Tire advice

Hello:

I'm needing new tires for my Kawasaki Voyager. On this bike, and on my
previous Gold Wing, I've used Dunlop Elite IIs. Nothing wrong with
them, but I'd like to try something different. More longevity would be
good.

Everyone's got a different opinion about tires, and no two opinions
seem the same. I've heard good things about Avons (for a largish
touring bike), and also Metzlers.

I've been leaning towards Avon, but I've recently been researching
Continentals, which don't seem much used in this country (Canada).
They're considerably cheaper, which would be a real bonus, all other
things being equal, or almost equal. The model for my bike would be the
"Milestone."

I ride a lot in the mountains, and within the constraints of a large
person on a fairly lumbering bike, I also ride fairly aggressively. I
like to have fun in the twisties, to the extent that my bike will
handle them, which is surprisingly well for touring machine. I'm not a
handling addict, but I've added Progressive springs in the front forks
and a SuperBrace, so I guess I do value good handling characteristics
to a certain extent.

Thanks for any advice or insight, especially on the Continentals.

Paul Harris
Victoria, BC

 

Paul, I'm an old Voyager owner myself. I always used the Elite IIs on
mine and felt they handled fine, but many of my friends used Metzlers
and promised if I ever would, I'd never come back. I intended to try
them, but I wound up trading before I needed another set. At any rate,
I ran the Progressive Springs and SuperBrace as well, and I had to set
my air pressures pretty high to keep from dragging hard parts in
corners.

Are you familiar with The American Voyager Association? The website is
http://www.amervoyassoc.org/, and there's a message board there where
you might get good responses.

I'm also still a member of the Voyager email list at
http://www.micapeak.com. You can following instructions there to join
an email list that has several current and past Voyager owners.
Truthfully, we don't spend as much time talking Voyagers anymore as
much as we do just getting together as friends, but your question will
be answered if you join.

 

I haven't purchased a set of Continentals since I tried a set of
Blitzes several years ago. One guy I knew had a small business
hotrodding Harley Sportsters and he said that the Blitzes had
especially good ride quality, they were "cushy" feeling...

And, one of my impecunious buddies mounted a set of Blitzes on his
GS-1100G because he was broke...

So I decided to order up two sets of tires for my GS-1100EZ. I got
K-491's and I got Blitzes and I used the Blitzes first. They were
really easy to mount, the sidewalls were'nt very stiff and I found it
very easy to ride off the edge of the rear tire. It had no reassuring
lip at the edge to tell me when I had leaned it far enough. The center
of the rear tire wore down quickly, and I could see no point in
continuing the test of Continentals...

The I mounted the Dunlops. They had a much stiffer carcass and the ride
wasn't as "cushy". But the tread blocks were very flexible in
comparison to the carcass, so the tires scalloped easily when cornered
past 30 degrees. But the rubber was too hard, I had no more confidence
in the K-491's than I had in the Continentals...

If you're predominantly a straight up rider that goes straight down
long highways and never leans the bike much, you're mostly running in
the "camber thrust" mode. You get most of your cornering force up to an
angle of about 25 degrees from camber thrust...

But, if you lean the bike more and don't slow down for corners and
tippy-toe around them, you're running in the "slip angle" mode that
scallops and cups tires. When you're leaned over to a 45 degree angle,
the tire is scrubbing sideways about 25 feet for every 100 feet you go
forward...

YMMV, maybe you don't lean that much, but you can see that once you
lean past 25 degrees you start scrubbing and scalloping that poor front
tire...

A tire with a softer carcass will yield to heavy loading in the
corners. It allows the tread blocks some relief, they don't get
scrubbed sideways as hard...

But there's another factor. Do the Continentals you're interested in
claim to have a "run flat" capability? Will they stay on the rims if
punctured and allow you to safely get off the road...

I know that Dunlops will run flat and stay on the rim. I don't know
about Continentals. Maybe they are a bargain, maybe they aren't...

 

Hi Frank:

Thanks for the message. Yes, I do visit the message board you
mentioned, and have posted there. It's a great resource, with some
really helpful people. I just thought I'd try my question in the bigger
world.

Regards,

Paul

 

HI Krusty:

Thanks for your usual good advice. I am a guy who likes to push it
around the corners. I'm not dragging me knees or anything, like the
sports guys, but I've been known to grind the centre stand once in a
while.

Not too sure about the "run flat" capability. I've not seen that listed
as a feature on any web site, whether Dunlop, Avon, Metzler, or Conti.

Regards,

Paul H

 

"Run flat" is certainly a characteristic to consider, if you can find a
manufacturer's website that mentions it...

I had a Dunlop rear tire suddenly deflate on a full dress touring bike.
It was in the worst possible situation. I was on the freeway, in the
slow lane, with an 18-wheeler behind me. Fortunately, the Dunlop
carcass was stiff enough to support the back end of the bike long
enough for me to get it off the freeway and park it in a residential
neighborhood...

It was hell getting the Dunlop off, as both beads had curled into the
drop center of the rim from riding it while flat...

Another time, I got a puncture in a Michelin. This was back during the
days when Michelins were known for being really stiff and hard to mount
because of their steel reinforced beads. It was a front tire, but it
stayed on the rim long enough for me to ride a few miles home carrying
a passenger on the back...

So I'm kind of partial to tires with stiff carcasses vs. thin rubber
balloons that might wander off the rim if they deflate...

 

I almost stopped to help a biker who was pulled off the left side of
Route 101 (a busy 8 lane expressway through the Phoenix east valley).

I got closer and noticed his rear tire was flat. I remembered I had
my inflator with me, so maybe I could help get him back on the road.

I got a little closer, and saw three or four large areas where the
cords were WORN THROUGH (leaving gaps between the exposed cords of
3-4"). The majority of the actual tire to road contact was being done
with the layer of rubber UNDER the cords. "Was" being past tense of
course.

I didn't bother to stop... nothing much I could have done, other than
to helpfully point out how crazy it is to ride a tire to that point.

Mark Hickey