New tire time

The bike has a little under 7500 miles on it and the rear is to the wear bars. I really like the factory tires which are Michelin Scorcher 31, however they are only available for purchase through an H-D dealership and on the website they list the rear at $395 . Uh-NO!

Like always I've read every comparison and review for everything out there. I like the Michelin Commander 2.

The front still has a long way to go before it needs replaced so I was planning on leaving it.

Should I be worried about different tires on the front and rear?

I stopped by a little independent motorcycle repair shop to get a feel for them and get some prices. He was pushing me hard to get some cheap Chinese tires. He said I could replace them both twice for the cost of replacing them once with the Michelins. I explained that I rode every day rain or shine and asked how good they were in the wet. He said he stopped riding in the rain a long time ago but from what he remembers they were okay. Okay, isn't exactly confidence inspiring.

Anyone have any experience with cheapie tires in foul weather?

How Hard would it be to change the tire myself? It's a 150/80-16 on an aluminum rim.

For a bike in the rain, I spring for the better, well known, and tested tires.

I wouldn't be worried about different tires front and rear since the rears wear so much faster.

Shinko the cheap tire the independent shop is pushing? I've read several reviews from folk on touring Harleys that have tried them, and they've all found the tire adequate. Nothing stellar, but nothing horrible either.

You can mix brands front and rear. To a lesser degree, you can mix types. Minor differences make minor handling differences. Obviously running a racing radial at one end and a knobby at the other are major differences, and will result in major handling differences.

I've got a Michelin Commander II on the front of my RK at the moment with a Dunlop 402 on the rear. No complaints so far. I have not played with the Michelin Commander in dirt/sand/mud yet, so I can't say how it handles that. But otherwise, it's a black tire that goes round just fine.

I had run the cheapest tires you could find on my old Honda ($500 bikes don't get $400 tires) but my bike shop recommended upgrading to some tires that were OEM for Harley's. The difference was noticeable!

On my new bike, I am running OEM Dunlop D404F and they seem to be pretty good. I am a laid-back cruiser with not much lean angle who rides when it is dry, so I can't say that I am really pushing their limits ever.

No way I would ever buy a tire that was only sold at a dealership. You should be able to buy a set of tires for what they want for that rear.

Rusnak_322 wrote: No way I would ever buy a tire that was only sold at a dealership. You should be able to buy a set of tires for what they want for that rear.

They cost $395 because they have "HD" on the molds that make them.....

Buy a shinko, my turbo bike has Shinko 003's on it right now....and thus far they've been decent enough. My '04 10r had a Pirelli front/shinko rear when I got it and it did fine as well.

At the end of the day, its a 35hp harley, you could probably put bicycle tires on it and be fine if it weren't for the weight.

yamaha wrote: At the end of the day, its a 35hp harley, you could probably put bicycle tires on it and be fine if it weren't for the weight.

UGH-HMMM 42 HP thank you very much

I'll second the Dunlap D404. I ran them on my EX500 and got roughly 11,000 miles on both pairs of them.

Too many bad stories from sportster owners about the Dunlops. They may be okay on lighter bikes but too many people say the best thing they have ever done is get rid of the Dunlops.

In reply to Nick (Not-Stig) Comstock:

throw it on a dyno, it'll make 35whp......if you're lucky.

In reply to yamaha:

I may do that, but I'll never tell you the truth

Edit; I got curious and found these...

I'm just going to throw this out there-read and research to see if it's for you. I've darksided both my Goldwing and my Majesty scooter.The Goldwing(GL1500) is running an Austone rear, a 6 ply radial.I switched the front bias to a Bridgestone ExcedraMax radial and the improvement in handling was phenomenal! I'm running a heavy duty car tire on the rear of the Majesty. The handling and ride improved but there was a huge difference in "stickability" in the rain. I tour a lot(just did a 1900 mile weekend on a scooter)and don't let rain stop me. Like I said, research it and see if it's for you. For me, it resulted in much longer tire life(20K on the 'wing and not even half worn), better handling, smoother ride, and the added benefit of lower tire costs.My Burgman will soon need a tire and I'm pretty certain I'll darkside that ride also.

In reply to Nick (Not-Stig) Comstock:

LoL, the Yamaha Bolt made more torque....

And fwiw, I was being facetious about throwing it on a dyno.....graphs mean nothing unless you set the damn thing up properly yourself and have a climate controlled setting for baseline and post modification.

My Mom needed a new rear tire and I hate doneslops so I found a metzeler in a 130/16 or 140/16 can't remember. I'd probably just search the size, maybe find either a pirelli or metzeler or continental or michelin. I'm not a big fan of the dunlops, some of the patterns look 100 years old. Maybe they are great but I'd search around on harley sites and see what people are running and what they like. Also Avon makes good tires, running avon front on my bike now.

In reply to minimac:

I don't think there is a size that will fit my bike. The 175r16 taxi tire is too wide.

In reply to Nick (Not-Stig) Comstock:

Bike Bandit is your friend for cheap rubber delivered quickly.

I spoon my own on and it's mainly one of those technique things you just have to get the hang of. It's impossible at the beginning and easy the 3rd time. FWIW, I use a shop vise as a bead breaker, a pair of Motion Pro spoons as spoons, dawn liquid as lube, and 1/2" rod, some jack stands and home made cones/adapters for balancing. I use an old bent rim and some sliced garden hose as a stable base so the brake rotors don't get "leveraged". Threaded rod and some huge washers can be a 3rd set of hands.

EDIT: Also, if you lean the bike a lot ... darkside stuff, don't do it. Car tires are for flat running super tourers and hacks. Will they work? Sure. Will they last longer? Sure. Will you like to ride them? No. You will get a tiny little squared off contact patch and some sidewall when leaned over hard.

If you can't lean because your floor boards throw sparks... then, er, car tire probably fine.

Nick (Not-Stig) Comstock wrote: How Hard would it be to change the tire myself? It's a 150/80-16 on an aluminum rim.

On this question, if your tire is anything like the beast that was on my Road King, it's darn hard!

I should have realized that when I physically picked the replacement tire up. It was heavy, real heavy. Never felt a motorcycle tire that heavy. It also hurt bouncing against my thigh because there was no flex. It was like bouncing a block of iron against my leg.

Anyhow. I thought I'd show my son how to change a tire with irons. It's not hard...normally. 2-3 hours later, I'd replaced the tire, and pinched the tube. We were both hot, sweaty and exhausted.

Next day I took the whole thing to an indy and let him do it.

Most horrible tire changing experience I've ever had with any tire.

Might be a whole lot more doable with the HF manual tire changer and motorcycle tire changer adapter (which I now have). But I haven't tried it yet.

G. P. Snorklewacker wrote: EDIT: Also, if you lean the bike a lot ... darkside stuff, don't do it. Car tires are for flat running super tourers and hacks. Will they work? Sure. Will they last longer? Sure. Will you like to ride them? No. You will get a tiny little squared off contact patch and some sidewall when leaned over hard. If you can't lean because your floor boards throw sparks... then, er, car tire probably fine.

Absolutely not true. Did you ever see the youtubes posted by Yellow Wolf? Goldwing darksideside rider doing the Dragon. Rumor has it there's no one faster. As I said, it's not for everyone,especially sportbike riders. For most midsize cruisers and up(normal riders)it works just fine. You'll run outta balls before you roll over the edge of the tire-crashing and burning and ending life on the earth as we know it.