Front tire wear

I own a 2004 Fatty ,I recently went to the dealer and had them inspect my front tire,2 mechanics happened to be standing out side having a smoke ,and I asked their opinion on the life left on my front tire, I told them that it had 9400 miles on it and they both commented on how good the tire looked for that many miles,they went to the service manager,and he brought out the depth gauge and checked it ,he then told me that it was under harleys recommendation for safe tire depth. So I went to a smaller bike shop in town who replaced my rear tire (8300 miles and still looked good) for about 125.00 cheaper than the HD dealer (identical tire,dunlop HD 402)He told me after inspecting it, that his opinion was that it had three or four thousand miles left on it. So heres my question ,is there a simple test other than visual inspection,that will indicate if this tire is safe,I would like to get a couple more thousand on it ,but I do not want to compremise saftey. By the way the bike is stored inside,and is rode like a baby. Thanks in advance

Git-r-done, May As Well Keep Them On The Same Track, If You Got The Money To Spend.

Agree with both the above replies. A new set of tires makes your scoot ride like a new one. That's worth something. Any cracks, even in the tread, it gets replaced. Especially if it's the front tire. As for guaging the tread, if it's worn even, no cracks, and I'm trying to get all the safe miles I can out of one, I check the depth with a nickel. If you hold a nickel so the edge goes into the tread, with his head upside down, then if you can see all the hair it needs replaced. If part of his head is covered, then you are still safe to go. Remember though, the more worn a tire is , the worst it can hydoplane on the really wet roads.

As for the comment about the 9,400 miles and how good it looked, I have gotten as high as 23,000 safe miles out of the ribbed type bagger Dunlops. I have 17,000 on the front tire of the Road Glide I have, and I'm not looking at changing it for quite awhile. No need, it's less than 2 years old, no cracks, and a good bit of even tread left.

After a 20 min check on the lift ,the wear bars are not close to touching and the nickel test showed only forehead ,I came to the conclusion that my friendly ,HD service manager was trying to push an un needed tire,thanks again for the responses

Hey Chuck. My tires are just the stock ones from Harley for the Road Glide. It's a Dunlop MU85 something, basically it's a 140 rear B/W tire. I have 8,500 on it now, and I'm planning a trip (about 2,500 miles) the first week of July. I will not change it before the trip. I've been getting 12k out of them on the rear, I know of one guy that got 14k. Granted, it is cooler up here and that affects tire wear. Also I use the bike alot back and forth to work, 60 mile round trip, almost all open highway. I'm planning on checking clearance first, but they make a 150 that I'm near positive will fit on the back and that's the one I'm trying next. I put a MU85 BW on the back of the 1991 FLHS just last Saturday. I had to clear an area on the belt guard, but the tire looks much better than the 130 that was on it.

Hope it helped ya Chuck, but I'd guess it's the same tire you've been running. Only difference being the cooler road temp up here 9 months out of the year, and lots of road miles I put on the bike.

Chuck, I have the same problems with the floorboards and pipes...... I figure the center tread still wears out fastest so I really push to make up on the side tread.....

my floorboards are a bit scuffed, but talk to me after the weekend of June 8,9,10,11 and lets see if the dragons tail at deals gap gets the Floorboards properly broke in !

Deals Gap

I'll be up there 9 - 16. Maybe we can hook-up and ride the dragon. I did it last summer and got the T-Shirt to prove it . I lost count of the curves real quick but I'll take their word that there are 318 in 11 miles.

Ride the dragon? 318 curves in 11miles? Now that sounds like fun, and a nice work-out. Where is deals gap?
Enjoy your ride…

Deals Gap

There is a web site www.motorcycleroads.us/nc.html that has all the mountain, scenic, sweeping and unpaved roads just for motorcycles. It also includes Deals Gap along with a map of where it starts to its end. Give it a go bro. Peace...

