Tweet
My bike sat from XS East until last weekend. (I rode something else) It was time for tire. Metzeler ME880 were on the bike. I was mostly satisfied with them. They seem to last longer than the Dunlop GT501 they replaced. OK, here's the stuff.
My front tire still has plenty of tread after about 14,000 miles. Upon close scrutiny, there is a lot of cracking between the tread grooves. I have been running about 40 PSI in the tire. The date code says the tire was made in the 4th week of 2011. I don't think it should be cracking. I elected to replace it. With all that talk we've had about running old tires, here's a new twist. My tire appears to have aged out before it got old.
The Metzeler ME880 fills the front fender pretty well. The tire size is 100/90-19. I measured it. It is more than 103 mm wide. Hmmm. I have a Dunlop GT501 size 100/90-19 mounted on another wheel. It measures just over 95 mm wide. On another bike, I checked the Bridgestone Spitfire. It is just over 100 mm wide, or almost exactly as advertised.
I replaced the tires on my SG with Pirelli MT66 Route. I chose them based on the feedback I got here and the price. The first thing I did once they were mounted was to measure the front tire width. It comes in at just over 95 mm or exactly the same as the GT501.
Over the last two days of riding, I have been checking my fuel economy. It had been 28-30 mpg or maybe even 32 on a good day. Now I'm getting 33 mpg and I've been running pretty hard and two-up. I checked my speedometer yesterday and the needle is 1 or 2 mph fast. I thought it was accurate with the old tire, but it could have even been a tad slow. I had checked it against a stationary radar at much lower speed than the 70 mph I checked it against yesterday. Yesterday, I checked it against GPS and the speedometer on Jeff's GoldWing simultaneously. So, when we talk MPG, the brand of front tire is going to add an error.
I like the Pirelli MT66 Route so far. I ride with Jeff often and his skill is far beyond my own. He says I'm rolling at least 5 mph faster through the curves on the Pirellis than I was with the Metzelers. Only he would know. I'm comfortable with them.
My front tire still has plenty of tread after about 14,000 miles. Upon close scrutiny, there is a lot of cracking between the tread grooves. I have been running about 40 PSI in the tire. The date code says the tire was made in the 4th week of 2011. I don't think it should be cracking. I elected to replace it. With all that talk we've had about running old tires, here's a new twist. My tire appears to have aged out before it got old.
The Metzeler ME880 fills the front fender pretty well. The tire size is 100/90-19. I measured it. It is more than 103 mm wide. Hmmm. I have a Dunlop GT501 size 100/90-19 mounted on another wheel. It measures just over 95 mm wide. On another bike, I checked the Bridgestone Spitfire. It is just over 100 mm wide, or almost exactly as advertised.
I replaced the tires on my SG with Pirelli MT66 Route. I chose them based on the feedback I got here and the price. The first thing I did once they were mounted was to measure the front tire width. It comes in at just over 95 mm or exactly the same as the GT501.
Over the last two days of riding, I have been checking my fuel economy. It had been 28-30 mpg or maybe even 32 on a good day. Now I'm getting 33 mpg and I've been running pretty hard and two-up. I checked my speedometer yesterday and the needle is 1 or 2 mph fast. I thought it was accurate with the old tire, but it could have even been a tad slow. I had checked it against a stationary radar at much lower speed than the 70 mph I checked it against yesterday. Yesterday, I checked it against GPS and the speedometer on Jeff's GoldWing simultaneously. So, when we talk MPG, the brand of front tire is going to add an error.
I like the Pirelli MT66 Route so far. I ride with Jeff often and his skill is far beyond my own. He says I'm rolling at least 5 mph faster through the curves on the Pirellis than I was with the Metzelers. Only he would know. I'm comfortable with them.
Comment