Michelin Commander II's

For those of you that are running this tire, now that they have been released for awhile now, how do you like them? If memory serves correctly, the biggest initial knock on them was the handling of them in the rain. Is this still a concern or have you gotten used to the tire and this is no longer a concern? I am looking to change tires from the standard Harley Dunlop and am looking to try this tire out.

Any information about this specific tire would be really helpful. Thanks in advance.

After finding many threads about the Commander II's, I think that I am going to steer clear of them and go with something else. For my riding style and the fact that rain seems to follow me, I have decided that I am going go with a tire that is more consistent in their performance, but not a Dunlop. It seems that the boards all basically still say the "wet pavement" handling of this tire is still sub par, but do give them a great thumbs up for longevity. I don't care about longevity so much, I want handling!

I still haven't done a lot of rain riding with them yet......Turnin' into a candy azz fair weather biker...I'm liking them more and I believe my complaint about them being a little slippery in rain was because,
1. I was riding a little aggressively for weather conditions,roads weren't just wet there was quite a bit of water on the road and in some places kinda deep...
2. It seems you have to go a little easy on them for more than the first 100 miles...I have a hard time doing that

This season I find they are holding the road really well and have my new floorboards ground down about 1/4" with absolutely no concerns with grip in hard cornering....Supposed to have some thunder storms tonight so I may be able to freshen my memory and give a revised analogy about how they handle in rain in the next couple of days....

Always good to know. However it just seems that the reviews of these tire are so wishy washy which you can expect some of that but thread after thread say the same thing.

Haven't been able to ride much?

No, not really....my season ended early last year and a late start this year...had a real hard time with low speed maneuvering....a back and shoulder injury had me off work since last Sept.....but I passed the physical Friday Good to go again!!!:cheers:

Awesome, glad to hear. How many miles do you have on the II's then? Why do you suppose that it takes a break in period for these tires? I have read something similar to this on a different forum.

Heh,I don't know...forgot to check the mileage when I put them on and my speedo is always on the trip meter...I'd have to guess around 2500 miles on them...I think it may be the tire compound is why it seems to take longer for them to settle in,since they claim to be a high mileage tire they would have to be a little harder rubber in them,so it would take a little more to scuff 'em up....a few fill-ups as opposed to one tank and good to go...We'll see how they hold up through the summer to help me decide to go with them again or try the Avon Cobra's or the Metz 888's next...

JB, I have them on my Ultra Classic and I am sure glad we don't get much rain here in Southern Clifornia. They are prefect in the dry but when you add water they are something else, wish I had more miles on them so I could justify changing them. I have over 5,000 on the front and back right now and they still look new. When they run out I'm going back to the Elite II I think.

What you had said here is near exact as so many others have said about this tire and is why I have decided that I am not going to go with this tire. It seems that at least for this year that every time that I go out riding I get cought in the rain.

Yes and for this tire change that is what I am looking for "HANDLING since I am going to be on some real twisty roads. Forums are the best place to get product reviews because there is so many people out there with information that have used so many different things. Never know what you really like unless you try different things and compare. I like the Dunlop, but there may be something that I like better. I am not 100% sure what kind of milage that I got out of my front tire as it was on my bike when I bought it, I know that it is at least 12,000 as that is what I have put on the bike since I have owned it. the rear tire has 12,000 as well.

JB...I think you may want to look at the Avon Cobra's...I think BP said he's running them and I've heard/read good reports on them...Like everything,there are trade-offs.....Good grip and handling...they'll wear out a little quicker....High mileage....sacrifices grip and handling.....trying to find something in the middle is the trick...from what I've been reading seems to me the cobra's might be that middle road where you get good grip and handling along with decent mileage YMMV

ymmv? Yes, I do remember him telling me about that tire when he was up here. I have elected to go a different rout though. I completely get that there is trade offs, there is with everything.

YMMV=Your Mileage May Vary

I was talking on the phone with Alex the Dog today and he had mentioned that he liked the Bridgestone tires as well. Those are a little more expensive then what I want to spend at the moment. Thanks. It looks like a nice tread pattern.

I am happy with my Dunlop American Elites, my Indy has many people running them with good results.

I'm Very satisfied with Dunlop American Elites on my bike. Good for about 20K+ -. Handle beyond my limitations,good in wet(again my limitations)