Rear Tire Wear

I used to use a spacer, and run 4.125" Dunlop Elites on prior Airheads, and could usually squeeze 25,000 out of them, probably shoulda changed them a 20,000 though. This current Airhead came with nearly new Kenda tires, front and rear. It's nice to see the Mono shock Airheads now come stock with the metric equivalent of 4.25", but this Kenda is wearing very quickly. It currently has about 2500 miles on it, and looks about half worn out. The front appears barely broken in though. When this rear tire wears out, I'll replace it with something else. I recall the old Dunlop Elites were brick hard, and not real good in rain, but it was a trade off for mileage. Today, a bit older and wiser, I place more priority on tire handling, but still hope to get 10-15 thousand miles out of a rear tire. That's one thing I like about running, "dark side" (car tire) on the Goldwing, the run flat is a safety feature not available on any MC tire (yet). An RF Bridgestone DriveGuard lasts me about 25,000 miles, and handles well in all types of weather and road conditions.

What kinda mileage are others here getting out of Airhead rear tires nowadays, and what are some of the popular tires to run on the rear?
Thanks

Not currently on an airhead but when I was on my R100 I rode on Bridgestone Spitfire S-11 tires. I never felt they lacked for grip in all weathers and a rear went around 10,000 miles. I think the oem was 110/90-18 but I ran 120/90 on the back.

I put new Bridgestones on my R65 before I went to TN last summer and looking at it now it's pretty worn with only 10 000 km's on the tire.

I get 10 -12,000 miles out of the Avon AM26 Roadrider, rear, best performer I've had on my R100S.

Rear tire wear

Well, to add in, I get about 9K on Dunlop tires and the same on Metzler. I go back and forth between the two due to availability at the shop I do business with.

I was just reading an article in the BMW Rider's Association about some guy who uses some kind of a car tire on the back end of a K1600 bike. He claims it lasts much longer and costs a lot less than a dedicated motorcycle tire. It is this month's magazine and the article is "From the Dark side

"https://bmwra.org/otl-magazine/otl-november-december-2020/


Too bad we can't do this with our airheads, lol. Cheers, St.

Are Motorcycle Tires a Ripoff? The Darkside Car Tire Experiment

Fortnine video

Next Rear Tire

I looked up several tires today in 120/90-18, including Avon AM26 and a few Dunlops. Will probably go with AM26 for next tire. Probably should go ahead and order one, as it looks like it will be needed in another 2000-3000 miles. This Kenda is wearing faster than any tire I've seen in awhile.
Thanks for all the input.

As for dark siding, it is a controversial issue and, of course, discouraged by MC tire manufacturers. I would not have even tried it, but for run flat technology. The GL1800 GW accepts a rear tire size (195/55/16) that is common on MiniCooper, BMW, Mercedes and several other cars. Thanks to run flat technology, those cars no longer need a spare; they simply drive at 45-50 MPH, up to 50-75 miles, to the nearest repair facility, same as if using a doughnut spare.
You can buy a top of the line Run Flat tire for about same price as a mediocre MC tire, and usually get 15,000-25,000 miles out of it. There have been several reports of darksiders experiencing flats, or even catastrophic air loss, and most did not even know it, till slowed down, or TPMS alerted. So the run flat functions on a MC the same as it does on a car. Admittedly, there's a bit of, "wonky" feeling when first riding dark side, but within 100 miles it seems natural. Some car tires are more flat across the tread than others (which causes wonkiness), so darksiders tend to choose the rounded ones. Probably the best currently available are the Pirelli P1 and Snow Control. If there was a run flat car tire that fit an Airhead, it would be my next rear tire. Unfortunately, there isn't.

Controversy

Shoot, imagine the controversy in the airhead world if someone did come up with a car tire to fit! The tubeless snowflake wheels debate flares up now and again and BMW has gone beyond tube type tires even in spoked rims years ago. LOL,

Dunlop E4?

Has anyone here tried a Dunlop Elite 4 on an Airhead? I ran one on a Goldwing, and it is made of 2 rubber compounds. The compound in the middle wears like iron, and the sides wear normally, as most tires do. They are good for 18,000-20,000 on a GW, for those who mostly ride on the Interstate.

jhall said:

They are good for 18,000-20,000 on a GW, for those who mostly ride on the Interstate.

Click to expand...

Are there actual BMW riders who "mostly ride on the Interstate? In a 20,000 mile year of riding I typically ride on the Interstate less than 100 miles. Some places it is the only practical route but I usually avoid those places.

jhall said:

Has anyone here tried a Dunlop Elite 4 on an Airhead? I ran one on a Goldwing, and it is made of 2 rubber compounds. The compound in the middle wears like iron, and the sides wear normally, as most tires do. They are good for 18,000-20,000 on a GW, for those who mostly ride on the Interstate.

Click to expand...

I don't believe the Elite 4 is made in sizes to fit your bike. I went to their web site and they make a 19" front but no rear size.

Amazment

It never ceases to amaze me the fantastic amount of different sizes there are for motorcycle tires. It kind of explains a bit of why they are so high priced. So many small batches made in so many sizes.

Makes me wonder if the motorcycle industry had standardized tires sizes to perhaps, (I will throw out a number to make my point,) 20 instead of 200, the manufacturing companies could crank out bigger batches cheaper.

Hopefully you all will get the drift of what I am thinking. St.

