Matching tyres, front & rear, Why?

Sorry to put you all through another tyre question but I have heard that it is preferable to match your front and rear tyres?

Do you have to match them? Usually the rear wears quicker, so should I source another tyre the same as whats already there?

The factory tyre that came with my 1250 Bandit was a Dunlop Sportmax 218, they seem to grip ok but wear quickly, as I have only done 3700kms on them.

Any thoughts appreciated.

People usually run matched tyres because of the different cross sectional profiles you usually find with different manufacturers (or even same manufacturer but different line of tyre). Some even mention that with some combos you can feel the front and rear tracking different lines through a corner. That said, you don't have to run matched tyres if you find a setup that you like. I am running a PR2 rear and a power front and it feels good, might go to a PR2 front next though to get a little extra life.

People usually run matched tyres because of the different cross sectional profiles you usually find with different manufacturers (or even same manufacturer but different line of tyre). Some even mention that with some combos you can feel the front and rear tracking different lines through a corner. That said, you don't have to run matched tyres if you find a setup that you like. I am running a PR2 rear and a power front and it feels good, might go to a PR2 front next though to get a little extra life.

As an aside, a good mate of mine who is an ex A grader, has been running a 2CT front, with a PR2 rear. He reckons it's brilliant and says he gets better mileage from the front 2CT than he did from Pilot Powers!! I might try one for next summer, but for this winter, I'm going to stick with the front PR2 which seems to agree with wet roads a little better than the sharper profiled tyres.

i'm running a cross... but only cuz its how I bought the bike... got michelin on the front and bridgstone batalax on the rear.
would like to run some 2ct's f&b... but current's have alot of tread left

People usually run matched tyres because of the different cross sectional profiles you usually find with different manufacturers (or even same manufacturer but different line of tyre). Some even mention that with some combos you can feel the front and rear tracking different lines through a corner. That said, you don't have to run matched tyres if you find a setup that you like. I am running a PR2 rear and a power front and it feels good, might go to a PR2 front next though to get a little extra life.

As an aside, a good mate of mine who is an ex A grader, has been running a 2CT front, with a PR2 rear. He reckons it's brilliant and says he gets better mileage from the front 2CT than he did from Pilot Powers!! I might try one for next summer, but for this winter, I'm going to stick with the front PR2 which seems to agree with wet roads a little better than the sharper profiled tyres.

Is there any formula to picking the right match? my rear tyre is near worn out after only 4000km, the front is still in good condition, but I really dont want to get another tyre the same if I am only going to get 4000km from it.