Need motorcycle tire recommendation, riding the light side.

[Odin]

Hello fellow Valkyrie riders...

...im new to this forum and new to Valkyrie ownership.

Im 48 yrs old and have been riding street bikes for 28 years. I was run off the road on my BMW gs1100 in May of 2008 in a 25 mph 'get-off' onto a grassy median. I broke 5 ribs and the GS was deemed totaled. I rode a sweet 1974 Honda 750 for the summer of 2008 while i shopped for my next long term bike. In sept 2008 i bought a clean 1999 Valkyrie standard with 18xxx miles. My Valk is the mustard and cream color combo with black detachable leather look bags and a black leather mustang tank strip.  The photos in craigs list didnt initially do much for me, but when i saw the bike in person the total package really clicked. I guess after riding a black beemer for 15 years, i was ready for a change.

Anyways, im in process of looking to replace the worn out tires on this bike and would like to hear some opinions on what is the best choice offered today. Ive done some reading on the dark side option. I talked to a guy at the dealership who rides a goldwing, and has ridden a valk with a car tire. He asked me about my riding habits. I mostly do around town, city streets, local hiways, weekend country scenic (twisty) roads, and of course the ocassional flat straight interstate to get between two points. I am not a cross country high miler. I ride about 6000 miles per year around the Minnesota 5 state area. I usually ride alone, ocassionally two up. I will sometimes get on the gas and will cruise at 95mph for a while. (too many past tickets has slowed me down a little these days...haha). Usually i am trying to obay the posted speed limits. I do not drag race nor scrape my footpegs too often on twisty roads. So with all that said...the guy at the dealership suggested id be better off with a conventional rounded profile bike tire. He says the car tire is nice for 'wear' aspects, but that the square tire shape affects city cornering and handling on twisty roads in an undesireable way. He believes the car tire is better for cross country...flat straight road.. high mile riders. Okay, his words make sence and at least this time around im going to go with regular bike tires. I will not rule out the possibility that one day i try the dark side. I plan to keep this bike for a while. :-) 

Anyways, I searched this forum and found a few fragmented discussions regarding regular bike tires. I could not find much about specific brand or a bias-radial discussion. I have seen a few discussions here and there on the web, but some of the threads were 3-4-5 yrs old and id like an up to date opinion from the guys who are currently riding.

Id like a tire that handles good, doesnt wander too much, will be suitable for moderate speeds on twisty roads, good in rain, can handle brief stints of 100 mph, and preferably last many many miles before needing replacement.

So...radial or bias?

Metzler or Avon or Dunlop or what?

Turning a tire around and running it backwards on the front?

Let me know, id appreciate any and all opinions.

Odin.

[jgcable]

I run Dunlop E3's on front and back. They seem to do everything well and generally have a good review around here. They won't kill your wallet either. 

[dennisraz]

Anything but dunflops!
Most people buy them for their cheap price,but their performance and wear sucks.
IMHO.
 

[disc sanders]

Oh boy.....you just opened up one big'ol can of worms.  You'll get more opinions than there are posters here. 

But here's my experience so far.  I bought my Valk last spring and have been putting miles on it for almost a year now.  When I bought it, it had Metzlers on it that looked like they had about half of their life left.  The previous owner said that they had about 4,000 miles on them. 

Those tires sucked like nothing has every sucked before.  I had to wrench the bike through the turns, the bike wandered all over the place, the tires would grab every little rut in the road and throw the bike around so much so, that the first time it happened, I thought that I was about to lose control of the bike. 

I was beginning to think that I had made a terrible mistake buying this bike if they all handled this way.  This wasn't how everyone on the internet discribed how their Valks rode....but mine was almost scary. 

Someone told me it might be my tires and I started shopping around for deals.  I was looking at the Venoms when I found the Elite 3's.  My dealer had suggested that I try them as they said that they had many satisfied customers with them on heavy bikes.  The Venoms where pushing 600.00 out the door...the Elite 3's where 285.00 out the door.  The price settled it for me. 

What a world of difference.  I couldn't believe how much different the Elite 3's made the bike handle over those crappy Metzlers.  So far, I luuuuuve the Elite 3's.  I've only put about 3,000 miles on them so far...but so far, so good.  They seem grippy in the turns, I'm not worried about getting stuck in the rain, they feel reeeeealy stable, the bike doesn't wander all over the road, they don't grab every little rut and throw the bike around....very stable....and as far as miliage goes, well, I've got several miles to go before I can pass judgement. 

Although my experiences are very limited, I vote for the Elite 3's. 

[MrBones]

I use E3s also. Both Rodeo and I get 20,000 out of them.

[hoser]

I like the Bridgestones, wear well and are cheep!  hoser

[Challenger]

Just had to be different and confuse the guy didn't ya, Hoser!

[hoser]

Sorrrrrie, I meant cheAp!     At least I didn't mention Shinkos.  Don't know how to spell that either, but I hear they cheep also. or is it Shenkos? Dunno, I've done cornfused myself!  Better start over.  The Bridgestone tires are very economical, and also have very good wear characteristics.  Damn, can't spell that either!  How bout they don't wear out very fast?    Hoser
Here's a picture of the Kansas Hog, looks grumpy don't he?  I think he was so hung over he barfed in his saddlebag.  His Harley has Dunlops on it if anybodys interested. There that makes it a tire thread! hoser

[Cartman]

hey hoser......them dudes sure look like the good ole boys from BOB's BUNKER INNN over here in Chi-Town area..if ya remember the BLUES BROTHERS MOVIE....heck that looks like Jason and Goober and Ernst T  from Kansas along with your bad self....Nice pic...that must have been on the road to Devils Tower last year....ain't it nice there.  That was a fun time last year in the Black Hills, those roads were fun and great scenery for sure.  Can't wait for West Virginia, that should be fun too....heck we always have fun at the VOAI Family Reunions!!   

[Cartman]

YEA, I have heard the Bridgestones are pretty good, thats another tire to think of when putting new ones on.

[don07tncav]

I like the Bridgestones, wear well and are cheep!  hoser

What Hoser said, I like my Bridgestones too....

[cb1]

I just put on Avon Cobras and I am really happy with how they feel on the straights and curves

[red and white valkyrie]

I am happy with my Dunlop Elite 3 tires.

[fitz]

I run Elite 3's  little over 11.000 miles now and still some left.  Ran Avon in the past and only could get about 8,000 miles out of the rear tire.  My next set will be Elite 3's again

[timk519]

First set of E3's I had - the front made it past 20K, and I'm sure the rear would've too if it hadn't picked up a nail in NB.