Tire Advice please

[suzib6sw]

Update on the update and the first wet report.. Sorry about the story too.. Was easier to copy and paste.. Coming from the UK, Hail (while I lived there for 43 years) rarely got bigger than pea sized.. Anyway..

So there it was, Hottest day of the year so far.. temp near 90, beautiful sunshine, 30% chance of rain, bike time.. Leather Jacket and boots, summer weight gloves, Full face helmet (thank heavens). Stunning ride in.. Lunch time, out on the bike went into town, perfect.. Home time.. Bit overcast and then the heavens darkened, big time.. Huge forked lightning with almost instant boom after, and there I am, Jacket, Summer gloves, Jeans and boots, and riding a bike with a 6 foot lightning rod masquerading as a radio antenna waving at the sky, hinting that there was a likely target just waiting to get fried! . Then the rain started.. huge quarter sized (10p piece) sized drops, you know .. the type that you may as well not be wearing any clothes , type WET, and cold! Shortly after, the hail.. Rice sized at first, sharp.. which then increased to kidney bean sized rapidly.. and there I am , on a road with no turn offs, in the stretch between garages with no where to go except on... 6 miles of this stuff.. hoping that the cars wont slow down as the windshield and fairing are doing a pretty good job of keeping this hail of projectiles off of me..when I feel a hit on my right arm at the thinnest part of my jacket followed by multiple stabs in my hands.. .. Thankfully , there is a garage in the distance with a line of cars before it.. Fortunately there is filter off to the garage and I take it.. Cars were filling every spot by the pumps, so managed to squeeze the majority of the bike in the gap in front of the pump that was still covered by the roof.. The cars too were seeking refuge from the deluge. I had my full waterproofs with me and while I put them on, a Harley pulled in and a VERY bedraggled and VERY wet guy in Jacket, T shirt and jeans gets off and is laughing.. He got caught in it and by the time he had found somewhere to pull off, it was too late.. He was soaked from top to bottom, open face helmet, no windshield and glasses.. Props to him! We had a good laugh about it all and waited another 5 mins and went out ways.. Got home safely fortunately..

Well One good thing from it all.. The new rear tire (tyre) made by Fullbore USA performed very well in the wet as well as in the dry..
I feel as confident on the Fullbore as I do on the E3's.. Seems sticky enough and though Im not a hard rider, I dont hang around either..
In the wet, due to bad experiences in the UK years ago, I tend to be more cautious but despite the conditions last night, the fullbore didnt hint at loosing grip at any point or rain groove or "white line" on me once.. Am really impressed...

The Metzler on the front, however, was not as sure footed, rain grooved and although it didnt slip, just didnt inspire confidence in the wet.. Dry wise, I have few complaints..

Hope that helps..

Pete

[debron]

Thanks for the update (and story) Pete. How many miles do you have on the Fullbore now?

[kjsett]

Metzler ME-880
Wish I had read before that these are great "and terrible, depending on the person reviewing them. Oh well. :)

Had my wife's 97 Vulcan 800a in the shop for fork seals yesterday and came out $500 lighter.
I haven't ridden in a long time, so thought that they might find things I suspected or didn't know about (Steve's Cycle in Mesa, AZ).

The tire was almost 5 years old (Avon Venom X) that was on the front and was badly weather checked: recommended replacement. He had a 1 year old ME-880 on the shelf that didn't have the new price on it ($30 more), so I went with it (he was pushing Dunlop 402's). I was going by memory and anything but the E3's felt bad when it came to the "Dunlop" name.
I had felt something in the front end, but wasn't sure - turned out the wheel bearings were shot...Yeah!
New rotor pads (near paper thin).. getting even better.....
and of course the forks. He said he would put on the ones i had bought, but there had been problems with them leaking ("LeakProof" brand I think) prematurely (used his).

"Merry Christmas my Dear, but this will delay your new windshield, you will just have to continue to enjoy that little one a little longer that came on the bike" (slipstreamer was the brand i was thinking of as it had the most protection for her bike - 20 by 34").

I rode it over to the shop (40min one way) without a windshield and in mid 40 degree air and boy did it make me appreciate my Voyager. Course, that V-twin sound sure is nice, and I do look more like a bad-(other word for donkey) in my leathers on it.

MERRY CHRISTMAS too all,
Ken, Shelley and family

[SgtSlag]

If they will fit, the Pirelli MT66 Route tires are fantastic. Rode them, front and rear, on three very different bikes, in heavy rains, grated bridges, across tar snakes and severe cracks, all with superb results: 1983 Kawasaki 440 LTD, 1979 Honda CB750K, and our 1993 Voyager XII. The only other tire I will even consider, is the Nexen CT for the rear of the Voyager. Check out online reviews using Google. Cheers!

[debron]

Ken,

The Vulcan 800 is a different (and lighter!) bike than the Voyager XII so tire recommendations are not the same. You might look on Vulcan forums to see what Vulcan riders like. I ran the Metzler ME880s on my 1100 Honda Shadow V-Twin. Loved the performance but got only 10k on the rear, not much more on the front.

By the way, you didn't say how the Vulcan rode after the repairs????

[kjsett]

Thanks Ron,

It rode great for the 20 miles I put on it. We won't be riding much the next couple of weeks because of being both out of town for Christmas and relatives coming in to town after we get back. I will be putting a larger windshield on it to give her better protection on trips.
Well, at least we should be good for this riding season and maybe a couple more depending on trips (as far as the tire goes).
I ride regularly, but just to run around town, she would rather just jump into her car. I take the bike (Voyager) unless other requirements preclude it.
Merry Christmas,
ken

[gearheadfla]

Just ordered a E-3 front tire from JakeWilson.com, $110.00 and free shipping, also ordered 3 oz of Dyna Beads for it. Should have them by Thursday, I got 13k out of my old E-3. Not bad.