Tire Time

[Scifiman]

Tire Time.

 

Well my E3s have reached the end of the road, I have over 41,000km (25,000 miles) on them, they have been great so went to order a set of Elite 4s only to find that they have discontinued the rear tire, now I know everyone has a tire opinion, dealer says my matched pair available options are Dunlop D404, Bridgestone G702/703 or Avon Cobras, I was wanting to stick with Dunlop but the D404 reviews leave something to be desired.

 

Any comments or opinions would be appreciated.

 

 

 

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[suds]

Where did you try to order from?

 

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[Scifiman]

Yamaha Dealer, Blackstock Motorsports.

 

Blackstock Ontario

 

 

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[cowpuc]

Knowing what I know now about E-4's and how difficult they are for a varmint who loves being able to spoon on and off his own tires I would DEFINITELY jump right on Ebay and grab a brand new set of Shinko's in the correct size and load rating as spec for my bike.. I have ran a plethora of tires, Dunnies - Michilins - Avon's - Perelli's - Metezlers and all the lower end stuff thru the years and bar none,, cost per mile - best handling and ease of swapping em out in the stranges of places using minimal tools - SHINKO's RULE!! THANK YOU @videoarizona for turning your old brother Puc onto Shinks!! They ROCK!!

[Guest divey]

Yamaha Dealer, Blackstock Motorsports.

 

Blackstock Ontario

 

 

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Have you tried Fortnine?

[Scifiman]

Have you tried Fortnine?

 

Yep, they tell me the 150/90-15 is not available in an E4

[suds]

How about GP Bikes? I can still get my size (I have a 90 VR) but they did tell me they're discontinued.

 

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[SilveradoCA]

Since we have the same bike in the same colourway, we should have the same tires.

 

Michelin Commander II front and rear, with the front in a 130/90-16. It's how the bike should have come from the factory IMO.

 

I've been more than satisfied with every Michelin tire I've ever run on a bike, and this holds true with my RSV. Precise handling (such that can be expected from a wallowing hippopotamus of a motorcycle), excellent wet and dry grip, zero tram lining or following on tar snakes or longitudinal cracks. I only have a little under 2000Km on these since last summer, but my chicken strips are just a hair under 3/4" wide, and the tires still have their casting whiskers, except through the centres. I expect these to last a long time.

[djh3]

+1 on the Michelins. Probably the best tires I ever ran on the RSV. Tons of miles. With that being said I ran some Shinkos also. Never had issue with them either. Not the miles of the MC2, but not the cost either. I would run either ones again and I have on the Victory. Currently I think I am running Continentals on the Vic. If you ride lots of miles in a year I would say the MC2. If your say 10k a year I might stay with Shinkos. That way you'll mileage them out before they age crack possibly.

[videoarizona]

Shinko 777HD or Michelins. I prefer the stickiness and ride of the Shinkos but the Michelin will last longer. I look at changing tires as an opportunity to clean up and grease the rear end. So it's a win/win for me.

 

P.S. Welcome @cowpuc!

Edited July 8, 2020 by videoarizona
Add

[cowpuc]

shinko 777hd or michelins. I prefer the stickiness and ride of the shinkos but the michelin will last longer. I look at changing tires as an opportunity to clean up and grease the rear end. So it's a win/win for me.

 

P.s. Welcome cowpuc!

rock solid vaz!!

[ecbaatz]

Knowing what I know now about E-4's and how difficult they are for a varmint who loves being able to spoon on and off his own tires I would DEFINITELY jump right on Ebay and grab a brand new set of Shinko's in the correct size and load rating as spec for my bike.. I have ran a plethora of tires, Dunnies - Michilins - Avon's - Perelli's - Metezlers and all the lower end stuff thru the years and bar none,, cost per mile - best handling and ease of swapping em out in the stranges of places using minimal tools - SHINKO's RULE!! THANK YOU videoarizona for turning your old brother Puc onto Shinks!! They ROCK!!

 

 

What type of mileage are you getting out of your Shinkos?

 

Eric

[bpate4home]

Tire Time.

 

Well my E3s have reached the end of the road, I have over 41,000km (25,000 miles) on them, they have been great so went to order a set of Elite 4s only to find that they have discontinued the rear tire, now I know everyone has a tire opinion, dealer says my matched pair available options are Dunlop D404, Bridgestone G702/703 or Avon Cobras, I was wanting to stick with Dunlop but the D404 reviews leave something to be desired.

 

Any comments or opinions would be appreciated.

