I've got 15,000 miles on my American Elites and still have plenty of tread left. I ride curvy mountain roads that love to eat up tires. The ride quality is very nice as well.

 

I actually like the new design Dunlops (and I hate Dunlops typically). I put Metzelers on my Triumph and they are made in China and look very sloppy. I dont trust them and theyre coming off on Saturday. I've also had good luck with Continentals

 

I don't want to start an argument, but I find it almost comical that some of you clam to get 30k miles on a rear tire. No way, no how.

 

Car tire, man....car tire............

 

Hmmm ... I didn't see anyone ( in this thread ) claiming 30,000 miles ... Maybe kilometers ( 30,000 km = about 18,000 miles )

 

Like most, I would like to get some realistic mileage out of my tires and that is exactly why I changed to Michelin's. I'm on my 3rd set and have been totally satisfied thus far. I have had two different Harley's over the past 5 years and both bikes rear tires got less than 7 thousand miles on the stock Dunlops and a few thousand more on the front.

I don't jerk my bike around doing burnouts but I do ride more aggressively than most in my age bracket (64). Also, I live in hill and mnt. country and do most of my riding in the twisties.

I can't comment on the other brands that were mentioned and I'm sure some of them would also give better mileage/handling than stock Dunlop's. What I'm really impressed with is the Commander II's handling, especially in the rain. I don't plan a ride if I know it's going to rain but as you all know rain happens, especially if you ride any distance from your home base. Other handling aspects of the Michelin's are very good also. The effects of tar worms aren't as pronounced with them as they were with the stock Dunlop's.

I constantly check pressure/tread condition of my tires so I don't get any surprises there. The one bad wreck (knock on wood) I had back in my younger days was due to my trying to stretch more mileage out of a front tire. As a result I probably put on new rubber a little bit too soon. Had rather waste a thousand or so miles than fracture another hip!

I got 12,104 miles on the first rear Michelin on my current ride, 17,264 miles on the front. The second set ran 11,882 rear and 17,821 front. I'm over 6 grand on current set rear and it still looks new. For what motorcycle tires cost us they should last much longer than they do under normal, lawful riding conditions. Agree?

 

14k miles on the stock Dunlops before changing to the American Elites with Ride-on. I've got 22K on those. There's a few thousand miles left on the rear and lots of tread left on the front but there's a little cupping starting to show up on the front.

There's a new set of Elites in my shop just waiting to get changed.

 

You have 50K on your bike, so you had to have changed the tires at least twice. What are you currently running?

I have continental conti tours. about 3K and still looks good. I know you can get at least 20k on the stock dunlops. I had 20K and the cords were about to show. riding the twisties makes them last even longer since those threads are rarely used.

 

There was a thread recently where one claimed he had gotten something like 18k miles and 32k miles. Finally found it. Post #18 However, take it with a grain of salt since it has been the only post by that member.

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/gener...2-tires-2.html
"My first 2 rear tires lasted about 18,000 miles each, but then I started pulling the trailer and the back tires dropped to about 10,000 miles per "
"The front tires lasted 32,000 miles and 18,000 miles pulling trailer."

 

Bonnie, assuming that picture is the rear tire. It looks like you might be very aggressive on the throttle, starting out, even if you are not smoking it. Hard traction coorelates to wear. As well, it is more worn on the right side. Maybe alignment, or you are more aggressive coming out of right turns than left ones.