Metzeler Sportec Klassik Review

Finding decent tyres for my BMW K100RS is difficult nowadays. Way back in the eighties you could find radial tyres in suitable sizes, now there are only trail type items in 140/80-17 and if you want the "correct" 130/90-17 there are only bias ply tyres on offer. Modern bias ply tyres are coming on in leaps and bounds though, supposedly the Pirelli Sport Demon is a marvellous thing though they wear out fast. I thought I'd try my luck with Metzeler's newest addition to their bias ply range, the Sportec Klassik, something so new and modern must surely be better than the Avon Roadrider it was replacing.. Right?

My first impression of the tyre was that the tread was not cut very deep, perhaps 8mm. The Roadrider started with something ludicrous like 15mm, though it all wore away in about 5500 miles and then split in the middle, showing the cords to the outside world. But enough about that, here is the near-bald looking brand new Klassik:

A nice shape, for sure. The previous tyres I've had on the K100 are a Conti Go! which I quite liked but it was a bit wobbly, and the aforementioned Roadrider which I didn't like a lot and it was very wobbly, the bike wallowing all over the shop when pressing on after the tyre had a bit of wear on it. Initial impressions of the Klassik were very different, the compound is hard yet seemed to bite in very nicely when asked to work, and the construction of the carcass is harder still - this thing is STIFF. It reminded me a lot of the Lasertec I once had on the front, every bump in the road is transmitted to the rider but the upside to this is the bike is held on line round corners. Whether this is worth the lack of comfort is personal preference, personally I'll take it.

After a mere 435 miles the tyre collected a screw. This was strange as I hadn't had a puncture for many tens of thousands of miles over about 6 years, but it was to become a running theme. Surely it's not the tyre's fault, though?

After getting it plugged I carried on my merry way, including a ~2000 mile trip to Germany. The tyre proved perfectly capable in the dry, if still very stiff, and somewhat adequate in the wet though I'm sure the Conti Go! was better. The Klassik is a bit squirmy and feels somewhat loose, though it never actually slid. But then the feeling of insecurity meant I gave it little chance to!

Once home from that most marvellous of trips the tyre decided it would collect another screw. At least it meant I kept a decent record of pictures on how it was wearing.. This is at 2700 miles:

To be fair it took quite a beating in Germany, being caned up hills in second gear and then caned along autobahn, but I was disappointed with the speed with which it was wearing. The tyre also felt very squirmy, having worn to the camber on the wrong side of the road - this as much a function of its stiff carcass and hard compound as the way it was worn. Other tyres have not been nearly as bad as this. It was also starting to follow road imperfections and white lines in a most alarming fashion, feeling as though it was surely worn out. But no.. A week later it again decided to pick up a screw, the tyre man rubbing his hands with a most disturbing level of glee. This is at 2841 miles:

The tyre had also picked up a sizeable chunk of glass and was full of stones. I'm not sure what is going on here, I can only guess that it runs hot in use and is soft enough to gobble up whatever is sharp enough to make its way into the rubber. The only tyre I've had that was as hungry as this is a special extra-soft Heidenau K65 meant for racing, which I can forgive. But this? With these grip levels? Not so good.

I pressed on with the tyre until I hit the wear markers at a surprisingly far 5814 miles:

By this time it was feeling very loose in wet weather and on rough surfaces, though it still hadn't actually caused any major concern as I felt the need to ride very slowly with it like that. By this time the wobbles are also starting to creep in again, the tyre having lost some of its rigidity but I think that is fair, it is supposed to be replaced.

So, would I recommend this tyre? Yes and no. Yes if you run a heavy bike and like to press on in dry weather, it grips well enough and is stiff enough to keep the bike under control better than other modern tyres. But if you ride year round then no, this tyre was never great in the wet and got worse with use. Given the price point I would take it over the Avon Roadrider and the Metzeler Lasertec but I think I would want to stump up the extra 10% for a Michelin Pilot Activ instead, if my experience of one on the front is any indication then that is a far superior tyre. Perhaps there is a reason the Klassik is at the bottom of the price range!