Tires - What are you running?

I know there have been many threads about tires, but as it is time to buy some tires for the '68 Fastback project. The bike was running Dunlop K70 up front and K81 at the rear. I am somewhat limited in size as it is an early bike. Does anyone have a suggestion? What are you running?

I was running Avon Super Venom's. I really liked them. But they stopped making them. I just picked up a set of Avon AM26 Roadrider . Look good so far, it won't be till spring before I get them on the road. I have a set of Kenda's on my yamaha, and love them, especially the price. They grip good and wear well.

Avon am26 Roadriders on my T120R. Very good tires but not quite classic style.
I'm going to try the Dunlop GT501's on the Combat. Also not quite classic. But I
hear they're reminesent of 'Fly paper' toward the blacktop. :wink:

If your not to concerned with original looks, then both of these are availible in
sizes you can use.

+1 with bwolfie on the Avon AM26s, they are great tires on my Norton !!! Rides and handles great, not expensive either.

Avon Am26 Roadriders here too. I have them on the Norton and the XS650. I like them alot, and I've ridden them pretty hard.

Wearing out my Dunlops, but have purchased AM 26 tires for next season ,lunar eclipse on mind now...outside.

if you want to stay period 360x19 tt100 front [sizing is simular to a 300x19] and 410x19 tt100 rear [simular to 350x19]

There may be some AM26s under the Christmas tree. :mrgreen:

Avon Am26 Roadriders!

I just installed Avon AM26's two weeks ago. I took off Dunlop K81's. The Avons seem to be a much more road friendly tire than the Dunlops were. Granted, I have probably only put 100 miles on the Avons, but so far, I love them.

I put Avon Roadriders on my 850 when I first got it road worthy and they seemed to make huge improvments in every way except they seem a bit slippery on anything but good road surface. They don't like the tar crapp Caltrans uses to patch small cracks & they have not as of yet made me feel comfortable on wet spots. I haven't gotten cought out in the rain yet and they do seem to be better now with a few thousand miles on them. When I was a kid I road year round & never felt scared in the rain on the old Dunlops. What's the general opinion of Avons Roadriders in the rain ??

gtsun said:

I put Avon Roadriders on my 850 when I first got it road worthy and they seemed to make huge improvments in every way except they seem a bit slippery on anything but good road surface. They don't like the tar crapp Caltrans uses to patch small cracks & they have not as of yet made me feel comfortable on wet spots. I haven't gotten cought out in the rain yet and they do seem to be better now with a few thousand miles on them. When I was a kid I road year round & never felt scared in the rain on the old Dunlops. What's the general opinion of Avons Roadriders in the rain ??

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Just yesterday I went for a ride in intermittent showers with wet and dry sections of pavement. Caltrans must use the same tar seam/crack sealer statewide because hitting the tar can be a thrill in the wet. I think the temperature can have something to do with it. It was in the high 40F's. There is a trade-off for the a longer lasting tire like a Roadrider. Actually, Venoms were even worse in the wet until they warmed up. The only good thing to be said for the tar stripes is that they usually run up and down the road so you can steer around them. Up here there are some interesting patterns though, Humboldt County being what it is :roll:

Guys remember this is a early commando with [if arigonal] narrow mudguard stays, therefor maximum front tyre will be a 300x19, 90/90x19 or 360x19 and rear will be 350x19. 100/90x19 or 410x19.

gtsun said:

. What's the general opinion of Avons Roadriders in the rain ??

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I have always found avons slippery in the wet,mine put me into a drain this winter, but the only other tyre I have used that gripped like the 26 was a yokahama and it lasted less than 500k on the front. In the dry , awsome, in the wet, respect the hard tarmac.

So my memory of the Dunlops being a better tire in the rain is most likely true ?

I use roadriders now and have done since they were available, excellent wear characteristics and no probs in the wet, any tyre will slip on the overbanding!
A trip 3 years ago from the North of Holland to Vezio in Switzerland near the Italian border, 750 miles in torrential rain all the way, even the trucks were slowing down, deep puddles and rivers flowing across the road sat at 75 - 80mph all the way (except when filtering past crashes) even passed a BMW 1150 GS adventure whos rider seemed to be struggling with the weather (OK I speeded up when I had him in my sights and gave him a big wave when I passed,) No problems at all. I live in Scotland, if they were not good in the rain I'm sure i'd have noticed by now! :lol: :lol:

"(OK I speeded up when I had him in my sights and gave him a big wave when I passed,) "

WAY TO GO!!!!!! I tend to do the same sort of thing...

I also have the same tires on oem 19" wheels F and R. PO had much wider 18" ers F and R on the bike and it handled very poorly compared to the oems.

nortriubuell said:

+1 with bwolfie on the Avon AM26s, they are great tires on my Norton !!! Rides and handles great, not expensive either.

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Go with these and you wont be dissapointed. Great in the wet and no 'white lining' . Also despite the cold we are having in the UK had to use bike hit some black ice rear end stepped out pretty sharpish and then rear tyre gripped and I was happily still shiny side up.

Avons, all the way.

I pretty much learned to ride on Dunlop K-81s so I really am fond of them. I have tens of thousands of miles on them; I know their characteristics. If I rode more on dirty roads, then I'd use them. On a dirt road, the Dunlops open (almost knobby like) side tread block pattern, similar to the K-70, is superior to the continuous pattern of the Avons. When you pick up the pace on a clean road, however, the edges of the K-81's open blocks get torn up and too little rubber is presented to the road. Then too, the transition from partial to full lean forces the tire to bridge the gap between the center tread area and the pentagonal outer edge blocks. That's why K-81s, especially new ones, signal a "slip and settle" to the rider when you make a quick turn in. Then, once you're mainly on those pentagonal blocks on the outside of the tire, the K-81 is nice and predictable, yet, in that moment it yields ultimate traction to tires that present continuous bands of rubber to the road. Sort of like a knobby vs a slick.

I wore out a set of 18" Roadriders on my 1986 GSXR 1100; loved them; I felt "ripped off" after I replaced them with some Michelin Pilot Power dual compound tires at twice the price. They were equivalent to the Roadriders on the street. I took both the Suzuki and the Commando out for a track day. The Michelins on the GSXR turned greasy in three laps. That same day, non-DOT roadrace Avons (not Roadriders) went onto my Commando - I could not overheat them. Admittedly not a fair comparison but I'm sold on Avons.

Hehe Bob, I love playing road slalom around patches, trying to zig zag tire right bewteen close ones and not over shoot one way to the other, nor risk a slip up either. Paint is another little detail that can surprise too. I tend to air up more in wet but still tippy toe and don't press hard enough to compare one tire to another in the wet, so glad some have got a sense of them.