Help selecting a new front tire

[flyfshn]

I have a 1996 Royal Star that I just purchased and I need to replace the front tire. The bike is blue & white and currently has Dunlop D404 white wall tires, that really look good. I spoke to a local Yamaha dealer yesterday and they recommended the Elite 3, but that was mainly becuase I told them I did not care if it was a WW, I just wanted something that would have excellent traction in both dry/wet pavement. Have been reading reviews of tires on the internet and on this forum and now I am totally frustrated. I have pretty much decided that I want to replace it with a WW tire, so I will have to select from the Dunlop 404, Metzler Marathon 880 and Avon Venom.......so, I would like the opinions of those that have experience with any of these 3 tires. What do you think?

[pegscraper]

I've used both the D404 and Avon Venom in WW and like them both.

[flyfshn]

Thanks pegscraper! Do you think the Avon's are worth the additional $$ over the 404's?

[Squidley]

Personally I would take the Avon over the 404 Dunlop all day long. I would never put a Metzler on any bike I owned

[Yammer Dan]

AVON

[pegscraper]

Thanks pegscraper! Do you think the Avon's are worth the additional $$ over the 404's?

 

I got right around 16,000 miles out of them both. I don't have any complaints about the D404s.

 

If you want WWs, this question between Dunlop and Avon comes down more to whether you want the narrower 130 size front tire or not. A D404 WW front tire comes only in the wider 150 size and not in the 130. Vice versa for Avon. I like the narrower size front tire.

[flyfshn]

is there an advantage of a smaller front tire? I currently have 150/80-16 on the front and 150/80-15 on the back.

[pegscraper]

The 150 is stock on the front. A narrower 130/90-15 makes the bike steer and handle a little quicker and feel a little less top heavy. Some like it, some don't. I like it, which means if I want WWs, I'm stuck with Avon.