To me your short tyre life sounds awful.

Sounds awful to my credit card too, Will !

When I ran an R100RS/RT (70 hp) in the mid to late 80s I used Continental TK22 front / TK44 rear tyres and habitually got 6500/7000 to a rear and two rears to a front. The bike was usually loaded up for camping & hacked South on the Autobahns to play out in the Alps and I was less averse to wringing the throttle in those days than today.

Since I went "smaller" with a Breva V750 i.e I don't think I have had much over 4k from a rear, using Continental ContiGo! replacements for the OE Pirellis. The Pirellis were OK, but were obsolete when I can to do the first change. Still two rears to a front, so front life is less than I used to get as well.

The Honda NC570S DCT was the first bike I have owned that wore the front tyre out first & the OE Bridgestone (020s IIRC) was down to the limit at 4200 miles. A puncture in the rear on the way home from the service where the low front tread had been pointed out saw a pair of Sport Attack 3 radials fitted. Didn't keep the bike long enough afterwards to see how they fared long-term - after 2-2500 miles they looked fine.

The Interceptor came with Pirellis Phantom SportsComps which, despite the internet nonsense spouted about them, I found fine. The first rear did 4000 & was replaced with another. At 8000 both front & rear changed to ContiGo!s. First of these on the rear did 4000, currently on the second.

The Classic 500 came with a pair of oversized Dunlop K70s that the PO had fitted because "they filled the space under the mudguards better". They were replaced with a pair of correct size Avon Road Rider 2s. I was very suprised to find the rear shot at 4000 again. Couldn't get a replacement Avon due to supply issues caused by the closure of the UK plant, so ended up with a Dunlop of similar tread pattern.

Interestingly the Dunlop looked to have more tread than the Avon had originally & I subseqeuntly found that the Avon and Interceptor rear ContiGo!s are "universal" tyres suitable for front or rear fitment and the Dunlop was a "rear only" fitment. The "universal" tyres only have 5.5mm of tread depth while the "rear only" had over 7mm. Maybe less tread rubber depth on a tyre that may be used on the front for improved braking stability in that application ?

So it could well be a combination of modern softer rubber plus less useable tread on the "universal" tyres is the cause. Either way, I am not impressed & will be looking for an alternative for the Interceptor next time around as a pair will be required - I like the "feel" of Continental tyres, but not enough to put up with their short life any more. Annoying that they don't have the Interceptor sizes in Sport Attack 3 radial tyres, as they do seem to wear well. Mrs B has those on her V7 Classic and gets over 6k from a rear.

The Ceats on the Himalayan / Scram just seem to be very soft - saw one comment that they wore "like running a wax crayon down a brick wall", which kind of sums up our experience with them. Mrs B's Scram was visibly down before she had completed the (very sedate, very extended factory recommended) running period. My Him is looking similarly sad after 1500 similarly sedate running in miles. Fortunately Trail Attack radials are available in these sizes - more road-biased than the Ceats but I don't expect to be doing anything more challenging off road than gravel trails so they should be fine. Metzler Tourance also available in these sizes, and more cost-effective than the Contis. They felt secure on cold, wet roads when I had the Voge 525 out on demo recently.

The Ceats are cheap though, £57 loose, so undecided about just fitting replacement rears to get more out of the OE fronts or just biting the bullet and swapping out the pair for something else. On a ride-in, ride out basis for the 2 bikes I can't see much change out of £600 to change out both pairs, though.

Nigel B.