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GL1200 Tires (job done)

2K views 31 replies 11 participants last post by  blackknytecnc 
#1 ·
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Ok fellas, we all know where this CAN go, so let's not. I need new tires for my 1200, the E2's are discontinued, the 404's are ABSOLUTELY out of the question, and the E3's are a bit out of my price range (unless I absolutely have to). I know the bike calls for 74 load rating, but I'd just feel warmer and fuzyer with 77 or up.

I've been doing some shopping and can't seem to find anywhere that talks about load rating... kind of the most important part... So where do you get tires that will tell you about the load ratings?
 
#3 ·
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I just bought a set of Dunlop E3's for my 1500 for $306 for both with free shipping. Jake Wilson.com aka. Rocky Mountain ATV. Not saying that is in your budget but much much cheaper than a dealer. They have load rating info on the tires they sell as well.
 
#4 ·
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I got to say Kevin, they don't last long, 8 to 10K miles, but for the price, Shinko's were great riding tires on my 1200. They ride like pillows but hold the road, you just feel them grabbing...... I wish they made them to last a few thousand miles longer but for an $80 tyre (Rear), you can't beat them for their ride. My $0.02
 
#6 ·
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Ok, so I dig the Dennis Kirk site, but the sizes on the crappy 404's I got say 130/90-16 front and 150/90-15 rear. There are no such sizes on this site. Just MT90HB-16 and MV85HB-15... at least those are the closest I can find to what I have. WTF is MT and MV? Those are for the E3 BTW.

I'm still gonna look around, but I think roscoepc has a point, much as I hate to admit it, I tried to cut the cost corner once and 7000 miles later my bike is on the center stand 'til I find a solution. I'm not a pleasure rider (although I do really enjoy it :action:), I'm a commuter, I NEED MY BIKE BACK!!!!!

So give me the DL on the sizes please :cheesygrin:
 
#8 ·
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roscoepc wrote:
blackknytecnc wrote:
"I'm still gonna look around, but I think roscoepc has a point, much as I hate to admit it."
Boy... You're getting more like Ken Bergenevery dayit seems.....:cool::action::cheeky1::cheeky1::cheeky1::cheeky1:

:ROFL::ROFL::ROFL:

Ok, I can see how that could have been taken the wrong way :D. Sorry Don, what I meant to say was that I hate to admit that the right thing to do is buy the E3's.

Trust me, your advice is always golden for me :cheesygrin:, I just ride this thing, you, wingsam, and the guru's keep it runnin' for me :waving:. I just hate to spend that much on tires dang it!

(ok, brown nosing over... continue :weightlifter:)
 
#9 ·
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blackknytecnc wrote:
roscoepc wrote:
blackknytecnc wrote:
"I'm still gonna look around, but I think roscoepc has a point, much as I hate to admit it."
Boy... You're getting more like Ken Bergenevery dayit seems.....:cool::action::cheeky1::cheeky1::cheeky1::cheeky1:

:ROFL::ROFL::ROFL:

Ok, I can see how that could have been taken the wrong way :D. Sorry Don, what I meant to say was that I hate to admit that the right thing to do is buy the E3's.

Trust me, your advice is always golden for me :cheesygrin:, I just ride this thing, you, wingsam, and the guru's keep it runnin' for me :waving:. I just hate to spend that much on tires dang it!

(ok, brown nosing over... continue :weightlifter:)
Eh.. I didn't take it the wrong way... That was just too good of a shot at Ken to resist....:cool::cheeky1::cheeky1::cheeky1:
 
#10 ·
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jakewilson.com was the cheapest for the E3 that I had seen. I purchased mine from American Motorcycle Tire. Ordered it Thursday and got it today, $144. I think Jakewilson.com was $139 free shipping. That was for my front tire, back would obviously be more.
 
#11 ·
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Hey, since I know you run the E3's Don, what are the sizes on yours? I think I've figured out that the two sizes there are the right ones, just want to make sure because of the 90 I have on the rear now compared to the 85 indicated in that size number.

I looked at the others, looks like the E3's are the cheapest with that load rating anywho (go figure) so I think I'm gonna grab 'em.

I also think I'm gonna take a wack at changing them myself... of course that means I need some guru help :cheesygrin:. Lasttime I mounted a tire was in high school autoshop with an automatic machine... I ain't got one of them... how do I break the bead and remove/remount my own tires? I think I'll just use dyna beads for the balancing, but mounting concerns me.

Also, where the hell do I get new valve stems? I want good ones...
 
#13 ·
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It's cool Sauceman, lord knows I've done that to enough people :D. The tires at Dennis Kirk are $154 for the rear and $116 for the front... that's what I paid for the 404's that are on it :whip:. Looks like it's the same price at Jake Wilson. So it's really tit-for-tat.

I will take the wheels to the shop if I have to, but boy it would be nice to save the $50 it would cost... then I could maybe put that $50 into rebuilding the rear shocks and maybe even the steering head bearings... I'm not getting my hopes up, just day dreaming really...
 
#16 ·
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Learning to do your own tires as you suggested is the best option I think!

$30-$40 for a couple good tire spoons is all you need to get the tires off and on the rims. Then a way to break the beads, some people use a large C clamp but I have not tried that yet. $1 or $2 for a valve core tool.
I'm guessing you have an air-compressor, if not any tire shop would probably air them up for you free to seat the beads.

If you have to pay $50 to have 2 tires mounted you have to pay that for every set of tires. If you spend $50 on tools to do it yourself you only spend that once!

