Metzeler tires not on a Venture. Just a story.....

[The Tooch]

When I bought my Honda CTX1300 in the spring it had new Metzeler tires put on it front & rear to pass the Provincal safety certification. I'd never had Metzeler tires on any vehicle before, so I started to do some research on them and couldn't find a lot about them on the CTX1300 forum. I read on our forum Venture.org that there was a few failures with them, posted by our members at some pretty low miles. But they were on there, so nothing to do but keep the pressure up and watch them close.

 

Metzeler Marathon ME880 - Front 130/70R 18 63V - Rear 200/50ZR 17 75W manufactured date code 2115

 

Took off on my 27 day East Coast trip June 2nd, see - https://friendsandriders.wordpress.com/ for details.

 

I think the tires and bike handled fantastic, no problem on road snakes (tar stripes.) grooved or ground pavement, steel deck grates or in the rain. We had very cold and hot weather and the bike was heavily loaded with my 240lbs and all the stuff for the trip. The only issue was the rear tire was starting to badly cup by the time I got back.

 

I did one other all day trip, with maybe 6 hours of riding since I got back. Half way through that day trip, after we had stopped for lunch, I did my pre-trip walk around before I got back on. I had a good look at the back tire because of the cupping and I notice the centre was just starting to shred and the cord was coming through. I took it real easy on the way home and hoped that the tire wouldn't let go. Thankfully I made it home and just parked my bike away, as I had to get ready to leave on a canoe trip.

 

Today was the 1st day I've had a chance to get to the bike. BOY! I need a new rear tire! (Actually I already knew that.)

 

I checked the miles on the tires and this is miles for our US Venture family.......8,945.6 miles, not bad!? Right down to the centre steel belt, Geez! I've never let a tire get this bad.

 

 

[gmarshall]

I have a vtx 1300 also, and last year put a set of Shanks on my bike. I do't do a lot of miles a year but they seem to be wearing well.

 

G

[BlueSky]

Well Tooch, I'd say you almost got all the miles out of that tire!

[The Tooch]

I have a vtx 1300 also, and last year put a set of Shanks on my bike. I do't do a lot of miles a year but they seem to be wearing well.

 

G

 

Hey Gary it's kind of interesting to think of your Honda VTX1300 V-twin to my Honda CTX1300 V4......it's like the new Yamaha Venture V-twin and the old Yamaha Venture V4.......except your V-twin is water cooled and shaft drive......so I guess it's not the same??!! Ah! This is complicated.......Never mind:confused24:

[The Tooch]

Well Tooch, I'd say you almost got all the miles out of that tire!

 

Yes Bill...I hope it's not quite all the miles.....I need enough left to get the bike to the shop to have new ones put on.

 

I don't do my own tire spooning thingy!

[camos]

I checked the miles on the tires and this is miles for our US Venture family.......8,945.6 miles, not bad!? Right down to the centre steel belt, Geez! I've never let a tire get this bad.

Not so good depending on how much they cost. I get close to 20,000 miles on my Venture's E3's, $164 front and $155 rear from fortnine.ca. The Metzlers looked to be more expensive than the Dunlops on fortnine but didn't find the actual tire sizes you mentioned.

 

How do you like the CTX1300? It is the closest to what I would like if I were to replace my 89 VR except for the fact that they are not being made anymore.

[The Tooch]

Honda CTX1300 V4, shaft drive, fuel injected, liquid cooled, blue tooth stereo and the fastest colour.....what's not to love.

 

Maybe the fat 200 tire on the rear?.....hard to find a replacement for that size. Metzeler & Bridgestone seem to be the only manufacturers making front & rear radial pairs in those sizes.

 

 

I ran E3's on both my 2005 & 2013 Venture's loved them....but they are not a radial tires and from what I've read, I don't think the E4 is either????

Edited July 26, 2017 by The Tooch

[camos]

Honda CTX1300 V4, shaft drive, fuel injected, liquid cooled, blue tooth stereo and the fastest colour.....what's not to love.

Exactly my thoughts too although it seems there are always some negatives that come to light after someone purchases one. Anyway, it always confounded me that Honda chose to discontinue the CTX 1300 so quickly.

