Bridgestone Exedra Max tires

[KPAX]

I bought a set of Bridgestone Exedra Max Last August. I have 5,700 KMS on them (3,500 miles) and the rear is ready for replacement. The rear is just below 3/32" and is wearing evenly but rapidly; I am guessing I have about another 1,000 KMS left at the most. I run 37/40 PSI (F/R) and check my pressure every 2nd ride.

I am disappointed with the premature wear but the cheap cost is hard to pass up:
F: 130/90B16 67H EXEDRA MAX $138.99
R: 150/90B15 74V EXEDRA MAX $175.99
Installation: $20.00
Tax: $43.55
Total: $378.53
Bridgestone promotion: $-50.00 (pre-paid Visa)
Total: $328.53

2 tires installed and balanced for $329 CDN including tax ($273 USD) is not a bad deal.

I have two motorcycles, the Voyager Xii is used mainly for 2-up riding. We enjoy riding at a good pace, especially through the twisties. We mainly take day trips with an occasional over-night run here and there. I should be able to get 12,000 KMS out the front so my plan is to buy another rear (and take advantage of the Bridgestone promotion again).

I like the way the Exedra Max's handle (a billion times better than 404's). I made sure to buy bias-belted (supposed to handle better on our bikes). I will probably be in the market for a new set of tires by the end of the summer. I am considering the Michelin Commander's but I am not too sure how well they stick. We can drag the foot pegs with the Exedra's and still feel very planted, I do not want to give up grip for mileage.

Any recommendations on higher mileage tires that stick well?

[GrandpaDenny]

Yikes, you call that cheap and good mileage? You paid about the same as I paid for Dunlop Elite 4s (too bad the rears are out of production; I was lucky to find one), just hit the tread wear indicators on the rear, about 16000 MILES (24000 km) (I'm not sure about the mileage, as my speedo was out for about 4k miles, and I didn't write down the mileage (or lost it) when installed this rear tire). Front will probably last until the new rear wears out. I don't know what I will put on after that. As for handling, well, just look at my profile picture and notice the scarring on the pegs <grin>. I ride fairly regularly with a couple on a hopped-up Concours 14. I wave bye-bye to their taillight on the straightaways, do a decent job of keeping up with them in the twisties, and pass them on the rougher roads.

So, the new E4 I have waiting to be installed (GOT to get the bike down to the shop) has a date code in 2018 so it's already three years old, but that's fine, because it will likely only last me a year (yes, I ride that much).

[Wormys_Dad]

I ran Bridgestone exedras on my 1500 goldwing several times a few years ago and always managed around 12000-14000 miles for the rear, but they were much less expensive than the dunlop at the time and rode and handled a touch better on that machine. 3500 seems extremely low life expectancy! When the time comes to replace tires on the Voyager XII, I plan on either dunlop elite 4 or Michelin commander III as those seem to be the preferred by majority of people as I have read. (I am sure for good reasons). Had experience with michelins on the GW, really nice ride and pretty good handling overall.


Stay safe out there.

[Nails]

I’ll post an MT66 review soon — front in it’s sunset years (and I’m “on the road” as I speak). But yeah, can do much better than that.

[KPAX]

Yes I agree 3,500 miles is not good (actually say 4,000 miles because that's when I plan to swap it). I'm leaning towards Michelin Commander 3 Cruiser's for my next set.

[SgtSlag]

I love the Pirelli MT66 Route tires, on smaller bikes -- they wear out fast, on the Voyager, but absolutely superb, otherwise. I have a set of Commander II's on, currently. Need to replace them in the next few weeks, with Commander III's, as the tread is getting thin, and we got caught in the rain, Monday: no issues, yet, but I want to make sure we never have tire issues... Tires, like oil, are cheap! The cost of pushing either, is not worthwhile. Cheers!

[KPAX]

My rear tire just arrived, I will install it shortly. Once it is worn out I will replace the rear and front as a set. Right now I am leaning towards the Michelin Commander III's but they are only available in the Cruiser format (they don't make 15" in the Touring). I will price the MT66's.

[Nails]

I made sure to buy bias-belted (supposed to handle better on our bikes).

I love the Pirelli MT66 Route tires, on smaller bikes -- they wear out fast, on the Voyager, but absolutely superb, otherwise.

