tires

[woodman]

Hi I'm new to ava I own a 98 voyager 1200 Had it for about 1 1/2 yrs.. What are the best tire to run? something good but low noise. Running a perelli nightdragon in front and metzler in the back. metzler is ok but don't like the perelli. would be grateful for any help. thanks.

[ekap1200]

When it comes to tires , its like asking 10 kids what their favorite candy is. We all have our likes and dislikes, but the majority will go with the Dunlop E-3. Good tire and price, I like them and also like the Avon Venoms. Both are quality tires. Some like the darkside and have been running several brands of car tire on the rear. All and all the Dunlop E-3 is the most used tire on the Voyagers. Gene K.

[Skibou]

Like Gene says, it's a personal choice. Speaking for myself, when I got rid of the dreadful Dunlop originals, I switched to Metzler 880's, which were a vast improvement, but now that I've switched to Dunlop Elite 3's, as per many, many recommendations on this site, it's like I'm riding a new bike.

[debron]

Yep, Dunlop Elite 3's. I just changed the front tire and the old E-3 had at least 20,000 miles on it, likely more (I misplaced my paperwork from when I installed it.) The rear E-3 has over 18,000 and I will get over 20,000 before it's through.

Make sure it's the Dunlop Elite 3 and NOT the Dunlop D404 (stock) tire. The 404 gives poor performance and mileage (life) on the XII's.

PS - Daniel, welcome to the board!

[chevyman1]

If you go with the E-3's make sure you keep your air pressure up 40psi front 43psi back
If you run less in the front as it wares the tread will get choppy/wavy.

[woodman]

Thanks a lot guys for your input, think I'll try the Elite 3. Love my voyager and better yet my wife loves it, just need a better tire. Also thanks for the tip on the pressure of 40 psi. that was going to be another question.
PS> Thanks for the welcome.

[Scott-(Altoona, PA)]

Welcome to the forum Woodman and thumbs up to the statement

my wife loves it

That helps tremendously plus I think it enhances the ride to have (as Chris near Kansas City says) "a captive audience"!

[cushman eagle]

I will agree with the advice for the E-3 tires, but for this part of Ohio the lack of maintenance of the roads has them so rough I dropped my front tire pressure to 32 so the bike is not jarred apart. I would rather keep it up,but the roads are simply too rough.

[chevyman1]

I will agree with the advice for the E-3 tires, but for this part of Ohio the lack of maintenance of the roads has them so rough I dropped my front tire pressure to 32 so the bike is not jarred apart. I would rather keep it up,but the roads are simply too rough.

Do you have Progressive springs in the front

[cushman eagle]

No, I do not have progressive springs,do they make a difference in short, sharp, offsets in broken pavement?

[HMB Don]

They sure do, I've installed a few sets for NorCal members, the feedback is that WOW my Voyagers is so smooth. On my own Voyager 1200 I installed the Race Tech front fork springs. I used the softer spring rate, with the emulators. Problem with this setup is that I had to adjust the emulators total of 5 plus times. I also always use 10w fork oil, or ATF is also alright to use. Then take out the valve core so that you never add air to the front forks. But, about once a month remove the cap at the front fork air inlet, air does get trapped in the front fork tubes.

For the rear shocks lots of people replace them. Me, I changed the oil; the shocks and air system to the shocks has to be free of leaks. NorCal Voyagers sells a Tech Video on how to change the rear shock oil. My old Voyager 1200 has 194,000 miles on the stock shocks and they still handle the motorcycle quite well.

[gearheadfla]

No, I do not have progressive springs,do they make a difference in short, sharp, offsets in broken pavement?

Was the best thing I did to the bike, your co-pilot will love you.

[voyager55]

IMO Replacing the stock rear springs with the Progressive rear springs is the single best improvement you can make on a Voyager. You won't believe the difference in ride & handling. Everyone who has done this is amazed at the ride.
No more air pressure & oil changes to worry about either. Simple to install to.

[chevyman1]

They sure do, I've installed a few sets for NorCal members, the feedback is that WOW my Voyagers is so smooth. On my own Voyager 1200 I installed the Race Tech front fork springs. I used the softer spring rate, with the emulators. Problem with this setup is that I had to adjust the emulators total of 5 plus times. I also always use 10w fork oil, or ATF is also alright to use. Then take out the valve core so that you never add air to the front forks. But, about once a month remove the cap at the front fork air inlet, air does get trapped in the front fork tubes.

Just for reference and a starting point what are the emulators in your forks set at now and what color spring are you using, Also what Race Tech springs rate are you using.

[HMB Don]

The Emulators: I first drilled and extra two holes in the emulator body, Then used the softer of the two emulator springs, Blue spring I think? Then three turns in from lightly seated. Preload was 17mm from, top of fork tube to top of the fork cap I started with 22mm but that was to harsh on sharp edged bumps.

The fork spring was the lighter of the two springs they had listed in 2009. I just checked and they now only list one spring and it seems to be the one I used the .500

For oil I used Amesoil 10w fork oil, 160mm from the top of fork tube, compressed into the fork leg with just the damping rod installed. One fork leg took 370cc and the other was 380cc.

My weight was 179 without motorcycle gear.

On my rear shocks (stock) 40psi air and set at #3, using E-3 tires front and rear. I you use different tires every might be different. Dunlop E-3 tires are very stiff (sidewalls).