Motorcycle Tire Recommendation

Ted

Ted

The pilot formerly known as Twin Engine Ted
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iFlyNothing
My Harley (2009 Ultra Classic) needs some tires. They're getting somewhat flat in the middle.

Wondering if anyone has recommendations for a good tire for a touring bike. I was going to call the Harley dealer, but wanted to do some other searching to see how much they're going to try to gouge me.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
My Harley (2009 Ultra Classic) needs some tires. They're getting somewhat flat in the middle.

Wondering if anyone has recommendations for a good tire for a touring bike. I was going to call the Harley dealer, but wanted to do some other searching to see how much they're going to try to gouge me.
Click to expand...

Tire sizes?
 
Have you looked into using a car tire?
If not there are several youtube videos.
Last much longer, ride great, good wet road handling....so I hear. My rims could never take one.
The last tire I used was a Continental. It had technology where the outer portions of the tire were softer than the center for longer life/better turning.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
My Harley (2009 Ultra Classic) needs some tires. They're getting somewhat flat in the middle.

Wondering if anyone has recommendations for a good tire for a touring bike. I was going to call the Harley dealer, but wanted to do some other searching to see how much they're going to try to gouge me.
Click to expand...
I used Metzeler Marathons for years and liked them. The last tire I got was a Pirrelli, for a Road King, dont remember the model. I loved that tire. It was the best "handling" tire, by far I ever had. It didn't have the mileage expectation of other tires though.
 
I order tires over the internet and mount them myself. A number of years back I invested in a no-mar tire changer, makes it a pretty easy deal.

jakewilson.com has consistently had the best prices and ship quickly.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
My Harley (2009 Ultra Classic) needs some tires. They're getting somewhat flat in the middle.

Wondering if anyone has recommendations for a good tire for a touring bike. I was going to call the Harley dealer, but wanted to do some other searching to see how much they're going to try to gouge me.
Click to expand...
Sounds like the straight/flat roads of KS have left you with some "chicken strips". :)
 
Skyrys62 said:
Have you looked into using a car tire?
If not there are several youtube videos.
Last much longer, ride great, good wet road handling....so I hear. My rims could never take one.
The last tire I used was a Continental. It had technology where the outer portions of the tire were softer than the center for longer life/better turning.
Click to expand...
Bridgestone made a tire like that, hard in the middle and soft on the edges
 
SoonerAviator said:
Sounds like the straight/flat roads of KS have left you with some "chicken strips". :)
Click to expand...

Egh, a little bit. But I've only put 1,000 miles or so on this thing since moving here out of the 6,600 or so total I've put on. Pretty sure I've never put tires on this thing, which means that it's got the tires it came with, which are already used.

They're not horribly flat spotted. The sport bike tires I had would have an extreme flat spot in the middle after some miles (well, that was how I always ended up buying my sport bikes). But they're definitely no longer round all the way around. Plenty of tread left, but you can tell in the lean that it's no longer fully round.

Bill Jennings said:
Tire sizes?
Click to expand...

Looks like rear is 180/65/16, front 130/80/17
 
Also in terms of how I use the bike - I only ride in nice weather. Obviously good traction is nice, but longevity is more important.
 
Skyrys62 said:
Have you looked into using a car tire?
If not there are several youtube videos.
Last much longer, ride great, good wet road handling....so I hear. My rims could never take one.
The last tire I used was a Continental. It had technology where the outer portions of the tire were softer than the center for longer life/better turning.
Click to expand...

I think that would be a seriously bad idea. Even a cruiser leans enough that you're either going to be up on an edge (bad) or flex the sidewall excessively (bad.) Some drag racers run car tires on the rear, but they are going strictly in a straight line.

I run Michelin Pilot Roads on the Concours, and like Pilot Powers on sportbikes (at least for road riding.) I don't know what the best choices for HD sizes are though. Metzler is pretty common brand in those sizes.
 
