Rear Tire

[BuddyRich]

Anybody Tried a 170/80-15 Pirelli MT-66 on the back yet ? If so did it rub or fit at all?

[Monty]

I don't run Pirelli anymore. They wear out super fast. My son has the Pirelli Route 66s on his bike right now, and he found out the hard way. Slick after a few thousand miles.

[Squidley]

Buddy,

 

Dont waste your time or money, I put a new set of the Pirelli MT 66's on Gunboats 2 wheel '99 to sell it and I am not impressed. I actually dont have a lot of confidence in the tire as I have had it loose traction half a dozen times, when I dont believe it should have. I know that one of the members here that lives in the Houston area put the larger 880 Metz on the back of his '07 and it seemed to fit the driveshaft tube. Perhaps Ponch will chime in as he worked on that bike a bit installing a gauge set.

[Blackjack]

The Pirellis are great tires for a much lighter bike, but not for the Venture. I had a set on my V-Star and could not have been more pleased with the handling and the mileage. As already stated, they wear out very quickly on heavier bikes, which is confirmed by my friends at Two Brothers Tires.

[Ponch]

The tire Brad was describing is a 180/70/15 ME880. It cleared the drive shaft tube on kevin's '07 Venture, but not on his uncle's. I don't understand why. The 180 width is not recommended for the stock rim, but it fits.

[SilvrT]

One of the members here is/was running a 170/80-15 Bridgestone Spitfire 11 rear. He had to shave appx 1/8 inch off the inside fender bracket.

[BuddyRich]

I have an E2 on the back with only a thousand miles on it so I was just thinking ahead. I'll drop the thoughts about the MT66 on the rear then.May go with a Metz on the next rear.Had them on the Nomad and they were pretty good tires.

[RedRider]

Buddy, Don't mean to make this into a 'what tire/oil/toilet paper should we use' thread. But my experience with an E3 has been fantastic. I need to confirm the exact mileage, but I have about 14-15000 miles on my E3 and it is still covering Lincoln's head.

 

Unfortunately, it is kind of squared off now since a lot of that mileage was done on the superslab. Will need to go ride on the sides a while once this d*#m snow goes away.

 

RR

[twigg]

Buddy, Don't mean to make this into a 'what tire/oil/toilet paper should we use' thread. But my experience with an E3 has been fantastic. I need to confirm the exact mileage, but I have about 14-15000 miles on my E3 and it is still covering Lincoln's head.

 

Unfortunately, it is kind of squared off now since a lot of that mileage was done on the superslab. Will need to go ride on the sides a while once this d*#m snow goes away.

 

RR

 

1000 miles around a traffic circle should help.

 

You will only get into trouble when you try to round off the "other" side of the tyre.

 

:rotf:

[RandyR]

Buddy, Don't mean to make this into a 'what tire/oil/toilet paper should we use' thread. But my experience with an E3 has been fantastic. I need to confirm the exact mileage, but I have about 14-15000 miles on my E3 and it is still covering Lincoln's head.

 

Unfortunately, it is kind of squared off now since a lot of that mileage was done on the superslab. Will need to go ride on the sides a while once this d*#m snow goes away.

 

RR

 

When I see a tire with more wear in the center than the edges, I'm tempted to drop the air pressure a few pounds, or vice-versa. Does anyone else do this?

[jlh3rd]

i will for a car....not for my bike.....me personally, i don't wanna find out at 70mph , 2 up, fully loaded in the middle of the mohave, 100 degrees outside air temp., that i shoulda not dropped my air pressure from the recommended ( i know, not required)...tire pressure because of a squared profile...

[twigg]

When I see a tire with more wear in the center than the edges, I'm tempted to drop the air pressure a few pounds, or vice-versa. Does anyone else do this?

 

No, because it's dangerous, You risk the tyre overheating and breaking down just when you need it to grip the most.

 

There is no real answer to this. Squared off tyres are a function of highway driving .... change them when you can feel the ridge (and you will feel it). Consider it part of the running costs.

 

I used to budget a rear tyre every season, and a front every other. 4000 miles from the rear and 8000 from the front with moderate to quick riding.

 

If I regularly went quick ... then 2000 from the rear, and they were $200 Metzlers. We are luckier than that with the big touring bikes.

 

It's a sad fact that bikes get through tyres.

[RedRider]

It's a sad fact that bikes get through tyres.

 

No, that is a happy fact. That means you got to ride a lot . (But I understand what you meant by your statement and agree).

 

RR

[RedRider]

When I see a tire with more wear in the center than the edges, I'm tempted to drop the air pressure a few pounds, or vice-versa. Does anyone else do this?

 

No, never. I run at recommended pressure all the time. If the square off starts to bother me, I will replace the tire (or tyre as our friend from OK calls it - durn Canuck/European spelling - I can't even speel our Americanized version of this language)

 

And yes, speel was on purpose.

RR

[twigg]

No, that is a happy fact. That means you got to ride a lot . (But I understand what you meant by your statement and agree).

 

RR

 

I used to ride a lot.

 

I put a lot of miles on both my Yamaha FJ1200A and the Honda VFR750. Both made trips from the UK to the south of France.

 

I also had a 1958 Matchless G11CS which I put quite a few miles on, including two classic bike rallies in Northern France. They were great weekends.

 

I haven't had a bike since I came to the US until about 10 months ago when I bought the XS750. That was a shed of a bike, but recently did 1000 miles in 21 hours ... so I seem to have acquired a few skills over the years

 

Anyway ... The Triple has been joined by the rattiest 1986 VR that you ever saw. When you do see it it will still be a bit ratty, but it will run like clockwork!

 

twigg