Tire recommendations

First topic message reminder :

Sold a Yamaha Majesty, and bought a 2007 Silverwing. The tire tread is worn, and I wanted to ask for recommendations on new tires.

Sold the 2006 V Max in Dec..
the Silverwing looks good next to my favorite, the V65 Magna...

Terry O (Marsman)
Mars, Pa

Oh man. I got 6k with Metzler on the rear. I wanted to try Pirelli this time and found a good deal on a diablo. I live up in Lake Worth up in Palm Beach County. A ride would be nice but my weekends are generally all tied up with my kids soccer games and my honey do list lol.

Got back from Competition. Went with the Diablo because that was all they had in stock besides the Dunlop (no more Hoops for me).

If you ever find time. I live down here in Davie and it would be cool to meet another SWing enthusiast. Maybe we can get a bunch to meet someday at a Resataurant /Bar one day.

Later, MrPegleg

PS... thanx for the advice.

Give me A heads up cause I live in Panama City Beach. Would be happy to meet ya'll somewhere sometime.

That's quite a ride down to south Florida.

The more the merrier

We could actually meet up around Clewiston somewhere.

MY S/W2007 ABS;11,600 miles:
I replaced a well worn front hoop with Diablo yesterday, as some have reviewed with satisfaction. So far, so good. Can't say I have seen a big difference from hoop yet in operation, but have only ridden a few miles.
Paid $61.00 including shipping from motorcycle superstore. 2 day delivery. Took wheel to local shop and had mounted and balanced for $30.00.
I'll report back my experience later this summer.
Cheers.

jose.illegal wrote:

Give me A heads up cause I live in Panama City Beach. Would be happy to meet ya'll somewhere sometime.

My best friend lives in Panama City and is the owner of Shultstat rentals. If you are in the area, please stop by and introduce your self and tell him John D from Santa Barbara CA said hola.

As soon as I found out that Michelin, made a tire for the swing I bought one for the front but do not know if one is made for the rear.
So far so good. I also use RideOn in the tires and so far have been super happy with the results. I saved $ 30.00 by installing the stuff my self. Easy:alien beamed u 

I know I'm digging up an old thread, but I didn't want to start my own for a rehashed topic.

I just received new tires today. I went with the Metzlers this time. I have about 10,000 miles on the front tire and about 5000 on the rear. The rear is not completely gone, but it's getting there. I have read through this thread (Completely ignoring every word of anything John Grinsel said) and see people getting 10,000 miles out of the rear. I have had the OEM IRC tires and the rear one blew out at 6500 miles. I replaced that with whatever my dealer put on there (I think it was a Dunlop) and then at 10,000 miles I replaced them both with Pirelli Diablo's myself. At about 15,000 miles my rear Diablo cord broke but it was about a half mile from home so I wasn't stranded. I replaced it myself with another Diablo and now at 20,000 miles it's close to ready for replacement again. I used Dynabeads to balance them.

A friend of mine from the STO group recommended upping my pressure to 40PSI. I had been running about 35PSI. Of course, he also recommended a car tire and I was close to doing just that this time but thought I'd give the Metzlers a try first. My wife and I do a lot of 2up riding and so I'm jumping to the conclusion that this is the problem with my rear tire. 6K sure seems like a small number though. Hell, even 10K doesn't seem great but that seems to be the going rate.

I got the front tire done this evening but haven't tried it out yet. Gonna try the rear tomorrow night and then see how it handles. I really liked the way the Diablos handled but I'm interested in the difference these Metzlers will make, if any. The tire seemed to go on easier and the bead set way easier than the Diablos so that is already a plus.

If I don't get any better wear out of the rear I may just go over to the dark side and try that for a while.

Roy,
My 1st and 2nd sets were hoops I got about 11,000 on the 1st set and I changed out the second just about 10,000 because of an upcoming trip. 3 rd set was Metzlers. I got 12,400 on the rear when I was at a BMW Rally last October in Potosi, MO.  When we noticed the chords wearing through.  I liked the way they felt.  The front I got 13,500 miles.  

I had to replace the rear with a Hoop. We found 150 miles away from Potosi.  That's a whole story in its self.

This spring I changed both front and back with the diablo's.  I really liked the way they felt in the rain.  I got almost 10,000 on my rear.  Changed it back to the Hoop.  Which is my back up.  The front is still the diablo.  Will keep it on till next spring or before my next long trip.  I think I will go with the Diablo's again.  

Tried to post a picture of my worn out metzler but it didn't work.

I'm sure riding  two up has a lot to do with rear tire wear. Just like the weight of carrying your luggage and the condition of the roads and the speed your going.

I finally got my new Metzlers mounted today and took a little 10 mile test ride.
The new tires felt good and seemed a little more responsive than the Diablos. Perhaps that was because they are new but they feel good on the bike. I think they're a good choice. Kudos to whomever it was who recommended them. Now they'll probably sit until spring. LOL

Following up on my July post of new tire change to Diablos:

I have also changed out the rear tire with a Diablo (64.00).  After 300 miles of use I concur with others that they are fine tires for S/W application.  Slow speed front wobble gone and good traction in wet conditions. My riding is moderate local cruising; primarily good paved roads, usually 40-65 MPH.

