Tire Wear

[winger05]

What kind of "realistic" mileage should I expect to get out of the factory Dunlop tires

[Bouvier1]

Constant use about 7/8000miles, occasional use up to 10,000miles
Bouvier1

[Keyboard]

I've gotten 18,000 out of Dunlops. I keep the tire pressure at 41 front and 41 rear. I ride them until they reach the wear indicators, but no thinner. I ride an average of 9,000 miles per year.

Caveat: The first set on my 2003 I only got 12,000 using Honda's recommended tire pressure. I've since ignored Honda and keep them at 41/41. And, I don't notice any significant difference with the ride and handling. Now I get approximately 18,000 per set. The first thing I did with my 2010 GL1800 was set the tire pressure to 41/41. All of my GL1800 tires have been Dunlop D250's.

[winger05]

I've gotten 18,000 out of Dunlops. I keep the tire pressure at 41 front and 41 rear. I ride them until they reach the wear indicators, but no thinner. I ride an average of 9,000 miles per year.

Caveat: The first set on my 2003 I only got 12,000 using Honda's recommended tire pressure. I've since ignored Honda and keep them at 41/41. And, I don't notice any significant difference with the ride and handling. Now I get approximately 18,000 per set. The first thing I did with my 2010 GL1800 was set the tire pressure to 41/41. All of my GL1800 tires have been Dunlop D250's.

Thanks Keyboard for that tip on the air pressure. I will do the same and see how it goes. Just curious, do you always run Dunlops? are they your preference in tires? Once my original tires wear out, should I be considering another brand that may give me more mileage?

[winger05]

Constant use about 7/8000miles, occasional use up to 10,000miles
Bouvier1

Thanks Bouvier1, you confirmed my suspicions.

Happy Riding!!

[Keyboard]

I've gotten 18,000 out of Dunlops. I keep the tire pressure at 41 front and 41 rear. I ride them until they reach the wear indicators, but no thinner. I ride an average of 9,000 miles per year.

Caveat: The first set on my 2003 I only got 12,000 using Honda's recommended tire pressure. I've since ignored Honda and keep them at 41/41. And, I don't notice any significant difference with the ride and handling. Now I get approximately 18,000 per set. The first thing I did with my 2010 GL1800 was set the tire pressure to 41/41. All of my GL1800 tires have been Dunlop D250's.

Thanks Keyboard for that tip on the air pressure. I will do the same and see how it goes. Just curious, do you always run Dunlops? are they your preference in tires? Once my original tires wear out, should I be considering another brand that may give me more mileage?

Yes, I've always used the original Dunlop D250s (not the Elite IIIs). I'm a moderately aggressive rider. I.e., I like to push the bike to 80-85 MPH on the highway, and just before peg scraping on back roads. Yet, I haven't had the issues that some report with their Dunlops. So, I don't have any reason to "experiment" with other brands or models. However, having said that, If you don't get the performance you expect from the original Dunlops, then you might want to try other brands.

[canon]

The Bridgestones are favored on the 1800 GW. Better handling on wet roads,quieter,& better mileage,less cupping of front tire. I have gone to the Darkside on rear tire & won't ever go back to a m/c tire.

[winger05]

I have gone to the Darkside on rear tire & won't ever go back to a m/c tire.[/quote]



Do you mean that you are using a car tire on the rear??

[canon]

Yes car tire on rear. Gets twice the mileage, quieter,lower costs, better handling, run flat which is much safer in a blowout.

[winger05]

Yes car tire on rear. Gets twice the mileage, quieter,lower costs, better handling, run flat which is much safer in a blowout.

Very interesting, thanks for the tip.

[dragon2000]

Like Keyboard, I used to go by the bike recomended pressure on my Valkyrie. With this the most mileage I ever got from a set was 8K miles. When I went to 40 PSI front & rear on the same bike it went up to 18K miles for a set.

Based on this I am now running 40 PSI front/rear on my GW.

[docgood]

I have looked into the ct and will go that way when time is up on the original. What do you use.I have heard that the Kumho run flat is quite good and will get you home no matter what hapens.

[myYellowbird]

What kind and size car tire do you use on the rear. Read a lot of wing owners use them. I will be trying the Dyna beads got them on order will be in this week.

[snackpak]

Im right at 12000 miles. but will be putting some Elite 3's on. Unless I decide to change over to a Car tire for at least the rear.

