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[popper]

Howdy all, I've got a 2008 FLHRSE4 with 7500 miles on it and my tires are bad. The front tire tread had worn with bumps on it and the rear tire appears to be starting the same thing. First question is what kind of miles should a person expect on these tires? I also own a 2005 FXSTI that gives me about 10,000+ miles on tires. In fact the last front had 11,000+ and still had tread, I'm not a real aggressive rider. I only changed it because cracks were developing in the grooves and I felt better with a new tire. By the way, the tire on the Softail is quite a bit less expensive than the Roadking tire. I had addressed this issue with my dealer and he said I might get a new tire from HD. Later he sort of backed out of that idea but is going to talk to HD about the tires. He is also talking to HD about my throttle issues. I wrote a letter to Dunlop about this and they claim the tire shouldn't wear like it is but also told me to go back to my tire dealer which I guess is HD. At about $200 a tire plus labor I am hoping for better than 7000 miles a tire. I still have decent rubber left except for the bumps. I can really feel these bumps when riding. I have been looking for replacement tires and can't find any yet that are the same size. A little side note, I emailed Metzeler tire co. asking them if they had tires for my bike and they responded that they don't at this time. They did say that they would love to get one of these bikes in the Phoenix Arizona area to road test for 2 days. If anyone has been through this and has any helpful tips to share, I would really appreceate it. Thanks and keep your knees to the breeze.     

[hdbrad03]

I never paid for a front tire on the wife's 07 FLHRSE3 4 changed all covered under warrranty.

 
     Brad

[tazmun]

I do believe your bike has radials on it, so I have to say "welcome to the radial world".

With radial tires, air pressure is EXTREMELY important! They don't seem to like heavy motorcycles.
Everyone that has 1800 Goldwings, has the same problems, no matter what brand.

Besides my SE Ultra, I have an 1800 Goldwing, so I know first hand. People try to blame it
on everything from bad bike design, to poor front suspension, to whatever. I still say
radials and heavy bikes don't work together. I get 12/15k out of my bias HD tires, with no
problem, but the Wing starts cupping at around 5/7k on every set. I've tried Dunlops, Mets, stones
with all the same results. If you catch it early enough, before the cupping starts, sometimes
they will replace them free. Good luck!
 

[RayG]

You are not alone my front tire was cupped badly and replaced at 8K miles! When I went to the dealer to get a replacement I asked what was the story expecting a normal conversation to take place, all I got was we don't warranty tires and that was that. I just had my third rear tire installed and I have 13K miles. I did have the first one replaced because of a huge nail at about 2,500 miles, the second at 8k and the third over the winter, it did have a few thousand miles left on it but since it was in for the gasket work I had a new one put on. So I'm not impressed with the tires one bit. I'm real carefull on tire pressure and check it often. I make the necessary changes when riding solo or two up. What surprised me was just how fast the front tire cupped, one day it appeared OK and the next it looked trashed. Rear tire life can be attributed to aggressive rider style to some owners but the front still puzzles me. I would consider changing to a better tire, any suggestions.

Ray G.

[popper]

I have looked everywhere and can't find an exact replacement anywhere. I believe that Metzeler had the sizes but in different styles. When they warranty the tires, do they pay anything towards the labor for swapping them? I really don't want to go through this every 7000 miles. I would have an opportunity in June to talk to Dunlop factory reps about this but I'm not sure they are going to be helpful if there is a problem. Admitting a problem could be costly for a tire manufacture or even a bike company. i would like to find out if any other tire sizes would fit.

[tazmun]

If memory serves, there is no other tire for the bike. You could try a product
called Dyna Beads, which is supposed to help. Many Goldwing riders say they
have good luck with them. It doesn't help with wear, but is supposed to cut
down on cupping. Others say going to a Traxxion suspension upgrade helps
but that's about a $1200 upgrade. That also makes the bike handle MUCH
better.

[RayG]

Took my bike out today, first ride with the Traxxion AK-20's.  I had the Bitubo's last year.  I installed the Baker+1 pan with the true track over the winter.  I also have new rubber front and rear.  The road conditions in the Northeast are really poor, deep pot holes everywhere.  Large depressions spanning 15 to 20 feet can practically make your car or truck go air born then bottom out as it hits the other side of the depression and budget cuts over the years have left many secondary roads without any maintenance whatsoever.  Honestly, I have never seen the roads this bad in my entire life.

