rear tires worn-out means $$$$$$ out the window

[Jon0341]

Do you say the same thing about your car, house, family or anything you own. Everything requires upkeep and for the bike I believe is a better investment because it double as a fuel efficient commuter and stress relieving hobby.

 

[Phxbuller]

Stress relieving[up][up][up] I hear that

 

[PPDRGN]

MAGIC, good to know your SHINKOs are performing on par... I don't do anything aggressive or track time....so I am not really worried about extra sticky grips ... i did punch it to 103 for about 5 secs on empty HOV lane, it felt good lol ,,, I mainly ride it for work commute, combination of city and mostly interstate.

How do you rate the tread wear considering you've ridden them for 4k?

 

[Macbuell]

I am saddened by people who use this bike as a commuter. That is not what it was intended for! Use the whole tire, take it on spirited rides. Find a back twisty and ride it both ways.

I would rather rack up crappy miles on my way to work getting 14 MPG in my SUV than get 45 MPG when I am tired and just using my baby as a form of transportation. The Buell is a toy, and it can get expensive if you try to get 40k highways miles out of her.

In 10k miles I can count the times my bike has been on a highway on both hands. I try hard to keep her off of straight lines.

 

[vance580]

I dont see anything wrong with using a Buell as a commuter. I ride my Buell everyday and because of this I always find the long way around so I can take the twisties. I rarely use the highway even though I use it as a commuter. The only time I even drive my car is to do laundry, grocery shop, or going to a car show. I even ride it in the rain and cold. Its my favorite form of transportation. To me no miles on my Buell are crappy miles. I just love being on it enjoying the ride. I also never tend to care about being late when I ride it places.

To the OP I use Dunlop Roadsmarts just got them about 3 weeks ago so I dont know about the longevity of them but they had good reviews. I was gonna get the Michelin Roads but they werent in stock so I just got the Roadsmarts. I love them they already feel better in the twisties after I scrubbed them in and have road them in the rain a few times and cut through the rain no problem.

 

[PPDRGN]

Macbuell,
I feel you... but don't be saddened by us commuter folks... you have to consider the type of roadways that is available to us.. where I am at are city street with traffic lights and highways with traffic jam. I get to indulge in twisties with some buddies on rare occasion... but I enjoy my XB regardless of the road condition... it is what it is, I just make the most of what is available... so just ride those bends/corners hard and laugh out out for us commuter folks as you get to lean left and right, will you... ciao

 

[rockerphotographer]

WHAT?!?!?! I GET 5k MAX. 3,500 on the last rear. It was not an old tire either...

Now I seriously doubt I'll get 10k miles out of these tires running them on the track. It was the commuter type people that might tear up the twisties on the weekends that I was speaking of. The higher mileage center compound really helps out the "straight line" people.

 

[captain chaos]

I am saddened by people who use this bike as a commuter. That is not what it was intended for! Use the whole tire, take it on spirited rides. Find a back twisty and ride it both ways.

I would rather rack up crappy miles on my way to work getting 14 MPG in my SUV than get 45 MPG when I am tired and just using my baby as a form of transportation. The Buell is a toy, and it can get expensive if you try to get 40k highways miles out of her.

In 10k miles I can count the times my bike has been on a highway on both hands. I try hard to keep her off of straight lines.

To some of us, a bike is a LOT more than a "toy". I enjoy commuting on my bike 1000X more than my car. I've been in a funk all week because I've had to drive due to the 40degees and constant raining we've had.
You can be saddened for me all you want, I'm saddened to see a bike sit with low miles, only to be brought out for "play time", because the owner doesn't want to put any distance on her. Now, I have no love for the interstates (slab riding doesn't "do it" for me) but there is a CRAPLOAD of 2-lanes in this country begging to be ridden.
A bike with 6 digits showing on the odometer makes me smile every time, be it a Buell, a supersport or a touring rig.

Oh yeah, 40k mi on a Buell is going to be a HECK of a lot less expensive than 40k in a 14mpg SUV, even after you factor in tires and maintenance.


PPDRGN: I too ran a Raven on one of my previous bikes. Although I didn't like the profile (turned in too slowly) it was a good tire, with plenty of grip and it seemed like it was going to hold up well to miles.

 

[myronman3]

there is no better way to start a day at work than with a ride, and no better way to leave it behind than with a ride. when i had a commute, i used to ride everyday that the weather would let me. why would anyone pass up an opportunity to ride?

 

[Alfatango1]

For 8 months I commuted on my Buell to work. About 18 miles each way and at 4:00AM then working 3 to 4 hours then back during rush hour. I would never have taken the job if I had to drive one of my cars. Even in my Alfa Spider with the mileage it gets I would drive my bike whenever the weather permitted. All highway, one nice sweeper and one round about off ramp that I could enjoy.

Nothing wrong with using a bike as a commuter, I loved the morning rides on my bike. It's always therapeutic

 

[Bullxb12r]

I put on a Bridgestone Battalax back in feb. It is also a multi-compound tire like the Michellin pilot pro. It was a little less money, which was the deciding factor for me. I've got 3500 miles on it, and not even half way to the tread wear indicator yet. There arent many twisties in Orlando, Fl. so the center of mine wears out first too.

 

[brightbuell]

Yea, just think about it like this, if you spend more time finding a good shop that will put tires on cheap, then you can spend more money on good tires that might save your ass. I will buy above average tires every time and do half the work myself. If i take the wheels of the bike i only have to pay $25 per tire to have the old ones taken off and the new ones put on the rim and balanced. So $50 total and some elbow grease. My last place was $35 per tire, and before that was a dealership and they did it for free but you had to buy the tires from them and they had a 100% mark up on all there tires. ********!!!!!!!!!!! So you have to shop around.

 

[captain chaos]

Or you could spend about $50 total in tools and mount/balance your own tires forever. That's what I did and that balancer has already paid for itself this year alone. [up]

 

[PPDRGN]

Finally got the new rubber installed and tested... good grip all around, there is really no change in handling... though i am a bit cautious on leans,turns because of the geometrical profile change. it seems like the contact patch for turns/leans is less.. i've put on about 100 miles on it and no discrepancy noted.... I hope to get at least 8k miles on this baby...

 

[xlr8n_xb]

I have run Bridgestone Battlaxe's, Dunlop Q2's, Stock dunlops and don't get over 3500-4K per rear. 6k for fronts. I am going to run 2CT's next. Will let you know. Oh and I commute 20 miles to work and its pretty straight riding but on weekends its adirondack mountain and catskill mountain twisty roads at 100+ mph most of the way. I guess 3-4k miles of abuse isn't to bad. Good luck with the shinko's. Let us know how long they last.

 

[Applepooh]

damn...
please turn a lot or that is going to be one flat spot lol