| Author | Message | ||
     Dblhaulxb9s |
Hey guys, Just wondering what tires people are running on their XB's and how many miles you are getting | ||
| Usapitbullz |
IMHO! Dunlop 208s are great tires on the XB9R. I've used them on the track and on the street. No complaints! | ||
| Shazam |
pilot sports have been my favorite! pricey but you'll know why after you ridden them! | ||
| Noface |
I'll second the opinion on the Pilot Sports Has anyone here had any difficulty getting the front tire balanced? The wheel wouldn't chuck up in the MC shop's balance machine. Because of the lack of a brake disk at the axle. Currently the front tire on mine is "unbalance". Jody S. | ||
| Cyclone1 |
Noface, We have to use a bubble balancer for XB wheels...its an old, primitive, time consuming way of balancing a tire, but it works great, and is about the only way I know of to do it. Frank | ||
| Usapitbullz |
Yep, Frank had to use it on my XB and it worked fine. Its kinda pain in the Ass, but works great. You almost can't breath on the thing its so sensitive. | ||
| Darthane |
I got 7500+ miles out of the OEM tires...loved them. I put D208s on for the NE Adventure, wore through most of the rear tire the first couple days in southeast Ohio and West Virginia (twisties!). Awesome tires. Got about 3500 miles on them and the rear is about dead. Debating whether to put more D207s or harder D205/220s on for riding around here (no twisties, boohoo). Bryan | ||
| Chainsaw |
Rear D207 5000 miles Front D207 7700 miles I have the D208 on the rear and will be getting the D208 for the front this week. I don't have any complaints about the Dunlops, and the new D208's are cheaper than the "special" D207's. Local rice shop has the 208 rear for $105 and the front for $79! | ||
| Dblhaulxb9s |
Man you guys are getting a ton of miles. I got barely 2000 out of my stock 207's and it is looking like only about 3000 to 3500 out of my 220's. Maybe I should slow down. Nahhhh, I will just work harder so I can buy more tires. | ||
| Fasteddieb |
Ditto the prior post. Neither my front nor rear made 3,000 miles. I have 010's on there now and they feel fine - I hope they last a LITTLE longer! My rear at about 2,500  | ||
| Darthane |
You have to understand, the roads around here are not conducive to tire-eating. Straight, flat, and the only fun is to be had in dodging the potholes. I don't hammer it out of corners or pass the slowpokes so I can hit the next curve, which is why I get such life out of my tires. The D208s lasted much more in line with what most of you guys that live near decent roads are seeing. Bryan | ||
| Fasteddieb |
My first 1,000 miles was spent in South Florida, in order to get my free 1,000 mile service here before taking the bike to N GA. High temps in FL may have led to increased wear. Since then, I've been pretty much hammering twisties whenever possible. After all, why else would you buy a 'bolt? | ||
| Darthane |
After all, why else would you buy a 'bolt? <~~Eddie Just because we don't have the greatest twisties around here doesn't mean I don't enjoy hitting them whenever and wherever possible. And I agree, this bike LOVES the corners. Bryan | ||
| Bykergeek |
I notice everyone seems to have a lil' chicken strip on their replacement rear tires. I cannot seem to make the one on my BT020 go away after 3k miles. The OEM tire did not have any and lost if after only a few hundred. Maybe it's me. | ||
| Mikej |
Percentage of going straight, versus percentage of turning left, versus percentage of turning right, all equals out to center-flat ratio somehow. I won't call it a chicken-stripe as that gets into ego bashing and peer pressure which on the street everyone should ride their own ride.  If you live on the track you can wear out your side tread before your center tread which makes for a very squirrely straight line handling situation.  | ||
| Buellblastrider |
I couldn't agree with you more about everyone riding their own way | ||
| Glitch |
As far as the "chicken strips" go... I have the original 207s on mine with 3500 miles so far... A friend of mine just got the new 208s, and, has "chicken strips"... He was dismayed as I haven't got them... dismayed because he is a faster rider than I, and gets his knee down on occasion.... After looking at the tires side by side you can see the difference. The 207s aren't as round as the 208s, so to get to the edge of the 207s is easier than on the more round 208s... | ||
| Darthane |
I noticed that...there is less untouched rubber on the pair of OEMs that I have sitting in the garage than on the D208s I had on for the NE Tour, and I know I rode harder on that trip than I ever have before. I did get all the way to the edge on the right side once, though! That was an awesome exit ramp...LOL In any event, I'll probably be putting another OEM rear on soon, since I need to replace the D208 rear and the front tire was recently replaced with an OEM when the wheel/brake asm was changed. One the bike gets painted, though, I will be forced to get Pirelli Diablos just to fit the theme! | ||
| Xb9 |
"I had on for the NE Tour, and I know I rode harder on that trip than I ever have before" understatement? That was some good riding! | ||
| Xb9 |
I'm getting about 4K rear / est. 8K Front from the Metzeler Sportecs. Darth, you will probably get 6K out of the rear with your weight /roads. edited by xb9 on July 07, 2003 | ||
| Darthane |
Yes, it most certainly was. I need to come back and visit for a weekend again so we can go back into SE Ohio and WV again sometime soon. Any good weekends for you? If for some reason I haven't gotten the bike repainted by the time I need another rear tire after this one, I was planning on getting the Metzelers. You really liked them and they're actually cheaper than the D208s. But once painted I'll be forced to get Diablos. LOL | ||
| Xb9 |
I don't really have a schedule, I just go when the weather looks good enough, and I can get at least a couple of riders to commit. I'll let you know. | ||
| Freyke |
Check here... http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/25/25471.html?1053054021#POST1679 66 | ||
| Glitch |
4500 miles... I need tires...  | ||
| Xb9 |
I'll bet Glitch rides North Georgia/Western NC or the tracks. That's what you call using the bike for what it was built for. Nice! | ||
| Bigblock |
You can also static balance the tire, this involvesusing the axle or a rod of the right dia. and setting the wheel upright w/ the axle or rod on some sort of stand so you can let gravity pull the heaviest part of the wheel down, you might have to turn the wheel a little or keep the bearings in motion by wiggling the axle a little bit, I have found this method to be as accurate as a spin balancer every time. I have found the sportec to be an absolutely excellent tire on my M2 with rearsets, great handling feel, outstanding traction and good mileage. No chicken strips on my rear tire, but it'll drag the Banke rearsets and the kickstand before the front one'll go! Shiny side up, rubber on the road! Ray | ||
| Glitch |
Xb9: That was after my sunday ride! I love this bike! | ||
| Apex1 |
That road North from Helen, GA is pretty sick, huh? I used to live just across the state line in NC & ventured down to GA at least 2-3 times a week. Damn, I miss that road outta Helen. | ||
| Spike |
Glitch, Nice work on those tires. It's nice to see the XBs getting ridden properly How much tire pressure are you running on the street? Mike L. | ||
| Glitch |
36lbs on the front, and 38lbs on the back, and I've got the suspension set just a little on the stiff side... | ||
| Xb9 |
Man, I wish that was my Sunday ride! I rode most of that run last year when I came down from Ohio, awesome roads. | ||
| Glitch |
And HWY60 from Suches to Morganton has new pavement  |