 

Skip the 404's I tried 2 sets and got less than 6K on each one on my '06. I tried 2 Michelins during that time with similar results. All set at 34-35 lbs and checked weekly. I rode a lot that year, 18,000 miles roughly. 3 expensive tires in a year was disheartening to say the least. I went Dark on that bike after the 4th tire got less than 7000 mi. I put a ~18,000 on that CT before I was forced to change it while on a long ride. With the SVTC I got 13,000 miles out of the rear running at 39 - 41 lbs.

[ecbaatz]

Skip the 404's I tried 2 sets and got less than 6K on each one on my '06. I tried 2 Michelins during that time with similar results. All set at 34-35 lbs and checked weekly. I rode a lot that year, 18,000 miles roughly. 3 expensive tires in a year was disheartening to say the least. I went Dark on that bike after the 4th tire got less than 7000 mi. I put a ~18,000 on that CT before I was forced to change it while on a long ride. With the SVTC I got 13,000 miles out of the rear running at 39 - 41 lbs.

 

Was that 13k a MT and if so what brand? I only got about 7500 on my original stock tire. Trying a Shinko now. If I don’t like the mileage I get, will consider going to the dark side.

[fltmedic]

My 2 cents... stick with the Dunlops - they make an E-4 for the front (had it replaced last year) and should have something compatible for the rear... never have had a problem with them, and the mileage has been great. Plus it keeps some of my neighbors gainfully employed.

 

And find a different dealer - Dunlop lists the 150/90-15 as available on their site... the only problem is that in today's world it will take better than 2 weeks to get the tire. I'm within 5 miles of the factory and it takes my local Yamaha shop 10 days to get them currently.

 

 

Unfortunately your bigger problem is that any Dunlop you can get your hands on first has to go to the only distributor in Canada, which is located in Vancouver! Then they ship them back to the rest of the country. Most of my friends in Fort Erie and the peninsula plan a day trip to come over to a local shop to get their new tires... saves them in the neighborhood of 50%, even with the rate of exchange.

Edited July 8, 2020 by fltmedic
update

[Sailor]

I have always run Michelons on my cars and trucks but for the bike ( 02 Venture) I realy like the Avon Cobras. They make the bike feel lighter and give good performance.

[cowpuc]

What type of mileage are you getting out of your Shinkos?

 

Eric

 

I am talking hot tarmac, desert roads above 100 degrees ambient temps.. You know the type well I am sure,, the kind that leave the tire on the back of the saddlebags after going cross country,, all two up and fully loaded =

 

6000 miles on the Shinko's

[SilveradoCA]

FWIW, when I bought Cherry, she had a partly worn Dunlop E3 on the back. As near as I could tell, that tire had about 6-7000Kms on it, based on what the seller told me and some info I got from the shop where he had the bike serviced. I put another 5600Km on the tire, and it was DONE. Worn flat in the middle, and scallopped so bad toward the outsides that it sounded a bit like an air raid siren. I didn't bother looking into Dunlops again. I do like their guitar picks though, even though I can't play for ****.

 

I suspect the P.O. ran it a little under-pressured, and he and his wife would have gone somewhere the far side of 500lbs between them.

[videoarizona]

I'll add to @cowpuc's mileage response on Shinkos.

 

My 89 VR has the 230's and they are at 7800 now with tread left. They are soft tires but very good ride.

 

My 05 RSV has a 770HD on front that has a little over 6200 miles and looks brand new. The rear has a 230 on it (cause Chicago streets sent a nail in my 777HD 2 years ago on my way to @cowpucs house - his local dealer only had a 230 in stock.) The rear 230 has about 3k on it and looks like new.

[bpate4home]

Was that 13k a MT and if so what brand? I only got about 7500 on my original stock tire. Trying a Shinko now. If I don’t like the mileage I get, will consider going to the dark side.

 

The 13 K miles on the SVTC was on the Factory Bridgestone Exedra MT. I got 18K Miles on the CT on my '06. Was on a trip when my fuel pump went out the only shop with the part wouldn't work on it because it had the CT on it so I had to buy a new MT for it. Wish I would of known at the time how easy it is to change the fuel pump on that bike. I would've kept the CT on it for a lot more miles.

Edited July 9, 2020 by bpate4home

[cowpuc]

I'll add to cowpuc's mileage response on Shinkos.

 

My 89 VR has the 230's and they are at 7800 now with tread left. They are soft tires but very good ride.

 

My 05 RSV has a 770HD on front that has a little over 6200 miles and looks brand new. The rear has a 230 on it (cause Chicago streets sent a nail in my 777HD 2 years ago on my way to cowpucs house - his local dealer only had a 230 in stock.) The rear 230 has about 3k on it and looks like new.

