Rear Tire Hootmon

[TLRam1]

What rear tires have you tried?

I MAY change off the Dunlop and try something different for more mileage, assuming I am okay with the other aspects of the tire.

Did you have to add washers to your brakestay rod, how many and to the front & back? 

[hootmon]

What rear tires have you tried?

I MAY change off the Dunlop and try something different for more mileage, assuming I am okay with the other aspects of the tire.

Did you have to add washers to your brakestay rod, how many and to the front & back?

Thanx for asking..
I've tried them all (at least most)..
The best tire I've had was a car tire, but learned later that you are not suppose to run a care tire on a 15" rim. (Bike rim is slightly larger diameter, which I can attest to). IF I ever have another bike, I'd go back to a car tire, but would purchase a run flat if at all possible.

My next favorite is what I am running now, and what I am about to buy again - Pirelli Night Dragon 170/80 15
Next best was the Metzler, but it is more money and I did not like it quite as good as the Pirelli..
I acquired an aftermarket brake stay.. I think I ordered it from Magniac, at least it is the one he sells.

I've found that M/C tires are only good for 1.5 to 2 years anyways, then they start to get hard and loose traction.. So, depending on how many miles you are doing a year on the Magna, then that may change your opinion.

I liked the Michelin Commander II, but it sucked in the rain.. So that is a no go..

I'll just throw this in as a bonus (not that I have not said it before) Best bang for the buck, is go for the Michelin Pilot Road 4 for the front.. FABULOUS!! Wish they made a 15" rear tire, but they do not..

Can you beat the Rocky Mountain price?? for the Pirelli.. I've heard stay away from Dennis Kirk for tires, they frequently send old tires they buy cheap..

Enough yet???

[TLRam1]

That is what I was looking for.

From what I can tell, I think the Pirelli will be the newer GT version, although you can still find the older ones around.

If I try the Night Dragon I would prefer to space out the brake rod instead of buying the replacement for just trying out a tire, I don't know what it takes to space out the brake rod.

1. With what appears as not much center tread grooves, have you had issues with the Night Dragon in the rain?

2. How many miles do you get on the Night Dragon?



Thanks for commenting on the front as that was my followup question.

1. Have you researched the Michelin Activ for the front?

2. Do you know the circumference for the front Pilot 4 compared to the K555? Looking for the speedo difference along with the overall circumference difference.



Pricing, you have a handful of companies who buy tires in quantity, you get a better deal but that is where people complain of age (not always), the dealers are stuck with them until they sell. When we sell a tire, we get them from the supplier and are as fresh as the tires will get but you pay more. I have always had good dates on tires I have purchased directly for my bike, so far. To get down to the nitty gritty of what you are looking for, we make about $4.50 at that price, if we had the ire priced out properly on our site we would be selling it in the 153-154 range. Discounts dealers receive on tires can change monthly so you can see a variance all of a sudden.     
   

[Jerry G Turner]

I like Avon's I have them on the front and the rear. I also bought a brake stay rod they don't cost that much.

[TLRam1]

Which Avon's are you running Jerry?

[MagnaMan]

Hoot's experience matches mine. Motorcycle tires seem to get slicker and harder after about two years of being exposed to the elements. So I'd match tires to the mileage you plan to put on them.

If you want a matched set (front and back) at stock size there are only two choices now, the last time I researched this about 1 year ago: Dunlop and Metzeler. The Dunlops are softer but they are cheaper than most. I'm also running Shinkos on one of my Magnas and I like them. They don't make a stock front tire size though. But they are the only one with a white wall option for my purple and white Magna.

Stock Tire Sizes
First number is tire width in mm / second number sidewall height as percentage of the width

Front Tire: 120/80-17 tubeless 3"
Rear Tire: 150/80-15 tubeless 3.5"

Other Tire sizes and their sidewall heights in millimeters (mm)

Front
110/90-17 is 99
120/80-17 is 96
120/70-17 is 84
120/90-17 is 108
130/80-17 is 104  (for a white wall option in Shinko)
130/70-17 is 91

Rear
150/80-15 is 120
150/90-15 is 135 (also in a white wall option in Shinko)
160/80-15 is 128 (trying this size currently due to smaller contact patches on the 170 and 180 sizes)
170/80-15 is 136
180/70-15 is 126

Notes on the rear tire size
170/80 R15 (Too tall in my opinion. Bottomed out at least once and bent license plate bracket on the fender.)
180/70 R15 (Seems to have smaller contact patch than stock width. Perhaps due to cupping.)

