Tires

[reinie]

My OEM Mettzlers are finally about worn out. I have almost 12,500 miles on my front tire (very little tread left in the center part) and just a bit more tread left on the rear which has about 10,000 miles (the original picked up a nail at about 2500 miles and needed to be replaced). I went shopping around online and found that Michelin Commander II tires are supposed to get nearly 25,000 miles of tread life. They are a bias ply reinforced tire. Only thing is that the size match for the front tire of the R3T is a rear application tire in the Michelin Commander. Also the rear tire is a bit different in that it's a 180/65 B16 whereas the stock R3T tire is a 180/70 R16. I imagine the outside diameter will be a little bit less on the Michelin but that shouldn't affect much other than the speedometer/odometer readings slightly. The pricing of the Michelins is a little bit lower than the Metzlers and Avon Cobras but not much. But if I can get double the tread wear out of them it would be well worth it.

 

[STRIPES]

A large number of members here are darkside. I can't get that kind of mileage even out of my car tire. 10K would make me happy.

 

[atomsplitter]

My OEM Mettzlers are finally about worn out. I have almost 12,500 miles on my front tire (very little tread left in the center part) and just a bit more tread left on the rear which has about 10,000 miles (the original picked up a nail at about 2500 miles and needed to be replaced). I went shopping around online and found that Michelin Commander II tires are supposed to get nearly 25,000 miles of tread life. They are a bias ply reinforced tire. Only thing is that the size match for the front tire of the R3T is a rear application tire in the Michelin Commander. Also the rear tire is a bit different in that it's a 180/65 B16 whereas the stock R3T tire is a 180/70 R16. I imagine the outside diameter will be a little bit less on the Michelin but that shouldn't affect much other than the speedometer/odometer readings slightly. The pricing of the Michelins is a little bit lower than the Metzlers and Avon Cobras but not much. But if I can get double the tread wear out of them it would be well worth it.

The bias ply rear tire put on the front orthodoxy (or Dixie in the south) is to reverse the direction on the tire when mounted (arrow points to back of bike). So get some input from the Michelin folks if you want to do that to ensure you don't tear up the carcass at speed. As far as getting real tread life I switched to the car tire on the rear (but I run a standard with the 240/16 rim so mounting a 225/55/R16 is simple (not easy, but simple)). If you really want loooooong tread life a car tire is hard to beat. I've had my tire going since 2008 and I average 8 to 10K miles per year and it still looks good.

 

[atomsplitter]

A large number of members here are darkside. I can't get that kind of mileage even out of my car tire. 10K would make me happy.

Maybe dialing back the boost a bit might improve tread life??? On the other hand what's a turbo for.... (never mind).

 

[GPMAZ]

Are the tires you're looking at rated for the weight of the R3T? I would be very careful about trying to save a bit of money and risking your safety.

Sport bikes are lucky to get 4000 miles from a set of tires. Cruiser riders complain about getting more than 10,000 miles. As a rule we pay more for our bikes, we throw money away on chrome do-dads and then we try to pinch pennies when it comes to tires. Sorry, it makes no sense to me.

 

[reinie]

Michelin Commander II Tires

Michelin has tested them on Ultraclassic Electraglide Harleys to get the claimed 25,000 mile tread wear. Weight wise that is nearly the same weight of motorcycle as the R3T. Power & torquewise no comparison though. I think I would be willing to try them out before going to a darkside tire. Not that I am ruling out a car tire, just trying this approach first.

 

[GPMAZ]

I think you hit on a key point in that the tires you're considering haven't been used on anything that produces near the torque of the R3T.

I believe that was a factor in the failure of the OEM Bridgestones. I had one of those tires come apart at right around 4000 miles. I would be concerned about the integrity of a tire not designed to handle the torque.

Horsepower is different as high horsepower numbers are generated at higher RPMs and thus don't really tax a tire, unless of course you are exceeding the speed rating of the tire.

If you are going to put a car tire on your R3T, I have nothing to add.

 

[xhdskip]

I know Jay and Wendy both have car tires on their R3T's
and they're happy with both the handling and mileage.
You might PM Rainman or STB (sweet tennessee babe)
and ask him about his.
Or just post it here,
I'm sure he'll share what information he has
and be happy to do it.

 

[rainman]

I just replaced my ct a few weeks ago had bout 28000 miles on it got a pix on here under the dark side heading