What tires do you use?

[trbig]

Nope.. they aren't available in the 17" size. Not trying to get a war started again.. but I know several people who use the Metzlers that do offer it in 17", and have heard zero negative comments about them. I don't think they'll last quite as long as the Elite 3s, but that's just not debateable with the 17".

What you might consider, is that I've heard there is very little difference between the 17" and 16" outer circumference of the actual tire between the two sizes. You might try to find a good cheap 16" back tire that you could use and get away from a tubed tire that way?

Just a thought.


Tod

[Athedra]

Michelin Macadam 50.

Has the needed grip wet and dry. The set on now came with the bike, and I put about 4000 km on it, and doesn't even show that it's been used.

[trbig]

Not trying to get a war started again..

[RS Thornton]

Well, couldn't find Macadam 50's in 130/90-17 either. Not sure if it is just my inadequate web surfing skills or not. I have some time to hunt them up as it is snowing again! 3 yr old D404's with significant tread are on the new toy as it came to me so I could even in run a first part of the season on them.
Scott

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Thornton,

You will have slim pickens with the 17" rear rim, it's becoming a rare supported size, hence the suggestion to go to a 16" if you want the E-3 pattern. Last time I checked, they still had the Elite II's in the 17", it's the same pattern as the D404 but a heavier load bearing version, with more tread thickness, so it won't wear out as quickly as the 404 in the same use!!

Tod...you'll have to forgive our South African brother, he's just new and trying to help...the new old thread caught his attention, but he may not have read the previous 5+pages of replies?? And he was just suggesting another make/brand that he's had good experience with, no flaming intended as far as I could see. I know it's a matter of folks opinions that you're referring to as the "war"!
T.C.

[trbig]

And he was just suggesting another make/brand that he's had good experience with, no flaming intended as far as I could see.

No flaming taken... That's why this... instead of this.. lol.

Sorry if taken that way. By all means.. everybody else has had a chance to give their opinion... why not him?


Tod

[Axel]

No longer available

Hey Guys . On the topic of scarcedy... I ran the Avon Roadrunners last year and when I went back for more ,I couldnt get the front tire anymore . I changed to the Venoms and like them very much . The roadrunner rear has lasted a long time . We will see about the Venoms . I use JC motors on ebay and like them a lot . They sent me a front tire instead of a back tire last time and said "just keep it" and sent the rear so I got two tires for the price of one .

[trbig]

I've found and heard from others.. the Avon Venoms are a crap shoot. One set will be the best you've ever had, the next won't be any better than the Dunlop 404. No consistency.

I am running an E3 up front right now but a Venom will be going back up front when that tire is gone. It's the best one I've run up front yet (The Venom) and I haven't heard of the inconsistencies like the rear tires.

On a seperate note, I've always heard of dangers of swapping a tire's rotation.. then seen manufacturer's recommendations of rotating tires in an "X" pattern on a car. (EG Front left to right rear) This Elite 3 front has the same tread design as the Cheng Shins and many others where the properly mounted tire has the tread seeming to roll the wrong way. I ride a lot in the rain and this seems to gather the water under the tire instead of shedding it out and away and it gets squirrelly sometimes. Why does it seem to be designed opposite of a car tire?

Does anyone have any proof besides "I just don't think it's a good idea.." as to why you couldn't turn this front tire around?

Tod

[Dan Hodges]

Hey Thornton,

You will have slim pickens with the 17" rear rim, it's becoming a rare supported size, hence the suggestion to go to a 16" if you want the E-3 pattern. Last time I checked, they still had the Elite II's in the 17", it's the same pattern as the D404 but a heavier load bearing version, with more tread thickness, so it won't wear out as quickly as the 404 in the same use!!

Tod...you'll have to forgive our South African brother, he's just new and trying to help...the new old thread caught his attention, but he may not have read the previous 5+pages of replies?? And he was just suggesting another make/brand that he's had good experience with, no flaming intended as far as I could see. I know it's a matter of folks opinions that you're referring to as the "war"!
T.C.

