Hey guys, my neighbor and close friend owns a 2012 Dyna Wide Glide. He is 65 years old and a pretty conservative rider. He has 13k on his bike. And is going on his 3rd rear tire(It's BALD again). The 2nd front has some left. I believe he started off with the Michelin Scorchers 31. Then tried the Pirelli Dragons.

The stockers(Michelin's I believe) gave him 7k
The Pirelli Night Dragons gave him 6k

What in the world is going on to cause his tire's to wear so fast. I've read he isn't alone in this situation.

I have suggested going to the ME 880's or the ME 888's. I understand Metzler doesnt make 180/60B/ 17's. But some guys are getting these instead:

Front 100/90-19 M/C 57H TL ME 880
Rear 160/70 B17 M/CTL 73 H(D) ME 880

To my understanding changing the tire sizes will effect the speedo but should give closer to 10k per tire vs the 6-7k he is getting now.

Does anyone have any information they could share with me on tires. Kind of frusterating. As far as I know there are only 4 tires made for the wide glide rear. The Michelin's, the Pirelli's, and two Dunflops.

HELP

 

I got 9K from my stock 160 scorcher ('11 SB) with lots of 2-up, went with the 180 dunlop GT502 and like it.

 

I'm sure my buddy would be tickled pink to get 9-10k out of his rear tire. The 2nd Pirelli tire up front looks great still. But in the rear its smooth and will pop threads in the next 50 miles or so. So if you got 9k out of the Scorcher why did you chose the 180 Dunlop?

I guess the street bob does better for tires than the wide glide does. So that explains the 9k.

 

The wide glide has a special size rim. There are only a few tires that will work properly with the factory rim. I run a 1800 and got what was on sale. Then I noticed the tire appeared to have too much air. About 6,000+- on most of my tires. So instead of being restricted I went to a 170. Now my mileage is a lot better. I have 8,000 on my rear tire now and have a lot of thread left. What happens is most 180 series tires are too large for the rim and causes the center to be pushed upward. Lost of traction-if you notice it- and less mileage. It pushes the center out like a over inflated tire does but more so. Since going to a 170 series tires I am getting a lot better traction. How I tested my theory is I made it spin the tire on both the 180 and the 170. My tire mark was much wider on the 170 than the 180. Plus I could feet the difference in the traction. On a 180 it would spin all the way through 1st and most of the way in 2nd. Now it grabs much sooner.
just a thought.

 

Thanks for the response. So he should probably look for a 170/60B 17 tire. You theory about the over inflated makes sense. His tire is only bald right down the center "INSIDE CENTER" just like a overinflated tire.


I noticed Metzler makes this size 170/60R 17 Do you think that would be a good replacement? And how much would it effect the speedometer?

 

I have the same bike with Michelins that currently have 8,000 on them. The front tire needs replacing. (under 2/32 remaining) The rear still has 4/32 left, I would think I have a few thousand left. I can't understand how the front wore out so quick.

 

I pretty much ride with this guy all the time. He's 65 and takes it easy unless we are challenging each other. He does ride more than I do. But It's normal riding. Nothing crazy. I don't get it either.

His front has plenty left(2nd tire). His rear is smooth(2nd).

 

Try Commander II's. High mileage tire. Ran them on my Dyna for over 10K with plenty of tread left. 160/70/17 for the rear 90/90/21 for the front.

 

Maybe he's running his tires with low air pressure?

 

Low pressure will wear out tires faster too. I 2nd the Michelin Commander II...Metzeler's will wear out fast too...they are pretty soft. I used to run ME880s and never got over 8k on a rear tire. The Commander IIs are lasting longer, but I dont know how long yet...still going strong.