Sorry everyone... Tires again.

[webbcraft2150]

I vote 491 Dunlops. Last long, stick good.

[trbig]

Well... I just looked today, and what I have is the Dunlop 404. Like I said.. I was told 8,000 miles... BARELY got 5. I have to admit that I do accelerate harder than most around town and stuff.. I am sure it's leaving some rubber as it hits the power curve... but I don't purposely sit and burn out. I tried one time and about flipped it... it grabbed instead of spinning.

I went to my local shop today and he was very surprised at my low mileage on this tire. We talked for a bit and he reccomended maybe the Chinese made tire.... Cheng something or other... He said the rubber compound is much harder and people get lots of miles out of them, but not to try road racing on them. Like I said.. I'm not going to try to keep up with the crotch rockets in the corners, so I may try them this time. He showed me one tire that is dual compound... harder in the center of the tire, but soft on the sides for cornering. I may try that at some point, but it is considerably more expensive..

He also said that he would have a hard time getting Dunlops right now even if I wanted them. Something about the factory workers going on strike for like 6 months... and now that they are back, they are way behind?? Just his word... don't know any facts behind it.

I appreciate all the input. I was hoping for someone to say... yeah.. this tire gets 12-15k on my bike... or whatever. Maybe I pay too much attention to the mileage I get on them?? lol.

Thanks again..

Tod

P.S. I was also told that the Elite 2's were no longer available... ??

[Pain]

Seriously, if you want high mileage without giving up traction, look at the 880s. They are not cheap, but the are popular among LD riders. I know someone who put over 20k on their front before replacing it, and she admitted it looked fine, just made her nervous to have that many miles on it. I have about 12k on the 880 on the rear of my K bike, and I would say it was around 50%. I certainly am not nice to it.

About your tire, how often do you check your pressure, and wht pressure are you running? Under inflation will really sap the life out of a tire, no matter how good it is.

[TopCatGr58]

Tod,

PlaneDick posted IIRC about 6 months ago about the pending strike at Dunlop and warned folks to buy their tires in the Fall because they "may" be hard to find NOW! Fortunately mine still has plenty of tread still, so won't have to worry about getting another one for another year or so!

Many folks have posted about the poor quality of the Cheng Shin tires, so buy at your own risk!

I'll have to try to contact DUNLOP and find out IF they are planning on discontinuing the 491 Elite II's, would be a pity though if they do!
T.C.

[Pain]

+1 on being careful with Cheng Sing tires. I had some for about 1k miles, and took them off. Sure they didn't waer, but I had no traction on anything other than dry pavement.

It doesn't sound bad, when you read it, but even starting from a traffic light too near the middle of the lane would give me some rear wheel spinnage.

[trbig]

Yeah,

I have been talking to Maximan... and for some stupid reason, I trust his judgement! He used to use them and told me that these Cheng Sins didn't get the mileage that he had hoped for. He has been using Avons... So I am going to look into the Metlers and Avons. My local shop just went up on tire installs... 35 bucks for the rear. So saving 30 or 40 bucks on a tire isn't going to save me any money in the long run if I have to change it more often.

They would probably last me a lot longer if I would go back in and remove the extra steel in my clutch basket so the clutch slips again... couldn't get near the power to the back wheel that way! 2nd thought... naw.. I'll just replace tires! lol.

Thanks again everyone.

Tod

[xszgrider]

Re: metzler 880 size

Originally posted by xschop
i am running metzler 880 front and back. i really love them. however I just recently noticed some small outter cracks and these tires are almost new and I put tire protectant on them...Are these small fissures something to worry about? I figured they were from sitting in the abnormally extreme cold we have had here for the pasts few months....

I am using 880's on my Voyager and CB1000c and I really love them also. I want to put 880's on my XS1100G. What size are you running in the front and rear? I don't know how to convert the old tire sizes to the new method in which they are specified.
Thanks,

[LoserShoes]

Look Here for tire sizes conversions.

Steve