Tires and expenses

I've got a long commute, and ride my GS500 about half the time. This can go through tires relatively quickly - I seem to get around 8K out of the rear tires and 16K out of the front. I've been thinking that if I change to a different sort of bike, it's probably worth considering the tire lifespan and costs. For example, how well do dual sport tires hold up on the street? (It's helpful that it looks like they're easier to change at home.)

Dual sport knobbies (at least the 50/50 street/dirt tires I run on the KLR650) do not last any longer than that, for sure. I think the bike is on its third rear tire after 13k miles.

Wow... that is pretty good. I used to get about 2500mi a set on the VFR.

Id love to.get 8000 miles out of a rear tire. With knobs.I averaged 3500-5500 depending on the tire with d606's lasting the longest for me. Im hoping street rubber on my new sumo wheels last longer, but the rear is already starting to square off after 1500 miles or so.

Yeah you're getting pretty good mileage already!

That's about what I get on my FLHT. The Sportster does a little better, but not all that much. Tires are just one of the costs. My friend recently purchased a tire machine so he can mount the tires himself and save a lot doing that, including buying the tires online.

Also note that some tires last better than others. The Dunlop touring tires last a lot longer than a Metzler sport tire (MezLazer for example) on my bike. Of course, the Dunlop can't match the MezLazer in the turns, but there's no free lunch.

I used to get about 12k out of the tires on my BMW R1150RT. Those are dual-compound tires though (BT020 IIRC). Dual sport tires - even the 80/20 tires only last a few thousand miles...