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Tires?

T

tlyons

Member
Joined
May 18, 2011
Messages
66
Location
massachusetts
What tires have you tried on the DN-01?

Both Bridgestone and the Dunlop have been discontinued in the 130/70-17 front tire. The choices in the US from Metzler, Bridgestone and Dunlop are all touring tires designed for long wear on a heavy bike. This is becoming a very uncommon tire size, at least in the US.

I'm considering the Avon Storm 2 Ultra but even that is discontinued and rare. Or it appears you can order the OEM tires from a Honda parts supplier but I bet you're getting old tires if they really have them (part number 44711-MEH-003 for the front and 42711-MEH-003 for the rear.)

Can anyone suggest a good tire option?
 
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I have the avon storm ultra 2 on the front and back and im very happy with them, I have only 3000km on them so not sure on life of them but I will stay with these as the stick like shit to a blanket wet or dry.
 

Replacing tires suddenly became a problem for us at the end of this summer. Pebbles needed tires and I had ordered Avon Storm 2 Ultra's in early August, both front and back. It doesn't matter who you order from as everybody will take your order and then after 10+ days come back and tell you its out of stock or discontinued. We finally had to mix a Dunlop Roadsmart on the front and a Bridgestone on the back just to get her something to get back on the road.

I was ready to go with a 120 front tire as that's a standard size. But I didn't want to experiment with Pebbles running a smaller width front tire as we still had 3 trips left to go in our riding season. Eventually I'm going to try putting my ST1300 front wheel on her Dino and see if that's workable. If so then I'll look at buying one for her. Then she can run the Michelin Pilot Road 2/3/4 on her bike.

Yes, those Avon Storm 2 Ultra's were the best but she only got to use them for set. Mileage on those was 8,300 miles.

Order your tires early! Good Luck!

Terran Sin
Farkle mechanic, tire wrangler and valet for Pebbles
 

Pebbles said:
Replacing tires suddenly became a problem for us at the end of this summer. Pebbles needed tires and I had ordered Avon Storm 2 Ultra's in early August, both front and back. It doesn't matter who you order from as everybody will take your order and then after 10+ days come back and tell you its out of stock or discontinued. We finally had to mix a Dunlop Roadsmart on the front and a Bridgestone on the back just to get her something to get back on the road.

I was ready to go with a 120 front tire as that's a standard size. But I didn't want to experiment with Pebbles running a smaller width front tire as we still had 3 trips left to go in our riding season. Eventually I'm going to try putting my ST1300 front wheel on her Dino and see if that's workable. If so then I'll look at buying one for her. Then she can run the Michelin Pilot Road 2/3/4 on her bike.

Yes, those Avon Storm 2 Ultra's were the best but she only got to use them for set. Mileage on those was 8,300 miles.

Order your tires early! Good Luck!

Terran Sin
Farkle mechanic, tire wrangler and valet for Pebbles
Click to expand...

By coincidence, shortly after I posted this Amazon got a few in stock of the 130/70 17 Avon Storm Ultra 2's in stock. I ordered one and it arrived today! Right now, there are 2 left. The matching rear is easy to get.

[ame]http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005J6OXTY/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1[/ame]
 

I put on the 120/70/17 tire for the front the 10 mm will not make much difference you will turn on slightly faster more than likely you won't even notice
 

Battalax BT-021

I've been going to the same service place for both tire changes... so now I'm on my 3rd set. I have to assume a couple of things here, a) the original tires installed on the bike were done right, and balanced. b) The second set of tires were installed by the same people that did the third set, and therefor should be of equal skill in installation as the third.

However, NEVER since new, have I enjoyed such a smooth ride as I did after installing the new set of Battlax BT-021 tires.

Up until now (though I don't make a habit of it) I could never take my hands off the steering. A vibration would build up to the point of getting quite scary.

No more. With the new tires installed, I can sit in the back seat, with my arms across my chest, and enjoy the ride and view, simply leaning into turns, with no push or pull to straighten out the vibrations.

I was always concerned that there was a steering head issue... switch to roller bearings, or some other costly fix. Who would know that getting a great set of tires - installed correctly could make such a difference.
 

I've tried BT-021, Roadsmart and now I'm on Storm 2 Ultra.
The first two were the same on the wet roads but Storm 2 Ultra as for me sucks in wet conditions because it's the first tires I've expirienced the rear wheel lose ground on slippery surfaces. The Roadsmart heavily deformed during use but both BT-021 and Roadsmart lasts for me about 15/30 thousands kilometers for front/rear. So my current rating is:
1. BT-021
2. Roadsmart
3. Storm 2 Ultra (if you mind to ride under rain, if not it takes 2nd place).

