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What's a good long lasting tire for a small bike?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Anonymous
  • Start date Start date
A

Anonymous

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Hi all,
I was at the local tire shop enquiring about the Dunlop 491s and Metz 880/88 tires but couldn't hagle the price at all at 3 different shops! Well, money talks and BS walks so I was out the door pretty quickly. :)

So, are there any good tires more suitable smaller bikes like my 400? I was told that the tires mentioned above are way overkill for my bike. I want to get 20,000 km (13kmiles) out of the set before I hit the wear bars, then hopefully get another 2k before I hit the belts. 3/4 of my riding is on the highway so a hard compound is preferred as long as it performs safely in the rain.

Thanks, Steve
 
Check on www.denniskirk.com they have a huge seletion of tires. However I do realize bias ply tires for older bikes like ours are hard to find, it's a good place to buy from if you find what you want. In my opinion the prices are somewhat better than at dealerships.
 
I just bought tires for my GS550. The tire place (Discount Motorcycle Tires in Denver) talked me into Metzelers. You might look at ronayers.com (sp?). They seemed to have really good prices. Some other tires I was considering were Michelin Macadams and Pirelli MT66. They're less expensive than the Metz's but still good tires I'm told. I'm sure either would be fine for your 400.

Debby
 
ive had excellent luck with chengshin on the smaller machines :)
 
I am happy with a set of Bridgestone Spitfires that I put on my 550L last year.
 
I just bought a front 491 off of ebay today so I'm gonna have to go with one on the rear now. Hopefully one will come up before May.

Thanks for the help though, I was very close to going for the Pirellis.

Steve
 
That 491 will last you quite some time. a good tire. :twisted:
 
which compound did you get on your 491 they have several from soft to semi hard :?:
 
Don: I wasn't aware of that, none of the dealers I've gone to mention it. I know my 591 pretty much has the same tread except there aren't any of the smaller notches in the tread for the rear tire. Is that what you mean?

The part number appears to be 4172-24 from the photo I've got. It has a load rating of 56 which is about 490 pounds. H rated as well, not V like my 591.

Steve
 
yes the 591 is the sport only compound and the 491 came in2 sport touring and touring. my set is the sport touring compound which I purchased last year. It is possible that dunlop only produces 1 compound for the 491 this year. :-k
 
Don: One would think that they could number the tires 491 and 492 with the higher number being stickier...oh well, I'm not too concerned as I am more concerned about how long the rear tire lasts so I'll check into compound when I get that one.

Steve
 
I am running Maxxis Promax tires on my 450. ~3500 miles and they don't even look used. Stick fairly well, too.

Kurt Kesler
 
I'll second the Cheng Shin's. I run the Hi-Maxs on my 85 550E, and they get really good mileage, and teh price is more than reasonable. They seem to specialize in the smaller bias tires. My rear had around 10,000 on it at the wear bars, which is way better than the stock bridgestone or the K591's I had in the past.

I just replace the rear with another Hi-Max off ebay, size 130/90/18 (the biggest that will fit). $20 + 12 shipping!

Kenny
 
I just replaced my rear tire, I'm running the Pro Max too. I got 6,000 miles out of it, I don't know if that's good or bad (my first set of tires). The front still looks fine. I do think they are a little on the sticky side (I seem to like how they handle), Possible the Chengs are a little longer lasting? It's probably always a compromise between traction and mileage.
 
The 591 is a softer compound so you will get more miles out of the 491. If it is the 491 Elite II then it is a little on the hard side of a sport touring compound.

I have them on my GS now but haven't worn a set out to know how far they'll go.

On the Honda Sabre I got 20K on the front and 16k (miles) on the rears for an average.

Mike
 
Followup.

Well, I have about 5k on that rear Promaxx now and it is almost gone. The treadwear really seemed to accelerate at around 4k miles.

So now I am shopping again for a long life, high mileage touring tire in a 100 or 90/90-18 for the front and a 110/80-18 rear, which means no Metz 880s (which I run on the rear of my ST1100 and really like). Also, I would rather not give Dunlop money. Have the 491s on my GS850 and they are ok...but I still don't want to give them money.

Thanks,
Kurt
 
I like the Pirelli MT66s on my 550E. About $150 USD installed. (I took the wheels in, which was a good reason to remove the exhaust system.) When your bike was new the Continental K100s were all the rage. You could expect 20k miles on the front, 10k miles on the rear, and they gripped really well and came already balanced. All the tech did was line up the red dot on the tire with the valve stem. They're still around though I couldn't vouch for the quality today.
 
Ditto

Ditto

Don Watson said:
ive had excellent luck with chengshin on the smaller machines :)
Click to expand...

The Cheng Shin I have on the GS400L have been fine. And they will likely be the best value you find.

SV
 
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