Crappy Tires

I have metz 880's and they're like vlecro of sicky tape on the road...love them, wish they had white wall though,

I read why you hate metz,
...when I bought my ace it had a dunlop upfront and metz in back and I swear it was like riding a trout around every corner.

the the front felt like it wanted to slide out (low siding me) going into turns and the rear felt like it wanted to slide out (also low siding me) coming out of turns (yes, both had proper pressures).

Since the front was the more worn of the two, that was the one replaced and have had not proplems since...ofcourse, its only been about 2k miles.

New, mine had wide white walls (dunlops) from the factory, always like the look and would like to get that look back with the next set...

Buy Michelin Commanders and be done with your searching.

Best tire I've used by far out of five styles.

Thanks Chuck. I'm sure you've been seeing me around your other haunts yet; though my apetite for motorcycle forums isn't as insatiable as it used to be [memberships at 12 sites] I still try to check in occasionally with all of them.

Just to put my two cents in......I had three very fast Honda's in the early 80,s when all i wanted was some really fast bikes...I had two V-65 Honda's one a Magna and one a Sabre both came stock with Birdgestones ( Squidstones} as we called them...terrible tires!!!I put Dunlop Elites and ran excess of 155 miles an hour many times and never had a problem with Dunlops. I had a Honda CB 1100-F that would hit 145 MPH in a heart beat and always with the front tire up most of the time...excellent performance with Dunlops....put a set of Metz on the 1100-F and freaked out about how bad those tires are!!!Will never run Metz on any thing I own. The dunlop Elite 3 is an excellent tire softer than Avons if you run a 3,but a 2 will do for allmost any touring Harley a good job...My Streetglide will get a Dunlop 3 as soon as I wear the Stock Dunlop down some more.

Have rode all my life over 40 years and owned many bikes and the Dunlop is the best tire for me.

Try the Michelins some time. I too have run the Dunlop Elite II...big improvement over the 402, then the Elite III...which was even better and the SECOND BEST tire I've ever used. IMO the Michelin Commanders are even better riding/handling than the Dunlop E-3's.

But I haven't read of anyone hating on the E-3's so they are a safe bet as well.

I've gotta say...I've had mostly dressers over the last 3 decades and they've all had Dunlops on them and I've never had a tire failure of any kind. I did have a flat once but that was due to a nail.

Tires

Have only replaced one set on my Heritage, but went back with stock harley laps. haven't had any other so can't compare but am totally happy with the Dunlops.

how do you guys decide what the right tire pressure? i have found the pressure in the book is seldom right for each individual's bike or riding style. going by the pressure on the sidewall isn't right for any thing but max loads. i set my pressure at what the tire manufacturer reccomends as a starting point. take the bike for a ride. after 10-15 minutes i stop and check the pressure, if it is 1 of 2 pounds higher than cold pressure, the cold pressure is to high. if the pressure is 4 pounds or more than cold, the cold pressure was to low. hitting a 3 pound pressure increase is right. more or less adjust till they are right then set them to the adjusted pressure cold. this works with all brands of tires. works on a car or truck too. if you add a passenger or pack for a trip, reset the pressure as i first described for the new load. or haul a 3 ton load of dirt in your pickup. this will keep the tires working as they should, makes them last longer too. a friend of mine sets his by the book, he gets about 5-6000 miles on his back tire, i get about 12000 or better. even with both dunlops or avons. he has a 74 fxe, and a 93 fxwg. we ride together alot and our riding styles are simular. the biggest thing thats different is the way we set tire pressure. rain grooves or tar snakes are not noticable untill the tires get about wore out. if you get used to having the right pressure in a tire, it is real easy to tell when a tire gets even a couple pounds soft. grooves, ridges, bumpy corners. all get scary with low tires. to hard a tire the ride gets harsh, they tend to slide out on corners.

Experimentation & your methods work quite well. The maximum pressure listed on the tire's sidewall is for maximum load, which you may or may not put on the tire. Running the pressure too low will definitely give you handling problems (can be severe), but running it too high will make the tire wear out in the middle way too fast. With harder compound tires it takes quite a while for the wear pattern to show up, but it will tell you if you're running the air pressure to low or too high.

Air Pressure

It just depends on your personal feel of the bike, is my spin on the subject.

For me.... max pressure is way too harsh and I ride 2 up most of the time...you can tell when your bike is unstable from not enough air and too harsh with too much after you have ridden your scoot for some time and know how it feels.

Its all about how it feels!!!You know....the scoot and your squeeze!!!!