 

Maybe the fat 200 tire on the rear?.....hard to find a replacement for that size. Metzeler & Bridgestone seem to be the only manufacturers making front & rear radial pairs in those sizes.

 

I ran E3's on both my 2005 & 2013 Venture's loved them....but they are not a radial tires and from what I've read, I don't think the E4 is either????

I see that the E3 comes in 130/70R 18 for the front but don't have a 17" tire for the rear. Too bad. Seems to me you could run bias ply instead of radial if there was a benefit to doing so.

[The Tooch]

Been checking out the CTX1300 forum for some options.......crazy darksider/adventure touring dude!

Interesting but not for me.

 

Rear - 205/50R17 Bridgestone Blizzak run flat

 

Front - 130/80-18 Shinko 700 Series

[Bert2006]

''Took off on my 27 day East Coast trip June 2nd, see - https://friendsandriders.wordpress.com/ for details.''

 

Just read you blog and saw that you had a great trip. You were right in my yard as you travelled through Fredericton and up the Saint-John River Valley. Yes roads can be rough in our parts of the woods , but the pay back is the views you get when you get off the 4 laner . Sorry I missed you, would have been fun to guide you through the area.

[WildBill1]

When I bought my Honda CTX1300 in the spring it had new Metzeler tires put on it front & rear to pass the Provincal safety certification. I'd never had Metzeler tires on any vehicle before, so I started to do some research on them and couldn't find a lot about them on the CTX1300 forum. I read on our forum Venture.org that there was a few failures with them, posted by our members at some pretty low miles. But they were on there, so nothing to do but keep the pressure up and watch them close.

 

Metzeler Marathon ME880 - Front 130/70R 18 63V - Rear 200/50ZR 17 75W manufactured date code 2115

 

Took off on my 27 day East Coast trip June 2nd, see - https://friendsandriders.wordpress.com/ for details.

 

I think the tires and bike handled fantastic, no problem on road snakes (tar stripes.) grooved or ground pavement, steel deck grates or in the rain. We had very cold and hot weather and the bike was heavily loaded with my 240lbs and all the stuff for the trip. The only issue was the rear tire was starting to badly cup by the time I got back.

 

I did one other all day trip, with maybe 6 hours of riding since I got back. Half way through that day trip, after we had stopped for lunch, I did my pre-trip walk around before I got back on. I had a good look at the back tire because of the cupping and I notice the centre was just starting to shred and the cord was coming through. I took it real easy on the way home and hoped that the tire wouldn't let go. Thankfully I made it home and just parked my bike away, as I had to get ready to leave on a canoe trip.

 

Today was the 1st day I've had a chance to get to the bike. BOY! I need a new rear tire! (Actually I already knew that.)

 

I checked the miles on the tires and this is miles for our US Venture family.......8,945.6 miles, not bad!? Right down to the centre steel belt, Geez! I've never let a tire get this bad.

 

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=109850

 

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=109851

 

Oh good burn-out tire time to go have some serious fun.

[RDawson]

I let a local dealer talk me into Metzler 888s before I looked here. I've gotten around 3500 miles so far mixed riding. Solo, two up, 80-90 mph interstate and local curves, I can't see any wear so far. Recently ran 125 miles on a rainy interstate 80-85mph stuck like glue. I'm happy so far. Hope they hold up.

[BlueSky]

Exactly my thoughts too although it seems there are always some negatives that come to light after someone purchases one. Anyway, it always confounded me that Honda chose to discontinue the CTX 1300 so quickly.

 

You can still buy new 2014 CTXs and they are going cheap. Evidently the styling didn't appeal to enough folks to keep it.

[The Tooch]

You can still buy new 2014 CTXs and they are going cheap. Evidently the styling didn't appeal to enough folks to keep it.

 

The biggest thing was the original manufacturers list price was way to high. Couple grand more you could buy an F6B and for almost the same money a Valkyrie. Anybody that bought new in 2014 and paid what Honda was asking for them then took a major bath! Honda discounted them so much that it killed resale or trade in values. And the fact it's a one year only production bike has made them now an even tougher sell. But you can still buy a brand new one heavily discounted and if you plan on keeping it and don't care about resale value, it's a great bike, with Honda value, cheap!

