how long did your back tire last?

Went to local dealer near my new home, and they were able to get me an Avon Spirit ST rear tire 200/50 ordered for delivery in about 8 days... that will give me a chance to burn some more rubber off my current tire. :y45:

Get that last bit of riding out of them. My friend has a Bonnie with 8,000+ miles on his original tires and he's not close to needing new tires, I guess weight (comfort) & power (torque) has it's costs!
 
You will like the Spirit STs, I went over 50,000mi. on the Metzelers ( 4 sets ) and the stickiness of the Avons is superb. I'm also riding on the 55 series.
 
Just put on a set of spirit st’s on my T120. There was a wobble at 50 prior and now the wobble is around 40 miles or so...thinking maybe an issue with the tire pressure? What are you running?
 
Different bikes and different tire sizes. Mine is a 1600 Thunderbird about 800 lbs. with a 200/55/17 rear tire. I run 42 psi. in the rear and 40 psi. in the front.
 
It's been almost 2 months since I ordered and paid for my tires and the rear is still "in transit", after 3 changes in the delivery date, without being notified by the distributor, it's now suppose to be here next week and I'm (supposedly) second in line & they have four tires. I was burning up the remaining rubber while waiting and now the tire is cored and the bike has to be parked until the tire arrives; no rides this weekend.

Dealer now has to send their van to pick up the bike when the tire arrives.
 
I'm not sure if it makes a difference, but I ordered mine online and they were here in a week but this was before the whole covid thing. Hope it works out for you soon.
 
Linkdog said:
I'm not sure if it makes a difference, but I ordered mine online and they were here in a week but this was before the whole covid thing. Hope it works out for you soon.
Click to expand...
I have to believe covid has something to do with it, most online sites didn't show any availability date and just wanted to register to get an email for an up date, AND the local ports have 30 or more cargo container ships hanging out waiting to get into the port.

But my dealer found a distributor that had posted the date that the tires would be in, so we went with them. But then they changed the arrival date 3 times without notifying us, this time I was there while the dealer called and they said I was #2 in line and there were 4 tires this shipment. I'm betting the first dates were just when shipments were coming, but not how many and depending on how many orders jumped on their (the distributor) "availability" while all other distributors were sold out is probably why I ended up waiting this long.

Dealer offered other tires for cost, some were the right size, but the wrong type and or expensive with faster wear, more sport bike related & less kickass sporty, but heavy cruiser related and not with the proper weight rating.

Funny thing is, I thought I ordered them a few weeks early and was actually trying on the last few rides to burn off as much rubber as I could... and I got a feel for how the back end feels when pushed on worn tires; and had some fun while squeezing as much wear out of the old ones as possible. All that extra throttling was fun (but bike is parked) and I learned a little from pushing it, the feed back of the bike & it's suspension is great, way better than my old VTX1800; and I felt like I could actually feel more rubber being peeled off while feeling completely comfortable with the tracking of the rear wheel.

That's probably about the time it became corded, hence the feel of "rubber coming off".
 
Yea, the covid thing. The good thing is you have a good feel for the bike and for me the spirits just made it better. Just give it a few hundred miles for the mould release compound to dissipate from the tires and tell us how you like them.
 
I get around 12000km on the rear higher km on the front ,lwhat pressure are u running .I run both my bikes 42psi rear 37 front
 
Well I finally got my tires on Sat. 2 months after my first post, the distributor screwed me and gave my tire to a more important dealer; the whole allotment disappeared to "a dealer" with no ETA for any more Spirits coming from anybody. But as you can see below I had no choice & needed to get a tire, so I ended up with a set of Cobra Chromes, front & rear; by now the fronts were worn out too.

I can't wait for them to fully scuff up, but I could feel a difference right away. But, at a crawl I could feel a bit more rolling resistance from the front tire, which at a crawl was just noticeable and I realized that it feels like it's slight counter steering feedback from the new sticky rubber compared to the well worn tire's sloppy & loose ride; it's very slight, but I could feel the tire tug slightly at the handlebars. I'm getting use to it though and it's starting to feel more neutral as I adapt to the new rubber and they break in more. The tires are starting to scuff up enough that they are feeling more normal each mile, you know that new tire feeling that's not quite as inspiring until you get them broken in?

Looking forward to the next ride.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20210417_090308_9.jpg
    IMG_20210417_090308_9.jpg
    325.5 KB · Views: 2
A more important dealer, REALLY. That's crap and it's a shame you didn't get the tires you wanted, but yes you were in need of them and a bigger shame not to be able to ride it. Hopefully for the next set they will have them on hand for you.
 
Linkdog said:
A more important dealer, REALLY. That's crap and it's a shame you didn't get the tires you wanted, but yes you were in need of them and a bigger shame not to be able to ride it. Hopefully for the next set they will have them on hand for you.
Click to expand...
I've broken the new Cobra's in and the feedback at a crawl is gone and the tires feel great... so far. Going to have to visit my old stomping grounds up in the mountains soon, that'll be the when I will get a real comparison to the Metzs. I'll probably need a rear tire in 10-12 months, so I'll order a coupe of months early if needed.
 
tchicken11 said:
I am looking at the Michelin Commander 2, the issue is size. stock tires are 200/50/zr17 and Michelin Commander 2's come in 200/55r17 . now i know enough to know what each number in the size description means so with that being said my issue is that extra height. there is plenty of room under the fender and between the tire and frame i just like staying with what the manufacturers put on them on that 1% chance of something not working right.
Click to expand...
I would have went with the MC2 but the youngest tire I could find were already 2 years old.
I went with Pirelli Night Dragons and OMG. What a magic carpet ride they offer. Made me completely rethink shocks for a smooth ride. For me, it’s where the rubber meets the road.
Cheers
 
Just double checking, would this be the correct choice for the Avon Spirit?

Avon Spirit ST AV76
200/50 R17 W (75)​

 
FCB111 said:
Just double checking, would this be the correct choice for the Avon Spirit?

Avon Spirit ST AV76​

200/50 R17 W (75)​

Click to expand...
Depends on the model of your bike. The commander/LTs use different sizes than the regular Tbird and storm. But i would suggest the cobra chrome instead of the spirit. The spirit rear tire is the best i have used, absolutly fantastic. But i tried the spirit front and went back to the cobra chrome because they both handle great, but the cobra outlasts the spirit front by a long ways. I got less than 10K till bald out of the spirit front and the current cobra thats on it is now at 12k and looks good to go another 3-5k. As to handling i can't say i notices a big diff, but if i had to wager i'd say the cobra has a slight edge.
 
Hi Dazco - I've got a 2014 Commander & I'm just looking to replace the rear tyre at the moment.
 
Thats the correct size for mine, for the commander i don't know. just look it up online. Google it.
 
dazco said:
Depends on the model of your bike. The commander/LTs use different sizes than the regular Tbird and storm. But i would suggest the cobra chrome instead of the spirit. The spirit rear tire is the best i have used, absolutly fantastic. But i tried the spirit front and went back to the cobra chrome because they both handle great, but the cobra outlasts the spirit front by a long ways. I got less than 10K till bald out of the spirit front and the current cobra thats on it is now at 12k and looks good to go another 3-5k. As to handling i can't say i notices a big diff, but if i had to wager i'd say the cobra has a slight edge.
Click to expand...
That's the size I just put on my Commander, I ended up with the Cobra Chromes and I'm very happy with them so far.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Premium

Support TriumphTalk by becoming a Premium Member.

 What You Get

 Donate

 

 

Search

Back
Top Bottom