I can't decide whether to put this here or in a new thread.

I previously gave my little opinion of MT66 tires here: https://www.amervoyassoc.org/forum/view ... lli#p88087. I still love them.

These also are bias ply and otherwise 90's technology, which I think suits the XII bueno. I understand that bias-ply tires tend to require more pushing on the handlebars, which is sure true of my XII. But that's the extent of any negative comment.

Interestingly, my front tire wore out before the back. I rode it to the wear bars last week; and I have a new one waiting at the post office. I got about 9K miles out of it. My rear tire probably is good for my next trip, 4K or so more miles -- I got it about 8K ago. But this tire also has seen a lot of high-temp days: my TPMS often beeps at me about tire temps of 130F or more.

My experience definitely is not "low mileage"; and I don't seem to have any acute chicken strip shame for a tour bike. I don't have any good reason to switch.

[edit: One "complaint", it's recently started to catch tar snakes &etc. But it's wore out.]

9K down ... and 9K to go:

About 8K miles.

[KPAX]

I never got around to posting the final km's/mileage for my rear Bridgestone. I ran the tire to less than 1/32", it was way past the wear bars and got 7,205 kms (4,477 miles). These Bridgestone's do not last but they are cheap (especially with the $50 promotion that Bridgestone seems to run every spring and fall). The good news is they handle great. My wife and I use this bike as our 2up touring machine, these tires are confident and sure footed.

[Nails]

From what I can tell, they're about twice as expensive and last about half as long as MT66. I doubt they offer 4 times the traction/performance.

And I'm not sure MT66 are the best deal going. But I sure like them -- seem to be made for my 90's bike. Which they pretty-much were.

[cushman eagle]

I am thinking of getting Michelin Commander III on my VXII this fall,my E-4 rear is at 19,000 miles and my front is at 23,000,both are just less than 2/32 inch.Can I expect close to that tire life on them?
If I can nurse 1,340 miles on them,I can change the tires the same time my bike turns the odometer to 00000.0

[KPAX]

Can you buy two MT66's for half the price of $265?

[Nails]

Can you buy two MT66's for half the price of $265?

Sure. I paid about $230 for both front and rear, delivered. Google it -- Walmart has the set for $200. And with double the mileage, that's half-off the mounting.

But with the Dunlops (mentioned above) getting double again, they might be an even better deal -- haven't looked at prices.

It's kinda hard for me to get too excited about these Bridgestones. (I just noticed that you're a Cannuck. Mine are Murcan prices.)

[GrandpaDenny]

Can you buy two MT66's for half the price of $265?

Sure. I paid about $230 for both front and rear, delivered.

That's our Nails. $265 divided by 2 = $230. Yup.

[Nails]

Advanced arithmetic always trips me up.

[bournedal]

Michelin is known to provide quiet and comfortable car tires. When it comes to motorcycle tires, there isn’t much difference. Generally, you can expect a quiet ride with both Commander 2 and 3. Just make sure that you are running with the correct tire pressure as it affects the noise that your tires make. Wheel alignment should be checked as well for a more quiet and comfortable ride.

[Nails]

You're resurrecting a thread that is more than a year old. Tire threads abound, usually with little new information. In this case, I've puked out newer tire opinions in other threads.

Here's what I think of CIII viewtopic.php?p=94970#p94970 on the front. With a few thousand more miles I still feel the same: wear well but kinda bouncy. My benchmark is RT66, which are noticeably more planted at basically all speeds. I can tolerate more bounciness in rear tires than in front ones.

The same thread touches on what I think about "the correct tire pressure": the manual says 32psi, and when I pump in more than this the tires tend to steer better in the parking lot ... but they perform worse for me at speed. Also no matter what you inflate them to, the pressure will go way up as they heat up. Maybe I prefer the manual-listed pressure because I often ride in hellaceous temperatures: often more than 40psi per TPMS. Or maybe I just ride on funky pavement too much and got a thorn up my butt about bouncy tires. To each his/her own. But my point is that I don't think it makes much sense to get too precious about the cold tire pressure.

My unloved CIII on front is, if anything, louder than the RT66, but there isn't much difference in it.

I just updated viewtopic.php?p=95239#p95239. I'm all in with Shinko 777.

Tire threads. Sheesh.