Tire Wear

If my wife says I'm driving to fast. I speed up more.
If she don't like how I'm driving, I drive worst,
It she hits me I put the bike on 100 as fast as it will git there.

She shuts up pretty fast.
If she was to say stop and let me off. I will lock the wheels up and drop her off, no questions asked.
She hasn't said let me off yet either.

I tried that once. I got out of the hospital about a month later.

My wife is riding with me. If she don't like riding with me she can ride her own bike.
She has a 09 NIghtster, it has 1500 miles on it.
She always rides with me. And she likes to ride.

How does that story go ? Oh yeah, and the funeral is tuesday.

I have an 04 GeezerGlide and get about 11,000 on the rear tires and about 17,000 on the front tires before I have to change them...I watch my pressure like a hawk anf most of our riding is two up...It amaizes me how many people do not check their pressure that often...Hey, your life depends on them...

Everyone is still griping about mileage from the tires the factory/dealer recommends. Don't you ever experiment on your own? I've practically doubled the mileage over the tires my bike came with from factory by trying out diff. brands and sizes.

Bike came with 130 (MT)/16 front and a 140(MU)/16 rear Dunlop. Now I'm running a 150/17 REAR TIRE on front and a 170/16 (Bridgestone Exedra) on back with plenty of clearance. Bike never felt as stable as now, comfort is much better, and mileage looks great so far (15,000 on this set with at least 50% tread left). These sizes were never meant for pre '09 Harley FLs, and Bridgestones were never recommended, but they work just great. Bigger tires have a higher load rating, more air cushion (comfort), and somehow last longer. You wont believe the difference until you try them out yourself.

I bought these from Dennis Kirk and are the same price as the OE Dunlop D402's.

Of course, my situation is different from most of you: riding solo on a lighter bike. I expect my Avon Speedmasters to last a long while. They are both rated at 36 PSI. The front is 19x3.25 and the rear is 16x5.00. I purposely picked these sizes on the build so the outside diameters would appear about the same for a more balanced and pleasing look (at least to me). I run the front at 36 PSI and the rear at 34 PSI because of the rigid frame - it rides a little bit softer. I'm told I could go a couple more lbs. lower on the rear tire but I'm happy the way it is.

Hearing a lot of folks are leaving Avons and buying
Michelin commander II tires
Saying the sure do like the Michlein tires
Getting good tire mileage and the hug the curves good
And handle well in the rain

Josh, your bike looks just fine with the SpeedMasters, but when they're worn out, I expect to see a big 250 gumball on back for even more comfort on that hardtail.

The jury is still out on their wet weather handling....I had a good run with them on warm dry pavement over the weekend and they performed well,decent grip (I didn't slide through any turns ,but they' still new,about 1000 miles on 'em)...didn't really wander over the steel grated bridge I went over...I'm not anxiously waiting for heavy rain to see how they perform,but I did break traction coming onto an on ramp that was a little wet( I don't think they should have in that instance either)...Thinking back to last year when I had new E3's on,they IMO were more confidence inspiring on dry roads and steel bridges and I was really impressed with how they handled in heavy rain,but the E3's did get a little squirrely once they were 3/4 worn....time will tell how the Commander II's pan out... They are a good tire,but I don't think they are the be all end all of motosickle tires...

Michelin Commander II Cruiser Tires | Test | Motorcycle News


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I've never heard a company claim their product was inferior

Their claims of wet weather handling is what interested me in them,because normally I do a lot of wet weather riding....They are a good tire from my experience so far....double the mileage claims,well, we'll have to log on the miles to see if claims and reality are similar....I'm sure I'll get a chance to test their claim of superior wet weather traction soon enough,but for now I'm just going to enjoy the warm,dry weather we're having right now

new tread compounds were developed to echo the characteristics of the Silica Rain Technology-infused radial, with emphasis on tire longevity and wet-weather handling," Michelin tells us.


Our tire tech told us the Commander IIs were slipperier than average, so they would require about 100 miles of careful break-in (about double the norm). Playing it safe, we followed his recommendation.

Any new tire you have put on yer bike. You should take it easy and this includes stoppin fast, New tires has casing release on them. It makes them slick. The tire mfg wants you to git the tires scratched up so the casing release will be worn off more, giving it better holding power.

When I used to work at a Indy shop, after we put new tires on we would take the bike down the road and try to scratch the tires up some.
You know the customer ain't gonna do it when they leave.
They are gonna ride it normal.

Got 15,000 on the back and more on the front.
But the Michlein are suppose to ride smoother man.

1000 miles on mine,1000>100 I think they are broken in...

Always took it easy for 100 miles on every new tire I put on

So after you installed tires for a customer,you'd put 50-100 miles on their bikes???