Tires for 83-85 Venture...Anyone deviated from the OEM D404 Dunlops?

[GG54172]

I am looking to replace front and rear tires on my 84 Standard. Currently running Dunlop D404's. I think they handle fine, but I am wondering if anyone else has anything great to say about another brand.

 

Looking for mileage and decent price.

 

American motorcycle tire will deliver a front and rear D404 to my house for $134.

[endo]

I bought the Dunlop Elite II for my 1st Gen a couple of years ago. I have been perfectly happy with them. I think I bought them from Ron Ayers:

http://www.ronayers.com/catalogs/tires/parts.cfm?secid=2&type=1

or MAW

http://www.mawonline.com/DUNLOP2.HTM#491%20ELITE%20II

I bought a bunch of stuff around the same time as I was going through the bike.

 

Other folks will suggest Avons and Elite III, but if you read discussions from over the years, no one has said anything bad about the Elite IIs. I run the pressure a couple of pounds higher on my '84 Royale, maybe 35 front and 36 or 37 rear. I run the suspension soft when I'm solo, and there's no nagging roughness, and no cupping, and no real sign of wear, although I've only put a little over 4K on them. I think she handles predictably and great. No problems, tires were fresh, and I did the mount and balance myself.

 

I bought this rig for balancing with some stick-on weights:

http://www.derbycycles.com/cgi-bin/eShop/index.cgi?pid=3488

 

Andy

[DragonRider]

I wouldnt go with the D404....they are definitely making them with a softer compound, mine didnt last me 7000 miles, now I run the Avon Venom X, which is a great tire for the Venture, you will find quite a few here running them on 1st and 2nd gen......................Its all a matter of personal perferenc........Me I love my Avons.....Do a search on tires and you will see many posts on this subject.........Good luck.

[GG54172]

.....Do a search on tires and you will see many posts on this subject.........Good luck.

 

 

I did, no topics on 83-85 ventures

[bongobobny]

My nest set will probably be Avon's. Soooo many people recommend them!

 

However I am running the Elite II's and so far so good...

[KingSizer]

Any comments on the metzelers? I plan on a long ride Sunday to Geneva-on-the-Lake, by Cleveland, but there's no way I'm going with the back tire on the bike now. The only tire that I can find locally that will fit is a metzeler for $180. Any thoughts???

[BOO]

I have almost always run the Elite II's on the touring bikes and had very good results. Never had a blow out or anything I could blame on the tires.

Now because of a mix up with my dealer I ended up with a set of 404's. Pretty nice tires, like Dragon Rider said they are a soft tire, I only got about 8 or 9000 on the rear tire but the front is still on the bike and has 23,000 miles on it. Still in pretty good shape but I'm going on a 4,000 plus trip in August and I will definitely have a new Elite II on the front.

I replaced the rear tire with the Elite III and so far it's been a good tire. It is a harder compound than the II but so far so good.

I understand the Elite II's are being fazed out. I ordered a Elite II from SWmoto recently and they sent me a Elite III.

Hope my rambling helps.

Jerry

[Venturous Randy]

If you want a tire that is quite and handles good at low speeds, the Avons are nice. But I, along with several others, have had some serious concerns with the Avon Venom X at speeds over 70mph. At 100 mph, I was real close to being in the "death wobble". I have reduced the air pressure some and I believe it is better at 70/80 mph, but I just don't go that fast anymore with these tires. The Metzler 880E's were much more stable at speed.

RandyA

[PITBULL]

If you can fins Elite 2 grab them up. Dunlop stopped making them almost a year ago and replace them with Elitle 3. The difference in that the elite 3 will handle more weight and has a bit more aggressive tread pattern.

Avons are notorious to have the "death wobble" at higher speeds on Ventures..like anything over about 60mph...which is a drag because I ran Avons on all my choppers and they were a GREAT tire. Some people still swear by them tho. I just put new Metzlers on a week or so ago...so far so good. But then again people here have complained about them losing chuncks of rubber. Som folks on here swear by the Michelin Commanders...I have no experience with them.......SO you will get as many different answers as you will have different people on here.

 

 

I was debating between the Venoms and the Metzlers.....the bike shop I deal with alot had the Metzlers MUCH cheaper than everyone else and less than the Venoms....everywhere else for the tires they wanted about $185-$200....found a place that had em for $118. SOLD...lol

[Dano]

I've got the Metzeler me880's on my 1st gen, thought they are pretty good so far, about 4k. Good traction, even in the wet. Cost me about 300 for the pair.

Dan

[bongobobny]

Any comments on the metzelers? I plan on a long ride Sunday to Geneva-on-the-Lake, by Cleveland, but there's no way I'm going with the back tire on the bike now. The only tire that I can find locally that will fit is a metzeler for $180. Any thoughts???

 

Seems to me that a few members were dissatisfied with them due to blowouts about a year or so back... Or was that on the "Other" site??

