Need Tire Advice

[Leon]

Hey folks I need advice on rear tire purchase for 1979xs special . this is my only transportation at the moment so its ride rain or shine .I cut a tire so I needed a replacement right now bike shop claims 130x90x16 is old and not much is available . sold me a Bridgestone Maxxis dual compound it will be tuesday before I get my wheel and tire back does anyone have anthing to share about this tire ? my top speed (not the bikes ) is 85 usually with most riding 50to70 the tire I had was a ghen sing? and it felt odd to me the only other bike I have ridden with a radial tire is 450 h0nda custom.I have dealt with this shop in the past and I was treated good but with the xs im on entirely new ground having never ridden bigger than 500 cc for any length of time so I dont have good background with these machines I do know I will get solid advice from all of you out there in xsland .
thanks in advance
Leon

[TopCatGr58]

Hey there Leon,

Well, after a search, I found that Maxxis makes their own tires, they are not Bridgestone! Secondly, many companies still make tires to fit the 130/90/16 rims, as well as 140/90/16 which will also fit, at least in a Dunlop 491 EliteII, on a Special!!! Just get black wall, otherwise the raised white letters will rub!
The other size designations are MT/90/16 and MU/90/16 for the 130 and 140 sizes, respectively!

Yes, Chen Sheng tires are not well recommended on this forum, but a few folks have used them okay! As for calling them radial, not sure what you mean? Many of the tires are still bias ply design.

Maxxis has the Promaxx in 130/90/16 size.
They have their touring tire in both 130 and 140/90-16.
They have their "V-1" with Kevlar belts in 130/90-16.
**************************************************
Okay, Bridgestone carries the Battlax series, with the dual tread compound, but they are still bias ply tires. Several folks here have gotten them and said they are good tires! The DTC idea is a firmer rubber in the center for mileage, and a softer one on the shoulder for better cornering and grip!
Let's hope others that have used this tire will chime in!?
T.C.

[Leon]

tire advice

hi TC.
the dealer definiatly said my tire is bridgestone dual compound.He wrote maxxis on my deposit reciept I hope he simply made a mistake when recording the sale I have used Bridgestone tires in the past but was too young to know if they were good or bad just rhat I could afford them I had a list published by a car magazine several years ago that listed 13 tire brands that are actualy made by Michelin it all resulted from the editor touring europe in his 32 roadster they are real strict about what you can have on a vechile there and they allowed his american tire brand because they were made by Michelin and I think they were Bridgestone ! the cheng sheng tire was new and about four months use by a kid but realy hard the tire was blistered or thats how it looked to me there were spots that looked like a broken blister say the size of a silver dollar a smooth patch in the tire surface but much darker rubber than the surronding tire surface the bike also felt strange while cornering like there was a high spot in the sidewall or something no one following the bike could see a shake but you could feel it when cornering this is my first season on the XS even though i bought it last fall real late .so everything is a learning expieriece right now looks like i,ll stay with the Bridgestone like i said I needed a tire right now but would have changed it if someone said it was gonna be a cheng sheng deal ! just because of this tire I wont use another one at first I figured it was because of burnouts etc .
but I ride like an old geezer and this tire wore like crazy .
thanks for the input I feel better about my choice now as the only other brand im familiar with is yokahama tire.I keep stuff till its worn out so I plan on having the XS a looong time and I want to do things right. and once ! hated to think ID need to order a different tire .
Thanks
Leon

[TopCatGr58]

Hey there Leon,

I know that funny feeling!! The P.O. probably did some burnouts, or some hard skidding stops which overheated the tire in spots and blistered it and such!! I have a Chen Sheng on my front, due to needing to get something within my limited budget at the time, and the pattern looked pretty good in the JCW catalog!? The tire was a little larger in circumference, and had a slightly raised zone right down the middle for longer wear life when going mostly straight, but a decent pattern and grip when cornering! I didn't notice how close it was to the front fender when I put it back on, and after a highspeed run, the tire expanded and rubbed the underside of the fender, blistering my new paint job(rusted fender so I painted it!). There was some slight overheating damage done to the surface of the tire, but minimal and has since worn off with regular riding, and adjusting the fender!!!

