How many miles on your front tire?
- Thread starter WindyOne
- Start date
The first tire on my 11 T/G was replaced at 14 thousand miles, Right now i have 17 thousand miles on the second tire and its still in good shape, Both tires were/are stock tires and set at 36lbs....
WindyOne
500+ Posts
I can't believe mine is so thin at this mileage. I would expect to get the miles out of mine that you have. These are Nitrogen filled tires so the pressure doesn't seem to change on them. My back tires look new, the front makes me worry about it grabbing the road. I can't get to the dealer until later this week for them to look at it.
DK Custom Products
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I've gotten as little as 8,000 and as much as 19,000 on stock Dunlops.
So much depends on road surface and riding style.
One weekend I wore a full 50% of the tread off a tire up in the Ozarks. Nothing but aggressive riding in the twistys for almost 1000 miles. Had I stayed another 3 days I would have completely shaved all the rubber off the front tire in less than 2000 miles.
The next tire I put on did a lot of straight and sweepers, not much twistys and it lasted over 15,000 miles.
I am currently running a rear tire mounted in reverse. It's too early to say how much it will get, but it is definitely holding up much better than stock front tire. It also grips the road better.
Kevin
So much depends on road surface and riding style.
One weekend I wore a full 50% of the tread off a tire up in the Ozarks. Nothing but aggressive riding in the twistys for almost 1000 miles. Had I stayed another 3 days I would have completely shaved all the rubber off the front tire in less than 2000 miles.
The next tire I put on did a lot of straight and sweepers, not much twistys and it lasted over 15,000 miles.
I am currently running a rear tire mounted in reverse. It's too early to say how much it will get, but it is definitely holding up much better than stock front tire. It also grips the road better.
Kevin
Did the cupping slow down or go away? Watching your progress with the rear on front reversed thing.
When I first got my GL 1800, about 2500 miles the front cupped, dealer said to run the pressure to max and it actually kinda evened out, didn't go away, but did even out.
Don't wanna open a can of worms here, but I'll throw this out. I run nitrogen in all my tires. Have been since it became available here. The manager of a Big O was a friend of mine and told me to try it, no charge. I love it. Milage on my Ultra was 20k front and 10k rear.
But the thing I like the most is tire pressure doesn't vary. Only time I check tire pressure is if I'm going on a trip longer than a day. Even then, It never varies. On my F350 dually, I had 60k on the tires when I traded it and they were never rotated (couldn't because of the steel inner rims, you had to break all 6 tires down and remount and balance). I'm not affiliated with Nitrogen sales in anyway, just love the stuff.
WindyOne
500+ Posts
I am with you on the nitrogen filled tires. This is the first time I have had it in them and really like it. The Problem is the closest HD dealer that uses Nitro to fill tires is 3 hours away. When I change rims out I am not sure what to do.
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Not trusting my eyes or my gut feeling I used the tire depth gage on the HD tire pressure gauge on the front tire. The reading was 4/32" Like Kevin said rough roads will wear tires down faster. I don't know how the roads were where the Original owner road. Here they aren't too bad and I don't think I am what most call an aggressive rider. I will keep my eye on the depth and see how it wears.
I may be getting the rims changed sooner than I planned.
I have to believe there are car dealers that can provide that service near you....jc
WindyOne
500+ Posts
How do they install Nitro after the tire is mounted? Not sure I trust a tire place of car dealer to deflate and inflate trike tires unless I was watching. They would have to jack it up for the process?
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I understand that Nitro is Nitro, it is the handling of the trike that concerns me. I am not convinced anyone other than a motorcycle dealer would know how to work with a trike. Maybe I am wrong on this?
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I understand that Nitro is Nitro, it is the handling of the trike that concerns me. I am not convinced anyone other than a motorcycle dealer would know how to work with a trike. Maybe I am wrong on this?