I've expirienced the steering vibrations on all tires except Roadsmart and all were installed in one service but by not the same people. So I still think it's a question of balance, not the tire quality itself.

Here is the picture of my previous Roadsmart rear tire, I've used previous summer, during my journey to Morocco and until this April. About 40000km I think. You probably can clearly see the tire deformation. It took place after about 5000km from new and made the cornering a bit complicated but still acceptable for me.



I've used both BT-021 and Roadsmart even in these conditions and under the medium snow. Still good as it could be for motorcycle.

 
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We had terrible results with the BT021R and the RoadSmart Sportmax, less than 5700 miles/9100 Km. Avon Storm 2 was great but not available the last two tire changes.

Was going to try the Exedra Max but none available. Happily our service guy found the Dunlop RoadSmart 2 D220 in stock and at 3300 miles/ 5300 km they are wearing well and Pebbles likes the grip in all weather.

Terran Sin (for Pebbles)
 

front tire

so. haven,t ordered it yet but think I,ve found a front tire replacement.all the numbers match so I don,t see why it wouldn,t work.bridgestone exedra G851 130/70zr17 $114.88 free ship.hopefully I ,ll continue to get good mileage[originals-[dunlops?]12k miles then BTO21,s12k miles and the rear still has meat.i ride twisties but not extreme and check my air monthly altho it,s rarely needed any air.also I did ask about the age of the tire an they assured me no tire stays in their warehouse more than 2 years,i,d say where but isn,t that against forum rules?ride on!!!
 

Since the Dino is down "for maintenance," (too damn cold to ride), time to do a tire change ... wore the hell out of the BT021s. IF these ARE the originals, (second owner), got 15K miles out of them. After doing quite a bit of research, decided on Michelin Pilot Road 4s based on various reports and independent testings. As we all know, 130/70 ZR17s are extremely hard to find so I went with 120/70 ZR17s for the front with 190/50 17s on the rear. My second choice was the Pirelli Angel GTs and it WAS a tough decision. My other considerations were:

Michelin Pilot Road 3
Metzeler Roadtec Z8
Dunlop Roadsmart II
Bridgestone BT023 --- the BT021 replacements

in that order.

I hope I made the right decision.
 



A lot of the Motorcycle online outlets are having their Mid-Winter reduction of stock sales - some as much as 30-50% off list. It's the time of year that I purchased my BT-021's 2 years ago.

Now, looking forward to my next replacement, I see that the 130/70 17" are getting fewer and farther apart.

So, has anybody found / tested a good replacement?
Has anybody been running on the 120/70's? (the recommended replacement)

What, if any, differences in handling on the new size?
 
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DNSarnia said:
A lot of the Motorcycle online outlets are having their Mid-Winter reduction of stock sales - some as much as 30-50% off list. It's the time of year that I purchased my BT-021's 2 years ago.

Now, looking forward to my next replacement, I see that the 130/70 17" are getting fewer and farther apart.

So, has anybody found / tested a good replacement?
Has anybody been running on the 120/70's? (the recommended replacement)

What, if any, differences in handling on the new size?
Click to expand...

Even since I "converted" over to the Michelin Pilot Road 4's 120/70-17 on the front, my shimmy/oscillation has disappeared. I also run the PR4 190/50-17 on the rear to make it a "matched" set. The front end now does turn quicker if that helps. And IF you do go the Michelin route, make sure that you do NOT get the GT version ... it's for heavier bikes (Gold Wings/ST1300/FJR ...etc).
 

I just ordered a 130 front off of Amazon. a Exedra Max for 101 bucks, free shipping. Will let you know my impressions of it after some miles.
 

After taking the whole front of the bike apart and replacing the steering stem bearings with tapered roller bearings I put on a Metzeler ME880. The original Bridgestone was very bad, the Dunlop was better, but the handling and wear issue was the front wobble. I have traveled aprox 300miles/485 kilometers on test rides and the bike is spot on. She is better than new. I ride hard and fast over all kinds of terrain, have to keep up with the Beamers and Ducati's.
 

I forgot to mention that if you ask a motorcycle shop that is a Parts Unlimited dealer to look up a 130/70-17 they will post 3 or 4 choices.
 

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