Deals Gap - The Dragon

Tip #1) There are a lot of blind curves in the dragon due to rock bluffs. You can't see what's coming at you 'til your there. You can bet that some cars and specially trucks will be sharin' your lane so you might as well take it easy and ride toward the outside of the curve.

Tip #2) The crotch rocket riders are the real terror on this stretch of Hwy 129! They race the clock and try to beat each others times. Occasionally they lay 'em down in the curves so another thing you have to watch for is a crotch rocket and or rider skidding across the road at you!

Tip #3) This is also a favorite test ground for sportscar clubs. Weekends are nightmares for bikers if the cars are runnin'.

Check www.kilboy.com and www.dealsgap.com for more info. Killboy shoots pics several days a week and you can check the date you rode and order your pic.

Deals Gap and Draggin' tail. I try to make it thru at least once a year. Best twisty in the world, period. Only one road in the world has more curves, not in the states, and isn't paved. Can't remember, but seems it was in Europe somewhere.

Not just the trucks, sport cars, and sport bikes to watch. This is the most technical stretch of road you will ever ride. I love the twistys, and started out my road riding on Triumphs and then on to the crotch rockets. I have ridden the Dragon on my previous bike, a 1996 Road King, with my wife on the back, and our luggage packed on the bike, with both tires starting to slide in the corners. It begs you to go faster, and faster. Never made it thru without draggin on each side either. Then again, I've always given into the temptation by halfway thru. Opportunity knocks but once, temptation leans on the doorbell!

Many curves are foolers though. You will get used to the banked ones quick, but then a reverse crest one will pop up when you least expect it. Possible the best advise I could offer, other than what has already been stated, is to look at each curve you are approching to see if the curve has "scuff marks" in the center of the lane. These are the ones that crest high, or worse, have a reverse bank in your lane. The ones like that that you approch to turn right are not usually the problem, it's the lefthanders that will fool you. Looks to be banked, and is if you cross the centerline to get it on the banked side. But if you are trying to stay in your lane, good luck if you hit it will any speed.

The 318 curves aren't mostly sweepers either, most, I'd guess nearly half are more hairpin. BEST TO HIT IT TUESDAY THRU THURSDAY NOT TIED TO A HOLIDAY. The racer type clubs tend to make the three day weekends anymore, so Friday or Monday isn't even what it once was. Oh How I long for the days back in the late 80's early 90's when this was still hunting and fishing area. Back then the speed limit was 55 thru there the whole way, and you sometimes could run it without meeting a single vehicle....

Deals Gap

When I lived in the Bay Area of California, there was a road, Hwy 9 near La Honda (most Hippies will recognize this town- Ken Kesey and the Merry band of Pranksters), has got to be one of the most twisty-turny roads I had been on. Although I wasn't on a motorcycle, there were lots of sport bikes racing down the mountain from Skyline Drive to Mountainview (?). I believe this has the same characteristics as Deal Gap does. Peace...

Breeze,
Drop me an email about the dragon trip ,would love to hook up for a trip down the dragon ,my email is johnandkayhall@hotmail.com, we have 6 bikes goin ,we are staying at Bryson city


Cya

Tires

If You Consider What Is At Stake Replacing Either Tire If You Are In Doubt About There Safety Makes A Lot Of Sense.as Far As The Cost,you Get What You Pay For.you Will Replace The Rear Tire More Often Than The Front And You Will Usually Get Twice The Mileage At Least On The Front Than On The Rear.my 2006 Ultraclassic Gets 10,000 To 15,000 Miles Of Wear.i Have Always Had The Dealership Put On The Best Tire That They Reccommend And Not Tubeless.the "coin" Inspection Works Just Fine.if You Do Not Change Your Tire When The Dealership Tells You It Is Necessary Then Harley Will Play Games With Your Warrantee Should Something Mechanical Related To The Wear Of Your Tires Happen To Occur.i Would Also Suggest You Research Your Problem On The Computer Before You Take Your Bike In For Anything.forewarned Is Forearmed.