10-23-2018, 03:37 AM
Wow. There sure aren't very many tires available in my bike's 110/80/18 and 140/17/18 sizes. None of the usual suspects (PR4, Roadsmart III, Angel GT, etc.) offer a rear tire in my size, and most don't offer fronts, either. Unlike mickey, I wasn't willing to change tire sizes. I like the handling just the way it is. I don't want to alter anything.
After shopping around, I only found three choices in radial tires that will accept inner tubes without needing to change loads, or anything else. In general, the stock Dunlop D205 no longer seems to be available, but I did find one place that carried a matching set. They wanted a fortune for the front tire, as in, way more for the front than for the rear, and the rear wasn't cheap either. I took a pass on that one. The next set was what seemed to be an older version of the Bridgestone Battlax BT54. Unlike the current set, which features two wide-set center groves in the front tire, this older BT54 had a single groove in the center, like the stock Dunlop, which means it tracks freeway grooves. I'm not a fan of that center groove. Unfortunately, the newer BT54 with the wide-set dual grooves doesn't accept inner tubes, according to the tech on the phone. Even though this set was much more affordable, I decided to keep looking, and I finally found a third set, the Metzeler Roadtec Z8. No center groove. Reviews say it lasts forever. I watched some videos of people showing the rear tire with 11K and even 13k miles, and there was still a decent amount of tread in the center.
I ordered up the Metzelers, along with a set of Honda/Dunlop OEM inner tubes, and some new rim strips. All in, it ended up costing $50 more than the Battlax set, but the Metzelers may last longer, and they don't have that annoying center groove. Fwiw, they also look a whole lot cooler. Also, those Honda/Dunlop OEM inner tubes were double the price of the mismatched set I was going to get with the Bridgestones, accounting for half of that $50 difference.
After shopping around, I only found three choices in radial tires that will accept inner tubes without needing to change loads, or anything else. In general, the stock Dunlop D205 no longer seems to be available, but I did find one place that carried a matching set. They wanted a fortune for the front tire, as in, way more for the front than for the rear, and the rear wasn't cheap either. I took a pass on that one. The next set was what seemed to be an older version of the Bridgestone Battlax BT54. Unlike the current set, which features two wide-set center groves in the front tire, this older BT54 had a single groove in the center, like the stock Dunlop, which means it tracks freeway grooves. I'm not a fan of that center groove. Unfortunately, the newer BT54 with the wide-set dual grooves doesn't accept inner tubes, according to the tech on the phone. Even though this set was much more affordable, I decided to keep looking, and I finally found a third set, the Metzeler Roadtec Z8. No center groove. Reviews say it lasts forever. I watched some videos of people showing the rear tire with 11K and even 13k miles, and there was still a decent amount of tread in the center.
I ordered up the Metzelers, along with a set of Honda/Dunlop OEM inner tubes, and some new rim strips. All in, it ended up costing $50 more than the Battlax set, but the Metzelers may last longer, and they don't have that annoying center groove. Fwiw, they also look a whole lot cooler. Also, those Honda/Dunlop OEM inner tubes were double the price of the mismatched set I was going to get with the Bridgestones, accounting for half of that $50 difference.