[Guest timshosvt]

I'm running elite II's with unkown mileage (still has blue on the lettering) and the rear has a date code of 495 on it. Slightly hard, but no cracking. If they ever wear out, I'll buy another set.

[DANJ]

If you can fins Elite 2 grab them up. Dunlop stopped making them almost a year ago and replace them with Elitle 3.

 

Was out tire shopping Saturday. Was looking at the Elite IIIs but couldn't find the size for the front. Everywhere I went they said they wouldn't be out until October. Finally stopped in at a local Cycle Gear store and found the same thing. The sales feller tried to sell me Metzlers but I really wanted the Dunlops. I mentioned that if I could find a set of Elite IIs I'd buy them in a heartbeat. Feller says we have alot of stores, lets see if I can find some. Sure enough he found 2 sets on the computer so I bought one set of the IIs. Supposed to be here some time this week. $101 for the front , $119 for the rear. A bit pricey, but I really like the 491s.

 

:mo money:

 

DJ

[Guest suprwrench]

Hey Folks,

I recently purchased a 1984 Royale, partly because of the rave reviews about this classic. However, upon riding it for a couple of days I was extremely disappointed in the handling. It came with some of the preferred modifications (super fork brace) , but still did not impress me. In considerably sharp turns above 70 mph the bike would get into a wobble that, quite frankly, left me pasty colored. I began looking at the Elite II that was on the rear, after checking everything else (steering, wheel bearings, shocks, class system, etc.) decided that it may be the problem (the front was recently replaced). I found several facts and opinions: 1) Dunlop has had/still does have major labor problems (so much so that HD has dropped them and is now using Michelin as their tire supplier) and the Elite II might be produced by the mid to end of Aug., or not. 2) According to a couple cycle shop owners the Avon Venom is a scary tire on a touring bike during wet weather, 2) The Metzler was deemed acceptable by the same people, but not a first choice, 3) The Dunlop III was a good choice, but they seemed to like the Michelin Commander better, 5) I purchased the Michelin for the back of my bike and found that the tire measured slightly narrower than advertized for its size, but wow!!! what a difference in ride and handling. I now see why many people consider this to be a great sport/ tourer. I cannot tell you what mileage I expect to get out of this tire, but I will certainly let you know. I try to ride 5000-8000 miles a year. Finally, there is a web site www.derbycycles.com that had the tires I was looking for less expensive that anyone else. I paid $98.00 for the rear and the front was less. Shipping was quick. Hope this bit of info and opinion is handy.

Fred

[Doug Hare]

I have the Metzeler ME880 Marathon tires on the front and rear of my 1984 vr. Just the other day I was looking at the rear tire and thought maybe I had a crack in it. On a closer look it appears to be a blemish in the tire as suggested by one member of this site.

 

As far as wear goes they have at least 4000 miles on them and there is a lot of tread left. In regards to a speed wobble I have not noticed one but the top speed I have gone would be about 80mph. handling has been good, even in the rain, but have not rode this bike on any other tires.

 

Hope this is of some help.

 

Doug

[MikeM8560]

Anyone know if the Dunlop cruisemax with raised white letters and thin white wall is still made?

http://motorcyclecruiser.com/accessoriesandgear/Tire-DunlCruzMxR-lg.jpg

[83 decked out]

Have bought avon venoms from dennis kirk for my 83 and seem to be pretty happy, but havent had them running rain yet I did notice a little wobble around 70 to 80 but I am hoping that they just need a few more miles on them. Noticed above that someone posted that they reduced the tire pressure on the avons what did you drop it to?

 

running 40 but the tire says 50 psi i assume they put this on to allow the added weight in comparing to the elite ii, I had the same problem no one had front and rear tires in the elite ii or iii

so I chose avon cause they were weight rated most similiar to the dunlops the other brands seem to be weight rated by 200 lbs or less than the dunlops

[Denden]

I have Avon Venoms on my '83. I run 38psi front and 42-44 psi rear. I've made a lot of improvements to my bike to get rid of wobbles, so I can't compare to others. But I've had it up to 130mph and completely stable (speed checked by my son on his YZF600R).

[83 decked out]

if you dont mind what other improvements have you had to do?

[Denden]

if you dont mind what other improvements have you had to do?

Superbrace fork brace, Progressive susp. fork springs, solid motor mounts, Progressive susp rear shock, re-torqued all frame bolts (yes with a torque wrench), cleaned and greased and carefully adjusted steering bearings, replaced all shock linkage bushings, original owner had frame replaced under warranty. There's more, I can't remember, been tweaking it since '96. Wobbles used to scare me, especially on the interstate in a sweeper, hit a bump, wobble, pucker (with Dunlop Elite II, by the way). Doesn't do that anymore. I tend to ride at full throttle a lot, so I kept at it until I was satisfied with it. handles like a sport tourer now, no sweat. The Avons were a BIG improvement over the Dunlops as far as handling, wet or dry. But especially the Avons are better in the rain.