| Author | Message | ||
     Newfie_buell |
Someone help me please. Before I head to East Troy for the 20th Anniversary Party/Event I will be needing new tires. I want something that will give me good mileage but not to sacrifice too much cornering ability. I normally run Dunlop D207s front & rear but find they wear out after about 8000km. I want a decent tire that I won't have to change again when I get back home. I fugure I may ride about 2000km after I return home as the season ends mid-October or so. The round trip for East Trooy will be roughly 7,700km/5,000mi. The 207s will be well worn (especially a big flat spot in the middle of the rear) as most of the driving will be on long straight roads once I get off the island of Newfoundland (we have very few straight roads) Any help would be great. | ||
| Mikej |
D205's got me 11,000miles on my M2 on the first set. Not sure how the new D202 (222?) does on mileage. The D205's are fine for street riding, for me anyway. Haven't ran a different brand on the/a Buell yet. Might try the Bridgestones next, or Avons, or Pirelli, or ????? I'll have the night watch in the lighthouse start keeping an eye out for the screech floating by.  | ||
| Buellbob |
I've been looking at tires and have heard good things about Michelins new pilot series. Bob | ||
| Reepicheep |
Cycle World sang the praises of the Michelin Pilot Roads on their long term test Honda Interceptor, which is an application pretty close to our Buells. Might be worth a try, though the cycle world riders were no doubt spending "somebody elses money", so that taints the review a little. For anyone wondering, I replaced my front tire with a Metzler MeZ4 while I still have about half the life in my rear D220. It wanders just barely on super smooth pavement at 80 with a gusty headwind, but other then that no problems mixing them. I like the MeZ4 so far. It looks good and has a nice linear turn in. Not quite as quick a turn in as the D205 that was on there, but it seems to let me get a little further over. I will be trying the MeZ4's on the back as soon as I toast that D220 (which seems fine, but does not seem to be wearing that much better then the D205 did, and takes longer to warm up). Besides, the Z4's look cooler  I found a place here in Dayton, OH, that sells retail for not much more then the "internet" prices, and mounts them (wheel brought in off bike) for $15 so. http://www.tiresunlimited.com/ if you are in the area. | ||
| Stubby |
D220's dont' seem to last as long as I would like, but not so bad. Got back from Sturgis where I examined the front and saw distinctive cupping. Wear marks not too far away. Rear feathered badly right down the middle? (go figger).  | ||
| Buellmule |
Hi guys, My tires have only 3500 miles on them and they are bald down the middle already. They are on a Blast and I'm a beginner. So it's not like I'm tearing up the roads. (yet) I bought the bike new. Is there something wrong with this picture. They are Dunlaps. I could sure use some input.  | ||
| Vindigni714 |
Has anyone mounted a 180 rear tire on a 5" PM? I have a 96'S1. I got a Dunlop tire and was told it may not be right for the PM rim I have.It's 5". I was told the tire may spread and ride badly. Any suggestions/facts? Johnny V | ||
| V2win |
The PM wheel on my bike is a 5.5". I have been running 180 tires for 70,000 miles now. No problems. The oem wheel is 5" and should use a 170 tire. Measure your PM. It should be 5.5" | ||
| 2bbuell |
They will be 5.5" on a S1W,(the PM wheels) and 5" on a S1(cast wheels)-per the shop manual. edited by 2bbuell on January 09, 2004 | ||
| Tim |
buellmule, Thats typical mileage out of the stock Blast rear tire. Check out the tire knowledge vault on the "Thumper" thread. If your looking for longer wear I think you are be going to looking at the Avons. | ||
| V2win |
I didnt know the S1's had 5"PM wheels. Interesting. I would not run a 180 on a 5". If you have too, you might think about just a few lbs less air pressure than normal. | ||
| Bads1 |
The PM's are 5.5" and the cast alloys are 5". | ||
| Vindigni714 |
Thanks Ya'll I didn't have the right info on my PM's! I'll be mountin' the 180 for the summer. JV | ||
| Teenc |
I was cleaning my bike today and found a long "cut" in the rear tire. It does not look very deep, however I am still hesitating to ride on it. Any info?  | ||
| Reepicheep |
Teenc... how old is the tire? A Cincinnati dealer got two in a row mounted on my bike just like that... somebody cutting the wrapper off the tire. They claimed they came from the factory that way, but they also managed to bend my rotor on install, and they can't blame that on the factory... Could it have been that way from the dealer? If it were me... it did not cut any cords, so I would ride it but keep an eye on it. I could remove twice that much rubber on a good weekend at deals gap, and erase that cut | ||
