xcelr8....Yeah, figured you were a big boy. I certinaly wasn't taking a poke at ya, just wanted to point out that body type, riding style, pressures, road surface, heat, and overall load make a huge difference in wear duration. Just wanted to give the OP some realistic expectations while tire shopping.

 

265 lbs here on my 07 11000 miles was the best i could suck out of a tire (EIII) next was the Michelin Commander then D402 after than they were all about 5000-6000 miles...Get the EIII runaround 42-44psi

 

Not so happy with stock Dunlops, will hit wearbar on rear at 6,000; previous owner might have let pressure run low, they were pretty worn at 3,600. The 200mm Dunlop feels very slippery when wet - I think it spreads the 1000 pounds of weight over too great a surface area, actually reducing traction (aka higher the PSI on the contact patch, the stickier the grip). But this of course has to be balanced with sufficient contact to transfer torque from drive train.

I just ordered the Metzeler 880 ME (front & rear) for $301 including shipping from the Motorcycle Superstore - seems like a really good deal. Also found an independent tire guy who will remove rims from bike, change/balance/stems for both tires for total of $60. Bit of a drive - but that is the whole point of having a bike Cheers, Kevin.

 

I just don't get it..... I just swapped out my rear 402 at over 16k, and could have got another few K. Had to get a new tire for piece of mind, since were leaving next week on a 3K mile trip, and that's no time to hope for the best. But hearing you guys only getting 6-8k out of them just boggles my mind.

I ride 2 up 95% of the time, so it must be because of the climate I live in up here in the NW.

 

I was only getting 6 or 7000 out of the dunlop on the 06 ultra, the 08 I'm gett'n 10,000 on the 402. Gonna try the E3 next

 

Same thing here. I've got just over 16K out of my original tires, and just changed them both out last weekend. Didn't even really "need" to, but figured I'd get it done and not have to worry about it for a couple more years. Changed out the rear brake pads while the wheel was off as well. I hear all of these guys talk about 6-8K out of a tire and never get it. I sold my Fat Boy with 12,500 on the clock and it still had the original tires on it as well, and they were still in good shape too. Guess I'll just consider myself lucky.

 

I dont have the answer either on why some of us cant get any mileage out of them, and believe me, if its somethings im doing wrong i would like to hear about it. Maybe the older bikes with the narrower tires are harder on them than the new ones with the wider tires?

 

All that HP at the rear tire eats them up. I used to get 12-15K out of a back tire and since i did upgrades this winter i have already torn up one back tire. Fast acceleration, hard stopping will add a lot to tire wear. Put the pounds on them and even more so. Like my old race truck, just can't stay out of the throttle with all that power making HD noise.

 

Accelerating uses rear tire, downshifting to slow uses rear tire, quick take offs uses more rear tire than normal. Two up riding uses more rear tire than normal.

Proper inflation is very important here plus riding habits. I typically use a lot of front brake when slowing, less drag on the rear tire.

Dunlop E3's again for me. Great on mileage, grip, wet conditions. IMHO, far better than Metzlers. Only got 7K out of their rear tire. My current rear E3 has 16K on it with a few thousand more left. Still has plenty of traction in the rain, and this time of year, it rains everyday. Will probably change it at the end of summer.

 

Air pressure is a big contributor to tire life. I let my tire pressure get low and noticed serious wear on the old bike. Since, I never let it get below 40 in the rear or 28 in the front.