I was really concerned that the road conditions would negate any improvements I made with the suspension.  While I only put on 100 miles today, I was impressed.  The holes that I hit should have sent pain right from my bottom to my neck but were minimal at best.  I hate to be another follow the leader kind of guy but I have to say the investment was worth it.  Reluctantly, money well spent.  I have said this before, and I will continue to say it, I feel we spent enough the first time on our purchase to have bikes that should already have excellent suspension characteristics but we have to face the facts, many of our bikes have been lowered and the amount of travel in the suspension reduced allowing it to bottom out that much quicker.  I'm only 5' 8" and I raised the front and rear 1" and installed a seat that raised me another 1 1/2" but it has the back support I need to have.  I'm really stretching when I stop but the quality of the ride is way too important for me.  The total package has me much more confident when cornering and going through tight turns, and that makes the ride so much more enjoyable.

The one thing I noticed today was the amount of vibration I felt at highway speeds of between 55 to 70.  I will most likely ride it a few more times and make a decision to bring it to another shop and have the tires rebalanced.
 
The quality of the ride is everything.

Ray G.

 

[Puzzled]

I go through at least one set of Metzelers a season on my bike. It is generally due to cupping not tire wear. I'm thinking of trying Avon's next.

[SBB]

I go through at least one set of Metzelers a season on my bike. It is generally due to cupping not tire wear. I'm thinking of trying Avon's next.

Is that front, back or both?

SBB

[Puzzled]

I generally do both. I honestly can't say much about the front as I have changed the wheels 3 times in the last three seasons. The rear is in need of a new tire as it was cupped mid way through last season. I can tell when it is cupped without looking at it, when in the turns it does some stupid stuff. It acts a lot like the dreaded Bagger wobble when the tire needs replacing. I don't know why I didn't change it over the winter, forgot? 

[popper]

for what it's worth, I went to Dunlop's website and snooped around. I found many of their tips for better tire performance. Could be all propaganda but they claim that most tire cupping issues are due to too low of inflation. Also those tiny cracks inside the tread? low inflation too. I had some of those once on my Softail. I did follow Harley's recommendations pretty close on my tire pressure. So I'm not sure why mine cupped.   

[timo482]

what the tire mfg wants for pressure and what the vehicle mfg wants for pressure are often two very different things

ford was famous for putting very low pressures on there door pillars to make them ride nice - then a whole bunch of folks rolled there cars when the tires blew

turns out the tire mfg wanted 10 psi more pressure for the rated load than what the ride police wanted for sales.. that worked out well 

hd is the same in some respects - the manual calls for lower pressure than the tire sidewall says... guess what happens to the tires when run low.

i almost always used the tire sidewall pressure number - if it has a range of pressures the low is front and the high is rear - but most state  "load at xx psi cold" and that after all is said and done is the pressure that tire should be run at.

to

[popper]

I didn't notice if the tire has the pressure on it. I think it has the maximum allowable pressure. I believe that mine is 42 psi max. That would be correct if the bike's front tire had the max GAWR (Gross Axle Weight Rating). I went through the H-D manual and Dunlap's site and sort of came up with some figures for inflation. I'm going to try these for a bit and see how my tires go. I'm a little leery of the front because of the bumps though. I'm going to watch things for a bit and see if there are any changes. My dealer hasn't come up with any answers yet. They are talking to H-D about my tires. Then I guess it's my turn to do some talking. 

[1abastarsmda]

I can't find it, but there was a thread somewhere that noted problems with the front tires.  I can't remember if it was 08's or 09's or both.  The answer to the problem was the same tire, but mounted to spin in the opposite direction...at least it sure looked like the same tire with the printing reversed to show it directional the opposite way.  If anyone can find that post, it may answer some of the questions above...or not.

[djkak]

I can't find it, but there was a thread somewhere that noted problems with the front tires.  I can't remember if it was 08's or 09's or both.  The answer to the problem was the same tire, but mounted to spin in the opposite direction...at least it sure looked like the same tire with the printing reversed to show it directional the opposite way.  If anyone can find that post, it may answer some of the questions above...or not.

Try this one:
http://www.cvoharley.com/smf/index.php?topic=33074.msg533665#msg533665

It looks like the above issue is with the radials on the SERK, the tires on the ’09 Touring machines are bias ply tires.