Narrowed Down To Two Tires

Based on feedback here, and reading on-line reviews, I have narrowed it down to Avon AM26 or Michelin Pilot Active. In addition to here, the AM26 has lots of on-line reviews by Airhead riders, and everyone speaks well of it. The Pilot Active may be a bit newer technology, but seems on par with the AM26. Either of them will yield about 8,000 to 12,000 miles, depending on the rider I guess.

Yesterday, I was reminded of the difference between street tires and ADV tires. I like rural roads here in KY, including one lane black top and gravel, and most always include them in a daily ride. Yesterday I went down a gravel road I was last on with a Suzuki Strom, maybe 6 weeks ago. The Strom's tires make it as sure footed as a billygoat. Yesterday, some sections of the gravel had been freshly graded, and it tossed the Airhead all over the road, often darting. I came to a steep hill and left the bike in 2nd, when I shoulda dropped to 1st. I quickly reached unsafe speed so dropped it in 1st and began to feather the front brake. At one point, it nearly darted off the side of the road, beside a steep bank. After that, I paid a lot more attention, and paused to reflect on the difference between tires. Not gonna install dual purpose tires on the Airhead, but definitely gonna take it a little easier on gravel. Long as I use care, the Airhead will go about anyplace I wanna go, but it ain't no Strom. LOL

Have you ever seen

Joe, have you ever seen old pictures of guys riding R100RS bikes in the woods like a trail bike? In fact I think I remember one of the MOA magazines had a picture of a S bike being ridden on a fire road or off road just recently, Well recently in the past year or so, sorry I am too lazy to look for it, LOL. St.

Steven,
I have no intention of using the Airhead as a trail bike, but do enjoy the KY backroads. I draw the line where ground clearance becomes an issue. That's probably the biggest drawback with the GoldWing, it does not like to be taken off the asphalt. Not many videos of folks riding them in gravel, and I understand why.

The Strom is a great bike for on & off road, but it was just not my stye, so I sold it to my son. The Airhead is a nice compromise, comfortable enough on and off the asphalt, but not the best in either. It is working out very well for me so far. I am gonna stay with street tires, because that's where it primarily will live, but I would not be satisfied with it, if I could not ride on gravel once in awhile. Biggest pain is, it gets dusty. LOL

off road

Joe, I'm with you on taking an airhead off road. I don't with mine, not like the guys I mentioned in my post, that is just crazy. I do however get onto dirt roads or back roads in fact I was rambling the other day on my RS and found the pavement running out and a fairly well groomed dirt road taking its place. The RS behaved herself because I didn't go crazy.

Nope, if I want to take an airhead off road, I will buy a GS or build a scrambler. To be honest, I have zero skills for riding off the pavement so if the dirt road gets too bad, I freak out. All I can imagine on my RT and RS is the trouble and cost to replace fiberglass fairing parts if I should dump the bikes, LOL.

Just thinking an evil thought, I get such a kick out of guys who put huge off road tires on their pick up trucks, crank them into the stratosphere and never get them dirty. Macho mania at its finest. LOL. Cheers St.

Wearing The Tire More

Today's ride put a bit more wear on the Kenda tire. Of the 135 miles, a few miles were on gravel, including one of my favorites that run through a creek bed for a few hundred yards. Never any problems on this road, but I would not even think of going through there if there's been recent rain.

Road

Hey Joe, that looks like the road going back into my grandparents house and our old family hang out. I remember the days when PA was still producing oil and roads like that were all over the place. My mom used to use the old "I used to walk a mile in the snow and mud to get to the school bus". Yes she did they lived a mile and a half off a paved road.

Anyway, I have been on roads like that on my RT a lot of times and I agree, I wouldn't ride them after a rain, a few times I had to and the street tires were fine.

Thanks for triggering the memory machine. St.

By the way, these were the roads I learned to drive on. My older cousin taught me in a 64 Scout 80, then one summer my dad purchased an old clapped out Mercury. The first day of driving the Merc, we tore out the exhaust up to the headers and the rear brake line got ripped out all on rocks. Day two the power steering lines went the same route as the brake lines and exhaust. The drum brakes in the front were so out of adjustment stomping on them caused a veer to the left. We just compensated for it and drove. A week later, my uncle forgot to compensate and veered into a tree. Thus ended the joy ride in the Merc.

Mixed feelings now as those glorious roads are mostly gone now. Oil production shut down, equipment was pulled out, wells plugged and the land sold to timber companies. Timber companies don't really need roads to use every day so in time, the oil company roads washed out of grew in. The only time they are opened up is just long enough for the log skidders and then they never match the quality of the oil roads.

AM26 It Is

kinterridge said:

I get 10 -12,000 miles out of the Avon AM26 Roadrider, rear, best performer I've had on my R100S.

Click to expand...

I just ordered an AM26 on eBay. Thanks for your input.

Thanks to all for your input here. I am sure there are several good tires out there, looks like I'll get opportunity to check the AM26 out first hand.

AM26 Now Bridgestone Spitfire S11

Yesterday I received a notice from the Ebay vendor who sold me the AM26, said he was mistaken and had none in stock. So I ordered a Spitfire, which should be here by Dec 7th. That gives me time to get to a few things on the bike's to-do list: R&R sterling head bearings; install Progressive fork springs and fork seals; front tire; air filter, and miscellaneous other.

Does anyone know if the front & rear valve stems are common size, and available at FLAPS? Or are they odd ball size, so I need to get them from one of our vendors?

UPDATE: Never mind on the valve stems, I just looked it up in our archives, and it takes the common, small one. But the front needs to be short as possible, for my gauge's clearance.

Thanks Much,
Joe H