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Cruiser
Posts: 102
Cedar, Michigan | I'm looking pretty hard at getting a Michelin Commander II in 180/65R16 instead of the stock size of 180/65R16. Any thoughts on this, thanks Matt |
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Visionary
Posts: 3773
Pittsburgh, PA | isnt the 180/65 a Bias tire and our stock ones are radial? maybe email them and see what they think? |
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Puddle Jumper
Posts: 32
| gimme a week and I'll tell you! |
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Visionary
Posts: 4278
| Is the "R" rated for the speed and weight it all up to you ya know
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Iron Butt
Posts: 1066
Peru, IN | I thought the "R" stood for "Radial". You can mix radial and bias ply on most bikes. Not sure I'd do it on a sport bike like a Ninja or Gixxer, though. I have bias front and rear on my Nomad but if I have to re shoe it before it's sold, I'll end up with a radial (CT/GYTT) on the rear and a bias (Avon) on the front. |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 612
| Mattchristiani - 2012-06-18 12:50 PM
I'm looking pretty hard at getting a Michelin Commander II in 180/65R16 instead of the stock size of 180/65R16. Any thoughts on this, thanks Matt
I think you might be in error. The Michelin Commander II in 180/65 16 is NOT an R (radial) tire. |
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Visionary
Posts: 3773
Pittsburgh, PA | your right turn there is NO (R) in the 180/65-16 its a Bias tire not a radial. also the stock size is Not a 65 but a 60.... |
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Visionary
Posts: 1229
Rancho Cucamonga, CA | Bias tires will not last near as long as radials. You will be lucky to get 7-8k on one. |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 721
| Nozzledog - 2012-06-19 4:00 PM Bias tires will not last near as long as radials. You will be lucky to get 7-8k on one. I would have to disagree strongly with this statement simply due to experience. When I rode my '98 Honda GL1500SE Goldwing I always ran Dunlop K491 Elite II tires which were Bias ply tires and I always got between 20K-22K miles out of a set. That was riding two up and many times towing a 450 pound loaded BunkHouse camper.
When I got my '03 Honda GL1800 Goldwing where Honda had gone to Radial ply tires I only got 12K miles on the original Dunlop D250 tires and 15K-17K on the the new Dunlop Elite 3 tires. I tried using Avon Venom R tires one time and only go 6K miles on them before the noise due to the cupping forced me to change them, also the Avon tires didn't have anywhere near the same grip on rainy roads as the Dunlops did.
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Visionary
Posts: 4278
| To understand the difference between radials versus bias belts tires, try to imagine a tire as it rotates against the road. As the tread makes contact with the pavement, the sidewall of a tire flexes outward and causes the tire to flatten and form a contact patch. While the tire revolves, the patch lifts from the road, the sidewall bounces back into shape, and the next section of the tire?s tread replaces the previous section to maintain the patch. Bias-belted tires have cords angled from 27 to 45 degrees across the center line of the tire, and they make for a very thick and inflexible sidewall. Tires of bias-ply construction are tough as a three-dollar breakfast steak, but not nearly as flexible as is ideal. |
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Visionary
Posts: 4278
| Radial tires, on the other hand, use cords place at a 90 degree angle to the center line and provide lots more flexibility. Flexibility is the radial tire advantage. Lots of energy goes to making a bias ply tire?s sidewall stiff, and that generates heat, and heat is a tire?s worst nightmare. You need some heat to make a tire work properly, but too much will cause the tire to fail. Tubeless tires run cooler, but that?s yet another story.
The sidewall of a radial tire flexes with ease, and as a result, there?s little or no friction between the belts and that means less heat. It?s the heat advantage that also makes radial tires considerably more durable. The additional flexibility of a radial tire also makes for a larger contact patch and gives you much, much more traction, and that?s a good thing.
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Iron Butt
Posts: 880
Orlando, FL | Good explanation johnny. I never understood why anyone would progress backward in time and put a bias ply on their ride. But then we bikers are strange lot who do a lot of strange things!! To each his own! |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 721
| John, You are entirely correct about heat being a tire's worst enemy (as many Ford Explorer owners could attest too!). I think you MAY, and I say may because I am not 100% sure other than first hand experience, be wrong about sidewall stiffness differences between radial and bias ply tires. Here is what I have seen, on my '98 Goldwing with bias ply tires when I had a flat the rim would be down on the road with the flattened sidewall the only thing between the rim and the road, when I got a flat on my '03 Goldwing with radial tires you could hardly tell the difference between the tire with 0 pressure and fully inflated. I also know that changing the rear tire on a newer wing is a real pain in the butt on a manual tire changing machine and requires a few helper clamps just to get the bead over the rim. All this tells me that the sidewall on the radial motorcycle tire is extremely stiff when compared to a bias ply motorcycle tire.
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Cruiser
Posts: 102
Cedar, Michigan | So the error ws on a website that stated they had Michelin Commander II in 180/65R16, the "R" stands for radial. This tire does not exist. It is a Bias ply tire and no i would not want to move towards that realm at all. So being that the rear tire is that same as the Wing, you would think there would be many more options out there???? |
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Visionary
Posts: 8144
New Bohemia, VA | I think Dunlop has done a subperb job of making the stock tire that it is hard to sell the others.
Edited by varyder 2012-06-22 9:25 PM
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Iron Butt
Posts: 721
| Matt, Directline Parts website lists just about all the tires that are available for the GL1800 Goldwing. When I have mail ordered tires I always have used them as they have always had the lowest prices in general and they have all sorts of holiday sales taking off another 10%, plus free shipping for all orders over $100. On my old GL1800 I tried the Metzler 880s (fantastic handling and grip but only about 13K life), Avon Venom Rs (better handling than the Metzlers but horrible wear (only 6K life) and wet grip), but I have not tried the new redesigned Bridgestone Excedras (they were OE on the '01 and '02 GL1800 until complaints about low life of less than 6K), and of course the OE tires on my '03 GL1800 were the Dunlop D250s which gave about 12K life. There are many choices if you keep in mind that our Visions run the same tire sizes as the GL1800 Goldwing. P.S. The lathes and machining centers will be running again in July............
Edited by Travelin Man 2012-06-22 9:55 PM
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Cruiser
Posts: 102
Cedar, Michigan | Glad to hear that, you make the greatest stuff around my brother. Stay safe and thanks for all the information. |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 752
Broken Arrow, OK | varyder - 2012-06-22 9:24 PM
I think Dunlop has done a subperb job of making the stock tire that it is hard to sell the others.No doubt some truth there. With the way mine lasted, I'll go with "decent" job. The fact that there's no other MT radial in our size to match all the E3's specs, I guess I can elevate that to "brilliant!". |
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Anybody tried a different size rear tire yet? 180/65R16