I ran through 3 sets of American Elite tires. I'm happy with their performance and longevity. I have since mounted a set of Michelin Commander II and couldn't be happier. They handle much better in my opinion than the American Elites. I'll be ordering another set of Michelin's when the time comes for another set of tires.

 

I've tried quite a few different tires and I think you're hard pressed to find anything better overall than the Commander II's

 

Was running elite 3 and have that tire on front but can't really tell about longevity
Since I ran over a one inch bolt

 

I went with the Dunlop AE. Fist tire change (15,000mi) from the factory Dunlop's. 1,000 miles and I'm really liking them.

 

Continental just introduced the new Conti Tours. I'm sure they looked at all the other major brands and made a tire as good or better......

 

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Best tires,well not sure if that exists,depends a lot on riding style and bike.


But you cant beat Mich C2's for $329 to my door!.

I have an 09 flhtcu thats ridden 2up w- bags loaded 80-85% of the time and i have over 16k miles on the C2's currently on my bike and rear tire stil has approx 3,500-4k legal miles left in it and front has approx 5,500-6k legal miles left in it.

With 16k+ miles on the C2's they still ride smooth with no cupping at all likely due to the ride-On i have in the tires that keeps them perfectly ballanced and sealed from up 1/4" punctures for their entire srv'c life.

So it looks as though i should get roughly 20-22k miles out the C2's which is 2x longer then the prior Dunlops that were on the bike that cost just as much or more then the c2's that are hands down better longer lasting tries.

The c2's handle well on my bike and do well in wet/rain cond too.

But the problem when talking tires wet cond perf is i dont ride too fast in wet cond like 90+% of all the riders i have ever ridden with over the past 5 decades riding motorcycles do that might complain they have had issues withMich C2's in wet cond when i never had issues with Mich Cs'2 in wet cond on my 09 FLHTCU.

Thats my 1st hand exp with Mich C2's vs other tires on my 09 HD.

But with that said i would be open to trying set of Dunlop elite 2's (or is it 3's?) that are mfg'd of 2 diff compounds with center tread being a harder compound to extend tread wear and sidewall being a bit softer/stickier for better handling in corners.

I think the Elites also have the thin nice looking whitewall that C2's dont have either.

Scott

 

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Yrs back Conti used to mfg great motorcycle tries that i used to run on the Kawi 500 & 750 2 stroke tripples i had and then later when i moved up to Kawi Z1's too & Conti still mfgs good car tires today which i currently have on my car.

Just sold my last Kawi on 1/2015 which was a KZ1000 i bought new in 1977 that has 29k original miles on that was still in great original cond with a kerker 4 into 1 on it with Mulholland rear shocks,but i still had the original stock rear shocks and ex system that went with the bike when i sold it to a Kawi collector in CA.

So i would not be surprised if Conti came up with a better then avg tire for our HD's too.

Scott

 

OP needs to do a little thinking, what is "best" for what he thinks is important in a tire. Presuming he really had a blow out, not just using an expression, there is no blow out proof pneumatic tire. Blow outs are almost exclusively caused by under inflation leading to overheating and the tire fails from being weakened by the heat. Does he want long tread life or optimum traction? Long tread life comes from harder rubber compound and some traction is sacrificed for that. High traction comes from softer rubber, and some longevity is sacrificed for that. Does he ride in all weather or just warm sunny weather?

Most of the entries so far have stated personal preference without stating each rider's reason for choice. If maximizing adrenaline in the twisties is what you enjoy, choose a high traction/soft compound tire. If getting the maximum number of miles between tire changes is the preferred goal, choose a long wear tire. Long wear is MY preferred goal and I have been happy with both the Michelin Commander II and the Dunlop Elite III. The Dunlops did well for about 10,000 miles and then began to react to seams and ruts in black top roads. I got excellent wear from them. I now have the Michelin C IIs and haven't crossed the 10,000 mile threshold yet. They remain free from the reactions to road surface variations to this point. By the way, I run the maximum tire pressure shown on the sidewall plus a little for possible gauge error and have experienced little cupping and long wear from all of my tires. I avoid riding in the rain as much as possible, personal preference, NOT due to tires.

 

After 6,000 miles, I'm really liking my Continentals so far. The rubber compound seems to do everything well and they are great performers in the rain.

 

Which continental? The Legend?