[White Lightnig]

I have been buying Dunlop Elite 3 tires for my bike but it seem's these tires are all bot imposible to get these days.
Whats the the next best choice?

Wht Lightning

 

[Verdayne aka Wingnut]

I'm goin to pop some pop corn for this one. :wink: IMHO, there's nothing wrong with the D-250's.

 

[Bluebaird]

Round ones

only Stones on mine so far :biker: :rain1: :rain1: :rain1: :snow1: :snow1: :rain1:

 

[MotorcycleBoy]

Bridgestone and Metzler both make a good front tire. Never tried the Avon or Dunlops for this bike. The rear is another story. I have run both the Stone G704 and the Metzler ME880 on the rear. Both rode and handled well but also cupped and lasted 12,000 to 17,000 miles. My last ME880 rear crapped out after just a few thousand miles with severe cupping which made the bike waddle from side to side at slow speeds and felt strange on the highway, I have switched to a car tire and plan on replacing with another car tire when the need arises.

 

[laen]

I use the Dunlop E3s, but have heard good things about the Bridgestone G709 front and G704 rear-I may try the G709 F with a E3 R next tire change :biker:

 

[Mikalbike]

Gee, I think you'll get as many different answers as we have members. You'll also find someone who hates each brand equally as much. I've used Avons and yes I had some trouble with them. But I found the manufacturer willing to stand by them. When I had severe wobble they not only paid to replace the tires but paid to have them mounted as well. So now that need another set a replacement tires I',m going back to the Avons.

Mike
03ILB

 

[John Garner]

Having second set of Avons - going to the 70R for the rear.

 

[Hal @ Honda Direct Line]

I love to bring this post back to the top whenever I see this question asked. Its all been done and said before.

http://www.gl1800riders.com/forums/view ... light=poll

 

[blizardj]

Thanks Hal...I forgot about that poll.

Back when that poll came out, I only had minor opinions, both pluses and minuses on the different tire brands.

That was until yesterday... When I was checking for why I was getting a low speed vibration. My 6 month old 9000 mile rear Metzler had a rather large bulge in it.

Fortunately, I had a spare set of Stones to put on. Couldn't bear driving the truck all week.

John

 

[gmk1800]

Ride enough to try them all, and come up with your own opinion, I personaly like the e-3's or the stones, I know to many people that were left stranded while on their trips and lost a day of vacation with the avons and metzlers.

 

[bandreassen]

If I couldn't get the E3's, I would try the stones.

My E3's have 19,000 miles on them and I'm very close to the wear bar in the front tire. The rear has more life in it, but will replace the set very soon. For the roads here in western NC, they have been good on these surfaces. Hope I can replace them with another set.

 

[Karl of PDX]

Amsoil!

 

[robertcuster]

I have been buying Dunlop Elite 3 tires for my bike but it seem's these tires are all bot imposible to get these days.
Whats the the next best choice?

Wht Lightning

Forget about the E3's and go with the Metzelers. I don't play that hard to get game. I put Metz. on mine and I think they are great even in the rain.

 

[Teaser 1]

I just bought a new set I don't need 'em just yet but will before too long. After reading all the tire posts I got kinda concerned about future tire availability and sure didn't wanna run out of tire. I couldn't locate a matched set of Stones so I went with Y.W.'s previous recommendation for a mismatched but bestgripping pair of Stone G709 front and Metz 880 rear. I figured we have similar riding styles and that he should know. 8) Terry

 

[rickathome]

Just changed out my stock D250's (15.5K on the rear and a dealer warranty replacement with 13.5k on the front). Both were worn fairly evenly, still had a good ride, good grip (in the dry), but were starting to get noisy in the slightest off center/turn angles. Only very slight wobble during deaccel (always keep at least one hand on the bars). Replaced with the G850 & G851 stones (from Hal's recent sale). First impression was the 70 rear does set taller. Also seems to be more road noise than with the worn out D250's. Will test a little more aggressively after a few hundred scuff-in miles.

 

[White Shark]

I have always used Avon's, good grip in the wet as well as the dry, gives you confidence in the corners.

They wear well and I have found they both wear evenly, I have had no cupping.

 

[North Florida]

Oh boy, another tire thread. I have had two GL1800s, an '03 and the current '06. Both came with OEM Dunlops. With the '03 I thought it was normal for such a heavy bike to be a little squirrelly. The hind end would try to pass the front end on power-on turns, especially on tar snakes and paint stripes, and when the road was wet, the tires were very slippery. When the cupping got too annoying to stand any more at 11,500 (noise, vibration et al) I went up to Hal's warehouse to get a couple more Dunlops. He was out of those, but he had Metzelers. Geez what a difference. Same rider, same bike, same paint and tar. The bike rolled like it was on rails, and was just as steady wet or dry. went through this set of Metzelers and two more before the bike was destroyed last December at 56000+. I averaged 17,000 on the Metzelers.

Haven't had the Bridgestones, or the Avons. The only feller I personally know who had the Avons had the rear come apart at speed with 8,000 on it. The bridgestone tires, I am told, are pretty good except in longevity.

The '06 has OEM Dunlops, 12,000 on them and getting annoyingly cupped, and yeh, they have the same squirrelly characteristics the ones on the '03 had. Got a set of Metzelers waiting in the garage when I can no longer tolerate the noise/vibration.

Ride long and safe..and as far as I am concerned, the choices are limited to Metzeler and Bridgestone.

John
ETC (SW) USN ret
The Sabre Group ret
EDS ret
'06 GL18HPNAC6

 

[Cruiseman]

As soon as my Dunlops (OEM) wear out, which will probably be at about 9,000 miles, I will buy Bridgestones. Put a set on my '05 and could not believe the difference in the ride and handling over the stock Lops. After 9,000 miles on them, they still looked new.

 

[DaleC]

Whats the best tires?

That question gets a lot easier to answer the more miles and conditions you ride through plus the more sets of tires you use. I would also agree it becomes easier to answer the question, what are the worst tires.

My recommendation, try each of them and some combinations and you'll have a solid base to rate them A - B - C - D - F, or something to that effect. A few of mine rated in the D & F category.

Stones the clear winner and the jury will test the 70 series rear Stone very soon.

DaleC

 

[White Lightnig]

BOY! there is sure a bigger differance of opinion then I expected.
Right now I still have a good EIII on the rear but need a front tire will it make much differance if I run a differant tire on the front, say a Brigstone for instance with a E III on the rear?

Wht Lightning