, never had a single moment on them when crossing either cats eyes or road imperfections - I run them at max pressure all the time i.e. 36/42 as recommended by BMW and Metzeler no matter what the load.

I have done over 3500 miles on the new bike and would not hesitate in fitting the Nexts again.

I've done just shy of 5000 miles and rear tyre looks like not much left in it. Previously on Tourance I was getting 8000/9000 miles. I will replace with NEXTs but would like a bit more miles from my tyres

 

[jonnyp]

Mind you don't get covered in creosote from all that fence sitting

I get the same reaction from the bike, but I'm running Anakee III's.

I'm very much in agreement with an earlier post that this is down to stiff tyre walls. I don't think it's as harsh as it feels and the suspension is stil doing it's job.

I'd also like to offer another explanation: this bike 'appears' to have a greater rear weight bias than others I have ridden. I have no scientific facts to base this theory on, other than the steering feels incredibly light for a big bike, especially under power. This, I reckon, gives the steering a level of 'nervousness' that may feel unsettling but doesn't seem to get any worse that a little 'wag' of the bars. Having done my mc apprenitiship on 350LC's and early Fireblades, wagging bars don't worry me too much!

Anyway, feel free to jump all over my theory. After all, it's just that, a theory.

Graham - did you spec the Anakee's from new or have you changed them?

I totally agree with what you have said here, the front is light and like you it's not a worry but.....I've let some air out the front tyre and I find running in Enduro mode makes the bike much more fun as, it just softens the front off so the bike sits better.

Starting to think it could be the tyres and can't wait to get rid of the Next's !

 

[GC6269]

The bike came with Michelins.

I don't do the kind of mileage some of you boys do, so I'll be looking to swap to something as sporty as I can get.

I'll put a 1000 mile or so on these and then whip them off.

That said, I'm impressed with the levels of grip, so you never know, I might stick with them. The Conti's seem to be a more road based tyre but I'm new to these BMW things so I'm interested in others' opinions.

 

[Flipfly]

Graham - did you spec the Anakee's from new or have you changed them?

I totally agree with what you have said here, the front is light and like you it's not a worry but.....I've let some air out the front tyre and I find running in Enduro mode makes the bike much more fun as, it just softens the front off so the bike sits better.

Starting to think it could be the tyres and can't wait to get rid of the Next's !

I found the exact same on the test ride. Enduro mode gave the best throttle, suspension and lack of electrical interference, allowing you to throw the bike around. Had a wag from the bars, but only because I hit a crest in the road whilst cranked over and "on" the throttle

My old 1150 with the "planted" front wheel will shimmy over cats eyes in the wet with TKCs on. It's those things that make us realise we aren't driving the car

 

[Gossy]

About 5 mls into my return journey of 75mls after having the bikes first service done it started to rain,after another 5mls it was raining heavily.

I embraced this as an opportunity to get to grips with the bike in heavy rain and to get a feel for the "Tourance next" in the wet.

All was going very well, the roads where very wet but also fairly clear and the tyres and the bike were performing admirably all in all I was having fun (rain mode by the way).

I'd already gone past a couple of cars without incident ,came to overtake another passed him nice and cleanly gave him a wide birth due to the spray and started to return to my side of the road as I'm crossing back over the white line the front wheel went over a raised catseye, OMG the front end gave a very alarming buck which certainly woke me up,it never at any point felt out of control but it made the bike shake it's head a bit !

Once on a quite stretch of road I deliberately ran over several more catseye's all with the same result.
Now I'm sure I must have ridden over lots in the dry and have had no adverse reactions at all.

I can't say that I've ever experienced anything quite as dramatic as that whilst hitting catseye's in wet conditions.

I do believe it's down to the tyre? It never felt dangerous or that I wasn't in control just a little disconcerting,and it kept me on my toes.

I checked the pressure on getting home which was fine.

Steve

Even in the dry running over a dead rabbit or squirrel is very similar

 

[jonnyp]

The bike came with Michelins.

I don't do the kind of mileage some of you boys do, so I'll be looking to swap to something as sporty as I can get.

I'll put a 1000 mile or so on these and then whip them off.

That said, I'm impressed with the levels of grip, so you never know, I might stick with them. The Conti's seem to be a more road based tyre but I'm new to these BMW things so I'm interested in others' opinions.

Cheers... I'll go back to Conti's!!