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Tires again-radials???

ggadwa

ggadwa

Member
This question I'm sure has come up before....I just can't find a good answer...
I am considering purchasing Radial Tires for my Dyna Super Glide Custom. Everyone seems to like the Metzler 880 Bias ply tires.....I am wondering if steel belted Pirelli Corsa or Diablo RADIAL TIRES front and rear is a wise choice....Just don't see any discussion of Radials and since I will be traveling a fair bit with wife and luggage load.....Would the Radials be a good choice?????
The Dunlops are gonna GO.....one way or the other....never have liked them!!!!

GARY
 

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i went back with oem dunlops got 10k outa the first sett got 3k on them so far and they still look great
 
Radial tires are not available in the tire/rim profiles of stock OEM Bias ply tires...as Smitty says, and they are not made for heavy weight motorcycles with tall side walls. That said, if you choose to go with radials, you will likely have to go through wheel and rim changes and snowballs into the brakes, rotors, bearings, ABS (if equipped)...w-a-a-y-y too many things to go wrong and not worth the trouble. Maybe the introduction of radial tires to the 2010 product line is on the wish list...but with MOCO in survival mode, the wheels of progress will roll rather slowly in this area.
 
Yep, but they stick really good, offer more tire size selections... and are the wave of the future. Also, motorcycles tires are at such a premium price...the radial by itself is not more expensive to manufacture and the research to optimize them continues, belted bias ply research is essentially done, only the rubber compounds have been making the strides.

The benefits of radials over bias ply have already been "discovered"...that is why most cars and trucks use them today. Even the load range limits, multi-layer belts designs and non-zero degree "semi-radial" plies within have been researched, only a matter of time, or if fuel economy/mileage designs force manufacturers to move away from bias ply tires entirely (sorry for the pun).
 
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The reason the radials have soft sidewalls is because mainly the sidewall is a 2 ply casing and the tread area are 4+ ply. The flex created in a radial tire design will keep the tread of the tire planted better on the road than conventional bias ply tires.
 
glider said:
The reason the radials have soft sidewalls is because mainly the sidewall is a 2 ply casing and the tread area are 4+ ply. The flex created in a radial tire design will keep the tread of the tire planted better on the road than conventional bias ply tires.
Click to expand...


So Glider, what is your opinion on using radials on bikes? If you don't mind.

Your opinion does carry a lot of will deserved weight around here.
 
I believe that most manufacturers don't use them for a very good reason on their bikes for the reason of the sidewall flexing that would lead to a handling situation that consumers wouldn't like. Also with the profile of the motorcycle tires and their contact patch being smaller than that of a car tire due to the shape, the flexing would not be advantageous in keeping the tread planted on the ground.
 
Hey that Elite 3 is a fine looking tire with impressive stats.
Anyone else have these tires? I'm not pro Dunlop but.....

Thanks
GARY
 
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