Hi guys,

Here's the thing. I have an '08 Street Bob. The rear tire is ready to be swapped out. Now, I hate the Dunlops that come stock on the bike, I'm from the UK, our roads are terrible and it rains a freaking lot!

The indy shop I use (they're actually friends of mine now) are refusing to use any tire that doesn't fit the exact numbers of the stock tire, this causes a problem as most of you know Avon and Metzler don't make a full set (front and back) that matches the exact numbers...

Can anyone shed some light as to why they might be refusing to use different sizes etc? All they keep saying is 'they wont fit' although I know a lot of you guys are using different sizes. The staff there are very experienced so I don't want to argue with them (they also do me a lot of favours) but I feel a bit let down due to not having much confidence in those tires. I'm off on a tour of the west country (pics will follow) very soon so I just agreed to getting the stock tire as this week is the only chance the bike will have any down time.

I'm a bit of a 'tard when it comes to tires so any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks from over the pond!

 

That's just STUPID!

 

Get the conversion chart from Avon or Metzler and show it to them.

 

Good idea, trying to find it... any help out there?

 

liability - Costco is the same way, OEM size or nothing.

 

Lots of people I know run the Avon Venom 110/90-19 front and the Avon Storm II Ultra 170/60-17 on the rear and they fit just fine.

My 2010 Street Bob has the Michelin Scorchers, which I think are great for our European conditions (we have a lot of rain here in Holland too ).

But when it's time to replace them I probably also go for the Avon combo.

 

Exactly, and I know some European countries are very strict on vehicles and changes made.

 

Hmm, well the parts girl worked for Harley for 15 years so maybe that's the way she's been trained.

It was also mentioned that I shouldn't put different tire types on front and back either, so couldn't put 2 different types of Avon on.

 

I think Pirelli (night dragons) makes the tire's in the same stock sizes as the Dunlop's. They are soft, very sticky tires that have a firmer sidewall the only con is they wear quicker than the dulop's. But they are a very good handling tire.

 

Check the Avon site, they seem to think different. Their advice is Venom front and Storm II Ultra rear. They wouldn't do that if it couldn't be done.
Besides, it's a British company so I assume they are very well aware of any safety (or other) regulations in the UK.