I have a Dunlop MT89B16 on the front, a Dunlop MU85B16 on the rear. My rear tire is shot after 7000 + miles. I'm having the alignment, and etc, checked when I go for the new rear tire.

My question is:

Should I stay with the fatter tire, or go back to original size?

Is there really a noticable difference between the two?

Thanks!

 

Anyone??

 

I think the fatter the better.. no matter how close it is to the original beleave me those stock are very ugly ... look at the 09 touring bikes and you'll hate HD for not having bigger wheels and tyres on the old models....
I envy those who own 09 models.

 

22K on a seven year old bike is about 3K per year--so a 7K tire should be good for two years--what's the problem?

How much mileage did you get on the 130 mm stock HD tire?

As for 7K on the 140 mm rear tire, typical mileage in the south is probably between 8-10K. Try running the tire with slightly more tire pressure than HD suggests.

Assuming there isn't a huge difference in mileage between the 130 and 140, I'd go for the 140 just to have a bit more road contact.

 

It would seem that more air pressure would wear out the middle of the tire first,this is where my tires go bald first,have been considering lowering tire pressure,what am I not understanding?

 

Keeping proper tire pressure is the key to tire life, I get 12,000 to 14,000 out of the Dunlop mu85 tires, check the tie pressure before every ride, I run 36 psi frt, 40 psi rear two up riding. Doc

 

I run 36 psi front and rear since I'm riding solo, as per the HD specs. And my bike has had 7K miles in 7 months this year. Which is higher than in other years.

The rear is wearing out center first, so more pressure would be a bad thing, yes? No??

I think it's slightly out of alignment. You can almost look at at it from the rear and see it. But..... the bike handles wonderful and I can take my hands off at any legal speed and nothing shakes or leans. She does have a slight decel vibration sometimes, but I think it's mostly from S. Fl crappy roads. This bike very rarely runs over 65 - 70 mph anymore.

I'll probably stay with the 140/85.

Has/does anyone run different brands front / rear? Dunlops currently.

 

I would stay w same brand until you change both and then there are many opioions on which are best, I finally switched to the AVon Venoms and like how they handle but only got 3k on them so don't know how they will wear. I got a little better milage and thought the bike was more stable out of the 140 vs 130 on my 92 but never got much over 7500. A Dunlop rep told me that you should run the max tire pressure since the side wall flex builds up heat and contributes to tire wear. I don't know how folks get such good mileage but I tend to twist the right hand and don't worry about it.

 

GMC,

I'm easy on the throttle, almost always. That's why I'm surprised I didn't get more mileage out of this rear tire.

 

I have to think your rear tire pressure is low with them wearing out that fast.