Just replaced my front tire on my 2013 TriGlide and it measured 3/32nds when I replaced it. The Harley folks generally recommend replacement at 2/32nds, but I was planning for a trip so replaced a little early. I installed the Dunlop E3 Bias rear tire turned backwards and am anxious to see how it performs. The OEM Dunlop measured originally at 5/32nds whereas the Dunlop E3 Bias I installed had a little over 9/32nds so I should do much better on the mileage side. The OEM had about 12,000 miles (at 3/32nds) when I replaced it.
I agree with Kevin regarding the road surface and extreme twisties contributing to the wear as well. Here in Oregon our back roads (State Hwy and Forrest Service Roads) have some pretty rough aggregate and wear tires more than the paving on the Interstate/Major roads. And the road repair on the State Hwys FS Roads is usually the "chip seal" process which sucks for anyone on any motorized vehicle!!!
Roger
Last edited:
Installing is simple ... let the air out ... put about 5 psi nitro in ... let it out ... fill with nitro.
I use Big O, they just pull the valve ... when it quits hissing, they put some in ... let it out ... replace the valve and inflate normally. As long as the trike don't move, no problem ... been doing it for about 12 years.
bikerbillone
3000+ Posts
Running BT45 (rear) 130/70-18 on the front of my RS, 20K miles, with three tenths of tread remaining, nine tenths when new. Some flat land, some good roads, some not so good. Some interstate, some mountain roads. I'm good with that, I don't see how the new Cobra could be much, if any, better, but maybe, I haven't seen any final reports on the Cobra. By the way, pretty much all miles are two up. At $104 and change, I staying with the Stone until I see something better.
I've got 11K on my 2014 ... and expect to change it out for a rear Michelin Commander II (mounted reverse) around 13K.
I drive a lot of mountain roads 2-up here in PA. I've met a few other owners who had about the same 13K miles when changed. I expect to get at least double the mileage from the Michelin Commander II.
The Dunlop American Elite rear and the Metzler 888 rear are other good options.
Bob
orag:
I drive a lot of mountain roads 2-up here in PA. I've met a few other owners who had about the same 13K miles when changed. I expect to get at least double the mileage from the Michelin Commander II.
The Dunlop American Elite rear and the Metzler 888 rear are other good options.
Bob
orag:
WindyOne
500+ Posts
Hate to add this at the last minute but what if you have Dyna Beads for balancing? I think I would like to have the Nitro added at the same place they add the beads. I may have found a dealership that can do both beads and Nitro.
I had 23K on my front tire when I replaced it. I could have probably gotten another 1 or 2 K out of it but was leaving on a 2500 mile trip and didn't want tire problems popping up out in the middle of Montana. The replacement was the stock Dunlop. The current tire has 16K on it and still has good tread but it is starting to cup on the left side only.
2011 Merlot and Black TG
2011 Merlot and Black TG
BinIdaho
TOI - Idaho
Coming this way by chance?
dirtdobber
Gone But Never Forgotten
The goldwing front wheel/tire is a 17.
I want a 17 on the front of our free so I can use the bt45 tire. Got it on my gw rs trike and love it.
All my 2 wheel touring Harley's i get 30,000 on the front tire.
There are internet stores that carry the dunlop factiry tire for a lot less than what HD charges. Just no Harley markings.
19 inch wheels/tires do not have a good selection. Its the 130x19 is the problem. I aways run 40 psi in the front tire.
I want a 17 on the front of our free so I can use the bt45 tire. Got it on my gw rs trike and love it.
All my 2 wheel touring Harley's i get 30,000 on the front tire.
There are internet stores that carry the dunlop factiry tire for a lot less than what HD charges. Just no Harley markings.
19 inch wheels/tires do not have a good selection. Its the 130x19 is the problem. I aways run 40 psi in the front tire.
I had 15,000 on my stock Dunlop and replaced it with a Dunlop American Elite MT Rear tire turned around, running backwards at 36psi. I now have 10,000 miles on this set up and it still looks new. Guessing 25,000 to 30,000 miles. Ride a lot of Blue Ridge Parkway, Tail of the Dragon and Cherohala Skyway plus back and forth to work (75 miles round trip).
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