[The Tooch]

I let a local dealer talk me into Metzler 888s before I looked here. I've gotten around 3500 miles so far mixed riding. Solo, two up, 80-90 mph interstate and local curves, I can't see any wear so far. Recently ran 125 miles on a rainy interstate 80-85mph stuck like glue. I'm happy so far. Hope they hold up.

 

The tires I had were the ME880 the new model is the ME888. I've been looking at replacing with the triple 8's they are suppose to be way longer lasting with much better mileage. The tire is suppose to handle just as good if not a little better and your not suppose to lose performance as it wears. Metzeler also says You can also mix the 880 with the 888.

As the 888 is newer model tire, they don't make as many sizes yet as with the 880. So I can get a triple 8 rear tire but not a triple 8 front. My front tire isn't worn as bad as the rear but it is close. I think I'm going to go with a new 880 up front and a new 888 on the rear.

So your suppose to do better with the 888 we'll have to compare notes some time down the road and see how they hold up.

[cowpuc]

The biggest thing was the original manufacturers list price was way to high. Couple grand more you could buy an F6B and for almost the same money a Valkyrie. Anybody that bought new in 2014 and paid what Honda was asking for them then took a major bath! Honda discounted them so much that it killed resale or trade in values. And the fact it's a one year only production bike has made them now an even tougher sell. But you can still buy a brand new one heavily discounted and if you plan on keeping it and don't care about resale value, it's a great bike, with Honda value, cheap!

 

Indeed!! I stopped into our local metric shop a few days before we headed for New York back in June to catch the unveiling of the new Venture.. Thought maybe I could snag a little insider info before heading out - no such doings.. The dealer did drag me over and show me a couple left over CTX's he had on the floor.. Told me 7200 cash and I could be riding one of those out to Americade instead of Tweeksis.. Obviously his sales attempt didnt work BUT - WOWZY - good price!!

Very very good looking scoot and a LOT of machine for that kind of $$ IMHO!!

So Dave,, will the CTX run with your ol "10"?

[The Tooch]

Indeed!! I stopped into our local metric shop a few days before we headed for New York back in June to catch the unveiling of the new Venture.. Thought maybe I could snag a little insider info before heading out - no such doings.. The dealer did drag me over and show me a couple left over CTX's he had on the floor.. Told me 7200 cash and I could be riding one of those out to Americade instead of Tweeksis.. Obviously his sales attempt didnt work BUT - WOWZY - good price!!

Very very good looking scoot and a LOT of machine for that kind of $$ IMHO!!

So Dave,, will the CTX run with your ol "10"?

 

Hey Puc

 

$7,200. I would guess the M/C would probably be a standard model? (Still an awesome price!!) (And if its the deluxe, that's just an amazing deal!!)

 

In the US of A there are 2 models the deluxe & standard and there were 3 colours, black, blue & red. On the standard you don't get heated grips, the stereo, the centre stand and maybe some other things, I'm not sure. You can buy all the options from Honda if you want for the standard and there are parts starting to show up on eBay. I guess guys that wrecked there bikes parting them out or that have up graded the stereo or something.

 

In Canada there is only one model & it would compare to the deluxe, fully loaded. Also there are only 2 colours, blue and the fastest, red.

[The Tooch]

So Dave,, will the CTX run with your ol "10"?

 

I take it your asking if the CTX would run with my old RSV ?

 

When you and I rode together I had my 2005 RSV and I had her dialled in just the way I wanted. Now my 2013 RSV I could never get it to handle right, in fact that thing scared me. It had been lowered by the original owner and then raised back up by the guy I bought it from. Something was amiss and I never could figure it out, in fact the one time I road with Parriehammer he said I rode real slow.

 

Anyways the RSV 2nd Gen and the CTX off the line? I guess the CTX would get off 1st but I'm not sure would stay out front very long. The RSV has longer legs, I think! and pulls like a train the faster it gets. On the tight twisty's the CTX is so much lighter and just flicks back & forth, it would leave the RSV behind.

