Dunlop American Elites

I was using the Ellites on my 05 Street Glide the last 3yrs I had it. They worked great for me and I got 18k on each set. When I wore out the OE tires the Ellites (actully called American Ellites) were'nt available yet so had to get soaked from Motor Co. for Dunlop Harley Screeming Eagles(as they were called back then). I got em from Dennis Kirk also,(3 day free dellivery). Saved moocho dinearo.

I just put a rear Shinko tire on the rear, so far so good just not to sure on how long it will last, I go through tires here because of the amounts of steep hills through out the island, OEM HD Rear Dunlap lasted only 8,000 with no burnouts or such. so far I have just under 1000 miles on the Shinko and looks good for wear. Price wise the cheapest tire for here. 150.00 WWW 130/90-16.

Yep, Chinese stuff is cheaper.

If I was smart I'd use the coupon and put em on the shelf till needed.

Pretty sure they have a promotion like that every year in May and June...Just don't see those deals North of the border much...Dunlops are good,I like the Avon Cobra's for my riding up here. I'm thinking about a set of the AE's when theses need replacing,I found the Michelins a little slippery,they took about 300 miles to start to grip on dry pavement from new instead of usually 100 or so with the other brands and they really never did stop being slippery when wet...

Heh, you're not really that far off...Cool and wet ,I really had to be careful with the Michelins. It's seems no matter which brand I try I always end up back with Avons.

You know, I almost lost it the other day on a small patch of water. hmmm maybe these Michilins weren't such a good idea. I may go back to the dunlops.

On another note my body road a dead flat stock dunlop 18 miles home last week on his 14 street glide. I was surprised. He said it didn't go all the way flat but when he tried to put air in it before driving 18 miles it just pissed right back out. He weighs about 150 soaking wet and the tire stayed strong enough to get him home. That's nuts!

I found they took a little longer to wear in than other brands and were a little greasy until they did,but once they did in warm dry weather they handled fine,really good actually, I'm thinking your So.Cal climate is a little warmer than mine...I think your winter temps are our summer highs, lol. Just like everything...it's a trade off...High mileage tires grip a little less and take longer to heat up,sticky tires don't get the mileage. In 40-50° rainy weather,they slipped on me a couple of times and slowing down 10 MPH or so stopped that. Commander IIs are a good tire, I took them off the King and they're going on the Heritage,front is already on. It's my "Fair weather bike" now.
Good thing your buddies tire stayed on the rim, it must have been a squirrely ride.

I got to be honest here I have not had wheel weights on any of my bikes after the original tires wear out .I don't balance my tires on my bike period .I line up the mark on the tire with the valve stem and call it good never have I had any vibration period the tires made for bike that are high end are very round and very accurate as far as weight goes .

That is amazing and I think lucky.

I static balance mine with 2 jack stands and the axle, works well.I've also put the wheel itself on the stand and balanced just the wheel and after mounting the tire it was good to go. I've also noticed a couple of times that the wheel weights went missing between changes and never noticed any difference in handling. These were done on tubeless wheels.
Maybe balancing on street bikes isn't critical with the new technology in tire making these days,but on a 200MPH superbike different story.

Every harley I have owned after the original tires were replaced with aftermarket tires have never been balanced .just line up the mark on tire with valve stem and mount .and many of times those bikes have been above 90 mph never a issuie .now my sport bikes all get balanced especially the pilot 2 and 3 . Many track riders with slicks don't balance either for track days and never an issuie . Think about what those bEads are doing do you think they always hit the unbalanced part of the tire or does cintrifical force just hold it at the one spot they all bunched up? Smaller tires are very round .and very light .the bigger the tire the less round it is they heavier the tire the more you also have to counter weigh also.

Well whatever the beads are doing they are making my ride smooth as glass to an rare 105mph.

I've been searching my memory banks about this balance or not issue. Years ago I always mounted my own. Spoked and cast wheels. Bridge stones, continentals, Metzelers and Dunlops. I always used the valve stem mark to place tire and static balanced. Without exception every tire (or wheel) was in need of weights. Maybe Harley's aren't as sensitive as the metrics were.