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Metzler Z8 Interact tires

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tsr:
Well, I went on a 325 mile ride on Sunday hitting twisties, a bit of freeway and two-lane blacktop roads.  I wanted to give my new tires a good run in.

I had previously mounted Metzler's M3 Sport-tec and liked them quite a bit.  They were starting to square off a bit as I hit the wear bars on the rear tire, so I decided to re-shoe the zed.  After looking at the description of the new tires from Metzler (I like this brand) I settled on the Z8 Interact, a sport-touring tire that uses a variation in the tightness of the steel belts to change the tire's road handling.  Instead of using a different compound to achieve center-line high mileage and shoulder high grip, the Interact changes the tension of the belts to effect this same result.  Moto-journalists approved, so I had a set mounted.

These are my impression after the first real ride:  at slow speeds, the feel is light and steering adjustments are light to change direction.  As the speed increases, the necessary input increases a bit, too, but at all times the tire feels quite planted and somewhat light in steering (unlike the Dunlop RoadSmarts which feel quite planted but heavy to steer).  The tire allows the bike to fall into turns quite easily, but is always in control.  At high speeds (108 mph) the bike was rock solid; rock.

The tires adjust to steering inputs mid-corner with no squabble and will sit on whatever line you put it.  Because of the light steering feel, be sure you want to go where you look, because the tire acts as though it knows where you want to go and takes you there.

Part of my ride took me to above 6000 ft where there was snow on the sides of the road and one small patch of ice on the road (33 degree F temp).  At a slight lean, the tire tracked over the ice with only a little wiggle - it seemed to actually have some traction on that ice.

In the twisties, the tire had very good traction and flicked from side to side with predictable quickness and confidence.  I checked other things to get the feel of the new tires including breaking while cornering and accelerating hard in a corner.  In both cases the bike stayed on its intended line in the corner.

In all, the tires have lived up to the media claims and I am quite happy with the results!  These tires are supposed to have very good wet weather traction, but I have not yet had a chance to test that.  The tires also have an elephant (their logo) on the shoulders of the tires, and the goal for some is to lean far enough over to behead the elephant.  On this ride I was able to give the fellow a haircut  ;D which leaves about 1/2 inch of shoulder remaining.  Using the entire shoulder will scuff up the entire beast.  I hope to threaten its safety on an upcoming ride  ;)

spex:
Yeah I'm running a Z8 up front with an older Z6 Interact on the rear. Very happy with their performance so far, they're only 3000km old so I hope they live up to the longevity claims as well.


Oh, and I've just touched the elephant's head on the right, the one on the left is safe for now.

trenttheuncatchable:
This is tangential, but since Metzeler is part of Pirelli, I thought I'd mention that I'll be trying the Pirelli Diablo Rosso II's as my next set of tires for the Z.

Mike L:
Good review on the Z8 Interact -- thanks!!  I went from M3 to M5 Interact on my ZRX and can report similar results.  On a couple of track days last summer I was able to completely obliterate the elephant (and shorten the footpeg feelers quite a bit) -- needed to raise the rear ride height to gain ground clearance to use all the available traction, at least on the track!

The Z6 gave incredible mileage with great grip on a friend's FJR1300.  Sounds like the Z8 may improve grip and feel while maintaining long tire life! 

smokeshow:
Great review. I was considering a set of these next. The guy at my local shop had recommended them to me as well. I'm currently running pilot road 2's and find if I give it hard out of a parking lot I'll fishtail till it's leaned over far enough to hit the soft rubber on the sides. Seems like the centre rubber has hardened up a bit through heat cycles.

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