Both Metzeler and Bridgestone have tires for the 17 inch rear wheel as Susuki, Kawasaki and others used this size tire on their sport bikes in the 80's, you just can't get Dunlop Elite III's. According to Dennis Kirk, Avon also offers a tire in that size but I can't offer any opinion on Avon tires because I've never used them.

[Dan Hodges]

Both Metzeler and Bridgestone have tires for the 17 inch rear wheel as Susuki, Kawasaki and others used this size tire on their sport bikes in the 80's, you just can't get Dunlop Elite III's. According to Dennis Kirk, Avon also offers a tire in that size but I can't offer any opinion on Avon tires because I've never used them.

The shelf life of tires is not indeffinite particulary when they are stored in a hot enviroment which is why some tires are junk when you get them.

[RS Thornton]

Thanks for the input, I am putting together a list of tires still out there for stock 78 standard rims, so I appreciate the various inputs on postive and negative tire experiences. I did a thread search on the topic and this matched so I revived it.

I was running D404's, which I felt was an OK tire but I will be pushing the rubber a little harder this year. I not quite ready to give up and go to the special rim yet. It is a bit of thread highjacking but I was wondering if anyone knows how a smaller aspect ratio would work, such as 130/80-17. I do not know why it wouldn't work and that size if available in some other tire types.

Thanks,
Scott

[trbig]

The shelf life of tires is not indeffinite particulary when they are stored in a hot enviroment which is why some tires are junk when you get them.

What I was refering to as junk, was one you'd buy and would last 15k miles, and the next with the same riding style, you'd get maybe 7500 and would dish out way before that. I'm talking rear tires here. I always check the tire dates and I've never seen one off the shelf older than 4 years. There seems to be a much higher turnover for rear tires, so the older dates I've seen have been front tires.

Tod

[Larrym]

Biased

Tod,

"On a seperate note, I've always heard of dangers of swapping a tire's rotation.. then seen manufacturer's recommendations of rotating tires in an "X" pattern on a car."

Good observation there! As I understand it there's two different rotation patterns for the 4 wheelers. Radial ply tires are rotated so the tires rotation on the road stays the same after the tires have been installed and taken a "set": Front left to rear left, front right to rear right. Biased ply tires use the X pattern for swapping them around cause the direction they roll doesn't matter. New radial tires can be installed with either direction of roll but after they've been used for a while they have to be rotated/swapped so they continue to roll in the same direction.

It's all in the way the belts/plies under the tread are made and line up. The bias plies cross each other in an X pattern. The radial plies don't cross at all.

This being said I'm not sure whether the tires I've got are biased ply or radials: the bike is 2 miles away from me right now inside a storage unit... Also unsure if radial tires are even an option for these bikes. I mean as far as whether or not the engineers recommend them or say not to use them...

[Spider]

Does anyone know if there's some seriously knobby offroad style tires made that will work on these bikes?(I've got a 78 standard but it's got tubeless style rims)

[trbig]

This being said I'm not sure whether the tires I've got are biased ply or radials:

More than likely, Biased. They do make radials for them though. It's been recommended not to run a B/P and radial together.. or to even run radials on these bikes, but those that have scoff at that.

As for the Manufacturers "X" pattern, this was not too long ago in the tire business and it was with radials they recommended this. We never would.. we'd always keep them on the same side of the car rolling the same direction.

I think in the mean time, I'll just leave it like it is and slow down in the rain. I'm just concerned with how long this dang Elite 3 is going to last in the front so I can change it out.. lol. With what I get out of the rears, it may be on there quite a while.

As for the question about the seriously knobby tires... I gotta ask.. WHY?? They make dual sport tires that are decent on blacktop, and decent off, but not spectacular at both. These bikes are too heavy to be a good dual sport bike though.


Tod