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[mrmagloo]

Pulling up a new thread to avoid starting a new one, but I just got a set of the American Elites installed, and I'm not getting the warm and fuzzies.  The last 2 sets were the Elite 3's which were great all around tires. I usually got around 12,000 to 15,000 and they had great handling charactistics. The only thing that concerned me a bit was there was so little tread pattern that they were almost like slicks in the center. I always felt in the rain I had to be extra careful but I actually never had a problem.

So when they finally came out with the American Elite sizes for the 16" rims, I thought I'd give those a shot with the extra tread pattern that seemed they would be everything the Elite 3's were with a little extra wet traction.  Seemed like the perfect tires.

Well, I got them installed, and around town they are fine enough. However, once you get them on the highway, they are awful twitchy. Feels like bicycle on a tight rope.  With the Elite 3's, I could put on the cruise and easily run no handed for a few seconds or more to adjust  gloves, etc, and they ran rock solids, straight and true.  They new AE's, are so unstable, there's no way I'd even try it. I mean I actually pull off the highway after a few miles just to make sure the dealer didn't forget to tighten down the axles or something it was that bad. I double-checked the psi at exactly 40 psi, so that's not it either. The balancing seems find as they are smooth, just very twitchy as if I'm running with considerable side winds.  It's weird.

Anyone else running into this?

[adkg12]

I know this is an old thread. 

I just took my American Elite's off after 14,500 miles of use.   Front air pressure was always 36-38 and the rear was 40-42  psi..

The front was worn out.  The rear was not worn out but was scalloped and howled so bad they were changed out.  Was not handling like it used to either.

The original Dunlop's had 17,500 miles of use.  The rear was howling badly and scalloped.  Again, front was worn badly.

Put on Michelin Commander 2's this go round-have never had Michelin's on a bike.  They are a nice looking tire but did not like the made in Thailand.  Have Michelin's on 2 cars and p/u truck and have always been happy with them.

Have not ridden with these tires yet.

For what its worth, I switched to MC2's on my SuperGlide, and every aspect of ride got better.  They didnt track, or run with snakes.  They absorbed rode bumps and bangs with style, and the entire ride was quieter and smoother.  Also, the wet handling was unlike any other bike tire I had ever used.  I ended up getting just over 19k on the rear and 22k on the front.  They still looked decent (no cupping or feathering), but were losing that "grip" feeling.  They gave me too much confidence in the corners and I started scrapping my pipes and forward controls.. LOL
Be safe!
Glen