Tire recommendation

[bugsbuddy]

I am buying new tires for my '94 Voyager XII. I would like to try a radial, but interested in your experience. The tires I have on now are Metzlers. Too loud for my taste. Any recommendations? Terry

[David (N. Alabama)]

Dunlop E3 Bias ply tires. Quiet great handling characteristics.

I would not put radials on a bike designed around Bias ply, but hey I wouldn't put a car tire on a bike either and some guys love them.

[mdevans]

E3's for me. Taz the cat couldent be wrong.

[bugsbuddy]

OK Elite 3s it will be. However, they have changed the terminology for these tires. Do I order the MT90/16 for the front and the MV85/15 for the rear?

[mdevans]

yes. bikebandit.com has good price.

[rmoody9928]

Another vote for Dunlop E 3's here too.

[Mr Jensee]

E3's here. Stay away from the Dunlop 404's. They are trash.

[gearheadfla]

E3's on mine too.

[SgtSlag]

Dunlop's seem to be popular here. How are they for wet traction? How many miles do you get out of them? Are they sensitive to cracks in the road? I've never heard much good about Dunlop's outside of this forum -- "Dun-flop's" is the usual moniker I see. Cheers!

[Me Again]

I would like to try a radial,

Radials are NOT recommened for the XII.
Stay with the bias ply.

[Mr Jensee]

On my previous bikes I always like Bridgestones for overall performance. The ZRX1100 uses Radials. So far I have used my Dunlop bias E3's on mostly dry pavement but have ridden on wet streets with them. However I can tell you I am not one to push a motorcycle to test traction on a wet street. I ride like I am on glass. At my age and condition I don't need to be picking myself up off a road because I forgot and leaned too far. I broken enough bones in my lifetime to not want another one. The Dunlop E3's were recommended to me for long mileage, heavy duty enough to work well on an 800lb motorcycle. Dry grip has been excellent for me on bad Louisiana roads. The price was also a worthy consideration considering the cost of Metzlers.

[Wylee]

Go with E3's. Great tire.

[SgtSlag]

My wife and I tour. Rain is a primary concern for us. We rode four days through Canada, along the northern shore of Lake Superior, back in 2009. It rained all four days in Canada... The temperature remained in the mid-50's as the high. We were cold, wet, and suffering from a little bit of hypothermia. We rode our 750 at around 60 MPH to cover ground, changing drivers every two hours, so we could rest up and try to warm up. We were riding on Pirelli's, and leaning in the curves. The bike was glued to the road. It wasn't ideal, but we did what we had to.



Halfway across the bridge at Sault Saint Marie (sp?), someone flipped a switch: the skies cleared, the air warmed up by 10 degrees, and the road became dry. We had to pull off in a parking lot and shed some layers! We had mostly dry weather all the way across the southern shoreline, back to Minnesota. For us, the Pirelli's are superb. It's what I run on all three of my bikes, based on our experiences with them in Canada, and everywhere else.

That said, though, I am always looking for alternatives. You never know when a company will dump a product line, and they don't always have a good replacement. Cheers!

[flip18436572]

What Pirelli's are you using the on XII????

[SgtSlag]

Same as on my other two bikes: MT66 Route. Only question I have on these tires, is, "How many miles are they good for?" I have less than 5k on each pair, on each bike. They have received very good owner reviews, online: http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=c ... re+reviews.

[Nathan (South Carolina)]

I have always used Avon Venom X tires on my VXII because of the long tire life and because I was biased towards Dunlop because of premature tire cracking with their tires during the 80s and early 90s. Plus my original rear tire on my VXII did not last 10,000 miles. With the Avons, I get around 26,000 miles per tire. My last rear tire went over 30,000 miles before going flat. I had not intended to take it that far, but because of bad planning, I had to order the tire through my dealer and had to take a trip before the new tire arrived. The tire was at the wear bars when it was replaced. The reason why I got so many miles on that tire was because I had been riding mostly solo and not two up.

[flip18436572]

Same as on my other two bikes: MT66 Route. Only question I have on these tires, is, "How many miles are they good for?" I have less than 5k on each pair, on each bike. They have received very good owner reviews, online: http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=c ... re+reviews.

What sizes on the XII???

I may look at giving them a try.

[SgtSlag]

Can't say what size they are. The bike is in Winter storage, 40 miles away. I can check in a few weeks, and let you know, if you like. Otherwise, check to see if they come in the OEM sizes. If not, they must come close enough -- had them mounted by my local mechanic. He charges the same as I can get them online, but he does not charge me S/H fees; mounting/balancing is so affordable, it wasn't worth my effort to try to save money doing it myself -- that and I was under the gun to get the bike ready for an upcoming tour. Cheers!

[jaster]

I hadn't intended for this to be long winded but here's my tires experience with the Voyager XII:

Mine came with Maxxis on it when I bought it. Handled well except for they tracked every groove. Swapped them out for Pirelli MT66 Route which was a similar load rating as the Metzeler ME880. Absolutely hated those tires. The only way I got acceptable handling was going about 5psi over max rating. Less than 5000 miles, over half the tread was gone, and I was sick of the bike's handling. Bought Continental Milestones because they were good price and Continental had them specified for the bike. They did much better than the Pirelli but not as good as the Maxxis. Well, they did excel on grooved pavement and the steel grate bridge was a non-issue. Finally broke down and bought a set Elite 3 and have been very pleased. They do ride a little rougher but handling is so much better and I'm not afraid to ride with a passenger. I rode to the gas station last weekend and was please how well the tires did after sitting for over a month. To my surprise the front tire was at 20psi and still handled better than the Pirelli or Continental. Rear was 2psi low so I topped them off and went about my way.

In the past I've used Metzeler ME880 (Vulcan 750) and Avon Storm ST (ST1100) so I'm not partial to any brand. I'll stick with the Elite 3 especially since Carl quoted me tires installed for less than I can get the tires locally (he's only 125 miles from me).

[PKarl]

Time for new tires here before its rideing time and wondering about wet traction on the E3 as well. read one review where someone said their harley kicked out on a wet road and spun out on a steel ramp..anyone have any other experiences with them on wet roads..the elite II on there now aret great on wet roads either