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General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> New front tire ....first ride impression
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Message started by T Mack 1 on 01/10/08 at 11:25:33

Title: New front tire ....first ride impression
Post by T Mack 1 on 01/10/08 at 11:25:33

Had the front tire replaced and on Tuesday (09-Jan) got out for the first ride with it.

Went from an IRC tire (Factory?) to a Dunlop 404 ($69.95 + $24 for mount & balance). I was going to mount it myself but then looked at my fingers and like the way they look now (healed). Didn't want all the pinched finger marks and brusies to come back. Plus had them check the bearings for play while I was there.

The ride to work was damp and foggy :-[ , but they predicted 65 deg F temps, so I rode . Also, I can now say that I've ridden in January which for Eastern PA is unusual because it's normally 10-20 deg on January monings.

My first impression leaving the house and going to the main drag, was not much different. Beacuse of the dampness I really didn't open it up on the very few twisties on the way to work.

BUT.... the four lane road in front of the office campus I work at has rain grooves that aren't cut in a MC friendly way. ( Uneven and slightly wavy) The new tire was a big improvement over the old tire. It barely felt the grooves. Yea!! :D

Next test, ride over to I-78 where the guy cutting the grooves must have fallen asleep, 50 - 100 feet of wavy grooves (3 to 4 inch back and forth). The old tire wobbled like the bikes you see on videos just before total loss of control. What I call a :o monent....

Title: Re: New front tire ....first ride impression
Post by Paladin. on 01/10/08 at 13:26:35

I remember my first trip onto the freeway in the early '80's -- after much warnings about the rain grooves. While the front tire danced quite a bit my thought was "This is nothing compared with soft sand!" (dirt riding experience is a plus!)

When I got the Savage it was like they had removed the grooves. The new tire designs are rather remarkable.

Title: Re: New front tire ....first ride impression
Post by bill67 on 01/10/08 at 14:01:26

Anytime I replaced tires on my bikes it didn't follow grooves like the olds ones did, I have a new s40 and it doesn't follow the grooves.

Title: Re: New front tire ....first ride impression
Post by T Mack 1 on 01/10/08 at 14:08:31

767D78782223140 wrote:

Anytime I replaced tires on my bikes it didn't follow grooves like the olds ones did, I have a new s40 and it doesn't follow the grooves.

Do you know what brand they have on your S40? I heard the IRC where only ok tires.....

Also, the grooves outside of work are a bit different. Looks like they were cut with a two foot wide machine. Now, envision a worker getting minimun wage that partied heavily the night before. Then think about how he would run that machine.....

Title: Re: New front tire ....first ride impression
Post by bill67 on 01/10/08 at 14:13:22

They are IRC they are good tires. I think new tires are softer and not as slick. When they get old they are harder. And maybe be flater

Title: Re: New front tire ....first ride impression
Post by skrapiron on 01/10/08 at 19:25:13

Thats funny. I just had the D404 put on my Savage yesterday too...

Much more stable on questionable pavement. It doesn't want to wander like the IRC did.

The only thing I can hope is I get 13K out of the Dunlop. If anything, the IRC seemd to last just about forever!

Title: Re: New front tire ....first ride impression
Post by T Mack 1 on 01/10/08 at 19:43:52

6B736A7968716A7776180 wrote:

The IRC had 12.4K.

Did you get out in our warm weather the other day?

T-Mack from the eastside of PA.

Title: Re: New front tire ....first ride impression
Post by skrapiron on 01/11/08 at 04:55:06

I've ridden every day this week since Sunday. ;D ;D

Western Pa has been BEAUTIFUL so far this winter....

Title: Re: New front tire ....first ride impression
Post by buttgoat1 on 01/11/08 at 21:31:08

I noticed that the stock tires on my bike tended to follow the grooves and joints pretty badly. The rear tire was smooth at 7k miles and the front had tread but was cupped pretty badly. I put spitfire S 11's on front and back and am very happy with them. I had a bit of pucker factor when i first rode them cross a groove and was happy to see that there was now very little tendancy to track in the grooves after that, hardly notice the little joints at all now

Title: Re: New front tire ....first ride impression
Post by thumperclone on 01/11/08 at 22:05:19

my front stock irc neede replacing at 5k..went with metzlers front and back, lil slick 1st 100 miles or so best $$ ive spent on her..

Title: Re: New front tire ....first ride impression
Post by skrapiron on 01/12/08 at 08:26:33

I put the Shinko Tourmaster 230 on the back last summer (at around 7500 miles) I have since put nearly 7k on that tire and it STILL looks brand new. I'm VERY pleased with the wear I am getting from it.

Hopefully, the D404 that I put on the front wears as well. I have heard that the D404 is a softer compound tire. It sticks to the pavement like glue, but wears away like a pencil eraser..... We'll see. (the tire was $55.00 and the shop charged $34.00 to mount it, so I am not all that worried about having to replace it in the future..)

Title: Re: New front tire ....first ride impression
Post by Savage_Greg on 01/12/08 at 08:56:32

Incidentally, I have been very happy with both of the Dunlops on mine. I noticed an immediate difference over stock. However, my spouse got new Metzelers (more $$) and she is quite happy with them too.

Title: Re: New front tire ....first ride impression
Post by Savage_Greg on 01/12/08 at 09:05:26

554D5447564F544948260 wrote:

There's the eternal choice..."wears well" or "sticks like glue". Finding both features in one tire is the hard part...that and getting a good price, too. Me, I kinda prefer "sticks like glue" 'cause I don't wear very well anymore.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b277/gmdinusa/smilie_thumb_up.gif

Title: Re: New front tire ....first ride impression
Post by SavageWahine on 01/13/08 at 00:06:56

They are doing an awful lot of road work lately and I just about turned around when I saw a big part of the road had those grid lines. I kinda held my breath and slowed down a tad (I was expecting the worst! But funny enough my front tire didn't seem to mind it at all. I've got an AVON VENOM X (never heard of it before), but I really like it now.

Title: Re: New front tire ....first ride impression
Post by geo on 01/13/08 at 14:55:42

The stock tires I got with my 2002 LS650 were junk. >:( The rear tire had to be replaced at 3519 miles and the front tire had to be replaced at 5060 miles. :o
Now, I put the SuperTrapp on at 1767 miles, that might explain the wearout of the rear tire, but it doesn't explain the front tire. :-?
I replaced the tires with Metzlers. These have held up much better, and they look better too. 8-) Get good tires, they're the last link between the you and the road. [smiley=thumbsup.gif]