Which is better and why?

 

Dunlop - Lasted slightly longer. Least amount of grip

American - Slightly more grip, Slight noise improvement

On Michelin Commander II now. Slightly better grip and noise.

No deal breakers on any of them. Pick one you like and go

 

The Harley Dunlop and American Elite are the same construction with slightly different tread and no logo.

 

Go with the Elite

 

American Elite doesn't follow tar snakes the way the OE Dunlop does.


I've put a couple of thousand on my AE, including a couple of torrential downpours and so far I'm happy.

 

I would agree with that. I am also experiencing different wear characteristics. I have AE's on my older touring bike and the OEM dunlop's on the new bike. Different animals. The OEM's seem to cup the front's pretty regularly where I have not had that happen on the AE's. The AE's are also a quieter running tire.

 

my wife's bike is set up with the same wheels that mine has (19f/18r). she has stock dunlops, maybe 5000 miles on them so not worn much at all. I have replaced my stock dunlops with the American elites. I have about 10k on them, still a lot of life left.

I recently had to take her bike into town to get an inspection sticker for it. I noticed that my bike 'leans' into turns noticeably easier than hers does. not that it's hard, I just noticed it.

 

The Elite's are a dual compound tire; the Dunlop 407's are not.

The American Elite was designed for Harley Touring bikes.... the 407's were designed as an OE tire.

My OEM Dunlop 407's are worn out. I've ordered a set of American Elite's to replace them. They're a little more expensive, but supposed to last a little longer, with better wet traction and better cornering.

Ask me again in two more summers...

 

All in how you ride too. I maintain 36 psi front and 40 rear. I'm pretty happy with the OEM Dunlops. But I'm also riding a Heritage this go around. Get a solid 10k from the rear and 25k from the front

 

On my '12 FLHTC, got 16000 on the OEM's. First set of American Elites got 21000 and working on the second set.