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Going to be purchasing tires for my 2016 Eldorado soon
Not concerned with extended mileage. My preference is minimal break-in period
I'm fortunately not needing to keep costs down.
The candidates are:
Avon Cobra ### seems to be popular choice (and theres whitewalls)
Perelli Night Dragon ### these seem like where I'm looking . . (but no whitewalls..not that I require them but they do look retro cool)
Michelin commander 2 ## reading good things on Michelin
Michelin commander 3
Michelin Pilot 4
I know it's a personal choice but after reading a bit about the tires I've focused in on
I'm still undecided.
I have read thru this forum, but I'd be happy to hear any additional opinions.
I have run the Avon Cobras on a variety of heavy touring bikes and always liked them. I have also run one set of Pirelli Night Dragon tires on a bike I thought I was going to sell, but then changed my mind. I was impressed with them in the dry, rain and also gave decent mileage.
After reading a bit in various other forum's I ordered a set AVON Cobras WW.
The PDNs were font runners but I am partial to the white walls and either choice will
be a huge freakin improvement over the crap I'm riding on now.
Looking forward to getting my rid of my old mixed set of 'hard as rocks' Dunlop's.
I recently had to put ANOTHER (4000mi) rear tire on my Cali touring. After seeing that some 1400's use a 180 instead of the 200 I went that route with commander 3's. Not being a radial I was a little concerned. Turns out that I feel it was the correct way to go. The bias ply has a much more solid side wall and handling actually improved lots. Handling on these bikes is limited by lean angle not tire grip and the added side plies are a plus. IMO. Turns much quicker and feels better planted.
I recently had to put ANOTHER (4000mi) rear tire on my Cali touring. After seeing that some 1400's use a 180 instead of the 200 I went that route with commander 3's. Not being a radial I was a little concerned. Turns out that I feel it was the correct way to go. The bias ply has a much more solid side wall and handling actually improved lots. Handling on these bikes is limited by lean angle not tire grip and the added side plies are a plus. IMO. Turns much quicker and feels better planted.
This makes total sense. I don’t know who would recommend radials on a C14. I would not. All heavyweight Harley’s have Dunlop Bias tires as OEM fitment BTW.
POINTS TO PONDER:
Bias: Strong sidewalls. Able to handle heavier loads. Hardwearing and more puncture resistant.
Radial: Excellent all-around performance. Lightweight design. Impressive wet weather grip. Higher speed ratings for racing-pedigree sport motorcycles. Softer sidewall leading to immediate maximum center contact patch. Not recommend for inner tubes.
You will be much better off with a bias tire on a C14.
I recently had to put ANOTHER (4000mi) rear tire on my Cali touring. After seeing that some 1400's use a 180 instead of the 200 I went that route with commander 3's. Not being a radial I was a little concerned. Turns out that I feel it was the correct way to go. The bias ply has a much more solid side wall and handling actually improved lots. Handling on these bikes is limited by lean angle not tire grip and the added side plies are a plus. IMO. Turns much quicker and feels better planted.
Radial: Excellent all-around performance. Lightweight design. Impressive wet weather grip. Higher speed ratings for racing-pedigree sport motorcycles. Softer sidewall leading to immediate maximum center contact patch. Not recommend for inner tubes.
You will be much better off with a bias tire on a C14.
Scott, just an FYI... Dunlop makes a "GT" radial for heavier bikes, as do others. In my experience out here on my 1400 Custom rental, there was no downsides at all. Made it feel 100 #s lighter too with the narrower width and uber sure-footed. Thanks to the silly bagger racing series, more and more radials are popping up.
Scott, just an FYI... Dunlop makes a "GT" radial for heavier bikes, as do others. In my experience out here on my 1400 Custom rental, there was no downsides at all. Made it feel 100 #s lighter too with the narrower width and uber sure-footed. Thanks to the silly bagger racing series, more and more radials are popping up.
so Shinko makes a model 777 in that size 185/65/16 and is designed for heavy cruisers with a kevlar reinforced sidewall. I haven't seen any reviews here yet so mine will be the first after I put some miles on them. I used Shinkos on my BMW GS and I thought they were a great tire. Time will tell on the guzzi....
I have Shinko tires on 5 of my 8 personal motorcycles.
I also sell a ton in my workshop, especially for heavy Harley-Davidson touring bikes.
A full set mounted and balanced at my shop run about 45% the cost of the outrageously way overpriced Dunlop Harley-Davidson tires. They stick better and last longer too. Every person I have recommended them to, loves them.
I just mounted the Shinko 009 Raven radial tires onto my Norge and they are awesome. I have had them on my 1200 Sport and have really loved them.
I will see how well this radial performs on a heavy motorcycle like the Norge. I have high hopes.
Granted, to me, the Norge is more nimble and flickable than a 1400 platform, and perhaps as Todd says, this radial setup will be great. I want to see and so far I like these tires.
It might be worth checking the available Shinko sizes for the 1400’s. (Ken Wantje says he’s ordered 777’s above).
I find them to be very excellent tires with very aggressive pricing. I know there are razors edge winder-tires out there but the cost versus the benefit of using them for a normal road going Moto Guzzi, isn’t something I can see being justified in my mind. YMMV.
BTW, Shinko is an American owned company. Western Power Sports bought them several years ago. I have never had a warranty or quality issue claim on any Shinko tire, ever.
My Stelvio NTX wears Shinko 705’s and they are my favorite tire on this motorcycle by far.
so Shinko makes a model 777 in that size 185/65/16 and is designed for heavy cruisers with a kevlar reinforced sidewall. I haven't seen any reviews here yet so mine will be the first after I put some miles on them. I used Shinkos on my BMW GS and I thought they were a great tire. Time will tell on the guzzi....
So I just took my first ride on the Shinko 777 in 185/65/16 and I'm thrilled with the handling! The previous tire, a Bridgestone Excedra in the stock size of 209/60/16 felt clumsy compared to this tire. The profile is consistent where the Bridgestone had a ridge if you rolled it far enough. I still have some miles left on the front so it will be a bit before I have a matched set but I give the rear a thumbs up!
Every customer I mount Shinko 777’s on, just loves them without exception. They are the #1 tire choice of my heavyweight Harley-Davidson customers and cost less than half the price of Harley-Davidson branded Dunlops.
I just got back from a trip to Las Vegas. Ended up being about 1,750 miles round trip, with the last day being 800 miles. I now have about 14,000 miles on the rear tire, and it looks like it would probably go another 50,000. Pretty good for a $80 tire!
It is a 195/65R16.
I'm going to be giving you engineering facts about the design of the two different rims and how the tire inter reacts with it. I am also going to be going over the science behind tires and traction, not opinions. I have emailed several tire manufacturing companies asked them some serious...
www.goldwingfacts.com
The bead shapes of the sidewalls are completely different and not compatible. Also, that tire is not designed to withstand sidewall loading. Car tires don't get curved from side to side on the road.
I suppose that many people would consider much of what I do, and have done, throughout my life to be "dangerous beyond belief", and yet here I am, just turned 60 years of age, and healthier than probably 95% of the people my age.
I am not recommending that others follow in my footsteps. Everyone should lead their lives as they see fit.
Have a great day.
www.goldwingfacts.com
