Need to repalce the tires on my 08 FLHRC. I really like the Wide White wall look, but wonder if there is a better brand than the OEM. I got 15,000 on the front, and the rear only has 6000 on it but I must have picked up a piece of glass and there is an ugly slice in it. When I changed the OEM wheels I stayed with the original size....

front mt90 B16
rear mu85 B16

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Metzeler ME880's are probably the most popular non-OEM WWW replacement.

 

The Metzlers re nice, good feel supposedly. I don't know as I never tried them out. I've always stuck with the Dunlops cause of the wear issue. The Metzlers are a softer compound and as a result seem to "stick" better, but also will seem to wear faster. I'm not ripping my bagger at high speeds through tight twisties, so the wear issue is the deal breaker for me.

 

Avons are nice as well. If you want high mileage check out the Avon gangsta whitewalls, although the tread pattern suck IMO. The Venom WWW seem to work fine for us. Not to mention that We have read about the Metzler whitewalls turning brown rather quickly.

 

I will always ride with Metzler. They are a little more round, so it takes a few days to get used to, but it is a much better handling tire, IMO.

 

Hate whitwalls, too hard to keep clean, and I'm too lazy to do it. Blackwall all the way for me.

 

I've run the Dunlop white walls on several of my RK's and had great results. The only reason I went away from Dunlops is because of the wheel sizes that I have now and Dunlop doesn't make a tire to fit. I wish they did !!!

 

I run the Metzeler ME 880's front and rear on my '96 Road King. Normally get 10K out of a rear tire and am currently at 23K on my front tire and it still has good tread.

Whatever tire you choose be sure to go with the manufacturers recommendation on tire pressure(s).

Later,
BK