Dunlop D 404 tire's.

[klb]

Put a set of Dunlop D404's on my bike. Only 2500 mile's and the front look's over half way wore out.

I'm 6'2  370 lbs so I know my tire wear will probably be worse in combination with riding twisty road's

as much as possible. Also I run 42 p.s.i. in the front tire and 40 in the rear. Rear seem's to be hanging

in there way better than the front. On my 1st valk which got crashed at only 1900 mile's I could tell

the rear was wearing out way faster than the front. Only difference now is my riding is mostly curvy

back road's. Which I guess is probably causing the accelerated wear. Which tire seem's to be more

durable. Any suggestion's would be greatly appreciated.

[salty1]

Is the wear even across the face of the tire.   ???

[klb]

Pretty much even. There's a little more wear on the right side which I know is backward's

from what I have read on tire wear for the valk. I have more right hand curve's where I do

a lot of riding. I also modified the picture of the tire to see it better. Camera angle make's

it look worse than it is there close but the brake side is slightly more worn. center look's new.

Must mean I'm riding right!

[salty1]

The tire wear looks like maybe 6 to 7k on it. Any chance you can talk with vendor that sold them to you and get their take on your situation? The tire just might be defective.  

[Bone]

I've used the D 404-150/80 on my 98 CT since I bought her. Goodyear CT on the back. The front I keep at 38#.  I'm 6' about 180#. My mileage has been 13k -18k. Some changed early for a trip and one not changed until I was home from a trip.
Most of my miles are flat land with 2 cross country trips.

[klb]

My luck they wouldn't do anything. I just need to find better tire's in the next 2500 mile's

look's like or maybe change riding style's to get the good out of these. Nah Just burn em

up then replace with better one's hopefully next set. There's got to be a more durable tire

than this! One kicker on these tire's I paid 200 dollar's for both tire's and he installed them

for that price. I guess you get what you pay for.

[Chrisj CMA]

Sounds like to me you got just what you were supposed ot out of that tire.  Its a bias tire rated and recommended by Dunlop for smaller bikes and every other comment I found on line says it wears fast.  So its probably a soft composition and it looks to be an inexpensive tire. Probably handles the twisties good and was pretty smooth.  Soft tires do that, but dont last long

So you bought a cheap tire and put it on a bigger bike than the manufacturer recommends and it performed as good as others reported (for the same tire) so I think it was a success.

Dunlop only rates one of its tires right now for the Valkyrie and that is the E3.  That tire gives me over 20K every time......somelike it, some dont.  I like it

[custom1]

Maybe they were that price because they were factory "blems". Made with the wrong compound rubber??   
 I never heard of them on bikes but I bought a set of 35's for a Jeep one time at an off-road parts place. Had them mounted up and brought them home in the back of my truck. It was raining and when I got out of the truck and looked at them, there was air coming out of the side walls everywhere!  The rubber looked like it had millions of little pin holes. Had to go back and put tubes in them. Eastern Off-road was the place and they covered the remount and tubes. That was a long time ago.

[PhredValk]

I put a car tire on the back and a D404 130/90-17 bias rear on the front. I mostly ride strait roads and around town, but these tires have a bit over 21K miles on them, and look to go maybe another 5-6K on the front.

The D-404 is a recommended tire for Harleys and Shadows, I don't think it's actually a 'smaller bike' tire.
Fred.

[klb]

Well that would explain it I just looked at the shop manual I have downloaded and It's

the D 206 they came out with I thought it was the 404. Like I said earlier I know you get what

you pay for. They will be fun for 5000 mile's then I'll have to replace them. I just wanted to

know what was working the best for other's out there in valk land. And I do know the

consequences of being cheap. ( You get only 5000 or so mile's out of your tire's. ) I did not realize

they weren't for a valkyrie. I told my friend I wanted stock tire's.

[Chrisj CMA]

The D-404 is a recommended tire for Harleys and Shadows, I don't think it's actually a 'smaller bike' tire.
Fred.

I was just going by the Dunlop site.  Yes they recomend that tire for Shadows.......so whats bigger a Shadow or a Valkyrie?  If there was no difference (to them) then they would have included tht tire under the Valkyrie tab as well.....You seem to have done very well with that on the front.......

[klb]

Let's see shadow or a valk that's a hard one I'll take a wild guess and say the valk. 

I modified my last comment because I had told my mechanic friend I wanted stock replacement

tire's. Maybe he didn't know the 404 wasn't. They look the same because I had a new 2001

standard and the tire's had the same tread pattern and looked exactly the same. Anyway I realize

I will change brand's next time around I will find a better one for then. Even cheap I wouldn't

go with the 404's.

[klb]

Dag's valkyrie norway says the standard dry weight is 682.

And the shadow spirit 1100 is 551 by the spec sheet and the aero 610. I figured it would be more

than that. But with all fluid's and me there's a whole lot more weight differnce. Anyway

thank's chris for the info I didn't know the 404 wasn't a tire rated for the valk.

I am surprised that My friend got those. I live and I learn.

[Valker]

I'd bet the rear 404 is only a 150/80/16 because that's the biggest 404 in a 16" tire. I just bought this exact same combo because I need a set of tires that will last me until next summer. I'll put my normal good tires on then since I'm riding it to Alaska again, so will start with new tires. I only expect about 5000 miles from them, but I only paid $210 for both.

