6K? You sure ought to get more than that. I've gotten 11K out of a 402, but when I changed it you could only see the faint image of the center tread. I've already got 3K on the AE and it's showing no visible wear, so it ought to go way beyond 6K. I don't have an explanation for the short life you experienced.

 

I haven't priced them lately.
Is there a huge price diff?

NO !! I won't be buying them
from Harley.
HA HA!

 

At the dealer, they were about $30 more than the 401. If I get the extra mileage it's worth it. You can get them online much cheaper, if you want to put it on and balance it yourself..

 

Wear is directly related to road surface friction. in NE Ohio, they are relying on chip and seal a lot more. I ride country roads a lot and you can feel the friction just taking a turn. The 401 is not a bad tire at all, just a softer compound, it does handle curves well and I think it gives me a lot of confidence overall. AE last longer but may not bite like the 401 or 402.

 

I only got about 4500 miles out of an 150-16 american elite on my 07EGC.. I little less then the the 1 402 I ran on it.. I got about 5500 on a 02RK. Liked the American Elite profile on the RK but it made the EGC feel squirmy.

CommanderIIs and E3s go about 8-9K but handing suffers as those tires square up toward the end of life. Dunlop came out with the E4 that looks promising.. Run them now on both bikes on the rear but not many miles..

 

I agree with you on the 401. Of all the choices it has the best ride and handeling. Just wish the sucker would last longer. I had a brand new 401 on the back when I left for my west coast trip. 6400 miles and 16 days later, I had to put a new one on again. The dealer looked at me like WTF because he knew he'd just put the tire on..

 

If I ride more freeways than country roads, I can get 9000 on a 401. My '11 Heritage was usually around that. Half of that was with 120 lb. wife on back. Some research that I have done indicates that a tire with an innertube runs at a higher temperature that accelerates wear but I'm not sure if I buy that. My '07 Ultra had smooth profile rims and I always got 10,000 from the MU 85's and 15000 from the front MT 90, always bags full, but 75 per cent highway.

 

Just a little update on the American Elite tire. I haven't been doing a bunch of road trips, so building mileage is kind of slow. However, the rear tire now has 7500 miles on it. I just got the bike inspected this morning and tire easily passed. It's still got almost .2" of tread on it. So, I've got at least another year of riding to go on it. Looking at the tire wear, I'm guessing it is going to easily go another 5000 miles, probably more. I think it was definitely worth the few extra bucks.

Oh, the tire handles fine, wet or dry..

 

I transplanted to Central Florida from the moutains of Western North Carolina where I was employed in the area of Civil Engineering, so this is first hand knowledge.

Roads in the area you ride in have Granite aggragate in the ashphalt mix that is extremely hard and tears the ruber off tires. Even car tires wear almost twice as fast as would be expected in other areas where they don't use granite aggragate in the mix. They do this to make the roads stronger and reduce potholing and crumbleing. Lots of big rigs of all sizes have to use the skinny roads bikes like to travel on.

Additionally, the road design in the montians (curves and road contours) contribute to tire wear.

 

Just ordered a set of AE's with the WWW for the Heritage last week. Looking forward to getting them installed. Right now, Dunlop has a tire rebate going. A pair of Elites gets ya $50 back.