Longest Wearing Tires for Old Bikes?

OK, my old bike uses the standarad old size tires like 100/90-19 front and 110/90-18 rear. Right now I am running the Dunlop 404 tires because that's what the bike shop has that fits them, and the price is decent (about $75).

PROBLEM: I only get maybe 6k miles out of the rears very consistently in city riding. Are there some reasonably priced tires in this size that give better mileage?

Look at Avon Roadrunners, and Metzler ME880's. Both are made for heavier bikes....like Harleys and Goldwings. Both handle excellent, and wear long. I have a pair of ME880's on my '04 Triumph Bonneville with 4K miles on them and still look new.

The Avons actually feel better to me handling wise, but the tire size range is a bit on the terse side. The Metzlers are a far cry wider in size range.....

Try www.ronayers.com for tires. Cheapest place I have found anywhere, and even after paying shipping to my door the savings is still significant.

Doc

6k on a rear tire is not bad, I have a set of dunlops on now, they seem fine so far, also if you get something that may last longer its going to be a harder tire, and may not give you the ride you have now, ie scare the hell out of you in the rain

6000 miles on a 404 is excellent mileage, the me 880 is an excellent mileage tire also i seem to be having good luck lately bt045 bridgestones you are kind of limited by your tire sizing. the main thing to getting better mileage out of a tire is proper chain alignment and tire pressures.

Jeez guys. I run the "crappy" Cheng-Shin Hi-Maxx tires and get 12K from the rears, 20k+ from the fronts.. It's all commuting, weekend trips. It's on a 650 so there's no big horsepower wearing them out. Also no curvy roads around here either. The centers wear out long before the sides.

By the way I never have any problems with this brand, they wear well and traction is just fine. Rain is handled well too.

BSKZ650 wrote:

6k on a rear tire is not bad, I have a set of dunlops on now, they seem fine so far, also if you get something that may last longer its going to be a harder tire, and may not give you the ride you have now, ie scare the hell out of you in the rain

I ride in everything year round, and rode last week in the rain. The Metzlers never let up short of the deep runoff on the sides of the road where even a car looses traction. I recommended both tires in my other post because 1) I have found them to be excellent wearing and seem like a good value for the money spent 2) reasonably priced 3)I have owned and ridden many bikes with both these tires in use as well as others and have found them to be excellent in every other way conceivable 4)they are not Bridgestones. the only downfall I have found with either of these is panic stops. If you have to lock them down the compound is hard enough that you won't get alot of stick. I have had to slide mine to a stop a couple of times this month alone from idiots in cars cutting me off. While I can handle any of my machines like a dirtbike if need be, a little more stick in really hard braking would be nice. Then again, the lack of it might be what kept me from highsiding.....who knows.

I don't care for the 045 BS tires, or any of the others one that they make. I have found them to loose traction at much lower speed in corners, and wear unevenly, ride harshly, and handle badly.

Dunlop makes tires that fit of course, and you can run them f you wish. Keep in mind, in the tire sizes you are talking about you are going to find that the tread pattern and compound have not been kept up to date and these will offer 70's/80's handling for the cost of a newer design tread pattern and compounded tire.

Run what you like, I offered an opinion. You know how you ride better than anyone else. Shop around and try a few different tires over time. Eventually you will find one you like. I got 8K out of the original battleaxes on my Bonnie, and have yet to wear the tits off the metzlers with almost 5K on them.....

Doc

On the kz650 forum Rob (rstnick over here) is getting over 13k on Bridgestone Spitfires.

Other 650 riders over there are using the Hi-Maxx and getting 13-15k miles too.

It seems Cheng-Shin is a popular tire over there, other guys are running the Barracuda and Marquis with good mileage and handling reported. A Dunlop 501 user is getting 6k from his.

See this link.
forums.kz650.info/index.php?topic=1913.0

when your comparing tire wear remember some of guy's are stating miles while others are using kilometers, myself with my bikes i'm not to concernd with mileage as i am to with how they stick, my streetbike makes over a 100 horse so i am looking for the stickiest that i can get in stock sizes. i've often found that guy's will compare gas mileage and tire wear the same way. with tires you should be getting rid of them when they hit the wear bars on the tire. any longer than that can be extremly dangerous especilly in rain or colder conditions. i go thru alot of tires every year on my bikes like i said before i want what sticks iride very hard so i need to feel secure when i hammer on it. i don't go cheap on riding gear or tires i'll save money other places i'll buy mac& cheese in stead of steak. my point is it's better to be safe than sorry . mind you that is just my opinion and just like A$$holes every body has one.

BSKZ650 wrote:

6k on a rear tire is not bad, I have a set of dunlops on now, they seem fine so far, also if you get something that may last longer its going to be a harder tire, and may not give you the ride you have now, ie scare the hell out of you in the rain

I ride in everything year round, and rode last week in the rain. The Metzlers never let up short of the deep runoff on the sides of the road where even a car looses traction. I recommended both tires in my other post because 1) I have found them to be excellent wearing and seem like a good value for the money spent 2) reasonably priced 3)I have owned and ridden many bikes with both these tires in use as well as others and have found them to be excellent in every other way conceivable 4)they are not Bridgestones. the only downfall I have found with either of these is panic stops. If you have to lock them down the compound is hard enough that you won't get alot of stick. I have had to slide mine to a stop a couple of times this month alone from idiots in cars cutting me off. While I can handle any of my machines like a dirtbike if need be, a little more stick in really hard braking would be nice. Then again, the lack of it might be what kept me from highsiding.....who knows.

I don't care for the 045 BS tires, or any of the others one that they make. I have found them to lose traction at much lower speed in corners, and wear unevenly, ride harshly, and handle badly.

Dunlop makes tires that fit of course, and you can run them f you wish. Keep in mind, in the tire sizes you are talking about you are going to find that the tread pattern and compound have not been kept up to date and these will offer 70's/80's handling for the cost of a newer design tread pattern and compounded tire.

Run what you like, I offered an opinion. You know how you ride better than anyone else. Shop around and try a few different tires over time. Eventually you will find one you like. I got 8K out of the original battleaxes on my Bonnie, and have yet to wear the tits off the metzlers with almost 5K on them.....

Doc

OKC_Kent wrote:

On the kz650 forum Rob (rstnick over here) is getting over 13k on Bridgestone Spitfires.

Other 650 riders over there are using the Hi-Maxx and getting 13-15k miles too.

Good to know.

OKC_Kent wrote:

It seems Cheng-Shin is a popular tire over there

It's popular at my house as well. I ran them for about 20 years but the rears averaged about 5 - 6K in city driving for the ones I got.

Thanks for all the replies.

I ran Avon Roadrunners back around 1980 when they were different than now, but they did give good mileage.

Trent, The Barracuda rear tire won't give you anywhere near the mileages you are noting. I have used a couple of them on a KZ900 and about 2K miles is about right. I have a Barracuda front tire on one of my KZ900s and it has a ZILLION miles on it and looks like it will never wear our. they are V rated and the rubber is softer than the Hi-Max tires. I use the Hi-Max on my KZ900s. On my KZ1000E1 I have had a set of 404s for two years and over 10K miles and they are not worn out. I did have to put tubes on them although the shafty has tubeless rims as they tended to leak air over a few days time.