New Dunlop WWW tires

[jburrell]

Well as some of you already know I changed out my tires Wednesday with the help of Ponch. I purchased Dunlop 404 WWW for the bike. No problems making the swap and giving the full grease job to the splines etc.

Wow what a change these tires make. I ordered the 130's for the front and what a different ride this is now. I could already handle full lock turns and all the slow speed handling from a lot of practice but I have to admit that now it is considerably easier. The members who say the front end feels lighter aren't kidding. The ride is superb now with the new narrower tire. Significantly better ride at any speed. I no longer have to push the bike to get it to make a turn and the handlebars feel so light now compared to before. I took off this morning and went and rode the local twistys to see how they handled there and it was totally effortless to make the curves compared to before. If you haven't tried a bike with the narrower tire you need to try it. Again I would like to thank Ponch for his personal assistance and this site for all the information that is shared here which has allowed me to personally make changes to the bike and keep it running. Now for the before and after pictures.

Have a great fathers day all you fathers.

 

Jim

[Guest tx2sturgis]

Looks good! Only thing I dont like about WWW tires is...they are a dirt MAGNET!

 

 

 

[Yammer Dan]

But they sure look GOOD!!

[fishinjer]

Sure like the white walls.

[jinx56]

I need to change my tires now and I want to keep the whitewalls going; but I have read a lot of bad press about the 404s.

Besides you, how many other rsv riders out there have had no problems with the 404s and how have they handled rainfalls etc?

Looking forward to hearing from you and please do not hesitate to make note of what has worked for you.

 

Thanks much.

[bj66]

I need to change my tires now and I want to keep the whitewalls going; but I have read a lot of bad press about the 404s.

Besides you, how many other rsv riders out there have had no problems with the 404s and how have they handled rainfalls etc?

Looking forward to hearing from you and please do not hesitate to make note of what has worked for you.

 

Thanks much.

I have almost 5000 on my 404 WWW tires. I really like em. I dont ride a venture, I ride a tour deluxe, and these are my first set after the stock Bridgestones. I plan on putting on another set after these, They are wearing nicely. I must admit I am kind of a fair weather rider, not much rain etc. But living in South Dakota, on occasion i do ride some subpar roads, potholes, chip seal etc. And I even have to ride gravel at times. And these tires do a good job for me as far as I can tell. I put together a trailer late this summer, and only pulled it 150 miles or so, and I felt real comfortable with em. Hope this helps ya some.

[Rich99]

Yes, I still remember the days way back when, when I use to get 24,000 out of the rear tire, and 19 to 20,000 out of the front, from here on..........dream on!

[KiteSquid]

So what are World Wide Web tires??????

 

Or what does the Wicked Witch of the West have to do with tires?????

[pegscraper]

Well as some of you already know I changed out my tires Wednesday with the help of Ponch. I purchased Dunlop 404 WWW for the bike. No problems making the swap and giving the full grease job to the splines etc.

Wow what a change these tires make. I ordered the 130's for the front and...

Jim

 

Am I reading you correctly? You got D404 white wall tires in a 130 size for the front?? Dunlop didn't used to make that tire. Their D404 WW was only in the 150 size. If that's really correct, then I'm happy to hear it, especially when Avon seems to have quit making theirs.

 

I never had any complaints about the Dunlops. I got 16,000 miles out of both of the two pairs I've owned.

[Sylvester]

I run D404 WWW and have for over 100k. I like them very much and have never had a problem with them. No...they don't get 19k and I don't care. I want WW tires and The D404 gives me excellant rain handling and dry road grip. Four of my closest friends run them also without complaint.

 

[BOO]

I've run the 404's and I don't think they are such a bad tire but they do wear quite a bit faster then some others. I believe they start life with a little less tread then some other tires. A guy I ride with has had the 404 WW's put on his bike every time he's had to have tires. Think he's got about 85,000 on the bike.

BOO

[Larry M]

I'm about in the market for new tires and want to put the WWW tires on the next time I change, I've read where several people say different likes and dislikes about tires so it's kind of confusing just which tire to get or what not to do! I've made and installed Leveling Links on my ride, RSV, and it did seem to make a great difference in the slow speed handling, however some say NOT to put a smaller tire 130X90X16 on the front if you have the links installed??? Also, Not to put a 170X80X15 on the back as it's too wide, others say it will work fine!? I wish someone in the know would comment on this, I can get Metzler 130X90X16 WWW for the front and 170X80X15 for the rear in a WWW. I also see Conti and Dunlap still make WWW that will fit. The cleaning part don't bother me, guess I'm old fashioned I LIKE the WWW tire look!

 

Larry M

[Gary N.]

I've had 6 or 7 sets of the 404 WWWs on three different bikes. Always get between 12000 and 14000 miles on the RSVs, maybe a few more on the Roadie and no other complaints.

