• There has been a recent cluster of spammers accessing BARFer accounts and posting spam. To safeguard your account, please consider changing your password. It would be even better to take the additional step of enabling 2 Factor Authentication (2FA) on your BARF account. Read more here.

Cruiser Tire suggestions?

Cycle61

Cycle61

What the shit is this...
Joined
Apr 27, 2008
Location
East of the snow
Moto(s)
yes
Looking for input on replacement tires for my big bike. It’s a 2007 Yamaha Road Star 1700, currently just under 10,000 miles on the original Bridgestone Exedra G702 and 703. I’ve been pretty happy with the Bridgestones, but I really have nothing with which to compare them. Any suggestions? Thanks.
 
Avon Storms are the only way to go. Greater tire life and more predictable road manners than D220's or BattleAxes.
 
They make them in a 16"?

Edit: forgot sizes. 130/90-16 and 150/80-16

Plenty of clearance to go up a size on the rear if needed.
 
Metzler ME-880's seem quite popular amongst cruiser riders. They last a long time. Before you go up a size on the back, how easily does that thing turn in now? Would you be happier if it was harder to turn?
 
It turns in pretty easily, but does require some pressure on the inside bar to hold a line through a turn. This may be partially due to the fact that the rear tire is worn completely square at the moment. I'll probably fall over when I put a round on on there. :laughing

Will look into the Metzlers. Have you tried them?
 
Last edited:
cycle61 said:
Will look into the Metzlers. Have you tried them?
Click to expand...

Yeah, I had them on a K1200LT for about 50K miles. In the the dry the bike ran out of cornering clearance before the tires ran out of grip - even after I upgraded the suspension. Not great in the wet, but not horrible either. YMMV, and all the usual caveats.

*edit* To clarify, I ran them for 50K miles, but they did not last 50K miles. They did last well, and I typically got 10K-14K per set.
 
Possible choices...

Avon AM41/AM42 Venom
Bridgestone G702/G703 Exedra
Continental Milestone or Tour
Dunlop D404 or Cruisemax
Kenda K673 Kruz
Maxxis Classic
Metzeler ME880 Marathon
Michelin Commander
Pirelli MT66 Route
 
+1brazialian on the ME880's!!

i've had them on a couple of bikes that require bias ply tires. one of them was a 2nd gen V4 magna that lived through the march of 2006 when it rained everyday. the tires were great and i ended up having peg scraping fun with them in hills in the rain. also can go for miles before wear even shows.
 
flying_hun said:
Metzler ME-880's seem quite popular amongst cruiser riders. They last a long time. Before you go up a size on the back, how easily does that thing turn in now? Would you be happier if it was harder to turn?
Click to expand...

Not sure if that is the same tire my father uses on his Road King but I know he swears by Metzler...
 
ME880 all the way. Had them on my 96 savage and LOVED em!
 
Dunno if it's the same exedra that came stock with the old gs500's, but I hated that tire. Is the compound still like pencil eraser?

I'd recommend the Avon roadriders. I'm decently sure that they make them in just about every conceivable size.
 
I put Metzler 880's on my cruiser and the improvement was dramatic.

Of course it had Dunlop D404's originally, so perhaps any tire would have been a step up.

My second choice would have been Avon Venom bias ply, but they don't last as long. In their favor they offer more road grip, but as sticky as the Metzler's are, I'll take the extra mileage.
 
The Metzler 880 rocks. I've ran them on my sportster and like flying hun I've ran out of cornering clearance before i ran out of ground clearance. In the wet they are still adequate.
 
I've gone back to dunlop's after running me880's for a round. The 880's lasted much longer, but I really didn't feel as confident in them especially in rain/wet. I do know people that I would consider better riders than myself that swear by them though.
 
Avon Venoms are the only tires I ran on my Softail. They lasted 10-12k on both ends, and handled very, very well.
 
I run Avon Storms on Blackbird in the winter and BT021 in the summer months, I get 10-12k out of bothe sets.
The Avon Storms are a soft and cushy ride, stick like glue in the corners, heat up super fast and rear won't slip on you in the rain when you get slightly squared off which is a problem with the BT021's. Avon Storm are the bomb in the rain and wet roads. The soft ride of the tire creates less road feedback so I tend to scrape parts when pushing them hard unlike the BT021's where you get all the feedback you need, thats the other reason for running the them in the summer.
I have never had a problem with the BT021's but I have had to get 3 Avon Storms replaced due to tread seperation in the last 2 years, 2 front and 1 rear all replaced under warranty.
Just my 2cents
 
I'm actually running an Avon Storm rear on my 600 right now. Seems like a good winter tire, I've had some slipping in the turns, and at ~4k miles it's showing only moderate wear in the middle. Still deciding between those and the Metzlers, although I'm having trouble finding the Storm in the sizes I need.
 
Ahh heck O'Nick just put some good used car tires on the thing! :teeth
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top