 

All that said, if I could have my 2005 RSV back the way I had her set up......I loved that bike!

 

[BlueSky]

This made me look up the hp ratings for the CTX1300 and the ST1300. According to what I found, the CTX engine is rated 83hp at 6,000 rpm and the ST1300 is rated 126hp at 8,000rpm. Same engine just cammed and tuned differently. Big difference.

[camos]

But you can still buy a brand new one heavily discounted and if you plan on keeping it and don't care about resale value, it's a great bike, with Honda value, cheap!

Lately I've been thinking about a lighter bike but there is nothing style wise that really grabs me. The CTX 1300 comes the closest in looks but only with the larger windshield, the OEM one is just stupid. The side bags are kinda small and the bike is only about 100 pounds lighter than my VR. It's likely less top heavy though so would probably be quite a bit easier to handle.

 

There don't seem to be many around here and certainly no significantly discounted ones. Found a new one in Vancouver asking CAD $14,000 and a few in WA for about USD $9200. Been scratching my head about the sense of spending a bunch of dollars on a bike that is so much less than my USD $1800 89 VR. In any case, I've probably got 2 or 3 more years before I will need to downsize.

 

One thing I have been wondering is whether the Bluetooth system will transmit to a head set. I expect the answer is probably not but would like to know.

[The Tooch]

This made me look up the hp ratings for the CTX1300 and the ST1300. According to what I found, the CTX engine is rated 83hp at 6,000 rpm and the ST1300 is rated 126hp at 8,000rpm. Same engine just cammed and tuned differently. Big difference.

 

For sure the CTX is NO ST kind of like the RSV was NO VMax.

[The Tooch]

Lately I've been thinking about a lighter bike but there is nothing style wise that really grabs me. The CTX 1300 comes the closest in looks but only with the larger windshield, the OEM one is just stupid. The side bags are kinda small and the bike is only about 100 pounds lighter than my VR. It's likely less top heavy though so would probably be quite a bit easier to handle.

 

There don't seem to be many around here and certainly no significantly discounted ones. Found a new one in Vancouver asking CAD $14,000 and a few in WA for about USD $9200. Been scratching my head about the sense of spending a bunch of dollars on a bike that is so much less than my USD $1800 89 VR. In any case, I've probably got 2 or 3 more years before I will need to downsize.

 

One thing I have been wondering is whether the Bluetooth system will transmit to a head set. I expect the answer is probably not but would like to know.

 

The windshield IS stupid and for me the 14" optional Honda tall Windsheild wasn't high enough, I bought a Cee Baily's 18".

 

The weight is all down low on the CTX the gas tank is actually down under the seat. It feels much lighter at a stop and while rolling than a 2nd Gen but I can't say about a 1st Gen.

 

If you have a Bluetooth helmet head set the bike will pair with it.

[camos]

The windshield IS stupid and for me the 14" optional Honda tall Windsheild wasn't high enough, I bought a Cee Baily's 18".

 

The weight is all down low on the CTX the gas tank is actually down under the seat. It feels much lighter at a stop and while rolling than a 2nd Gen but I can't say about a 1st Gen.

 

If you have a Bluetooth helmet head set the bike will pair with it.

Yea on the Bluetooth. Headsets are the only way to go if you like good sound while on the highway. The rest of it looks good too. Might have to try to get a ride on one to see how it fits me.

[RDawson]

You're right on the front, I had to go with the 880 too. Not sure how many more miles I'll put on that scoot, I just picked up an 07 RSV today. Thinking of going with the triple 8s on it too. With the leg room on the RSV I may sell the MKII. My long legs don't like the control location on it. Then again maybe not, I'll miss the peg dragging fun on it.

[The Tooch]

So Dave,, will the CTX run with your ol "10"?

 

Hey Puc

 

I was reading this again and well when I 1st read it I thought you had mixed up what year my RSV was, that you thought it was a 2010.

 

But now I'm thinking, ol "10" was for my Yamaha Tenere?!

 

I guess your smarter than I was giving you credit for and that you remembered my last bike was the TENere.

 

If that is what you meant.....no contest the CTX would out handle the Tenere, until we hit the dirt of course!