Ultimate FJR Tire Combination Discovered

[QuikSilver]

Getting ready to spoon on my 19th set of tires on my 2003 FJR. I have tried almost all of the "high mileage" sport touring tires and, in general, I have been happy with everything except treadlife. Most folks consider me to be a fairly aggressive rider and my average for front or rear tires is 4000 miles. The center almost always wears out in the rear and I wear off all the tread down to the cords on both sides of the front tire, with tread usually remaining in the middle. I have gotten 5000+ miles on the Metzler ME880 (170/60R17) rear tire but they are much more difficult to put on as they are not sized properly for the FJR rim and require more force.

I really like the Michelin PR2s I have on the FJR right now but my projections are the same, I'll get about 4000 miles on this set and will have to replace them before they are worn out to go on my 3500 mile trip around Colorado and New Mexico in July.

I have always wondered about trying the Dunlop D251 180/55 R17. It was originally designed to be the OEM rear tire for the Honda Rune. It 3 plies (2 nylon + 1 aramid, just like the more expensive Michelin PR2 version). Curious enough, it also the OEM tire for the Ducati 1100 HyperMotard and the KTM 950 SuperMoto. I always questioned Yamaha's logic of putting the same size tires on the FJR as they do on the R1 which is almost 200 pounds lighter. If the Dunlop D251 is designed for the weight of the Honda Rune, it should easily handle the beef of the FJR. I would be interested in knowing if someone has tried the D251 and how it compared with the current "standards" (PR2 and RoadSmart) in terms of rear tire mileage. It is pricey List Price is $322.95

BTW - I did search this forum and Google and didn't find anything.

Regards,

QuikSilver

"Ride Hard! You can rest when you die!"

 

[QuikSilver]

I posted the thread below back in June, 2010 prior to spooning on my 19th set of tires on my 2003 FJR (at 80,000 miles) I was somewhat surprised not to receive any responses. Being the risk taker I am, I forged on without the benefit of the wisdom of this forum. To my surprise I believe I have found the absolute best FJR tire combination (at least for my riding style) that combines very neutral and responsive handling with exceptional mileage and uniform tire wear. As I mentioned earlier, I have tried almost all of the "high mileage" sport touring tires (Michelin PR and PR2, Avon AV-46, RoadSmart, Metzler ME880, etc....) and, in general, I have been happy with everything except tread life. Most folks consider me to be a fairly aggressive rider and my average for front or rear tires is about 4000 miles. The center almost always wears out first on the rear (with 1/8" "chicken strips") and I typically wear off all the tread down to the cords on both sides of the front tire, with plenty of tread remaining in the middle. I have gotten 5000+ miles on the Metzler ME880 (170/60R17) rear tire but they are much more difficult to put on as they are not sized properly for the FJR rim and require an inordinate amount of force to install. They also get very slippery in the twisties after ~ 4000 miles.

I recently tried pairing the Dunlop D251 radial rear (designed for the Honda Rune)with the Metzler bias-ply ME880 front tire (designed for the BMW K1200LT). My thought process was that these tires were designed for heavyweight motorcycles and could handle the abuse the heavy and hard-charging FJR puts them through in tight twisties. At first, the bike was a bit squirrelly (exceptionally light steering and very quick turn-in) for the first ~ 100 miles or so. I attributed this to all of the tiny nipples on the front tire that had to be scrubbed of to get good contact with the road. After the first 100 miles, this tire combination was exceptional. Steering is absolutely neutral (no understeer or oversteer). I just returned from a 3500 mile quest to ride every extremely twisty road in Colorado and am happy to report that the this tire combination worked extremely well (for sure as good as using PR2s front and rear, which is one of my previous favorites for neutral and responsive handling). No cupping on the front tire and no flat spot on the rear (I run 48 - 50 psi rear and 42 - 44 psi front) With over 3500 miles on the clock, the estimated projected tread life is 6500 miles for the D251 rear and 11000 miles for the ME880 front. This is 30 - 50% better than any other tires I have ever tried.

I have learned a tremendous amount from this forum and thought I would try to "return the favor" and share one of my key findings.

Regards,

QuikSilver

"Ride Hard! You can rest when you die!"

<><><><><><><><><><><>

 

[Brodie]

Hi QuickSilver

Thanks for revisiting your thread, you have some good information. Your tire life sounded a lot like mine was before I went Darkside last December. Try as I might I couldn't get more than 4,000 miles on my Avon Storms. After prematurely replacing my rear tire twice for an upcoming trip I decided to do something a bit more unconventional. I went with a Bridgestone Potenza 019 Grid 205/50 R17. At the time my bike was taken out last July 3 by a Chevy Silverado the tire had just under 10,000 miles on it. I plan on taking it off the wreck and running it on my replacement FJR when I get one. There are others on this forum that are getting upwards of 35,000 miles on this rear tire. It is rated at 1279 pounds maximum load so you will never overload it. Turn in is something to get used to, but after a few hundred miles you will develop the muscles and technique to minimize the effort. My buddy Brian (FJRONAMISSION) got a Michelin Pilot® Exalto® A/S 205/50 R17, and he swears by it. I drove it for a bit and I think it has an even better feel to it. I couldn't get it to slip.

If you are interested, go here to find out more about it... Darkside FAQ

The neat thing about these bikes is they give you plenty of opportunity to try different tire combinations. Brian wasn't too sure about it, but he gave it a try and he isn't going back. Check out his tire wear pictures here... Brians Tire Wear.

If you don't like it you can always go back.