| Teenc |
Reepicheep, I just recently bought the bike used, and I believe those are the original tires. 7500 miles on the bike. You are right, its not a very deep cut and I will probably wear it away pretty quickly. That is exactly what it looks like though, like someone took a razorblade and ran it along the rubber. I'll be sure to keep an eye on it. Thanks for your help! | ||
| Oldguy |
From the location, I'm wondering if that might be a split in the junction of the tread layer where it meets the sidewall layer. Not sure how they lay these up and the geometry of the various pieces. Did see tires being assembled at a Dunlop factory in Germany many years ago and was amazed at all of the individual pieces that go into making one of those round black things. Glenn | ||
| Reepicheep |
If it has 7500 miles on the original rear, then you (well, somebody) more then got their moneys worth out of them. Thats about the full (boring) life expectancy for one of these rears, and the profile is probably starting to mess up handling anyway. From a handling standpoint, I really like the new Metzler road techs. Don't know how well they will wear. I would avoid the D220, it had all the weaknesses of the D205 and none of it's strengths (IMHO). I would make a point to get in the habit of looking at the cut after every ride though. And would be looking for an excuse to replace the tire. | ||
| Teenc |
I bought the bike for only $3000 from a friend. That included the Power Commander, Borla CF exhaust, K&N, etc. I posted a picture of it in the Pics of BADWEB buells page. Its got a neat diamond plate piece under the tail. That Metzler tire looks really nice, and I was wanting new tires anyway. That cut in the tire is the perfect excuse to go out and buy some! Any idea on how much a front and rear for a X1 would be? | ||
| Reepicheep |
The MeZ4 is the cool looking one, but has been discontinued (though probably still around). The Road Tech looks a lot more normal, much like the D220. I would expect you would be able to scare up a front for $90 or so, and a rear for $136 or so, but you will have to find a place that will mount them. This is less aggressive rubber then the X1 came with originally, but is similar to what the Cyclones get. Still plenty sticky for the street, but probably not the right tire for the track. YMMV, etc. | ||
| Valez |
For the last 300 miles on my s1, I've had the new Bridgestone BT014 mounted. And I must say, that this tire really is is best I've ever tried. I don't think what I've ever have had better grip on rainy days. And in dry conditions, going out of a curve, with full throttle, there is no way a can make the rear wheel spin, YET. | ||
| Jammer |
I just had a set of Battlax BT-014's installed on my 97 S3 this weekend. I came off of a set of the BT-020's that I thought were a great set of tires. Both front and rear tires wore down to the wear bars at the same time and got about 6000 miles out of them. I went with a more sporting tire because I want to see how the S3 handles with more grip. A couple of interesting differences. The front 020 is a 4 ply tire with a two ply sidewall, the front 014 is a 3 ply tire with a one ply sidewall. the rear tires have the same amount of plys however the 014 has a steel layer as the 020 has all aramid and polyester. I havn't had a set of Dunlops on my bike since it was new. Variety is the spice of life Jeff | ||
| Al_lighton |
Hmm. I've been running BT020 rears, BT010 fronts, for some time, and have rather liked that combination. Anyone done the same yet with a BT014 front instead of the BT010? Al | ||
| Mduece |
how wide of a tire can i put on my 2000 m2 i wanna put on a 190 or a 200 it came with a 170mm and i put on a 180 with out a problem will anything bigger work for me? | ||
| Mikej |
Blake/Mduece, Physically it may work, but functionally it may not. Well, functionally it might, but it might adversely affect handling. If you really want to go to a wider rear tire then set your bike up for the drag strip. Oh, and definitely take up Brad/BluzM2 on his mechanical offer. But be very careful because once you start looking over his M2 you'll soon forget all about a wider rear tire and will start all sorts of other projects on your own M2. And if Brad were to post a left-side pic of his bike here I may just get myself into trouble with additional changes to mine. Size is always secondary to function. Have a good ride.  |
