Looking for peoples thoughts on Michelin bike tires. I have looked at the commander series and the scorcher 31 series. Positives and negatives that anyone has on these tires would be great. If you don't think they are any good what tire would you go with. Will be on a 2010 Ultra Limited. Thanks for everyone's thoughts. Later
Ozzy

 

I had better luck with the original Commander than II..I have even better service from American Elites....Michelins are favored on my cars n trucks.
I personally would never put a scorcher on a touring bike. Just my opinion.

 

Just put a Commander II on the front to match up with the rear one. We did about 1500 miles last week on em. Of course I took it easy the first 100 miles and did a lot of swerving/weaving to rub off the newness, Then they handled just fine, Very good at speed and on grooved pavement, (One of the things the wife does not like, I asked her how that felt and she didn't even know we were on grooves) I may have felt the road a bit more but I had them almost rock hard at 41psi. And have Progressive monotubes up front The rear can be a little chirpy if you really gas it out of a slow corner. Overall I really like em, They wear like iron, You get a lot of mileage on em.

 

I like the CII's for longevity, but to me they don't feel as hard planted in the road as other tires. And I have had them break loose on hard acceleration out of a corner. The AE's feel slightly better to me, but I have had some cupping issues with them in the past.

I'll take the Avon Cobra for best feel and cornering over them all any day. However, if you ride aggressively, you will go through at least 2 rear tires to any one rear of the CII's or AE's. I have a tire machine so I don't mind changing often. So, like many things in life it's a trade off.

How do you use your bike? What's the most important feature of a tire to you?

 

+1 on the Avon Cobras. Very grippy on both wet and dry. Great handling and provides a comfy ride. I haven't experienced longevity yet. Recommended PSI is a bit higher than the OEM Dunlops.

 

OEM Dunlop, made in America, put hundreds of thousands of miles on them without problems.

 

To the OP's question on Michelin tires, I've had C IIs on the RK for over a year now and I think the mileage / longevity will be better than the OE Dunlops based on how they're wearing thus far. They do seem to be better on tar snakes - based on SOTP assessment. I was hoping for a more pronounced improvement in wet road conditions, but would say they're about on par with the stock Dunlops IMO. Up here in the great northwet, I think next time I'll just go for a tire that has really positive reviews for wet traction vs. a tire that's supposed to provide longer wear like the C IIs.

 

I have about 10,000 on mine, (C11's)seem to be wearing very good, and at least on par with traction to the oem's, if not a tad better, if you are a normal rider, tourer, they'll be great for you. There is also a# you can call and talk to Michelin Bike tire specialist with any questions prior to purchase, seem to have great C.S.

 

I've had all the tires mentioned above except the Commanders. Have a Scorcher 31 on now. 5000 miles and it's almost done. I normally get twice that. I like the E3's the best. I also experienced bad cupping on American Elites. I will be trying the Commander II's next. My bike is about the same weight as yours but I only am able to fit a 150 or 160 tire so it is somewhat narrower than what you're running and therefore probably will always have a shorter tread life.

 

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FYI,do yourself a favor & dont look/ask for opinions on tires because @ times you will get opinions from those that have no 1st hand experience with the C's which is useless & not what you want.

Ask for 1st hand exp when looking for feedback/opinon on tires & then you will get the most useful information.

That said i currently have C2's on my 09 flhtcu (99% ridden 2up & bags loaded so always a lot of load/wt on rear tire) with now 15k miles on them and both tires just passed state insp NP with meat still left on them.

Front looks to have approx 7-8k miles left in it & rear approx 5-6k miles left in it with both tires still riding/running smooth with no issues/cupping etc at all.

So overall the front C2 should go approx 22-23k miles & rear C2 approx 20-21k miles before requiring replacement which is over 2x more miles then the stock Dunlops lasted being completely shot @ 9,700miles.

I install Ride-On in all my bike tires as balance agent and for safety sake a sealer should a tire pickup a nail/screw etc.

Unfortunately i don't have a lot of miles in the rain with C's to report on but the short time i have spent in the rain thus far on C2's was fine .

They handled & held the road just as good or better then other tires i have had on my bikes over the past 45+yrs riding street bikes.

So far they are lasting the longest of any bike tire i have ever used in my many yrs riding street bikes.

But another thing to consider is i am not the like the avg bike rider that IMHO rides too fast in rain cond so guys riding faster then they should (for safety sake) in rain cond on C2's may have a diff riding experience & opinion of them then i do in wet cond.

The original (POS) Dunlops that came on my HD when new were shot @ only 9,700 miles.

The front was horribly cupped making all sorts of noise/howeling & vibrating like heck along with being on the fence for passing state inst & the rear was bald,again at only 9,700miles.

Scott