My Baby Needs New Shoes
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Currently in the same boat, my Dunlop 404's are at the end of their "safe" riding life. I too have been doing a lot of research. From my findings, on a budget the Shinko 777 are hard to beat for $160 a pair shipped to your door. If you have the extra bucks, the Michelin Commander 2 or Avon Cobra's "seem" to be the top premium tires which go for approximately $325 a pair shipped. The Metzeler 880 or 888's are very popular as well, but in head to head comparisons the Michelin Commander 2 is overall found to be a "better" tire. Personally, at this point will likely be picking up a set of Shinko 777's next payday.
110/90-19 4 Ply Shinko 777 Front Tire
150/90-15 4 Ply Shinko 777 Heavy Duty Rear Tire
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Shinko
Just bought a 150/90-15 Shinko 230 Tour Master for the back and mounted it myself with just tire irons. I love it, only $79 bucks free shipping on ebay from Chapparal Moto Sports. It helped my ride alot and does well in the rain.
Just bought a 150/90-15 Shinko 230 Tour Master for the back and mounted it myself with just tire irons. I love it, only $79 bucks free shipping on ebay from Chapparal Moto Sports. It helped my ride alot and does well in the rain.
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2,530 Posts
Ditto with the Metzlers and go with the larger size for the front and rear. It will handle like a different bike and I mean that in a good way!
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812 Posts
I went with the Shinko 230's in stock size and have been pretty happy so far, but have only had them for about 6 months. I ride in FL so I get mostly nice warm sunny weather but they have handled rain well the times I have caught it. Cheap price shipped, and I took tires off myself to be mounted at a local shop. Worked out to about $220 all around after tax
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487 Posts
Shinko 777 H.D. for cheap and/or sticky, espeically if you get cheap mounting or DIY. ATV ride-on is cheap and works a treat. Shinny 230 isn't bad. Commander II for the best quality control and treadwear on the market with better grip than the Metz (sorry).
Metzeler has too many quality control issues for me, and they lack traction like many of Pirelli's products designed to compete with specific others. The 880 didn't come close to delivering on the treadwear advertised to compete with the Michelin Commander. Enter the Commander II, beating everything by a long shot while having excellent grip after the breakin period. Metzeler reworked the 880 into the 888 and promised to beat the Commander, and they came close on treadwear but not quite, and only by sacrificing a lot of traction. They're very "slick" or "hard" compared to the C-II.
I almost got the 888 this last time around on my 900 because the sales were impossible to beat, but I just couldn't justify it with the amount of riding I do. I need something I can rely on 110%.
Dunlops... I don't even know where to begin. More lawsuits for tread separation and catastrophic failure than any major brand I know of including deaths. You don't see that with other brands. They're OEM because they're super cheap and cheaply made, not because they're good. Bad traction, bad treadwear, bad QC. FRiends don't let friends ride Dunflops. The only times I've nearly wrecked due to unexpected (and unwarranted) loss of traction were due to Dunlops. Skidded when braking a bit quickly but well within normal riding on clean pavement. Spun the back tire pulling out of a restaurant with my chapter and got into a tank slapper at like 10 mph, bruised up my knees and ankles. After that, I rode everywhere like I was on gravel. Garbage, especially the K series that end up on a lot of metrics. I only ran them out on my last couple of bikes because they were already on the wheels.
Avons are pretty decent too, but for the price I'd rather have the C2.
Metzeler has too many quality control issues for me, and they lack traction like many of Pirelli's products designed to compete with specific others. The 880 didn't come close to delivering on the treadwear advertised to compete with the Michelin Commander. Enter the Commander II, beating everything by a long shot while having excellent grip after the breakin period. Metzeler reworked the 880 into the 888 and promised to beat the Commander, and they came close on treadwear but not quite, and only by sacrificing a lot of traction. They're very "slick" or "hard" compared to the C-II.
I almost got the 888 this last time around on my 900 because the sales were impossible to beat, but I just couldn't justify it with the amount of riding I do. I need something I can rely on 110%.
Dunlops... I don't even know where to begin. More lawsuits for tread separation and catastrophic failure than any major brand I know of including deaths. You don't see that with other brands. They're OEM because they're super cheap and cheaply made, not because they're good. Bad traction, bad treadwear, bad QC. FRiends don't let friends ride Dunflops. The only times I've nearly wrecked due to unexpected (and unwarranted) loss of traction were due to Dunlops. Skidded when braking a bit quickly but well within normal riding on clean pavement. Spun the back tire pulling out of a restaurant with my chapter and got into a tank slapper at like 10 mph, bruised up my knees and ankles. After that, I rode everywhere like I was on gravel. Garbage, especially the K series that end up on a lot of metrics. I only ran them out on my last couple of bikes because they were already on the wheels.
Avons are pretty decent too, but for the price I'd rather have the C2.
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