Brodie

 

[noland]

I posted the thread below back in June, 2010 prior to spooning on my 19th set of tires on my 2003 FJR (at 80,000 miles) I was somewhat surprised not to receive any responses. Being the risk taker I am, I forged on without the benefit of the wisdom of this forum. To my surprise I believe I have found the absolute best FJR tire combination (at least for my riding style) that combines very neutral and responsive handling with exceptional mileage and uniform tire wear. As I mentioned earlier, I have tried almost all of the "high mileage" sport touring tires (Michelin PR and PR2, Avon AV-46, RoadSmart, Metzler ME880, etc....) and, in general, I have been happy with everything except tread life. Most folks consider me to be a fairly aggressive rider and my average for front or rear tires is about 4000 miles. The center almost always wears out first on the rear (with 1/8" "chicken strips") and I typically wear off all the tread down to the cords on both sides of the front tire, with plenty of tread remaining in the middle. I have gotten 5000+ miles on the Metzler ME880 (170/60R17) rear tire but they are much more difficult to put on as they are not sized properly for the FJR rim and require an inordinate amount of force to install. They also get very slippery in the twisties after ~ 4000 miles.

I recently tried pairing the Dunlop D251 radial rear (designed for the Honda Rune)with the Metzler bias-ply ME880 front tire (designed for the BMW K1200LT). My thought process was that these tires were designed for heavyweight motorcycles and could handle the abuse the heavy and hard-charging FJR puts them through in tight twisties. At first, the bike was a bit squirrelly (exceptionally light steering and very quick turn-in) for the first ~ 100 miles or so. I attributed this to all of the tiny nipples on the front tire that had to be scrubbed of to get good contact with the road. After the first 100 miles, this tire combination was exceptional. Steering is absolutely neutral (no understeer or oversteer). I just returned from a 3500 mile quest to ride every extremely twisty road in Colorado and am happy to report that the this tire combination worked extremely well (for sure as good as using PR2s front and rear, which is one of my previous favorites for neutral and responsive handling). No cupping on the front tire and no flat spot on the rear (I run 48 - 50 psi rear and 42 - 44 psi front) With over 3500 miles on the clock, the estimated projected tread life is 6500 miles for the D251 rear and 11000 miles for the ME880 front. This is 30 - 50% better than any other tires I have ever tried.

I have learned a tremendous amount from this forum and thought I would try to "return the favor" and share one of my key findings.

Regards,

QuikSilver

"Ride Hard! You can rest when you die!"

<><><><><><><><><><><>

I found your post interesting and I thought your approach made perfect sense. Can you describe your riding style? Aggressive, sporting, cruising, 2 up, or average etc..? I ask as I have been reading alot of the tire threads and it seems everyone has an opinion. I like to ride in a normal mild mannered way, 1 up, everywhere, but on the right road with nice twisties, I become a more agressive sport rider. I carry more speed into corners and LEAN that FJR over!

While the darkside sounds like an interesting route to take, I'd like to stick with MC tires and simply find the right set/combination. If I have to change tires more often, then I look at that as the cost of admission to some fun curvy backroad riding.

Can you provide pics of your tires now as they are?

Thanks!

 

[QuikSilver]

Noland,

Thanks for your interest in my thread. To answer your question, most folks consider my riding style to be aggressive, solo riding. One of my favorite sports this time of year is Duc hunting. I love to chase down and pass Ducatis on the very twisty, 14 mile long mountain that is 20 miles from my house. I grind my pegs on a regular basis (actually I lift my foot off the pegs so that I don't wear out the expensive peg feelers so often). When I am very relaxed and in a real groove, I'll grind the mufflers, the sidestand, and the splined shaft for the rear brakes. I also like to exercise the 0 - 100 MPH feature of the FJR on a daily basis. I also enjoy hard braking to the limits of adhesion on a regular basis, just for fun.

Having said that, when I look at it honestly, 90% of my miles are on roads that are not what I call very twisty. To me, twisties are turns that have caution signs suggesting safe speeds of 15 - 35 MPH. I know that I can double those speeds on the fully loaded FJR and triple them if I know the road and have excellent traction (freshly paved, no sand, oil, tire snakes, etc.). I don't personally know anyone harder on tires than me but the threads I have read from Haulin' Ashe makes me think we are from the same school.

Obviously "your mileage will vary" but I would bet most folks would get 30 - 50% more miles out of this excellent handling tire combination than any high mileage tires I am aware of.

One important note for really "hard chargers". I do most of my riding above 6000 feet of elevation where there is about 18% less oxygen than at Sea Level. Therefore, I have 18% less torque and horsepower. Although this tire combination will not break loose where I live, I would use caution at Sea Level and gradually and carefully approach full throttle exits out of tight turns with this harder rubber. I would also not suggest trying to drag your knee in turns with these tires (although I would suspect the centerstand or the mufflers would lift the rear wheel off the ground before your knee touched).

It will take a while before I'll get the time to show photos of the tires in their current state, but I'll put it on my "To-Do" list.

Regards,

QuikSilver

 

[charismaticmegafauna]

This may NOT be (part of) the ultimate FJR tire combination...

Bridgestone Battlax 021 "E"-spec (designed for C-14 Concours) after aprrox. 4K mi.:

The "new" Bridgestone Battlax 023 "GT" ('heavy-duty' -- supposedly good-enuff for FJR?):

 

[UHOH]

I think I ride less aggressively than QuikSilver does in his native state of New Mexico, with its high altitudes.

For others that want to cut to the quick of this thread's purpose, this is his ultimate tire combination:

FRONT: Metzler bias-ply ME880 front tire (designed for the BMW K1200LT)

REAR: Dunlop D251 radial rear (designed for the Honda Rune)