I have heard that the Metzlers are very good tires for bikes with a high unsprung weight, such as the big shaft drive models. In fact, they are standard OEM on some BMW's. On the sportbike side, I have heard that they are dangerous. I have read numerous reports of Metzlers simply letting go of the road in only moderate cornering. The explanation that I have seen which makes the most sense to me, is that the Metzlers have very stiff sidewalls, and therefore are well tuned to heavy bikes. They do not flex enough for sportbikes to stay upright on them.

It seems to me that they would by fine for a heavy bike like an HD. However, I have not heard from an HD owner anything pro or con about them.

Been running Metzlers on BMWs for many years with no complaints.

It's been a week since the switch from Dunlops to Metzlers. Here's what I have to report:

The first couple miles on the new tires were WEIRD. The bike felt like it was going to tip over, especially at low speeds. Looking back, I attribute that to the differences in the tires - the previous tires had a wide, bias ply rear tire that was very flat, with a very stiff sidewall, so the bike would almost balance on the rear tire! The new rear tire is a radial with a much softer sidewall, and it's a narrower, lighter tire, so it seems to make the bike much easier to turn. Particularly noticeable at slow speeds! Once I got past those first few miles though.... I started to like these new rubbers.

On the highway these tires really started to come to life. Even before I had finished a reasonable break-in period I noticed that they handled grooved concrete better than anything I had ever run. I remember back in the days when I rode a 280lb 500cc super-motard and when I'd hit grooved concrete that bike would squirm all over the place -- very un-nerving! My Harley was significantly better on grooved concrete - bone-stock, but it still moved around a little, just not enough to scare me. I gotta give Metzler some credit for a great tread design, these tires don't catch on anything -- grooved concrete feels no different than smooth asphalt, and even changing lanes is smoother -- you never notice that you're moving from one strip of pavement to another, the tires always give you a sure-footed feeling.

Over bumps, the radial rear tire is much smoother. I'd attribute some of that to it's more flexible sidewall, and some of it to it's reduced weight. The new Metzler probably weighs only 2/3's of what the Dunlop weighed in at. This contributes to a better suspension action, as anytime you can reduce unsprung weight (wheels, tires, brakes, etc) you'll have a better ride. A passenger on the back that has been on the bike a number of times commented that the bike felt smoother with the new tires.

The down side of the tire change is that I went from a 180/60 to a 170/60. It's not that I notice any less traction (I did notice more traction when I went from the stock 160/70 to the 180/60, but no loss switching to the 170/60R), it's in the looks department. The wider tire looked cooler, that's all.

I guess the next test will be how long they last, and how sticky they are when I go out riding in the twisties with my sportbike-riding buddies.