recomendations on rear tires

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viper94bite

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running on a stock rim what tires would you recommend. In particular the rear.

How is a Dunlop d404?
 
running on a stock rim what tires would you recommend. In particular the rear.

How is a Dunlop d404?
I ran the D404 on my Maxim. It was a pretty good tire for a 650cc bike but I'm not so sure how they would hold up on 1200cc's. Most people here will probably tell you Metzler ME 880 either stock size or 170/80-15
 
I really like my Dunlop Qualifiers (K525 rear) but they're pretty soft. I've only put about 4300 miles on this one since I put them on in May. Hopefully you can see how flat it's becoming already. Part of it is that it's pretty straight around here; very few turns. Part of it is probably 95+ degree ambient temps (track temps, ahem, I mean ROAD temps being who knows what?). Then you have me dropping 3 gears into a corner to help get me set up that's probably not helping matters either. :biglaugh:

I would have gone with the ME's but I had heard they weren't as sticky. I'll put another Qualifier on there to keep the front and rear matched, but next season I may try the ME's to see how they work out.

The long and the short is if you're looking for longevity, you may want to look at the ME's over the Qualifiers/D404.

Just my two cents guys. :)
 

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i've got the qualifiers on there now. I just ordered an me880. I don't care if they match to much as long as I have tread and the tire has a good life span.
 
I'm new to my Max and this group. I, too, have many questions about the best tire config. I'm used to sportbike riding and have little confidence :bang head: in the stock tires on the Max - which I love riding in general.

What will give me the handling confidence I'm lacking? I'm at the end of the side tread as it is and I realize that it won't corner like the my sports.

Thanks. Much appreciated!
 
I'm new to my Max and this group. I, too, have many questions about the best tire config. I'm used to sportbike riding and have little confidence :bang head: in the stock tires on the Max - which I love riding in general.

What will give me the handling confidence I'm lacking? I'm at the end of the side tread as it is and I realize that it won't corner like the my sports.

Thanks. Much appreciated!

Yea, you have to adjust your riding from a sport bike to the Max, however it still corners OK in stock form. You'll find you can lean it over more than you think. The weight of the bike makes it feels a bit unwieldy, but it tracks pretty good as long as the typical maintenance things have been taken care of. However, low tire pressure and incorrectly torqued head bearings can cause major handling issues.
If you want to get a more "sporty" feel, you will have to buy 17 (or 18) inch rims to you can run radials, and do work on the suspension.
 
I say go with the Venom AM42 in stock size. It looks good, much sticker than the factory tire and its cheap. I have 4,300 miles on one and I would say it looks like it is a little more than half worn. I have multiple trips down the strip and a couple good burnouts on it as well.
 
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I'm looking at getting a new rear tire for the Max as well. How does the ME compare to the Avon Venom? When I picked mine up it's already got a flat spot all the way accross the tire, so cornering is a little hairy. How about price? A local custom shop quoted me around $150.00 for the ME, is that about right?
 
I'm looking at getting a new rear tire for the Max as well. How does the ME compare to the Avon Venom? When I picked mine up it's already got a flat spot all the way accross the tire, so cornering is a little hairy. How about price? A local custom shop quoted me around $150.00 for the ME, is that about right?

www.ronayers.com 110-10419 ME880 170/80HB15 Rear $127.14 Plus shipping of course....
 
Right on, I'll go out at the end of the year and "Get rid" of the Venom on there now. :D

How does the Venom compare to the Metzler?
 
I know it's a lot of questions, but why not opt for the stickier tire? I'll give the Metz a go as I don't want to replace rear tires every season, just curious.
 
Yeah, just like 4gasem's getting at, unfortunately we can't have a really grippy tire AND have a long wearing tire at the same time. In order to get the grip, the compound has to be soft (relatively) but to get tread-life, the compound must be more durable, or harder. It's like racing tires; they're nice and soft/grippy for traction, but you're only going to run them a very short time because they're so soft.
 
Right I mean I understand the concept of tire compound and what not. I've had a few stree/strip cars and and a mud truck or two. ;) I guess the answer I was looking for is you would also take a better wearing tire over a stickier tire. Just through me for a loop when I saw the H-D guys run the Venom.
 
Yeah, just like 4gasem's getting at, unfortunately we can't have a really grippy tire AND have a long wearing tire at the same time. In order to get the grip, the compound has to be soft (relatively) but to get tread-life, the compound must be more durable, or harder. It's like racing tires; they're nice and soft/grippy for traction, but you're only going to run them a very short time because they're so soft.


Ahh.... But you could if you went with radials and got the dual compound tires thats out there now...:thumbs up: Harder in center but softer on the edge... Pilot 2CT's and coming soon the Road 2CT's...:thumbs up:
 
Right I mean I understand the concept of tire compound and what not. I've had a few stree/strip cars and and a mud truck or two. ;) I guess the answer I was looking for is you would also take a better wearing tire over a stickier tire. Just through me for a loop when I saw the H-D guys run the Venom.

I run the Metzler Z6's on my SV and they are sport touring tires which last longer and I run the ME880 radial on the back of the Max and a Zed on the front...:thumbs up:
 

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