I have had it with my dunlops..

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Dec 10, 2012 | 03:08 PM

DynaJ

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From: lancaster,ca

I have had it with my dunlops..

I have to say Riding on california freeways with my white walled dunlops sucks!! I have replaced tires, checked the tire pressure and all the bearings and have come to the conclusion that on freeways with concrete that have been grooved for rain just plain suck my bike feels like its on a tight rope side to side and all that jazz. I don't know why I evn went back to a dunlop? I took it in for the 10,000 mile service and the harley tech says " my bike used to do that until I got metzlers" wow that says alot about the dunlop...I have 200 miles on the tires and I'm done!! That being said if I'm on streets and side routes the bike is on a straight line I guess the tread pattern is no good for our type of freeways? Anyone with 16" wheels that are running metzlers or anything else they can recommend??

Dec 10, 2012 | 03:19 PM

golfblues

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Joined: Sep 2007

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From: Danbury CT

Quote:

Originally Posted by DynaJ

ME880's on my Heritage. They follow rain groves too contrary to what I've heard. I only switched because the came mounted on my rims. They also hum when leaning at any angle.

Last edited by golfblues; Dec 10, 2012 at 04:47 PM.

Dec 10, 2012 | 03:27 PM

SprungDave

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Joined: Dec 2011

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From: Lake Tahoe California

I have ridden our (shared) freeways and highways for many years with many brands of tires. I'm sorry to say that to one extent or another, our bikes are going to follow the grooves. The 14 is particularly bad, and I have ridden on worse!!

Make sure your tires are inflated correctly and fall away is adjusted well too. That is about all you can do. Wider tires on the front helps (sorry Dyna and Standard riders), but unless you have self-centering like a touring model (and they follow ruts too, just to a lesser extent) you are just gonna have to chill and go with the flow. "Don't fight it, just guide it" is the mantra I tell myself when I am dealing with the grooved roads.

Just try going North through the Grapevine while they are re-doing it right now. The front wheel is on one path, the rear, another. Very disconcerting...

Oh, and BTW: the apes are not helping you any with this problem. They look great though!

Last edited by SprungDave; Dec 10, 2012 at 03:29 PM.

Dec 10, 2012 | 03:32 PM

Hogpro

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Avon's or Metzeler's. I have an Avon on the rear of my softail right now and a brand new Metzeler on the rear of my Dyna. I have said it before and I will say it again, stock tires suck. Period. They usually get good mileage but handle poorly. Just my 2 cents here. The softer compound of both tires mentioned above will help to soak up the bumps in the road and will be far stickier than the stock tires. With both of these tires you need to run higher tire pressure. 40-42 front and 42-44 rear. Enjoy.

Dec 10, 2012 | 03:50 PM

fdb2007

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From: n

Done the Metzlers on a Heritage, and they were OK--better than Dunlops, but the mileage for me was not as good others had experienced. I don't ride on a lot of grooved roads now, but the tar snakes were a little better on them. I am running some Michelin Com IIs right now, again handling is a little better than the Dunlops. I am pushing 6K and looking to get maybe 8K out of it, which is significantly better the 5.5K on Dunlops. I had some Avon Venoms on a Dyna and they handled very well, but I sold the bike before I could get a good comparison on mileage. All that said if you ride on a grooved road, you are going to experience some side to side--it's physics. You will never find a tire that makes it go completely away. Once you have trained your mind to realize you are not gonna fall over, it gets a little better. I used to ride I-5 in WA a lot.

Dec 10, 2012 | 04:10 PM

DynaJ

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From: lancaster,ca

Yep the good old 14 freeway really sucks!! And yes the grapevine is no better I guess I better be quiet because I send trucks to the grapevine job everyday to lay the new concrete down

I know that I'm going to get some sway from the rain grooves but damn man this really sucks! It really gets bad around 80 LOL...By the way the apes are history my shoulders where not happy with me so I put new bars on and I really thought that would help but NO! I like Avons but wow 350.00 a tire? I'm pretty sure that was the price I could be wrong but I think I'm close. I know I need a softer compound which I will be getting SOON...

Dec 10, 2012 | 05:01 PM

fdb2007

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From: n

The prices were right on the Michelins a few months ago. I paid $129 to the doorstep for a 150/80 16--or at least I am pretty sure that's what it is--what ever for a stock rear Heritage. Grooved roads just suck, no matter what you do. Hate to see you build an unrealistic expectation over a brand change. I know I am not gonna fall over either, but at 80 on a grooved slab I am still white knuckled. I hate a big tail wind too, to me that feels looser than rain grooves. I am in the process of tryin' em all on the Heritage--still got the Pirellis (sic) and Avons to go although I will balk on a $350 tire knowing it will not last much longer than an oil filter. Hope you find the tire you are comfortable with.