If you can mount Michelin pilot roads on it - then that's exactly what I'd do. Wouldn't even look at other tires. Btdt, tried them all, don't buy continental. Those tires are ****ing junk. Worst i ever bought.

Order the above. They'll last forever, be smooth, heavily resist getting a flat spot, and be sticky and great in all conditions.
 
Avon I have heard is long lasting.
Michelin Pilot
Michelin Commander II

I haven't used any of them, but they were contenders when I was researching....can't remember the Avon model.
I settled on metzeler me880 for the front, and the Continental for the back.
Always rode pretty hard so needed cornering, but wanted that middle to last as well.
 
Oh, and I don't replace tires until they get to the wear bars. Yeah, they might get a little wonky feeling if the centers start to flat a little, but I usually use them all the way up!
 
There are other considerations as well.
How would insurance respond if you had a car tire on and had an accident.
You might need that extra cornering or wet traction in a specific situation. Like if a drone flies out in front of you :)
Sort of like aircraft, you need to build in that safety net for when it might happen.
The Michelin Pilots do get consistently good reviews/recommendations.

plus, you're a pilot. duh
easy choice
 
Skyrys62 said:
Those sidewalls probably take way more punishment on a car than they ever will on a bike.
I believe many have successfully chosen car tires.
Click to expand...

A cursory Internet search suggests that some people are getting away with it on heavy cruiser bikes, but cornering traction is degraded any way you break it down. Motorcycle tires are designed to lean. Car tires are not. Among sportbike circles, a car tire mounted on a motorcycle constitutes a 'WTF' event.
 
Bill Jennings said:
Oh, and I don't replace tires until they get to the wear bars. Yeah, they might get a little wonky feeling if the centers start to flat a little, but I usually use them all the way up!
Click to expand...

That's a good data point, thanks Bill. These tires still have lots of tread left on them and are nowhere near the wear bars. Worth considering as well. It doesn't really handle wonky, so I could probably get more life out.

I once rode a Yamaha Seca II that was so flat spotted that the tire was flat across basically the whole width. Now THAT handled awful.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
That's a good data point, thanks Bill. These tires still have lots of tread left on them and are nowhere near the wear bars. Worth considering as well. It doesn't really handle wonky, so I could probably get more life out.
Click to expand...

Do be mindful of the age of the tire, though. Find the DOT code, if they're five years or older, I'd probably replace even if they weren't worn out. Tire grip does diminish with age, especially wet grip.
 
Bill Jennings said:
Do be mindful of the age of the tire, though. Find the DOT code, if they're five years or older, I'd probably replace even if they weren't worn out. Tire grip does diminish with age, especially wet grip.
Click to expand...

That was something I was thinking about and need to check. Unless I forgot about putting tires on it (which I may have - it's been a busy few years), the tires should be at least 6 years old. We bought it in September 2011 used.
 
jesse said:
If you can mount Michelin pilot roads on it - then that's exactly what I'd do. Wouldn't even look at other tires. Btdt, tried them all, don't buy continental. Those tires are ****ing junk. Worst i ever bought.

Order the above. They'll last forever, be smooth, heavily resist getting a flat spot, and be sticky and great in all conditions.
Click to expand...

I second this. Michelin Pilot Road tires are great if they fit your bike. I think they are on the 3 or 4 now. I had the 2's, the tread looked really odd, but the grip in all conditions and the longevity were great. I think the tread looks a bit more normal now.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Wondering if anyone has recommendations for a good tire for a touring bike. I was going to call the Harley dealer, but wanted to do some other searching to see how much they're going to try to gouge me.
Click to expand...
Take my word for it, since MC tires wear out so quick you're gonna want to try them all. Just one caveat, as always a new set of skins (no matter what brand) will feel great for the first couple weeks. It's when they start wearing, how they ride in the rain, how they handle corners, how they handle rain grooves, how they handle hard braking, etc. is when you'll start knowing you have the right set of tires.
 
Sac Arrow said:
Motorcycle tires are designed to lean. Car tires are not
Click to expand...