[klb]

Exactly on the rear size. I think I'll do a little research on tire's next go around.

These have been fun though they grip very well.

[Valker]

Yeah, stock rear is a 180/70. Normally, I run a Michelin HydroEdge in a 205/55 with a 404 rear mounted on the front. That's probably what I'll run next summer.

[Oklahoma_Valk]

+ 1 w Valker ^^

You should research the darkside tires. Anything 205/55 R16

There are a ton of options out there. On the front I prefer a Dunlop (rear) or an Avon. It took me a while to get used to the darkside set up. It's really a different feel. But it's worth the $$ to try.

Jim

[Oklahoma_Valk]

Also, I've run the D206 on the front and they're a pretty good tire as well. Their tread pattern is a lot like an Avon venom.

just my .02

[Rio Wil]

I just took a Dunlop 404F off the front (150-80-17) with 16K miles which is about all I ever get from a front tire of any brand.  I run a Pirelli P4 in 205-65-16 on the rear....both at 42 psi. The last P4 did 60K miles.....also, it is curious that the center is not as worn as the sides.....do you do a lot of hard front brake when going into twisting curves.??????

[Chrisj CMA]

Also, I've run the D206 on the front and they're a pretty good tire as well. Their tread pattern is a lot like an Avon venom.

just my .02

The D206 and the D404 (fronts) have the same tread pattern.  Very different from the Venom.  I think you meant you've run a E3 which a little bit resembles the Venom tread pattern if you dont look too closely

[Ghost Rider 2]

  Not sure about the size for the Valk.  But my wife has a 750 Shadow.  Been running 404 since new.  first replacement set made in Japan just like the original.  but second set marked made in Indonisa. I did not install them on bike.  Know another guy that did same thing.  He went from getting 12,000 on a rear tire to under 6,000. Ready to reshoe the shadow again.  I think I going Bridgestone this time.
  I run E 3's on the Valk and will pay that extra $ for them again. Would run them on Shadow but they don't come in right size.

[klb]

Well like paul harvey said now for the rest of the story. Getting older and eyesight not

being what it used to be I had my 14 year old son get me the number's off my tire's yesterday.

Good eyesight and all. Today I went out to look at my tire's ( with reading glasses )to see if

they were made in Japan or Indonesia. Upon looking at them I found out 2 interesting thing's

There not the 404's front is a D206f and the rear is a D206 both have made in the USA on

them and both are radial's. That being known For whatever reason they don't have enough

tread life for my riding style. The bike had cobra's on it when I got it the front was cupped

real bad. The p.o. said they had 8500 miles on them but the tread still looked ok. So think I'll

try a set of them next time and run the right pressure in them. Thank's for all the info.

[Chrisj CMA]

Well like paul harvey said now for the rest of the story. Getting older and eyesight not

being what it used to be I had my 14 year old son get me the number's off my tire's yesterday.

Good eyesight and all. Today I went out to look at my tire's ( with reading glasses )to see if

they were made in Japan or Indonesia. Upon looking at them I found out 2 interesting thing's

There not the 404's front is a D206f and the rear is a D206 both have made in the USA on

them and both are radial's. That being known For whatever reason they don't have enough

tread life for my riding style. The bike had cobra's on it when I got it the front was cupped

real bad. The p.o. said they had 8500 miles on them but the tread still looked ok. So think I'll

try a set of them next time and run the right pressure in them. Thank's for all the info.

And, that explains why you got such horrible mileage on them.  Those OEM D206 (non Elite) tires wore like that for all of us.  They were just too soft and very few of them hit the 10,000 mile mark.  The E3 is a whole nuther tire.....Much better

[JaysGone]

Is the wear even across the face of the tire.   ???

ive had the same problem with more then 1 brand of front tire but the 404 was the worst of them.
At 4K my tire looked just like yours.
With every explanation a board could come up with reguarding the Crown of the roads to the psi of the tire I ran it at.

The only explanation that made any sense at all was this one.
When making left turns more then likely they are long looping lefts.

In your case as you stated more rights.....

With the bike leaned over way more then when making right turns in my case.
Scrubbing off more of the tire due to load forces.

I accepted that one as I look back at my daily commute and the lefts as opposed to the right turns I make.

My cure............
I run a rear tire on the front and flip it every 4K miles.
Ive been good that way with a Kenda Cruz and a Kenda Challenger on my bikes for over 20K miles so far.
Even wear on both bikes and tires..............Plus the D404s are cheap crappy bias ply replacement tires any event.
As are the Kenda tires also. But they are holding up just fine.

[klb]

Thank's for the info chris. I feel pretty dumb listing the wrong tire at first. Look's like

404 or 206 were both no good for the valk. I had a new 2001 standard that got crashed and didn't get

to put 1900 mile's on it. I just figured the factory tire's were a quality tire. Lesson learned

for me! Ironically I looked on the dunlop site and couldn't find the 206 even listed anymore.

Make's me feel better that my bike shop friend did get the right tire though. I think I'll try the avon

cobra's next round which won't be much longer. I went cheap on the first set because I wanted

to make sure the bike was mechanically good. Naturally it is. Now I will feel better about a more

expensive tire. Thank's again.