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138 Posts
How many miles are you guys getting on your tires? Do you usually stick with the stock Dunlops when buying new rubber?
Tires and miles
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Over the last couple of bikes I average about 12 K on the rears, but I replace them when they are down to about 1/8" thread, not the more common 1/16". I usually replace the front every second rear but they would go longer.
Around here the weather is very hot for most of the year (not right now, LOL) and it doesn't rain all that much, so the Dunlop's are a good compromise.
When I lived in colder and rainy weather I much preferred the Metzelers as they have much better traction in the wet and cold.
Some people really seem to like the Avon's.
The main reason I stick with Dunlop's, is that I dislike mixing tire brands on the same bike, and if you need a tire when traveling you are much more likely to find a Dunlop, and so far I have been lucky with them. Even if you find one of the others in stock somewhere, the price is likely to be even more ridiculous then for the Dunlops, compared to what you pay over the internet.
Around here the weather is very hot for most of the year (not right now, LOL) and it doesn't rain all that much, so the Dunlop's are a good compromise.
When I lived in colder and rainy weather I much preferred the Metzelers as they have much better traction in the wet and cold.
Some people really seem to like the Avon's.
The main reason I stick with Dunlop's, is that I dislike mixing tire brands on the same bike, and if you need a tire when traveling you are much more likely to find a Dunlop, and so far I have been lucky with them. Even if you find one of the others in stock somewhere, the price is likely to be even more ridiculous then for the Dunlops, compared to what you pay over the internet.
tire wear
boy i must be doing something wrong. i run 38 psi in my rear tire and drive normaly no hot rodding and with 7000 miles my back tire is shot i will need to repalce it for sure in the spring. only thing i can think of is i do alot of 2 up riding but i adjust up to 40psi and bump up rear shock air also. ive heard normal wear out is 5000 mi to 8000 mi. but 12000 WOW!!!!
boy i must be doing something wrong. i run 38 psi in my rear tire and drive normaly no hot rodding and with 7000 miles my back tire is shot i will need to repalce it for sure in the spring. only thing i can think of is i do alot of 2 up riding but i adjust up to 40psi and bump up rear shock air also. ive heard normal wear out is 5000 mi to 8000 mi. but 12000 WOW!!!!
I could probably get quite a bit more out of them if I didn't flog the bike as much. I always run 40 psi in the rear even riding solo, but I don't think this is where the difference is.
I think the biggest factors are average trip lenght and the abrasiveness of the pavement you ride on most of the time. Most of my riding is on secondary roads and around here they are asphalt as opposed to concrete and worn pretty smooth. You just can't get that much traction on them. The fellows that ride with me get similar mileage and some of them are very heavy and ride two up most of the time.
Strangely some of the people that get less mileage out of them are the more conservative riders, so it probably has to do some with brake use too, in particular if you use the rear brake. Hard to say.
I think the biggest factors are average trip lenght and the abrasiveness of the pavement you ride on most of the time. Most of my riding is on secondary roads and around here they are asphalt as opposed to concrete and worn pretty smooth. You just can't get that much traction on them. The fellows that ride with me get similar mileage and some of them are very heavy and ride two up most of the time.
Strangely some of the people that get less mileage out of them are the more conservative riders, so it probably has to do some with brake use too, in particular if you use the rear brake. Hard to say.
10,000 mi. on my rear tire,and I replaced it with one of the same. I had Avon Road runners on another bike and I noticed they got hard after a while,and prematurley developed small what looked like dry rot cracks. Not that they were,but thats what they reminded me of.
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3,694 Posts
Just replaced the rear tire on the FLHTC. 10K. Could have gotten another 1500-2000. But I just don't take chances with the rubber. The front looks good for another 3-5K. Tire mileage is a lot like gas mileage: depends to a great extent on how you drive. And I use Dunlop.
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21 Posts
Tire life
I have been running Dunlops on a '86 FLHTC, the present D402 rear has 8,800 miles and is near replacement time. The previous rear D402 ran 9,900 miles. Replaced rear D402 tire before that early at 6,400 miles due to a gouge cutting some of the sidewall rubber off from a wreck. Rear D402 tire before that went 11,640 miles. Rear D402 tire before that went 8,840 miles (replaced early in preparation for long trip). Rear D402 tire before that ran 15,040 miles and was pretty bare. Tire before that was a D491 and ran 14,400 miles and was pretty bare too.
Had more tread left to go to the wear bars on the recent tires, but replaced them when one portion on the cirumference was wearing a bit thinner than the rest. The air pressure was 38 psi to 41 psi, and 44 psi in the rear when loaded heavier.
The fronts were replaced at 22,400 mile average.
Traction seemed OK while traveling in rain, a few snowstorms, and 108 degree days.
I have been running Dunlops on a '86 FLHTC, the present D402 rear has 8,800 miles and is near replacement time. The previous rear D402 ran 9,900 miles. Replaced rear D402 tire before that early at 6,400 miles due to a gouge cutting some of the sidewall rubber off from a wreck. Rear D402 tire before that went 11,640 miles. Rear D402 tire before that went 8,840 miles (replaced early in preparation for long trip). Rear D402 tire before that ran 15,040 miles and was pretty bare. Tire before that was a D491 and ran 14,400 miles and was pretty bare too.
Had more tread left to go to the wear bars on the recent tires, but replaced them when one portion on the cirumference was wearing a bit thinner than the rest. The air pressure was 38 psi to 41 psi, and 44 psi in the rear when loaded heavier.
The fronts were replaced at 22,400 mile average.
Traction seemed OK while traveling in rain, a few snowstorms, and 108 degree days.
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