You guys getting 10000 miles on a rear tire must never twist the throttle open even half way! I've put 28000 miles on my SW, and never got more than 6200 miles on anything on the rear. FWIW, I've put about 100 miles on with a passenger (not 1000 or 10000), so I don't think that's a tire killer either. Actually, with proper air pressure, it probably adds to longevity (more weight would mean less slippage upon acceleration, plus a courteous rider would ride a little more smoothly - easier take-offs, gentler braking).

My guess is that rough road surfaces, hard take offs and hard braking eat up tires. I'm guilty of them all. Smoother take offs and braking and continuous travel (steady highway travel) add up to more tire life.

What you mean with "proper air pressure" ? With 5 psis more than the recommented ones.. I can achieve 12-14 kmiles from a pair of diablos.

I just had a pair of these fitted .. http://moto.michelin.co.uk/tyres/michelin-city-grip-winter .. much better grip in the wet than the Vypers that were on before

I bought my swing in November 2014 its a 2009 and it had 2 miles on it. the tires looked good even though they was 5 years old. and I now have 2200 miles on it. and the front tire still looks new but the rear tire is over half gone. I don't ride it hard and keep the air right in them. the only time I have even spun a tire is when I was on wet grass. and didn't mean to do that.
now the question is could it be because the tires are old that made it wear out so fast or what. and what would be the best tires to replace the factory tires. and I pray I get more than 3k miles out of them.

I would think you would get 6000 miles out of pretty much any mc tire, obviously some manufacturers will be better than others. My used 05 came with a relatively new rear oem (Bridgestone Hoop) tire installed by the previous owner. The bike had around 8000 miles at the time. I got approx. 6500 miles on that rear tire. The front 10 year old tire was the original Hoop and went 14500 miles and still looked good. I decided it was time to change both tires due to the rear showing some wear and the front showing some very minor cracking, had to look very close to see the cracking. My tire changing guy said there was still life left in both tires but I erred on the side of safety and got the new tires anyways. I went with the Michelin Power Pure tires, I liked the idea of the softer rubber compound on the outer edges of the tires to help "stick" to the road in the rain/turns etc. Every rider has got their own opinions and ideas and will argue forever which tire is better, so go with the replacement tires that [i]you[i] are comfortable with after doing your research! I removed my wheels off the swing and brought them to the tire guy, final cost was around $350cdn.

If I were to be using scooter tires front & rear, I like the Michelins. I have used City Grip but not the Power Pure tires. I did read a little bit about them and they sound like they would pretty good; based on my experience with the City Grip any way.

I have also used Pirelli Diablo tires which I though were comparable to the Michilens.

I hated Avon Viper Stryker tires I had once. Took those nasty buggers off as soon as I could.
They were horrible on wet pavement. made me nervous every time I rode when it was wet.

But, if you ever consider the "Darkside" by putting a car tire on the rear, there are a few options for that tire. I currently use a 165/65R13 car tire since of all the car tires that could be used, this size is closest to the stock scooter tire diameter wise and does not affect ABS brakes negatively if you have them. The speedometer reads closer to what GPS shows but it will affect your odometer by reading near 1 or 2 percent lower than when using a stock scooter tire. A slightly taller tire will affect odometer & speedometer readings accordingly.

A car tire uses a softer rubber compound than bike tires and grips just as well if not better than bike tires; especially in the wet. And it will outlast a bike tire by 3 to 5 times as long. But it does feel differently at first, but is easy to adjust to. You might want to do some research on this first before deciding though. Opinions on this are sometimes strongly divided. I just happen to be on the pro-darkside of the idea. Either way, I would use a Michelin or Pirelli tire up front.

hotwings: Nobody argues about the difference in tires. Everybody knows that this tire is better that that tire. Or is it the other way around? Damn, Now I'm getting confused again.

bandito 2 is spot on with the michelin power pure,that is a very good tire for long lasting I have 35k kl on my  swing  trike ,and good for 15 or 20 kl before I need to replace with another michelin dual compound tire. And like bandito2 for the rear tire that will give 40 to60 K KL ( GO TO THE DARKSIDE ) for a high milage .The 155 70 13 that I chose was the best size for my short inseam. Now with my trike conversion I have a 175 70 13 that has been siting  in my garage for 3 yrs , That does not matter to me anymore that I don't need to be flat footed to stay vertical.

tinman wrote:

bandito 2 is spot on with the michelin power pure,that is a very good tire for long lasting I have 35k kl on my  swing  trike ,and good for 15 or 20 kl before I need to replace with another michelin dual compound tire. And like bandito2 for the rear tire that will give 40 to60 K KL ( GO TO THE DARKSIDE ) for a high milage .The 155 70 13 that I chose was the best size for my short inseam. Now with my trike conversion I have a 175 70 13 that has been siting  in my garage for 3 yrs , That does not matter to me anymore that I don't need to be flat footed to stay vertical.

I'm just curious, but where did you find a 155/70R13? I've looked all over and the only one I could ever find was one with an asymmetrical tread design. Here's a silly little factoid for you..... The side wall on the 155/70R13 is 1.25mm taller than the 165/65R13... Not that 1.25 mm is going to make any noticeable difference.(just being a I guess. LOL!!)

BTW, I did a 200 mile test ride with a 175/70R13 on my bike. It rides nicer than the 165/65R13. I need to drill and tap so I can mount a pulser ring to see how it may affect the ABS brakes. I'll do that this spring and then test ride again.

The tire is a Hercules Raptic 155 70 13. I am on my second one .My first one was replaced at 45 k kl .You can see it on my personal photo album. I don't know how to show  pics .