Got my '06 FLHTI last spring and married it to a '79 TLE hack in very nice shape. That was an ordeal in itself but this spring while prepping for the new season, I see that over half the front tread is gone and close to half of the rear as well; a lot of wear for only 6500 KM. I don't see any misalignment problems, am running 40psi rear and 36-38psi front. After a lot of searching, it looks like I am going to go for the police D402 PT boots by Dunlop. Here in Ontario they will run at $215.00 each or so plus the gov't bite. They are stocked by my dealer and I sure hope I am making the right choice as this hobby is getting rather pricey for this old guy. Any opinions would be welcome.
Don
Tire wear is indeed a significant issue with hacks. The only real solutions seems to be a car tire, but I don't think anything is available for a Harley (not positive though).
On my V Strom I use a Metzler marathon ME 880,they seemed to be the highest mileage tire I could find. I also use this tire on my Road King (no sidecar) and get close to 20,000 miles on the rear tire, so I like the tire. Note that on the V strom I think I will get maybe 7000 miles on the rear.
I have no knowledge of other tires or how they would compare to the ME 880 however.
good luck
greg
I'm thinking the Dunlop 401 or402 would give you better mileage than the 880's. The Marathons are a great rain tire and have a deep tread but the harder rubber of the Dunlop will wear longer in my experience. Being used to using the Metzelers in the past I re tired my Harley FLHR and TLE sidecar when the depth of the factory installed Dunlop tires looked like a half worn 880. To my surprise the new Dunlop HD Elite II's had about the same tread depth as the ones I took off.
Lesson learned was the depth of the new tire tread has not much bearing upon the road life of the tire.
Lonnie
As I understand it there is a person here on site that does a "hub mod" to enable an auto rim for the rear tire of the K1200LT. However on the front I don't know if the fork angle with its inherent "flop" left and right would do well with an auto tire profile (ie squared off). I think maybe "centerhub steering" would be necessary to handle best such a profile because normal telescopic forks and even leading link roll the wheel up upon turning which would put a car tire up on edge? I have the "easy steer" option and that reduction in trail (I think about 2") makes steering at any speed very quick (easy, no effort) but is after all a modified telelever fork and as you go towards full L & R the wheel does roll to what would be a squared-off edge of an auto tire ie (not good). So I would think one should stick with a rounded profile front tire but harder compound. But with proper auto rim could use an auto radial (flat profile) rear tire.
I do not want to hi-jack this thread but my questions are so similar to the originator (I think!) Is the ME 880 bias the only option for the K1200LT that might have longer life than say a B'stone 020 radial front?
And, thanks to Dave K at Hannigan's for a superb KLT sidecar!
Tourdog. FYI: I run an R1100GS/Ural and a K1100LT/EZS. The R bike has the OEM front end (raked) and motorcycle tires; the K has the EZS leading link with car tires. Steering control on the K is night-and-day better than the R which will scrub in a hard left turn. I've never made 10K miles of the R's tires. Replaced the K's tires at 38K because they were 4 years old. Tires for the R run near $350; for the K, less than half that. If you want to run like a sports car and get 30K+ miles from your tires, you've just got to put the money up front. Admittedly, the EZS conversion is not cheap but one of the best investment I made. If I could squeeze out the money and was up to all the wrenching, I'd convert that R.
Run far, run safe! Danny aka "Bounder"
Danny,
The EZS has the auto tire conversion front and rear. And, it sounds like the leading link or earles fork doesn't have any problem with a flat profile auto tire even at the extremes of the L-R. I would have thought any front geometry that has a sloped or raked angle to the forks would "roll up" on the tires edge and promote unwanted non-linear steering. I know so little about all this sc stuff that at this juncture what I need is time/ experience in the saddle! I have a front tire that will need replacement soon and was hoping for a magic cure for the "eternal curse" for sidecarist. I probably will go for a ME 880 bias since it arguably will offer a few more miles than a B'Stone 020 radial. Thanks again for your help.
Tourdog,
FWIW, I'm running (10,000 miles and still looking great) a flat tread front tire on stock forks for a Virago (Avon Triple Duty) they only come in a 19". They helped greatly with the wobble and handling in corners was greatly improved. I WILL never go back to a standard motorcycle front tire. I understand Metzler makes a 18" (only) flat tread tire called a "K" Block. A friend who also has a Virago with stock forks has put a 19" Avon SM MKII rear (they are somewhat flat tread) (they do come in different sizes) on the front. He found that they also made a big differnce in the wobble and handling. So, yes a flat tread tire does make an improvement. Also, I found that tire pressure can affect the wobble on my rig. Standard motorcycle tire had to run pressure at the max allowed but with the Avon Triple Duty (flat tread) I run 20 psi. You need to experiment.
As camber changes due to caster (trail) in a front end the leaning of the tire that takes place is true. Less trail less camber change etc. But, even with a flat treaded tire there is enough leeway between the rim bead and the contact patch to keep the tire, within reason, on the ground across the tread. If tires had no 'give' to them there would be more of an issue no doubt. Air pressue variations make a big difference in how this all works out.
The wider the tire the more potential of the concern expresed in this thread becoming an issue. Extremely wide tires have the downside of tending to follow grooves in the pavement which can be annoying. Some do this more than others. The right combination fo tire width , trail and so forth is a compromise but when the magic formula for a given rig is found all is well.
here's something i tried. since i drive a sidecar now and rarely go over 60 mph i decided i don't need high speed rated expensive motorcycle tires. the key word here is "expensive". my rig is an 02 electraglide/98 tle. i just purchased 2 duro 5.10-16 tube motorcycle tires for $39.96 ea. from american motorcycle tire. www.americanmototire.com. they look great as they have an automotive tread design and they ride great. i'll let you know what kind of milelage i get as i just mounted them recently.
I'm in the market for some new skins for the Ural and i think I'll try the Metzler K blocks. The Coker whitewalls look nice but kind of pricey. I always had good luck with Metzlers on my Suzuki. I'll let you all know how the K's work out.