It appears to me that the front tires of cars lean/roll quite a bit, when braking and turning at the same time especially.
Probably a lot more force than a bike would put on them.
But I could be wrong.
I believe lots of the cruiser guys switched over to them and liked them though. Just a suggestion.
I probably wouldn't do it just for the insurance consideration, but lots of guys did/do apparently.
 
azblackbird said:
Take my word for it, since MC tires wear out so quick you're gonna want to try them all. Just one caveat, as always a new set of skins (no matter what brand) will feel great for the first couple weeks. It's when they start wearing, how they ride in the rain, how they handle corners, how they handle rain grooves, how they handle hard braking, etc. is when you'll start knowing you have the right set of tires.
Click to expand...
Very true.
Seems to be that way for auto tires as well. Just a proportionally longer time frame.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
That was something I was thinking about and need to check. Unless I forgot about putting tires on it (which I may have - it's been a busy few years), the tires should be at least 6 years old. We bought it in September 2011 used.
Click to expand...
6 years a long time. They can weaken internally with time. The stems, either tubed or tubeless are weak points. I think you should replace right away and I would encourage you to prioritize handling over mileage.
On handling look at these things. I put them both on my Road King and the results are amazing.

www.true-track.com/

http://www.racetech.com/page/title/H-D Gold Valve Cartridge Emulator Kits
 
Last edited:
I have Dunlop America Elite's (No White Wall/Line) on my 09 Ultra, great tire so far, 6k miles and virtually no wear...I've learned with the bigger bike, air pressure seems to be key, with my last set it seemed being off a few psi increased the wear rate considerably faster. With keeping a closer eye on the air pressure I think these will easily make it to 12-15k like my first set.
 
Tyjay30 said:
I have Dunlop America Elite's (No White Wall/Line) on my 09 Ultra, great tire so far, 6k miles and virtually no wear...I've learned with the bigger bike, air pressure seems to be key, with my last set it seemed being off a few psi increased the wear rate considerably faster. With keeping a closer eye on the air pressure I think these will easily make it to 12-15k like my first set.
Click to expand...
Yeah. Air pressure is important. A rule of thumb is take the pressure cold. Now go out and heat those puppies up and take the pressure again. You're looking for a 10% increase. You need a quality gauge.
 
I think my dad runs Dunlop D404 tires on his touring bike. Not 100% sure on the model, but I think that's it. He has run a few sets now on his Yamahamma Venture. I believe he's over 60K miles on that bike.

I always ran Metzler on my bikes. Loved the look and grip of the Metzlers, but didn't get much life out of them. However, I ran a 210 on the back and I rode mostly on straight roads, so they flat spotted really quick.
 
I put Metzelers on my VTX 1800, which was what the Honda dealer had recommended. It needed tires badly when I got it. I don't recall anything particularly special about how well they lasted, but I think I only put 5k or so on them so not a ton of time. That bike had a wide rear as well.

My Ultra has Dunlops on it, D407 and D408, which seem to be factory Harley tires. I wasn't able to find the date code from a quick look, so I need to look harder.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
My Ultra has Dunlops on it, D407 and D408, which seem to be factory Harley tires.
Click to expand...

I ran Dunlop K491's on the 1500 Wing I had, rode that thing like a sportbike, and they had enough stick for anything you could do with that bike. I did look up the Dunlops that fit your bike, but they're a good bit more money than the Metzelers, which should be fine for your mission.

GlennAB1 said:
I like Metzeler Marathon ME880
Click to expand...

880 not available in Ted's sizes, that's why I recommended the 888.
 
I put Dunlop elites on my 07 Streetglide. They seem to handle wet roads and grove roads better than the stock 402s. Only have about 1000 miles on them so I can't comment on wear
 
I have a 15 LTD Michelin commander II are awesome so much better ride than the Dunlop's that were original equipment softened up the ride and not nearly as Squirrley on tar snakes.
 
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