[Rich99]

Almost the only www you can find, it got great mileage way back when, then they started making it softer to give you only one third the mileage but your hooked, and still have to buy them in order to get the www. Forget the customer, like in Vegas, everything use to be cheap, but then it became a business, thanks Dunlop.

[SilvrT]

My stock tires were the D404 and I got excellent mileage out of the rear but the front wore out pretty quick. I replaced the front with a 130 and saw an immediate improvement in low speed handling and less effort in the twisties but I don't like the way they track on roads with parallel high/lows or grouves. Seems the front or rear wants to slide sideways while the other doesn't, giving the bike what I call a "squirelly" feel. I recall having that same feeling when a rear tire gets worn out while the front isn't.

 

I'm replacing the front this winter with a 150 and installing the levelling links.

[Sylvester]

I'm about in the market for new tires and want to put the WWW tires on the next time I change, I've read where several people say different likes and dislikes about tires so it's kind of confusing just which tire to get or what not to do! I've made and installed Leveling Links on my ride, RSV, and it did seem to make a great difference in the slow speed handling, however some say NOT to put a smaller tire 130X90X16 on the front if you have the links installed??? Also, Not to put a 170X80X15 on the back as it's too wide, others say it will work fine!? I wish someone in the know would comment on this, I can get Metzler 130X90X16 WWW for the front and 170X80X15 for the rear in a WWW. I also see Conti and Dunlap still make WWW that will fit. The cleaning part don't bother me, guess I'm old fashioned I LIKE the WWW tire look!

 

Larry M

 

If you have the leveling links you do not want a smaller front tire than stock. The smaller front does about the same as the leveling links and you would wind up with a heavier front weight load if you install both. There is no need for a larger rear tire for the Venture and if you install one you will probably have clearance issues. You can have clearance issues with some brand tires of the stock size. If you go to the dark side then all bets are off and you need to view that forum for info.

 

[Gary N.]

This company http://www.dbtires.com/tires.html takes brand name tires and puts WWWs on them for classic, antique car and street rods. Not sure if they would do motorcycle tires or not but it may be worth a phone call. Probably too expensive.

[ArcsSparks]

had a pair dunlops 404 on my suzuki and tried a pair on my RSTD same thing happened with both neaqrly new and picked up a sheet rock screw in the front on the suzuki rear on the Yamaha maybe just bad luck but I won't have another pair.

[pegscraper]

I have both the narrower front tire and leveling links and it works fine. I like it. It's a matter of what changes you want to make to the handling.

[Larry M]

If you have the leveling links you do not want a smaller front tire than stock. The smaller front does about the same as the leveling links and you would wind up with a heavier front weight load if you install both. There is no need for a larger rear tire for the Venture and if you install one you will probably have clearance issues. You can have clearance issues with some brand tires of the stock size. If you go to the dark side then all bets are off and you need to view that forum for info.

 

Thanks Sylvester and Pegscraper, this is what I'm talking about confusing! One says no and the other says it's ok??? Guess when I do order tires I'll try and stick with the stock WWW size... I've also got a VStar 1100 and have the Metzler 170X80X15 WWW's on it and just measured the tires, the 170 is a half inch wider than the 150 Avon I have on the RSV, it looks to me like it will be a pretty tight fit with the 170 on the RSV! Even though I have a dealer here that says it will be ok I think I'll stick with the stock size.

 

Thanks for your feedback,

 

Larry M

[Sylvester]

had a pair dunlops 404 on my suzuki and tried a pair on my RSTD same thing happened with both neaqrly new and picked up a sheet rock screw in the front on the suzuki rear on the Yamaha maybe just bad luck but I won't have another pair.

 

So why would a screw be the fault of the manufacturer? Doesn't really sound logical!

 

[ArcsSparks]

So why would a screw be the fault of the manufacturer? Doesn't really sound logical!

 

 

it wouldn't be-- probably bad luck (but tread pattern could be suspect) I not blaming Dunlop but why change the brand i'm using has given me good service and I've used them on both bikes

[geresti]

I've used several brand tires and find the www Dunlop 404 a good tire all around and I don't really have a problem keeping them clean on my RSTD. Been using nitrogen in them and they seem to be holding just fine.

[hunter 1500]

I had the 404 on the front and the k555 on the back of my LC1500 and they were the best combo of tires I put on it. Handled real well wet or dry.

[YamaDuck]

I have not heard anything bad about the 404's. From the complaints I've heard mostly is the mileage you get from them (or lack of). I have seen post where a few people get 12 - 16k out of the rear tire and if you want WW's that's good. A lot of people don't get that kind of mileage out of them though. I don't know why people get so varying amounts of mileage out of the same time though. If you look at all the different tires out there though there seems to be wide margins in all the tires. The best advise I can give is put on a set. After the first set you will either love'm or hate'm. You have to evaluate the tires yourself.