1988 GW 1500 Tires

[Brother54]

Hello Everyone and thanks for the responses on my other posts. Everything worked out great. Now I need some new tires and after visiting (3) local shops it seems all of them are having a hard time with the rear tire size. Below is what I have

Rear: 160/80 16 75 Dunlop Elite II

Front: 130/70 18 Dunlop Elite II

I can go with any brand radial like (Dunlop, Michelin, Avon)

All (3) of the places had tires I could get today but I would need to settle with a rear 150/80 16 75

Your thoughts??

Thanks Brother 54

[blupupher]

No need to settle for what they have in stock.
Get what the recommended size is.
If they cant get it, then order in online.
They are wanting to sell you a tire that is shorter and narrower than stock. This will raise your engine RPM's, reducing your fuel economy, and give you a slightly smaller contact patch area.

[Brother54]

I feel the same but I'm going to ask this question and I'm sure I'll get a lot of responses. Do you have a manufacture you prefer and should it be radial tires only?

Thanks Brother 54

[blupupher]

Tires are a sticky subject (ha ha, pun intended).

Everyone has their opinions and experiences.

Dunlop Elite 4 and Michelin Commander III are highly rated here and with other review sites, but there are other tires that many have had good luck with as well (Bridgestone and Continental come to mind, but not sure which exact model tire, as there are several that fit).
I had heard some negative about the Metzler ME888 in the past, but a few years ago, Metzler came out with the ME888 Ultra, and it supposedly is a better tire, but have not heard a lot about it.
If you want a long lasting tire, do not get the Pirelli Night Dragon, you will be lucky to get 6,000 miles out of those (they are a cruiser/Touring tire, but more sport oriented).
My last set of tires were the Elite 4, I got ~11,000 miles on the rear and 13,000 on the front (probably could have reached 15,000, but was taking a 3,000 mile trip, so changed it before that). Was pretty happy with them overall.

You then have those weirdo's that run a car tire on the rear and also run a rea motorcycle tire on the front (called Darksiding (just a rear car tire) and double Darksiding (rear car tire and motorcycle rear tire on front).
I am double darkside now (Maxxis Taxi tire in the rear, Kenda K671 rear tire in the front). Loving the rear car tire, having some minor issues with the Kenda (added more balance beads to hopefully fix the wobble issue and abnormal tire wear after 3,000 miles).


As for radial vs bias ply, that is up to you. They say you should not mix radial and bias ply, but know many that have without any ill effects, but to CYA, do research if you plan on mixing.

[Snowmoer]

The 1500 rim was designed to run Bias Ply tires. Some have put radials on without any problems. When I had my 88, I just stuck with Bias front and rear and got well over 10K miles out of them. I ran Dunlops and my lest set were Metzlers. I had no problems with the Metzlers at all.