 

Who da thunk a tiny little nail hiding on the trail thru Chicago could end up causing so much VR MD fun Vaz?

 

 

[zagger]

Years ago I decided to see which tires lastest the longest on my bike. Shinko's were the cheapest and had the lowest life. Adding in the cost of mounting and balancing, I finally chose to stick with Metzeler. A long life tire.

zag

[cowpuc]

Years ago I decided to see which tires lastest the longest on my bike. Shinko's were the cheapest and had the lowest life. Adding in the cost of mounting and balancing, I finally chose to stick with Metzeler. A long life tire.

zag

 

Your findings 100% matched those of my own @zagger,, bar none, the best high mileage, mid range dollar tire stock size, high load bearing tires I found throughout the many many tire brands I tested thru the years (like you, I love to experiment and find out for my self what is and isnt truth) has been Metzler.. Thing is though,, I discovered something thru my own testing about them that I just could not live with for long distance, hot temp riding.. Here's what happened..

Back in 14, Tip and I decided to take the long way around out to the west coast to see the kids and do the "Dalles" rally in Oregon (I spell that right @Condor? LOL).. We decided to take the long way around,, zoom down to Big Bend NP in Texas, then up thru Roswell, then over to the South and North Rims of the Canyon, than northward to Glacier and up into Saskatuan Canada then down to Sacramento before we headed to the VR Rally where we would meet up with a great big rowdy bunch of west coast VR members.. We got part way across the great state of Texas,, went to pull off to hook up with now one of my Texas Hero VR member brothers who wanted to meet us before we camped with him in Oregon,, that would be @bikerjohn.. Went to pull off in Round Rock,, noticed the blinkers were acting slow,, leaned back and told Tip that I thought Tweeks had dropped a stator.. She had... John got there,, was wide eyed about my suggestion to just point me in the direction of an Auto Parts store so I could grab a car battery to run on and head to my kids in Cali where I would repair the stator.. John said,, hold on,, as he dialed his phone... Guy answered,, it was Squidly.. Squidly said NO WAY you aint going no farther,, head to my house, I'll leave the keys for ya and you/I can fix Tweeks here.. We did,, he did (should link this story over to Mama's thread about why we love our VR family)..

In the middle of repairing Tweeks, Squid noticed the brand new Metz I had spooned on and balanced out (ran smooth like glass) just before we left and mentioned something a tad disconserting.. He said - Puc,, just an FYI,, Sweet Nothing and I almost died because of a rear Metz on our Venture,, he said the tire "chunked"/tossed some of its tread/delaminated and we lost it.. He said he would NEVER run Metz again especially after Metz refused to step up to the plate and honor their warranty claim of defective stuff.. I heard him,, made a mental note,, knowing Squids extreme love for maintenance and absolute carefullness in maintaining proper air pressures and the like,, I listened..

I watched the Metz carefully over the trip,, did great and as you mention,, the thing did AMAZING about mileage.. l normally would do one tire out and one tire in when going coast to coast with not much room for xtra travel. I had read the Metz was an exceptional high mileager so that was why I went there knowing we would be well beyond our normal range per tire by the time we headed home.. We arrived at the rally in The Dalles Oregon with just under 8k on the tire.. Still looked decent.. Sargent Coffey on his bike and Tip and I on Tweeks made the trip up into Northern Washington to CTFW around Mt St Helens,, went back to camp in Oregon.. Just before we all left, Coff and I went over the bikes carefully, checking air pressures and all that.. I actually pointed out the Metz and Tweeks to Coff and told him how impressed I was with it,, still had plenty of tread on it to easily make it back to Sacramento where my return tire off Ebay was waiting for me - a "Full Bore" (which I also ended up being majorly impressed with = $52 dollar tire made it 6500k miles.. We headed for Sacramento.. When arriving in a place called Roseville in California I noticed a strange vibration.. Stopped an checked and found delamination happening just as Squid had mentioned he and Lonna had experienced.. I noticed the seperation of the tread from the carcass in multiple areas,, it did have one small chunk missing at that time.. We rode side roads down to my daughters in Wilton and below is what was left of the Metz.. Could never trust em again..

Side note - the tire was a recent build less than 6 months old, I also take monitoring air pressures seriously because of the precious cargo I carry.. I checked the air pressure on the tire before I broke it down to replace it and it was spot on..

All IMHO of course but I thought best to let others know of my experience that matches that of Squids..

Puc

[zagger]

Geesh. You certainly have lots of words type out!

zag

[cowpuc]

Geesh. You certainly have lots of words type out!

zag

 

My kids say I type just like I talk