[MagnaMan]

Regarding the brake stay rod. I have a Cycle-istic one, but I don't really know that you need it... or even shimming for that matter. I'd install the wider tire first and the see what you think.

The main thing about the wider tires is they may look cooler but most of them are rated for a 4" rim and we have 3.5". So I think they actually have a smaller contact patch because they are cupped. I unofficially noticed this after rolling my Magna through dust and seeing what stuck to the tire. I measured it and it seemed to be disproportionately smaller on the wider tires.

If you want a Cycle-istic brake stay rod, however, I have one new in the package that is yours. (I owe you.)

[TLRam1]

This could be an issue if these are all the same as I ride two-up frequently.

170/80 R15 (Too tall in my opinion. Bottomed out at least once and bent license plate bracket on the fender.)

Was your license plate the stock bracket Jesse?

[MagnaMan]

Was your license plate the stock bracket Jesse?

Yes. It's the stock bracket that comes down from the fender. Hit bottom on a railroad crossing in a small Texas town and had to pull over and straighten stuff out to keep from rubbing. I was riding one up with stock suspension and saddle bags. Don't remember what the preload settings was on the shocks. Usually I ride with the preload in the middle or all the way on.

[Jerry G Turner]

With the larger tire on the back the brake stay would touch the tire if you were putting 40 lbs of air in it. That is why I went with the other brake stay rod. It looks better too.

[hootmon]

Michelin Pilot is a 120 70 17 (instead of an 80).. it throws the Speedo off by about 10% (reading faster than you are actually going). It also increases the speed that the odometer accumulates by 10%, so when you have 100K on the bike you really only have 90K..

I have run the Avon Cobra's twice on the Magna.. I liked them at 1st, but had the same issue with both of them.. When they were worn, I picked up a front in shimmy when in curves.. This went away both times when I replaced the rear tire.

The Pirelli has been the best in the rain so far (outside of a car tire). Part of the function of the front tire is to push the water away so the rear tire doesn't have to deal with as much water.. The Pilot does a great job of this, but the Michelin Commander still did not do well even with the Pilot pushing water in front of it.

The GT version is NOT a newer version, but a different version.. It's intent is for heavier machines (Think Harley tour bikes), You do not need the extra stiffness of the GT on a Magna.

[Jerry G Turner]

The rear Avon is a venom X and the front is a road rider  the front is stock size the rear is wider. The front is fairly new had a Dunlop before which had started to cause the front to wopple.

[hootmon]

The rear Avon is a venom X and the front is a road rider  the front is stock size the rear is wider. The front is fairly new had a Dunlop before which had started to cause the front to wopple.

You are correct Jerry.. I should have stated Venom rear tires, not Cobra's .. I knew it had something to do with snakes!

[TLRam1]

Has anyone else had issues with a 170 tire hitting your license plate bracket if you bottom out?

Jesse, on this tire what does the 136 represent?

170/80-15 is 136

If it is circumference, on the Dunlop 170 the diameter is 25.95 and I get 81.5" for a circumference.

[MagnaMan]

Terry. Very sorry for the confusion. I did not have any labels on those numbers. But I added them back to my original post.

So based on a tire sizing article I read (and I think it's even on the MOOT site). The numbers in the aspect ratio (like 170 / 80) break down like this:

• 170 is the width of the tire in mm
• 80 the sidewall's height as a percentage of the width, meaning the sidewall is 80% of tire's width.

So follow my calculations and let me know what you think.

• So 170 mm x .8 = 136 mm for the sidewall's height or 5.35 inches vs the stock tire size of 150/80 means a sidewall height of 96mm or 3.78 inches.
• 5.25" - 3.78" equals 1.57" inches difference.
• You'll only lose 1.5" of clearance under the fender.
• However the tire will go 1.5" closer to front and back of the fenders as it spins around.
• As the chain wears and you move the tire back to adjust the tension, you will gradually decrease the clearance between the tire and the stock license plate holder.

Incidentally, the entire tire will be about 3" taller because we have a taller sidewall at the top of the tire and the bottom.

Using the sidewall heights I calculated in that listing above you can see the relative differences in lift and clearance.