I installed a set of Commander II on my bike. Although I have only put a few miles on the new tires I wanted to give my first impressions of the tires; first, whenever one buys new tires they always feel much better than the worn ones. And, when giving a review on newly purchased items one tends to want to feel they made the right decision which may lead them to be a little bias and over state their approval. Having said that, here is my first my impressions of the CII;

At first they didn't seem to be any different than my Dunlop D407/D408 as far as ride and handling was concerned, but that was just a short ride home from the installer. So, I took a fairly long ride this morning to see if I could see any advantage. I must say they handle very well and do in fact feel different than Dunlop. The turning response was more smooth and positive than I had expected. Seems in the turns the bike was like riding a rail. Once I set my turn angle, she never moved off of it... I am extremely impressed with that factor alone. Also, I tried to find as many grooves in the roadway to test the stableness. And, yes, they do not wonder around as did my Dunlop tires. There is a distinct difference in the feel and I assume it is the tread pattern…not sure about that but there was a marked improvement over the stock tires. At 80/85 mph they were very smooth but no more so than the Dunlop stock tires at these speeds. I call that a push between the two brands.

So, my first impressions is the CII seems to have an advantage on groves and turns both of which feel very stable. As stated above, going straight down the road, I could tell no difference between the Dunlop’s and the CII, if anything, the CII are a bit too response at high speed. It may be just a matter of getting use to them, I don't know yet.

If the tire provides the higher mileage as claimed by Michelin then that is a big plus. The other fact is cost; I paid $ 308.00 for both front and rear tires delivered to my front door while the Dunlop’s where about $ 150.00 more. Only time will tell if these tires are what Michelin claims they are but in my short experience, I am pleased with the change.

Lastly, I have had three sets of Dunlop tires and have had no problem with their performance. My only bitch has been the price of the tires. Also, the Michelins are made in Taiwan so that may turn some of you off. However, as with all things, there may be a better product out there. We shall see how the CII hold up over time.

 

There is no comparison!! Period! Its night and day......i like them better than metzlers to.

 

You did not say how many miles you had on your 407/408 tires when you replaced them.

 

This is NOT meant to be a criticism of the OP's very thorough write up. I could have posted the exact same thing after installing the set of E3s on my 08 Road King. It took about 10,000 miles before they began to react to the road surface, grooves and seams. At 15,000 miles, the rear tire is about 1/2 worn. I anxiously await the follow-up reports at 10,000, 15,000 and perhaps 20,000 miles for the Michelins. No matter what tire we now have, we will be facing replacement again, and it would be nice to get the ones which perform the best for the most miles, not by manufacturer claims, but by user's experience. Thanks for taking the trouble to let us know and don't forget the updates.

 

I'm at 22k on my rear Dunlop E3 tire now and it is ready for replacement at 1/32" tread depth. I'll continue with the E3 rear, but I'm not getting that kind of mileage for front E3's, more like 20k, and for that reason I may try a CII front next time in combo with the E3 rear. I still haven't seen any durability feedback on the CII's yet, but that's expected since they haven't been out that long.

 

13,500 on the rear tire.

 

wow!! I'm almost to the wear bars at 4500 miles. 2011 flhp:-( the price of riding fast, I suppose.( Yes, the pressure has been correct at all times) At least it's better than my sport bikes where I would wear out the front in under 2,000 miles.

 

I put a set of commanders II on my 2011 Road Glide Ultra at 17,000 May of 2012, it now has 30,000 as of this past Friday they seem to be wearing well, front starting to cup (minimal) and rear looking good. I did remove the rear at 25,000 and added dyna beads for balance(big improvement).
IMO these tires will run a little longer than the Dunlops, I was getting about 12,000 from the rear and 15,000 from the front. My front(original) was replaced at 2,000 under warranty and the rear I tried the American Elite for 5,000, took it off as it cupped and howled in steep turns. I would recommend the Michelins, But they are made in Taiwan.

 

I have a MCII on the rear. Replaced the Dunlop at 10,400 m. The MCII has 7,600 on it now and no sign of wear. I just rode over 3k miles on a trip to the Dragon and back and actually rode the Dragon and through the Smokey Mountains in the rain. Not one issue with the MCII, worked well in wet conditions. To be fair, the front was a Dunlop D408 and had no issues in the rain either. I just ordred a MCII front tire as the D408 has 12,700 miles on it with 2/32 left.

I am happy with the MCII so far and looking forward to seeing how the new front will handle.

 

If the II's wear as well as the E-3's I may give them a shot. We'll have to wait and see.

The E-3's have been so much better than anything I've run previously.