491 elite II

[schpiff]

Just put a new dunlop 491 elite II on the front..and its tooearly to give a real report, it seems to work well with the dunlop k127 on the rear. maybe once this Friggin Wisconsin weather decides its spring........Anyways..I was worried it would be too much of a "hard touring" tire..only got 150 miles or so..and I didnt "push my luck" but the elite seems to be a good handling tire...it doesnt wander and it doesnt try to follow any flaws or grooves in the pavement now about that fork brace....

[xsivebiker]

schpiff,
I really like the K491, Elite Two's on my fully dressed, '80-G. As you mentioned, they're rain groove resistant and I like their wet weather grip. As for mileage, they're hard to beat. I just replaced the rear K491 Elite Two [with a new one] after getting 11,369 miles out of it.
As for the front, Elite Two on my 80-G; it has 7,685 miles on it and half of the tread still left.
Shoot, I like them so much that yesterday I installed a pair of them on my wife's CX500 Custom! 'Don't know how the much lighter CX500 will "respond" to these Elite Two's , but, I'm sure I didn't make a mistake. Only time and good riding weather will tell.
Greg
1980 XS1100-G [Fully dressed]
1982 CX500 Custom [Wife's "new" bike]
1979 XL250-S

[beechfront]

I just got new 491's on front and back but snow is now on the ground and my bike is in pieces.

[Bill__Woods]

I got a new set of them last season, and am very happy with them!

[XS-IVE1100]

Hey guys,

I personally did not care for that combination myself. Last year I went with the Continental "Conti/Tour" front and rear . I like the handling and the look that tire combination offers.

[bikerhawk]

I just mounted a set of 491s also and I think they're about perfect for a bike of this size and weight. I've run Avons on my triple and this 1100H had a Conti Blitz rear until a few weeks ago(don't ask what happened to the Conti). Looking forward to a bunch of miles on the 491s.

[Snow]

Originally posted by beechfront
I just got new 491's on front and back but snow is now on the ground and my bike is in pieces.

Hey! That's slander! The last bike I turned into many pieces (along with my shoulder, blade, etc) was an '83 GS750T back in January of 2001!

Heh, yeah my front K491 II came in today so now my rear K491 II won't be lonely anymore

[schpiff]

After a few miles on the old continental tire that was on the front of mine (scary but the 10 yr old held air and it was black ) and just getting familiar with the quirks of an xs.. so far the 491 has been great. I am not a "performance" rider but the tire seems to have no ill handling in it. I think dunlop "did good" when they listed the 491 as a tire for the XS.
The jury is still out on the dunlop 127 on the rear...no complaints ..seems pretty good on both straight line and corners.
But I am open for suggestions....491 rear?
Ride on.....

[bikerhawk]

The 491 rear is just as good as, if not better than, the 491 front. Plus, you generally can't go wrong with a matched set, especially high-level Dunlops. I honestly don't know anything about the 127, but if it's getting old or wearing, I'd spring for the 491 rear.

[schpiff]

yep,
Im thinkin the same way..but wallets gettin thin..and so is SWMBO's patience my rear(127) only has about 500....ok now 800 miles on it. seems to be "behaving" pretty well..I was worried about the old tire thing but I am pretty sure I have...um...got the crust off?

[beechfront]

i've gotten around 100 miles or so on my new 491's. holy smokes what a difference. granted the old ones were shot - but i never realized what a difference a good set of tires would make. scared me one day i scraped the foot peg going around a corner ( a first for me). felt just fine and didn't realize until then how much more i was leaning with the new rubber.

[schpiff]

yea I was kinda leery about the 491 as everthing I could find pretty much listed it as a touring tire...I guess i didnt take into account the weight of an 1100xs.
I havent got brave enough to scrape a peg yet..(still need to do forks and rear shocks) but so far the 491 on the front hasnt given me any surprises whatsoever. (braking/corners/2up/sandy road)
Did ya get yer 5000 rpm thing figured out beech?

[beechfront]

well i guess it's 'fixed', if by fixed you mean running properly (i put it back to stock for now). After reading a couple posts on this site about individual filters - i believe my problem might lie with the air filters at higher RPM. Will dive into it again someday but for now I need to spend my time fixing some other things.

[2fast]

K491, Elite Two's

I put these tires on front and rear last summer and ran them for a few thousand miles. Pushed it pretty hard through some twisties in the Black Hills of South Dakota and was very pleased. I now have TKat's fork brace on and can't wait to try it again. It's all apart for painting and a few mechanical upgrades right now. Gotta get going for the warm weather!!

[sksxs1100]

the 491 that i just took off the front used to rip me side to side on rain grooves but it did kinda last 10000 miles and was 5 years old when i got the bike... it sat for 4 years with onle 150 miles on it...lol