Metzeler Z6 Interact Review

Well I’ve had fresh rubber on the bike now for about 2 weeks and I have never been happier with a new set of tyres like this before.

Before I begin, I’ll explain a bit about my riding style, I commute every day to and from work on my bike. On the weekends I may want to join my fellow bikers for a lap or 2 of the old road, and if there is enough peer pressure and finances available I might do a track day. I am by no means a racer, or consider myself to be quick around the track. I simply ride because I enjoy being on a motorbike, not because I want to do 1:30 around EC.
Anyways with that in mind, these tyres may obviously not be suited to some of you who only know one speed..."FAST FAST FAST!! WTF IS THAT LEVER ABOVE THE THROTTLE FOR?"

Let’s start with the sizes and pressures

Front 120/60 - 36psi
Rear 160/60 - 41psi


That’s how the guy that fit the tyres on put the pressures so I thought I’d leave them like that and experiment with them a bit later.

They come in different shapes and sizes too, but the above is what I am reviewing.

Fronts

110/70 ZR 17
120/60 ZR 17
120/70 ZR 17
110/80 ZR 18
120/70 ZR 18
110/80 VR 19

Rears

130/80 HR 17
150/70 VR 17
150/70 ZR 17
160/60 ZR 17
160/70 ZR 17
170/60 ZR 17
180/55 ZR 17
190/50 ZR 17
160/60 ZR 18



Price
These puppies are set to compete with the other tyre manufacturers which have similar touring tyres on the market, such as the Michelin PR2 and the Pirelli Angel ST. So after calling around a few shops that sell them, I couldn’t get more than a $20 to $50 difference in price between the Michelin and Pirellis.

Yes I did call out sponsons and the price above does not include any KSRC discount, I’m talking RRP. Anyways I’m not going to do your shopping for you, this review is about the tyre, not suppliers.

So price wise, it is on par with its competition which is interesting for me as I thought Metzeler would be bringing down the prices to at least take some of the spotlight away from Pirelli's Angels publicity hype.

Technical Stuff
Well this is where I get technical about the tyre technology, and whatever I can’t remember will be a copy and paste from a reputable source

The Z6 has been around for yonks, but the Interact is fairly new to the market as it is the first tyre to have 0° steel belt radial structure on a single compound. The steel is one continuous wire, around the center of the tyre the belt is under a lot of tension (sort of like a guitar string ) this creates a lot of pressure which reduces the amount of flex at the center of the tyre.
Lets use the fun'o'matic formula... Less flex = less heat = less wear =

Now as we start to move away from the boring center, and venture to the side walls, we see that the steel belt is wound under less tension, creating a lot more flex around where it matters. So let’s look back at our formula...
More flex = more heat = more grip = faster corners = more confidence =



Handling/Grip

Now for that copy and paste I promised...Mainly because it reinforces a point I want to make about the tyres turning in so smoothly

They are approximately 120 steel threads that make up the steel belt. The number and spacing of threads allows for a progressive reduction of the winding from center to edge, with more thread in the high tension center and less thread in the lower tension/higher grip edge. Metzeler staff explained that this progressive winding method helps contribute to consistent feel and performance when transitioning into a lean or turn.

And I couldn’t agree more.

I ran in the tyres for 100km before I decided to push them. After the initial run in, I got off the bike and looked at the rear, expecting to see 5cm wide chicken strips...to my surprise, on the left I had gone all the way to the edge, and on the right there was about 0.5 cm of untouched rubber. I was shocked

I do think that this is due to the fact that I am running a 60 instead of the 70s I had on before, but the lack of strips is encouraging

Turning the beast no longer requires I have the arms of a body builder, I can now quite easily flick the bike left and right in one smooth move. In fact it flicks so well and so quickly now that I have to get my body to move quicker from left to right as I’m finding that the bike is turning in before I get a chance to shift my body weight across.

The tyres get hot rather quickly, albeit when I tested them it was a rather warm day, but what Metzeler claims seems to be true, as you can definitely feel more heat around the sides than in the center. This extra heat around the sides also makes the tyres surprisingly sticky for a touring tyre, which gave me an extra boost in confidence.

So with the extra confidence I thought I’d put my riding ability and the tyres to the test. Going up the hill of a road a frequently use on Sundays, new tarmac and new tyres = fun! I have done this bit of road many times before and I know at what speeds I feel comfortable in. I was shocked to see me going around most of these corners a bit to a lot quicker than my comfort zone usually allowed, and the tyres just kept on offering grip like it was going out of fashion.
I was even surprised at the tyres ability to "regrip". Leaning over as far as I dared, moving at an increased pace, suddenly I hit a reflector, the tyres didn’t like that much and made the bike jump up, losing all traction. As soon as it landed, the tyres went right back to work and grabbed on again.
Sure I now had extra weight in my undies, but I was still rubber side down and my love for this inanimate object grew ever so quickly

Wet performance is very good from what I can tell. I’ve ridden a couple of times in the rain and wet roads, never had a slip up or moment to make me second guess the tyres. I do ride a bit more sedate than when dry (I’m sure we all do), but I found myself leaning in with confidence around corners and roundabouts, confidence which I previously couldn’t get from other tyres.

What puzzles me however is that the back tyre has a surprising amount of tread in the middle missing, but I guess you don’t need maximum water dispersion at 0° lean. If anything the front tyre makes up for the lack of water dispersing goodness the rear one has, so I would recommend to anyone getting these to buy them as a set.


Longevity and ride comfort

Well it’s still early days to be reviewing longevity, so watch this space in a few months ill report how they are fairing after a track day and continuous commutes.


Comfort wise, these tyres seem to soak up a lot of the little imperfections of the road, at any lean angle (except reflectors at full lean). I find that the usual pot holes and bumps I used to go over with my previous tyres are now almost unnoticeable. Must be those steel belts and extra flex around the sides.


Conclusion

It’s hard to draw up a conclusion on a touring tyre after only riding it for 2 weeks, especially for longevity, but Metzler seem to claim that you can expect slightly higher level of longevity as the original Z6.

So for the time being, this tyre offers you grip levels you don’t really expect to see on a touring tyre, the water dispersion which I thought was going to be poor, seems to be quite well and its high silica compound simply compliments the tyres already awesome performance in the wet or dry.

If you are in the market for a touring tyre, and no one stocks PR2, then I think this would be a good compromise to come to.

I dont know how long these will last me, but the next set will be the PR2's then I will compare the two and provide some feedback to those undecided.


Thanks for reading...oh and I think we need a Tyres section on the forum

I run the Z6 on the back of my 9 with an M3 on the front. This combination was recommended by my local tyre guru as he reckons I will get about the same life out of both so can replace as a set.

Now I'm not a great rider by any means but have had a track day at OP (my first) and like you no chicken strips since then as I have learnt to trust the grip the tyre provides. Regularly use my 'test' road near home and have rarely had any dramas. Had a long trip in the wet too with no problem. As I have not ridden on anything else I can't compare but am sure happy with them so far. Have done about 7,000kms and still more than half tread left.

Will be quite happy to put these back on when needed.

Would be interested to campate these to the M1's and M3s. I found the M1s were great in the wet - including a track day at P.I. when it pissed down all day. M3s were Ok, but are no comparision to having PR2 on the rear and 2ct on the front - excellent confidence.

Don't think the Z6 any match for the M3s as they are basically a touring tyre but hey depends just how hard you want to push...