[Tom Finch]

My 04 Wing is near the end of its first rubber. I am planning to go to a 70 series rear tire.

I am a lot more interested in wet weather traction than in high speed cornering. I use my bike exclusively for transportation which means a lot of adverse weather riding. It looks like the OEM Dunlops are going to last about 16,000 miles, which is not bad for trailer towing 95% of the time. However, I have yet to have a tire on either of the 1800s that is as good in the wet as the Elite IIs on my 1500.

A Bridgestone rep at the Hoot told me that all the 1800 tires are sport type with large pads for stability which means poorer wet weather performance. The worst wet weather tires I have had on any Wing were the Bridgestones on my 01. They were just plain scary in the wet.

I was forceed to go back to a Bridgestone replacement for my Dunlop rear tire on the 01 because of a flat and the only tire available was a Bridgestone when reentering the US from Canada. I had a lot of rain on the way back to Texas and was so frightened by the tire's performace that I took it off and put a Dunlop back on the day after I got back to town. I told the dealer he could do anything he pleased with the new stone after it came off the bike.

 

[ron]

Have You thought about the "new" Avons.... Honda Direct has them I'm told...
Ride Safe,
Ron
Spokane

 

[Fox in GA]

I've had all three brands on my 01, 2 sets Bridgestones, 1 set Donlops, funny thing is I found the Dunlop the most scary on wet roads. (anyway)I'm on my second set of Metzelers I find them to be VERY good in the rain. and also the best on mileage 14k on the first set.(that's good for me) I will try the Avons next, if they are as good on the 1800 as they where on the Valk they will be the winners in this tire game that we all are forced to play.

 

[Tom Finch]

Metzlers

Thanks Fox in Georgia! I have also heard that the Metzlers are better in the rain.

The last Metzlers I bought were in 1965 for my BMW R69S and they wore well but lost the tread later on. I imagine the grandsons of those who made my last Metzlers are now making them.

I seem to get longer tire life than most and never ride without a trailer on the back. While the new Texelent trailer is being tooled, I am using a 30 year old Tefco trailer.

 

[DaleC]

I suppose we all have our own experiences and faith in different brands of tires. Mine is the total opposite of your's Tom and I would never dream of putting another set of Dunop's back on my Wing for good or especially wet weather. I'll stick with the Stone's, which for me are and have been great (the new G709 front and G704). I'm surprised you found the Dunlop's anywhere near the handling of the Stone's, most especially on wet surfaces where I found Dunlop's to be terrible and the Stone's to be significantly better gripping and holding.

In the end we all should have faith in the tires we use, and if your happy with the Dunlop's that great, but from what I've seen and read over the past 18 months the Dunlops have had a significant loss of customer base due to poor handling and unfavorable results compared to the other brands.

Unless the Avon's proof to be far superior, I'll be very happy to continue using the Stone's.

DaleC

 

[blue trawler]

last summer I left Greenville SC after visiting with Chef and it was pouring rain...11 hrs later in Baton Rouge is was still pouring......I have Stones and never once felt worried...of coarse i didn't drive like a idiot but went the speed limit plus 4.....which is normal for be......i am on my 3rd set of Stones...


bruce aka 'the blue trawler"

 

[Tom Finch]

Wet weather riding

Thanks to you both. There may have been a change in the Stones after my experiences.

I am not saying that the Dunlops are good, just not as bad as the Stones I had. I put 90,000 on the 01 in 23 months before the crash, and had several sets of early stones. I was not alone, the others around here also had the same experience. It was bad enough to cause some to pull off the road until it quit raining.

I have had the rear wheel break loose just accelerating in 5th gear, which is very un nerving when you are alread cutting doughnuts out of the seat in a rain storm anyway.

I had an occasion with that Stone I had put on in Connecticut on the way back from Canada where the bike just started fishtailing on the straight and level at 70 in the rain with both lanes full of 18 wheelers and I held up my arm as the trucks backed off and I pulled off on the shoulder and parked, expecting to see a flat. There was nothing wrong with the tire pressure. I just finally got enough courage to get back on the slab and annoyed the public by driving 65 until the rain slowed down.

I was hoping to hear from those who have switched to the 70 series rear tire also.

Has anyone heard any negatives about the Metzler tire? Is there more than one type tread or other choices? How about quietness?

There are always the comments that "If I were rich, I would..........." . With me, I would only use a set of tires for one oil change (8,000 miles). The only thing I hate about new tires is the unsurity of good balance. However, my dealer has a new balancer that seems to work well, finally. I hate a bike that limits you to 75 mph because of wheel hop.

