Tires: Bias, Radial, Pressure, Compound?

[mixongw]

What are the advantages of bias or radial? It seems to be the consensus that we should run a higher pressure that what is printed under the seat. Comments?

I am running Bridgestone Spitfire now but I'm not pleased with the tread life (5K). I am also getting a lot of wondering on grooved surfaces. Is this caused by tread pattern, compound or both?

[SqDancerLynn1]

It could be both, could be weak fork springs, lot of different things

[Steve]

If you are asking specifically about your 1100GL, your rims are not wide enough to safely handle radials.

Because of their more "forgiving" sidewalls, they need rims that are MUCH wider than what comes on our bikes. The rear wheel on my 850GL is only 2.75 inches wide. I suspect that yours is about the same, but most likely not any wider than 3.0 inches. If you look at bikes that are running radials you will typically find a 5 inch rim on there. You probably could fit a radial on there, and even get the bead to seat, but I don't think the squishy wobble of an improperly-supported tire would be very confidence-inspiring.

Pressure? I don't have much experience with pressures on the GSs, but on my Kawasaki Voyager 1300 and my GoldWing 1500, I run the front just a bit above recommended pressure for 2-up constant high-speed use, and the rear at the maximum printed on the sidewall. Mileage on them runs about 17-20,000, so it can't be too far off.

[bwringer]

My tire review:

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=90823

I run the 491s at 38-40psi rear and 36 psi front. They are a very heavy duty tire and seem to handle best with a bit more pressure.

Most other tires, including the 404s, I run at about 36psi rear and 32-34 front. I experiment with pressures a bit to see what "feels" best. It's not scientific, and I have a hard time describing the difference, but that's what I do.

FWIW, my bike is a GS850G, and I'm a rather large humanoid who rides fast and corners hard.