[canon]

Car tire for rear of 1800 GW size most use is 195/55/R16. Runflats are safest & Kumho or Pirelli are mostly used but there are at least 20 other car tires that work good too. I have 20k on my present rear tire & should get another 8k miles before I change.

[docgood]

Yes cannon those are the most popular here in Australia too, but we are careful about getting into that subject at depth. Can be a matter of severe differences, particularly from those who preach from theory and not from practical experience. Few more k's on these originals and I will be going Perilli at this stage. I read somewhere that the Kumho will get you home with a 13 mm hole from a hole saw in the wall. There is a lot on the net about the subject from all around the world.

[dtebh916]

Love my car tire - Kuhmo 195/65 x 16, run flat. Much safer and no change in handling performance - and only slight change in feel, which only lasted 1/2 mile - never looked back! Factory dunnie only went 8K, I'm conservative on the treadwear and take no chances, and we ride everywhere 2 up and we live in East Tenn - lots of twisties - we ride the Dragon and Cherohala every few months.

Party on, Garth!

[docgood]

The way to go. Just as a point of interest what does a Kumho cost in TN.

[dtebh916]

Ordered it from a local dealer - $150, and he mounted it for free. He couldn't balance it, but took it to CycleGear and they balanced it. The front factory Dunnie went 12K and then I put on a Bridgestone. It's a higher mileage tire, works well, very smooth also. Adding the progressive springs didn't hurt the ride either!

[2008retiredplb]

I have a 2009 GL1800 with the original dunlop D250 tires. I installed Centramatic Wheel Balancers at 6,000 mile and now have 17,000 mile on that set. I still have at least 3,000 miles of tread wear left before they will have to be changed. The Centramatic's do improve the handling of the bike along with increasing the tire life. Get very little cupping compared to running without the balancers.

Prior to that I also have a 2001 GL1800 that has its second set of Dunlop Elite III's on it and have not put the balancers on it. I have around about 50% tire tread wear left and around 6,000 or 7,000 miles on them. They are very noisy and next set will be Michelins'. One other thing is the rear tire is an oversized 70R tire (corrects the speedometer reading) which I also think will get just a little better wear. I also guess that I would get at most maybe 15,000 miles on that set. That is close to what I got on the previous set of Elite III's. I would have to dig out my old records to confirm that mileage.
Another thing that determines tire wear is the load. I ride about 50% of the time 2 up and together we take the bike over the suggested weight limit of 400 lb. We also pull a Bunkhouse camp trailer maybe 10% of the time. I run 38 to 40 psi on front and 41 to 42 psi rear.

Overall I am not overly impressed with Dunlop Elite III tires. When it is time to replace them I will be trying Michelins'.

[MCRider64]

Yes car tire on rear. Gets twice the mileage, quieter,lower costs, better handling, run flat which is much safer in a blowout.

Canon, what run flat tire are you using ? Thanks in advance3 for your response.

[tamathumper]

Nine year old thread,...

[kwthom]

Nine year old thread,...

In 2011, I had graduated from Dunlop E3's to something else.

Shortly after that, Bridgestone G709 for the front. I've gotten a fairly consistent 13,000 miles on the front for well over 100,000 miles.

Rear? I squeezed right at 20k out of a Yokohama. Typically, I'm closer to 16k. Doing 8000 miles in ten days helped.

[kwthom]

Yes car tire on rear. Gets twice the mileage, quieter,lower costs, better handling, run flat which is much safer in a blowout.

Canon, what run flat tire are you using ? Thanks in advance3 for your response.

I know, not @Canon

I've been using Yokohama AVID ENVigor ZPS both in all-season and winter versions. The compound is slightly different and you get another 1/32" or so of tread if I recall correctly with the winter tire.

Riding style obviously has a tremendous effect on how a tire lasts, not to mention common road conditions, and tire maintenance (pressures maintained) provided. Thus, matching (or even coming close...) to the mileage another rider gets is really a crapshoot. I was counselled a decade ago, take good notes, and experiment to find what works in your own personal conditions and situations.

Now, Canon's comment about 'twice the mileage' between rear and front? In 100,000 miles, I can't get there. 13k on the front, 16k-17k is my typical rear CT lifetime. Yet, I'll toss a tire for fresh instead of trying to squeeze every bit of life out of it.

[fibersport]

Pretty old post here but the second post has me curious. It was stated that you would get different life from your tires if you rode constantly vs intermittent. Really gotta ask why - isn't a mile the same length if you walk it at once or make numerous stops along the way?