Triumphrat

eelmgren · 05-21-2008

Time to change tires on my Adventurer. I bought the bike a few months ago with 7000 mi, now it’s got 8500. Not too bad for the OEM tires.

I'm thinking about the Dunlop GT501s. Has anyone got any experience with these?

The book calls for radials. There's not a big selection of radials available in the sizes I need. Does it really make a difference?

Last - I'm having a little difficulty finding a 150/80 -16 tube. Any suggestions?

gregp · 05-21-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by eelmgren

Time to change tires on my Adventurer. I bought the bike a few months ago with 7000 mi, now it’s got 8500. Not too bad for the OEM tires.
I'm thinking about the Dunlop GT501s. Has anyone got any experience with these?
The book calls for radials. There's not a big selection of radials available in the sizes I need. Does it really make a difference?
Last - I'm having a little difficulty finding a 150/80 -16 tube. Any suggestions?

My manual called for a 160/80-16 size and it is a relatively rare size (some Gold Wings use them though). I bought a Kenda K673 and a Metzler tube from www.americanmototire.com.
I had a GT501 on my old interceptor and it was fine. The tread was very deep and it lasted a long time. It is not offered in the 160 width, though.
A lot of folks here run Avon's but they are expensive.
There are OEM bikes that come with radial rear tires and bias ply fronts, so I wouldn't sweat the radial recommendation. This radial/bias ply combo question was recently posed in Cycle World magazine. Their answer was that when radial MC tires first came out, not enough was known about them, so manufacturers were hesitant to recommend mis-matching. Now, it is not an issue.

BadMouth · 05-22-2008

I've also had good dealings with americanmototire.

Avon Storm/Azarro are great on these bikes. I've had two sets and have more trust in them than any other tire I've owned.

I currently have Dunlop D205's on the bike because they were the only ones available in the odd size that I was looking for (200/55-17). Haven't had them in any serious rain yet. I already don't have as much faith in them as I did in the Avons (not necessarily comparable, since I put different rims on). I'm riding to Laconia next month. Either I'll learn to trust them or something bad will happen.

cafetbird · 05-22-2008

+ 100 on the Avons. With the power these things deliver, I wouldn't use anything less than an H rated tire. You can run a 150 on the rear, as the later T-Birds did. They have long wear and excellent traction combined. Not sure what you can get for that 19" front tire though!

I have had good luck with Motorcycle Accessory Warehouse (http://www.accwhse.com), and they have free shipping on Thursdays at times.