Time for Tires

[dave011182]

My Valk had the E3's on her when I picked her up just ove 2 years ago. They appeared to have little miles on them, but now I'm in need of new rubber on the front, and will be needing the rear soon. . I have no idea off the actual miles on them but was expecting them to last longer by the way they looked. I don't rack up miles fast due to its only 8 miles round trip for work(I've only put 3k on her ). Is it normal to need a new front before the rear, I generally have always gone thru 2 rears to one front. My date codes indicate the tires are the same age.

Not sure what I want to put on for new tires. I used to Maxxis Classic on my shadow and loved them, but they have nothing to fit the Valk. The Dunlops seem good except noisy. Meltzers have been recommended by an X1800 rider I know. Can find them both and price is about the same as Dunlop(average $200), but they are not listed on Metzler's web site. Does this mean they they aren't making them anymore, and anything I get is leftover stock? My local Honda shop was really high on the front E3 at $303, but said the Bridgestone g701 was the OEM tire, still way high on price $260. These prices did not include mounting.

I know I need to replace the final drive o-rings when I pull the rear wheel, inspect and lube all splines. I will pull the final drive for inspection of the shaft. Should I pull the swing arm to inspect the u- joint too? It does seem to have a slight clunk when I let the clutch out hard, or is this normal? I will be thorough of my inspection, let me know if there is anything I need to be careful of.


Thanks for any input
Dave

[Daniel Meyer]

Avon Cobras.

Rear: $193
http://www.amazon.com/Avon-Cobra-Cruiser-Motorcycle-70-16/dp/B005J6NYTY/ref=sr_1_1?tag=lifeisaroad-20&ie=UTF8&qid=1380561035&sr=8-1&keywords=avon+cobra+av72

Front: $165
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005J6NRBE/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?tag=lifeisaroad-20&ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Daniel Meyer]

Also: You don't have to remove swing arm to r/r ujoint.

Instructions here:
http://www.rattlebars.com/mtz/ujoint.html

You don't have to pull the pipes.

Most important part...the 4 nuts that hold the rear-end to the swing arm, need to be finger tight when you torque the axle back down and tightened after that.

Normally, on MC tires the front lasts longer than the rear in moderate riding. You may need to run higher air pressures. I end up with 42 in my fronts. Anything lower results in accelerated cupping and wear.

[dave011182]

Thanks  Daniel,  I'm assuming you voted under suggestions.  Edited the poll to include avon,  I've read about them several places in the forums.   Just didn't think about them when originally posting. I have them saved to my wishlist now,  good prices too!

[Flat6Valk]

avons.  40 lb front, 42 rear.  im 250 and they lasted 16000 for me. 

[big poppa pump]

Been researching front tire replacement for my bike the last few days. Never been impressed by the Metz 880's and not a big fan of the Dunflops, even though a lot of members on this forum seem to be using the D404 rear tire in the front. My remaining choices were either the Avons or Bridgestone, but read mixed reviews on the life of the tires. I used to run the Michelin Commanders II Front and Rear on my old '06 Aero 750 and the bike handled like a dream.

However, the MC-II's do not come in the recommended size 150/80-17 for the front, the closest one is 140/75-17. That's close enough for me. Pulled the trigger today on the MC-II front for my bike for 141.95 shipped from Bike Bandit. Hopefully should get it by Friday and get it mounted this weekend along with a rebuild of my front forks with heavier 15W oil.

[Jess from VA]

BPP, please report back on your use of the 140 radial Michelin Commander II Front.

How much weight to balance, how it rides after break in, what PSI you are running, and how it is wearing over time?

I am very interested in that tire, and think others would be too.

I had the original Commanders on a Kawasaki and no complaints.

[big poppa pump]

I should have an update sometime next week provided I get them installed this weekend. Should take me a couple of days to break them in and then hit the 3 twisted sisters the next weekend. I normally run around 40-42 PSI on the front tires, same as what I had with my previous set. I normally ride 1 up and weigh about 200 lbs.

[lljjmm]

I too await for your review on the Michelin Commander tires, being a smaller diameter tire it may improve the handling in tight corners (slow and fast) and may be similar handling as to the Goldwing and BMWs, as they have smaller front tires and corner very well.

I wonder if the weight of the Valk I/S would affect this tire?

[Jess from VA]

Plenty of us have been running bias 130s on the front, a radial 140 should be no issue at all (other than a slight difference in height).

[john]

  " said the Bridgestone g701 was the OEM tire "                       
        Frequently Asked Questions about Valkyries.
    www.rattlebars.com/valkfaq
            scroll down to tires ...           

[dave011182]

I knew the early years of the Valk had Dunlop for the OEM tires, my FIL bought a 97 brand new when I was still on my first bike and a sophomore in high school. We  were just neighbors then
I thought I'd read somewhere there were problems with these factory tires, and wasn't sure if they were replaced with something else or not.

I think I'm gonna go ahead and order the Avon Cobra tires, Avon seems to be holding the poll lead at 50%. Going to contract the tire supply guy we use for work today and see if he carries any kind of balance beads. I have no problems doing the tires myself. I was going to carry them top a local shop, but the beads seem to be the way to go. I've already ordered the final drive o-rings, and shock bushings from red eye. Looked at my shock bushings yesterday and they're shot, also ordered the intake o-rings since it couldn't hurt to replace them at 10 years old.

[Maverick]

This year Dunlop E3 has been changed to multi tread for front and rear, hard in the center with softer sides, they should have had it be before but did not till this year, my current Dunlops I put 48-50 in the rear tire and the wear was really minimized, found this recommendation in the forum.   

[dave011182]

Ended up ordering the Cobra tyres  from Jake Wilson along with a pair of the Myers valve stems. In the end it was less expensive than Amazon due to Amazon charging taxes and tire  a fee. Only cheaper by about a  dollar but I think I'll get the quicker in the end.  Good thing, I was going to pickup lunch on the bike and wound up stopping at home and parking her due to vibration in the front ( good thing I didn't go the other way for lunch today,  was headed to the shopping center just out of my neighborhood).  Made a sandwich quick, and back to work in the truck.  I'm anxious to get these new tires on and see how they ride.   Have to figure out what  I'm gonna do about balancing too. Already placed my order  when I called our supplier for work, the products he carries reccomend against use in mc tires.

[Rio Wil]

If you rode the bike to work with no vibration and developed one on the way home for lunch that was so severe you couldn't ride it back to work.....you gonna need more than a tire.......

[dave011182]

Vibration wasn't that bad, the road  Is freshly paved and allowed me to feel more than the way I went in the morning. Seems like I can't go 3 miles from home without running into some kind of road construction fit the last 3 years, I'll be glad when ask that crap is finished. If I had to I would've gone father, but since I was closer to home I just opted to switch to my truck. I ride to work as much as possible, then usually have to get in my truck and backtrack to go pickup my kids when I get home. Front tire read on the left side had 0 depth left in a few spots. I can wait a couple days till my new tires arrive, no sense in pushing my luck. When I looked at the date code on my tires the other day I found they are dated early 05

[dave011182]

Got the front tire mounted and back on tonight, everything in the rear disassembled for clean and lube. Pinion cup, shaft, and u-joint splines all look good. Wheel flange splines not so much.

Here's my old tires(the rear still has life left but replacing to match new front), and my plines

http://s1107.photobucket.com/user/dave011182/slideshow/splines%20and%20tires