My rear tire I had on when I did my rebuild in 2000-01 was a Dunlop Elite, was the tire I had on it when I parked it in 92 due to the bad tranny. It still had some decent looking tread life, and no age/ dry rot cracks, so I kept it. Road it a couple of years and several thousand more miles to several rallies and thru lots of twisties. But, when I would go into a corner, I'd be lined up, but then the bike would act like oversteered and would track a tighter line when I got down in the lean angle!!?? Near the end of the life of the tire, it almost developed a Square profile instead of being round!!! It died on a rally to Ga. T.W.O. last year, had to get an emergency replacement the morning of the big ride, but the local shop had the same tire in the wider profile in stock, I had the bike there at 7:30 am, dropped the wheel there in the parking lot, and they mounted/balanced it, and even greased my splines at 8:00 when they opened, had it back on the bike by 8:30, and was back at camp by 9:00 for the pre-ride meeting!!

The new tire made a world of difference in it's handling, those corners didn't stand a chance!!!! You should be able to get many thousands of miles and perhaps several years out of your new tire, especially driving conservatively!
T.C.

[sixtysix]

Bridgestone makes the dual compound Spitfire for the XS's...sure it's not that? (going from memory here)

[cruiser]

Leon,
I just put Maxxis Classics in the stock size on my XJ1100 a few weeks ago after recommendation from repair shop I use occasionally. He claims to have put them on a number of bikes and has reports of great mileage and handling. I have put on about 400 miles so far and I have to agree with him. Been in the rain, on twisty highways, and a bit........over the speed limit.
Time will tell but so far really happy with them and the price was the best part.
My two cents worth !!!

Cruiser

[Dragonrider]

Maxxs is a brand...and I've tried 'em.

I was not happy...my experience is here:
Maxxis Tire Problem

Neither the dealer or Maxxis would help me. (finger pointing at each other). Bought a different tire, tried for a year to get a refund/adjustment/replacement. No go.

There are plenty of tires made in that size...including the Dunlop 491 (great tire).

Maxxis Dual Compound Kevlar belted tire problem:


YMMV . . . heh heh...

[Underdog]

shop claims 130x90x16 is old and not much is available

Huh??? That's the same size that about a zillion Harleys take. Find another dealer. This one obviously doesn't know anything at all or is trying justify selling you something he gets a better discount on.

[nashville_bill]

I just bought a BS Spitfire for the rear of my Special this year and really like it -- I have a matching BS on the front. I ride with a bunch of guys every Sunday and they have been checking out my bike and tires trying to figure out what makes it go so fast. They are on new FJR 1300s and BMWs.

[tommystinson]

I like all the threads on tire choices, it really helps everyone to have real world "testing" of tires on a XS! I agree with the others about tire choices, there are many. Just don't waste your time looking for radials to fit our bikes. I got a set of Dunlop GT501's from Donelson Cycles. They look like sport radials, and are marketed as a sport touring tire. I don't know about longevity, though. Pirelli makes a neat looking tire called the Scorpion in a bias ply model.

[justyn.smith]

battleaxes!

I sure hope we're going to keep threads going on tyre choices (maybe a sticky poll?)!

My local mechanic whom I (and my family) have always trusted with our lives (if he buggers our bikes we're dead) sugested bridgestone battleaxes as replacements for my old (not worn out) tyres. He's not the sort of bloke who looks for profit margins, he genuinely looks for the best he can for the customer (and is honest when he doesn't know but gives his best guess), this is the reason we have been using him for better than 20 years.

I'll let you know how I found the axes!

[RS Thornton]

I just bought a rear tire for my 79 special project from Discount motorcyle tire, online the address is www.DMAonline.com It was a Dunlop D404 and the cost was $49 plus shipping $12.97. If I had checked earlier instead I could have got the front too. Got the tire in about 2 days, tire looks good and I have the same tire on my royal star. I would say I am happy with price and delivery, you can check it out if you want.
Scott

[Leon]

Ive puchhased the Maxxis Promaxx street tire and the bike handles much better than with the Cheng Sheng that was on it when I bought it took a 100 mile ride with the GrandDaughter today and it feels fine. what kind of sevice life I,ll get is another story I,ll just have to wait and see. heres the thing that really sucks I have several old parts bikes here and today I had a friend come over to look at my old Hondas 2-650s and a 450 custom well I had a new tire on the 450 it,s a dunlap and the correct size! I didn,t even know it had forgotten it had a 16 rear tire . I also have a 750 Seca for parts I had planned to convert it to a trike just to see if I could ya know one of those thing you do (just because) ANYWAY I just wanted to thank everyone who took time to write back I do respect the advise like I said I was in a spot and had to take anything at the moment but will keep a copy of this thread for later reference being this is my first XS i,m going to be looking to all of yoiu for advice and tech before next season as this winter I,ll be redoing (RUFUS) and his sidecar over completely paint ,cleaning carbs etc. He,s a junkyard dog right now but a little work will spruce him right up!
THANK YOU EVERYONE
Leon
hammerman35@juno.com