looking for a set of radial tires for my new wheels i have a 21 inch front and an 18 inch rear , does anyone have any idea why you cant find a matching set to go on the front and rear in these sizes ? 120/70-21 for the front and 180/55-18 rear . can you mix match tread patterns or is it not good to do that ? anyone done this before ? i am looking at a elite3 dunlop for the front along with a d207 for the rear , is this gonna cause a handling problem ? thanks for any input and i am sorry if this has been beat to death before ! thanks

 

They're not sharing an axle or differential, so I don't think it would be much of an issue for those of us who don't push the envelope. A mix of radial/bias F/R would likely make for squirrely handling all the time; I wouldn't try that.

 

cant beleive that more people on here have no comment.i am just wondering if it would matter.i think it would be fine

 

bout five years ago on the way home from Sturgis, I had two flats on two different days, (one front and one rear)
.....long story short, I ended up with an avon venom on the front and a metzler marathon on the rear (with a wide white wall) but other than looking like a clown mobile, the handling was actually pretty daym good.
Don't know if it will help your choice or not, I did it because I had no other choice at the time.

 

I am running a stock Dunlop D402 on the front and a Dunlop Elite 3 on the rear. Different tread patterns and no problems.

 

thanks guys thats what i was hoping people would say !! i am now waiting to see if metzler is going to come out with tires that will fit in a radial !

 

Matching tread pattern won't matter. Ply on back and radial on front is ok, but not vice versa per tire manufacturer.

 

We run the bias ply Metzler 120/70-21 and the radial Metzler 180/55-18 all the time on 2009 and newer baggers with no issues.

 

You will be fine. its ok if the tire pattern doesnt match. Just do not mix radial and bias ply it will not work .

 

Crap, Posted it backwards! Sorry, very sorry. Bias ply on front and radial on rear is ok.