Tire Recommendations

[hennesse]

I love my 62 XLCH so much, I'm wearing the tires off of it! I need to replace the front tire ASAP, and the rear won't be too far behind. (3.25/3.50x19 front, 4.00 x18 rear)

My speed racer days are over, most of the time you find me cruising country roads at 50 to 60 mph, slowing down for curves, and generally keeping the shiny side up.

What kind of tires are you riding on, and how do you like them?

[DaveC]

Dave,
I have been using the Metzler ME33 on the front and either ME55 or ME99 on the rear. I have been canyon carving in Southern California for over 30 years on these and are probably the ideal tire for for my XLCR, XR1000 and Moto Guzzi LeMans. The HD guys put me on to them years ago. I used to run Dunlops but got into some unexpected slides, as did other friends.
Dave

[thefrenchowl]

I use Japanese Dunlop K70 on all me old bikes, antique look with very decent grip...

Only problem, they do grip, so they don't last too long, say 3000 miles on the rear of me 58 Sporty.

Up front, I tend to run 21 inch Avon Speedmasters...

Patrick

[sportsterpaul]

I run those sticky Metzlers, even if they are over 100 bucks. The way I figure it, tires are safety equipment and it is no place to scrimp or try for old authentic looks. There has not been a year when I didn't get caught in the rain. Not a big long ride or anything, usually just a few miles, but when the rain hits I want those nice sticky Metzlers under me.

The way I understand it, you can have sticky tires that wear out fast, or hard tires with long life. I vote for sticky. I did have the bike shop tell me they were out of Metzlers once. Since they had a huge business with the Jap canyon carvers, I just said "Well give me something as sticky as the Metzler, but no wider, since Iron Sportsters don't have a wide front fender." I think he gave me a Dunlop.

I will admit that during my most financially trying times, I did run the front tires way past the wear bars. I once ran a rear tire so far down that a few little patches of red cord were showing. One of my most broke, jobless, dissolute, alcoholic, old-time biker pals took one look and said "follow me." It wasn't a request. We proceeded to ride around town to all his broke, jobless, dissolute, alcoholic, old-time biker friends. All Dale had to do was point at the cords showing on my rear tire and each of his broke, jobless, dissolute, alcoholic, old-time biker friends dug in their pocket for a 5, a 10, or even a 20 until I had enough to buy a new tire. I will never push my luck that far again, but I do notice that when the mechanic tosses my tires on the stack, mine are closer to bald than most of the others. Some had so much tread I was temped to ask them if they would just mount one of the take-offs.

So yeah, sticky tires, but I try to time things so they are going bald when the rainy season is over. I squeeze another month out of them that way. I guess I buy Metzlers out of habit, but that Dunlop worked OK too. Someone once told me the cheapest Taiwan tire was still pretty good-- Didn't one of the big MC tire companies sell their molds to a Taiwan company? Avon?

[hennesse]

Dave,
I have been using the Metzler ME33 on the front and either ME55 or ME99 on the rear.

Thanks Dave - you told me this the other day, but I couldn't find them. Reason is Metzeler has renamed the tires to LaserTec. From browsing around the web, it appears that the LaserTecs are the good ole 33/55 combination.

[Hammie13]

I'm a big fan of the Me880's on the front,and anything with good tread on the back. I buy good used tires that other guys take off due to a thin white wall,or they went to a fatter tire. I find lots of good take off's,which I run out back,and buy my fronts new. The main thing is they have good tread for the rears,and good water shedding up front,just in case.

[EKHKHK56]

I have had great success with AVON Speedmasters, but I don't ride `hard`. Roads in Alaska are not the best. They have a good feel. The AVONs hold up well on dirt, gravel, snow or asphalt. Used to ride up until Halloween on a Paughco hardtail 55KHK, -20F, never took a spill. Erik

[hennesse]

I have had great success with AVON Speedmasters, but I don't ride `hard`. Roads in Alaska are not the best. They have a good feel. The AVONs hold up well on dirt, gravel, snow or asphalt. Used to ride up until Halloween on a Paughco hardtail 55KHK, -20F, never took a spill. Erik

Erik, I really like the "never took a spill" part. My 62-year-old butt is not as "hard-asssed" as it used to be. I have only taken two motorcycle spills in my life.

My first wreck was in 1972 or 1973 on my 1960 FL with a bald rear tire - I tried to make a quick U-turn, and slid out badly. I whacked my head on the curb, passed out, and woke up a couple minutes later to find my bike in flames. I awoke, and quickly blew out the flames and then passed out again from hyper-venilatiion.

My second wreck was about a year later, in 1973, when I was driving a gravel road, and my Panhead clutch lever-to-mousetrap cable broke. No problem - I just used the mousetrap as a clutch lever, until I reached a gravel T-intersection...

Whoops - I forgot - In the mid-1980's. I was driving down Interstate 270 at 70 mph on my 1937 Knucklehead when the sleeve of my leather jacket came undone from the tie-downs, and jammed my chain/rear sprocket. The rear wheel locked rather quickly. I skidded and ended up in a deep ditch on the side of the Interstate. I laid the bike over and rotated the wheel backwards, and withdrew the offending sleeve. Problem solved. I drove out of the ditch and went on my way. Not sure if this counts as a "spill".

No more accidents for the last 35 years, - and I'm trying to keep it that way.

DaveH