Hey guys Iam a new member here and am looking for some opinions. My front tire needs to be replaced, the tire that was on my bike when I bought it (2006 xl883 with a 1200 kit and 2 1/4 drag pipes) was a 90/90 19 Dunlop d404 Harley tire. Ive heard that tire is not very good so I was wanting something else. I was also thinking of going a little bigger in the front, not sure if I should go 100/90, 110/90, 110/80 or stay 90/90 ?
also the tire I was looking at is the Shinko 777, any opinions on that tire or another tire I should be looking at?
Thanks in advance for the help, Iam really enjoying the forum, tons of info here.
I thought I might add the rear tire on the bike is the matching Dunlop in a 150/80 16. Should I stay with that size or would it help my pickup any to go with a 13/90 16?

 

I have Shinko's on some of my HD's and I'm satisfied with them, I would not go larger then the 100 on the front. On the rear I have a 170 on my Iron 883.

 

Stock 19" front should be a 100/90-19" so you should have no trouble fitting that. Very common and many options available. The 883C came OEM with a 80/90-21" though, not sure which you have.

Stick with the 150/80-16" for the rear. You can't properly fit a 130/90 on there anyways so that's not an option.

The Shinkos are good tires for their price. Very sticky, good wet weather, but they don't last very long. Can't go wrong with it as long as you know that going in.

 

For what it's worth...a lot of people like to talk **** on the stock Dunlops. I beat the **** out of D402s and run them down to cords just about every time. I think they're pretty good tires.

On the front I run an Avon Speedmaster.

 

On the rear I don't mind the dunlops either. They wear well. It's on the front that I avoid them because they have a center groove that runs diametrically around the whole tire. Because of that groove, they tend to follow all the cracks, nooks and crannies in the road. In fact I avoid any front tires that have the center groove for that matter.

 

Got this on the front right now LOL.

 

I like my Pirelli MT66 Routes, front and rear. They seem to grip really well, have a soft touch and cost a LOT less than some of the other options.

In all fairness, I only have 1,500 miles on them so far, so I can't vouch for tread life.

My opinion is to stick with the stock sizes, but hell, do what you want, it's your scoot.

 

Dude! You're a sucker for road cracks...

I too have the Pirelli MT66 on the front. Yup, great tire. I don't have a lot of miles on it either but come on... mileage-wise it can't be worse than shinko!

 

I upgraded to Metzeler ME888 Marathon Ultra and was amazed how much nicer tire it is than the stock Dunflops especially in not following the tar snakes.

 

Awesome. Thanks for all the input guys. I guess I'll go with the 100/90 19 up front.
Any opinions on a great tire? I was going to go with the Shinko 777 but it sounds like they wear pretty fast.