Gotta Love a New Front Tire

[Rio Wil]

I've noticed for the last few thousand miles that the old gal has been getting a bit lazy in the turns and requires more attention to keep her pointed on line.  A quick check of the front tire revealed the dreaded three flat spots had indeed become pronounced and signaled its about time for new rubber.  The Dunlop D404F in a 150-80-17 has become my go to tire for all around riding conditions.....tire lasts about 15K so I run through 3 of these for each rear tire (gotta love car tires) and each time I put a new front on its like heaven on wheels....the old gal wakes up again, agile, and carves corners like a youngster.....

I have probably used 8-10 of these puppies, they are only about $110 on line and all seem to balance out with little to no weight, I am surprised at the mileage, would never have guessed that from the thread pattern.....but what the heck....they are quiet and well behaved .....at least until the end few thousand miles......not a Dunlop commercial......just saying......

[pancho]

Hmmm,   another member stating that the front tire condition makes a pronounced difference when running a car tire in the rear. I wonder, what kind of CT are you currently running RIO? what pressure?

[Hook#3287]

Hmmm,   another member stating that the front tire condition makes a pronounced difference when running a car tire in the rear. I wonder, what kind of CT are you currently running RIO? what pressure?

I would think the front tire condition would make a pronounced difference no matter what rear tire you were running.

I'm running a D404 on two bikes, one with a Austone taxi tire and one with a Metzler. It handles well with both.

[Rio Wil]

Yeah.....I agree it doesn't have anything to do with the rear tire,,,,,m/c or c/t. I first noticed this years ago when running  Metzler's on the  rear ( three of them at about 8 K per tire) and a Bridgestone rear tire up front.  The Bridgestone has more tread depth and the flat spots can develop to be quite wide by the end of life of the tire. I did 27 K on that tire with the last 5 K being with the flat spots getting wider and wider and steering becoming more and more ugly..........great mileage out of the tire, but the steering was not worth it....at least for the last 5 K.
I run Pirelli P4's at 42 psi and get some 45-60K miles in a 205-65-16 size. I will continue to run that tire til they quit making it......then will look for something else.  Won't ever go back the to mediocre performance of a rear motorcycle tire....there are to many benefits from the right c/t and I am not having to install  3 rears per year....that really sucked. I still do 2 fronts a year and a rear every 1 1/2 years....thats not too bad.  Still do the spline maintenance every 15 K miles tho......... 

[pancho]

I have a new set of Avon Cobras to mount up, I am going to put the front one on, and when I pull the rear, I am going to install the Vredestein sportrac 3 (my first car tire) I have mounted on a different wheel just to give it another try with a new front tire. I pulled it a short time ago just to try a MC tire again, and was surprised by the amount of agility I had lost with the CT.

Of course, I don't have any other CT to compare it with.

[Old Geezer Richard]

Hey Poncho , I replaced the 205-55-16 Michelin Pilot after 40,000 miles with the ( Dutch made) 205-60-16 Vred. Sport Trac III Tire because of the rounded tread .... After about 500 - 600  miles so far , to me it corners just like a M/C Rear Tire ,  it'feels smooth on the Hwy. and I don't have to lean on the handle bars as much into a tight turn  like before with the Flat Tread Michelin .... I have not run into a wet roads yet but so far the Sport Trac is OK .....  Thanks the Geezer 

[pancho]

I'm going to give mine another try Geezer,, what pressure are you running?? I was running mine at 37.