 

[blue trawler]

Tom....
when i get to houston i will give u a call..My son lives in Spring and is in the Houston pd academy right now...My sister lives in the "loop" as she says....i go every yr to visit my kids and ex in laws.......

bruce aka 'the blue trawler"

 

[Tom Finch]

Spring and Spring Branch

My daughter lives in Spring and I live in Spring Branch, they are about 210 miles apart. I would love to see you and say hi, but I am on the Guadalupe River due north of San Antonio about 30 miles. The Texas Hill Country starts where I live and goes west from here. My Coords are N 29° 53.103’
W 098° 27.415’

Tom

 

[scarredpelt]

Tom,

My initial reaction is to ask if you had ridden the 'Stones long enough for the mold sealer to wear off. My OEM 'Stones not once ever slipped. My 'Lops (which I prefer Dunlops to any other maker) slipped from day one in the rain. I have had some scary situations from the lops that I never even had a hint of before. (and yes they are worn down enough now to alleviate the mold sealer as the culprit.)

Maybe the trailer imparts some other forces on your bike where the lops get a better grip.

 

[Tom Finch]

Reply to Scarred Pelt

I have ridden about 400,000 miles on Wings, 1500s and 1800s and less than 30,000 of that was without a trailer. truth is, I can hardly back up a bike without a trailer on it. My 93 GL1500SE, the most trusted bike I ever had, now has 253,000 miles on it and 250,000 have had a trailer on it. I never experienced any trouble with rain in all those miles. I have used Dunlop Elite IIs exclusively on that bike.

My 01 1800 came with Stones and had replaced Stones two or three times before the Dunlops came out. The Stones of that vintage were very scary to me and the other 2 of us who had the early 01 bikes. I remember the message board was full of that type of topic back then.

I got the new Dunlops when they came out and had better everything with them, although the rain safety was just better but not yet good, using my Elite IIs on the 1500 as a gage.

The Elite IIs are belted bias ply tires and the 1800 tires are radials. I am sure the rolling resistance is less with the belted tires, and the very stiff sidewalls make the handling better. However, the large pads and very few grooves in the tread make for hydroplaning and especially on tar snakes. When you encounter a submerged tarred joint running along the lane, it is stark terror, make that STARK TERROR!!!!.

Another trait of the Stones was that the would throw grit, the size of chicken scratch all over the radio and front of the rider when ridden in the rain. That dissappeared when I put the Dunlops on the bike.

I have never scraped any Wing on a twisty, so I am not trying to road race on the serpentine roads. I would a lot rather have a tire that was very sure footed in the rain and maybe slightly less aggressive in the dry. I would guess that there are more touring riders than sport riders on the Wing and therefore feel that if it was offered, there would be a number of tires sold that had better wet weather performance at the penalty of a slight reduction in tread life or crotch rocket style riding.

 

[yellowwing1]

Tom, I have the Metzlers and found them to be like glue in the rain. No noise like they sang on my Magna. I do love them and they 'seem' to have taken care of the decel wobble. They are good in the rain and very positive in the corners. I will be due for another set and would not hesitate to put on another set. Good luck. How does that beauty of a trailer ride behind you? Joy

 

[Tom Finch]

Trailer

Hi, Joy!

The trailer does well, especially since it is 30 years old. I was on one of the local test tracks, and it has a name and a location I won't mention because it has 5 lanes each way, and a fellow in a new pickup was just trying hard to catche up with me, maybe to see the trailer but I suspect more that it was to show off his new pickup, and finally all 5 lanes opened up and here he came in the lane next to me. He was probably about topped out at around 92 or 93 and I was just mosying along at 85. He probably did not know I could see him so well and as he passed I just kind of bumped the throttle a little, enough to move rapidly by his door. It apparently deflated several things and he slowed down fairly quickly. I notices that my tattle tail window on the GPS said 101. The trailer was just sitting there. However, I imagine those little 8 inch wheels were really turning.

I have a really nice booth space at the Ding this year and will have the new trailer there. I will be next door to Hal and so it will be a really nice deal for us.

I hope to see you there. I will also have a space at the Hoot again, and we may do the Americade as well.

Ride safe. Keep that yellow bike until a brighter comes along. Raise some hell with Honda about their all reds and no yellows or blues if you want to. Someone needs to do it. I can not even imagine what they are thinking.

 

[Orange Bandit]

My '03 came with Lops and after 4,000 miles of being scared to go over 45 in the rain, I got a set of Metzler's and have been happy ever since. The Lops were just plain squirrley in the rain at any speed. Had the rear squirrel on me at 50 in a light drizzle. A friend that had picked up his bike a month after me on the same ride had his squirrel about 10 miles later. Rode two 1500's with 791's and wouldnt have anything else on them. Dunlop just flag screwed the pooch on the 1800 radials.

 

[yellowwing1]

Tom, can't wait to see the new trailer, and you. Are you bringing the 30 year old with you? (trailer) What a site that would be old/new..I will certainly stop and visit and maybe we can have a coke together, finally. Beside Hal's setup!!!!! You poor thing......... :lol: boy, that should be fun.

Joy

 

[cycledude]

Bridgestone worked fine for me under all conditions,only complaint would be tread life. Dunlops were ok except when the road is wet then they are slippery. Currently running Metzlers and am very impressed, smoothest tires I ever had on a 1800, like others have said they grip like glue and in the rain they still seem to grip very well.
Looking forward to seeing your new trailer.