A good thing about doing them yourself also is that you can do them anytime you want, not just when a shop is open and can get to them!
I could have mine done for about $10 a wheel but I still do my own. I can do any tire I want anytime I want and no running back and forth to a shop hauling wheels around.

There is a plus side to running a decent cheap tire also don't forget. If you do your own tires so cost to change is not a factor, then buying a good tire for less money that may get less mileage is still a decent option.
If you buy a $200 tire and cut it on a road hazard you will be out $200. An $80 tire your only out $80

So if most riding is basically pretty local commuting a good cheap tire may be ok. Have to change it more often maybe but your out less money if you ruin it, and when changing is a good time to check brake pads and Molly the splines etc...

Jobe05 says 8 to 10K on a $80 rear Shinko and he liked those. So that's 16-20K on 2 for $160 and if you bought 1 to run one for while and like it, buy the second one so you have a spare on hand and don't have to sit and wait later.
 
#17 ·
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Another thing about doing your own tires. Keep a spare on hand, changing it is free!

I try to change my tires now before they are worn out, it's free and only takes a little time.
This way I have a tire I know is good for a spare and I don't have to wait around for a new tire later.
I also mount a new tire soon as I buy it, keeping the used for the spare.

This approach serves me well.
I bought a new tire for the 1500 front and it was bad with a twisted or busted belt, could not tell until it was mounted. So had to wait for a weekend and 3 shipping days to get a free replacement! They cross shipped a new tire, sent it out soon as I sent the UPS pickup info for the bad one, but it was still having to wait near a week total to get the second one.
Being I had removed a decent tire to keep for a spare, when I found the new tire was bad I put the old one back on and kept riding till I got the second new tire.

If I were going to keep a spare tire I would change the used tire while still plenty of good tread to keep for the spare and mount the new tire right away to make sure it is good and run on the new one.

I had bought my 82 1100 with a near bald tire on rear so I did not have a good spare for it when I found my new Spitfire had cracks all around it in less than 5K miles and I was heading out for a trip which I had to delay near a week to get a new tire! That's when I decided I'd be keeping good spares myself. But then I bought a 1500 instead of a tire LOL

I run long trips allot so I will use the best tires I can find with longest life on the 1500's and keep spares at the house. When I start riding the 1100 again I have a good (for now) Spitfire on it with less than 4K so I will probably buy a Shinko for it to try. Bridgestones been having to many bad tires out and since I already had a Spitfire split once in 5K I don't trust this one.
 
#18 ·
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Ok, so compressor is covered... 3 cylinder, 80 gallons, 240v, big bertha... But go into a little more detail about these spoons if you would... And if you haven't tried the c-clamp method, what method do you use to break the bead?
 
#20 ·
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blackknytecnc wrote:
I've been doing some shopping and can't seem to find anywhere that talks about load rating... kind of the most important part... So where do you get tires that will tell you about the load ratings?
I'm a little confused by this statement. In the first part you mention the load rating number then say you can't find anwhere that talks about the load rating. Is it a chart you want, here's one. I assume you know thisbut in case you don't, the load rating and speed index comes after the tire size, and I don't think I've found a site selling MC tires yet that didn't have that number included in the page for the tire. Here's an Elite 3 front tireat Dennis Kirk. The load index & speed rating is 72H, so the load rating is 780lbs & speed rating is 130 MPH, speed rating chart. If I missed your point then maybe this info will help someone else. :D

John
 
#22 ·
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Yeah, that information isn't what I was looking for, I found the chart with the load ratings from a forum search, but the sites I was going to to shop for tires didn't say what the individual load ratings of the tires were... just crappy sites I guess because both of the sites provided here do list the load ratings.

Dennis, I was just going to balance with dyna beads... I'm a little nervous about it, but so many folks swear by 'em that I though I might give it a shot... on the other hand I may just take my wheels down to D&D and have them do it. I don't know for sure yet. I know I won't be taking it to cycle gear or Steve's cyclesbased simply on price. But it would be nice to be able to just do my own and cut the shops out completely. Every time I've taken anything to a shop I've been burned. Just makes me nervous...
 
#23 ·
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I tried mounting my own once....... For a few dollars, I'll let the pros do it........
 
#24 ·
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I got a set of Shinko 230s installed last week on my SEi. (Replaced the 8 & 9 year old E2's)

Bought on line (http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/1/28/DV/Street-Bike-Tires.aspx)
for $145 total and had them drop shipped to a shop on the west side. Labor was $60 to take my bike and wait while they did all the work. They put new valve stems and there was balance weights on the rim as well.

On the ride back home it was smooth, quiet and the new tires now grip where as the old ones were a little iffy in corners.

Next is my fork rebuilding event.

>>>>>>>>>>>>Action
 
#26 ·
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I had to go back and look at my tires and the shop bill.

The front tire has a 67V rating. I guess that's lighter than you are looking for. As to the back tire, ah it is too dark and buried by saddle bags.
Front is a 130/90-16 $66.99
Rear is a 150/90-15 $78.99
Free shipping so the tires totaled to $145.98 and labor was $60 even. I was expecting $70+. All I did was wait, I didn't touch a tire.

The shop was Psykotic Cycles on 7612 W Vogel in Peoria. (Near you) The appointment was for 9AM I got there are 9:15AM and did not get of there until 12:30. So the wait was longer than I had planned for a Friday morning. However as far as the work goes it seems they did a good job. Hey I have only owned a Goldwing for 73 days so I may not be the most seasoned owner.

>>>>>>>>>>>Action
 
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