Michelin Commander II Front profile

[Leland]

Installed Michelin Commander II tires. Have been using Dunlop E III, but not as happy with them as many here. Going to the smaller front for the first time, used a Contour Gage to compare the old E III 150 to the new 130. The contour of the center 2½"-3" looks identical.

 

Got them for a good price at Performance Cycle of Colorado, performancecycle.com Front $113.95, Rear $157.95.

[djh3]

I liked that the Michelin groves crossed over center of the tire back and forth. The E3 was OK but I thought it looked more like a sport bike tire than a touring tire. You will have to kind of relearn corners now as it turns in just slightly different.

[friesman]

I like my mc2 narrower tire on the fron. a little quicker to repsnd and a lot lighter in the slow speed.

 

Brian

[Leland]

What air pressure are Commander 2 users running front and back?

[Bert2006]

I run 36 up front and 40 to 42 in back . I weigh 240.

[friesman]

I run 38 front and 42 back

 

 

Brian

[Wizard765]

do they come in whitewall?

[Bert2006]

Unfortunately they don't, but I gave up on WW to gain on drive-ability.

[DarkHorse9825]

I just put the narrower MCII on the front the other day. I've got about 200k on it and right from the start I noticed a change. I had the original Dunlop 404's on it, and still have the 404 on the rear.

The bike feels more nibble in turns and on the open road, and is much easier to handle a lower speeds; for me anyway. JMO

[dna9656]

I searched searched last year for the Commander 2s in 1st gen size.... no dice not made. So I bought the Bridgestones. I typed in "Michelin" in the search box and there they were! I see only the rear tire (standard size) listed for out 1st gens....in the Comm 2 line but they show the front in the Pilot line. Ahh you went to the 130 size....cool! I wasn't that brave....

Edited April 15, 2015 by dna9656

[BlueSky]

The narrower the contact patch is in the front, the quicker the bike will tip over in a parking lot turn.

 

I owned a 2004 Kawasaki Concours for a couple of years which may be one of the tippiest bikes of all. When I got it the front tire was a dual compound tire with lots of wear. The soft edges had worn away leaving about a 1" wide strip of the harder compound rubber down the center. It was really tippy in the parking lots. When I replaced it with a new tire, the difference was incredible, no where near as tippy. I'll never buy a dual compound tire for the front for that reason.