Nomad Owners, I have a tire question

[Ron.Wade]

Hi all,
I am Ron Wade, 62 yo, retired and live on the nw side of Indianapolis. Any other Indy people out there? I'm a total newby to this web site and have found it very informative. I was made aware of the site by a member who was also tired of the VROC bull s---.

The first of May, I bought a used 02 Nomad with 13K miles on it and with very noisy Bridgestone tires that I just had to replace. After some research on the VROC site, I decided the tire to go with was the Dunlop 404's. I now have 8K miles on these tires and these have gotten to be almost as noisy as the Bridgestones. For the record, I have carried the recommended 40# pressure in each tire.

I contacted Dunlop and have a meeting set up with the tire rep on Monday. In the initial look see by the tire selling MC shop, the shop guy told me that 404's were not designed for the heavier cruisers and that is probably why they are cupped so bad. Is that correct??????

He also said that I have exceeded wear expectations on the 404's with 8,000 miles on them. Since I hadn't used 404"s before I couldn't argue but, that seems like way too short of a tread life. I still have over 50% center tread left on the tires.

"IF", I say "IF", I get some sort of adjustment from Dunlop, I sure don't want to put 404's back on. They make a 491 tire but, my understanding is that they don't make a rear tire our size (180/50/16).

I am curious to know if any other "heavy" cruiser bike owners have had this cupping problem with 404's and what eventually happened to them?

I'm also looking for suggestions on 150/80/16 tires that are a harder compound, high mileage tire. I know the Metzler 880's have sizes for the Nomad but, are there any other options?

Thanks.................

Ron
ron.wade@att.net

[ispeed77]

the only thing i can offer is that i have heard a lot of good things about the metzler 880's. i am planning on putting them on mine this winter. good luck with dunlop !

[teddymar]

I have a 2002 Nomad that I bought on e-bay this summer. It came to me with 9000 mi. and had a pretty worn rear tire and a good front tire, both oem bridgestones excedras. The noise in front on curves was really bad, whining and all so I thought it had irregular wear. The dealer, S&S powersports in Clarksville, In. just across river from Louisville, where I live, tightened the front suspension to specs and the noise went away completely. They also put a new Bridgestone Exedra on the rear and it is perfect. I just went to Tn and NC for a 750 mile ride with 10 other bikes and the ride was great. Also, Cruiser magazine did a review on the Nomad a few months ago,(you can download any of their articles on the net) and they put Metzlers on their test bike and said they were noisier than the oem Bridgestones. I am very happy with the oem tires. They are also approved by Honda for the Goldwing. That should speak well for these tires. Check that front suspension bearing preload! Good luck.

[ispeed77]

good call on the preload, thanks for the info teddy. i will definitely check mine this winter. thanks again.

[tomnomad2004]

I found out that the best tires for big V twins cruisers are the MICHELIN COMMANDER. They have the best review and you should be able to get 11000 miles on the rear tires.
go check this out

http://www.motorcycle.com/mo/mcworld/idyl.html

[TimR]

I think the cupping problem is something all nomad owners have,i have an 03 and my dad and brother have 04s .we all have had this problem.recently switched my rear to a michelin .i dont have enough miles on it yet to pass judgement .ask me this question again in august and I,ll be able to tell you how good (or Bad )michelin tires are.

[grunt]

Hi Ron,

I'm 60 and semi-retired. Not by choice, that's just the way it is now. One of the many not counted as unemployed by gov statistics.

My bike is in the shop now getting Dunlop 404's put on. It is a 98 Vulcan 1500 Classic. Should of listened to bikeaholic on the Metzlers, But the 404's were $133 a set vs $250 for the Metzlers.

How did you like the 404's other than the noise/cupping problem? When did it occur?

[2WheelFun]

Ladies n Gentlemen.....This is a topic that I have asked about and the repeated answers I got about brands and model of tires to go with were:

1. Dunlop 491 Elite II
2. Metzlers 880
3. Michelin Commander

Since I am not....and do not pretend to know which of these is "the best" tire....and I will be needing to replace tires also....I have narrowed it down to the top 2 choices listed above.....and the more I hear about the Metzlers...the more I am leaning toward them.

Anyone want to confuse me and tell me to buy something else?

[teddymar]

Hey, whistle,
My vote for tire choice is the Michelin Commander referred to by another writer with an article by motorcycle online attached. Good article. I am still on the stock Bridgstone Exedra tires and I like them very much. No noise issues or quirky handling, but the front fork bearings had to be set to spec by the dealer to get rid of the front tire whine on curves. The Metzelers always seem to be criticized for excessive noise by the cycle magazines when mounted on Kawas. Just my 2 cents.

[Nadmeister]

Originally Posted by teddymar

Hey, whistle,
My vote for tire choice is the Michelin Commander referred to by another writer with an article by motorcycle online attached. Good article. I am still on the stock Bridgstone Exedra tires and I like them very much. No noise issues or quirky handling, but the front fork bearings had to be set to spec by the dealer to get rid of the front tire whine on curves. The Metzelers always seem to be criticized for excessive noise by the cycle magazines when mounted on Kawas. Just my 2 cents.

I don't know the first thing about mechanic. Could someone explain to me exactly what "the front fork bearings had to be set to spec" means or entails. Also further up teddymar mentions "tightened the front suspension to specs" and "Check that front suspension bearing preload". I'm pretty sure I'll need this, but if someone could explain to me exactly what it means, I would appreciate it.

[centerpunch]

Nadmeister, I am with you. I would like to know the specs so I could check my front end also. I only have 650 on my bike but would like to have the info if it starts to make noise.

[JoeNomad1]

I went with the Avon Venom in the stock size. They have the exact load rating that Kawasaki recommends. They are much quieter than the OEM and stickier too.

[plantman]

Well I'm going to add another log on the fire. I've run the stock Bridgestones and the Metzlers (which I really like), but this year I'm going to try the Avon Venoms. They have a higher load rating than any other tire that I've seen.

[dkdixie]

Check out the new Avon Cobra radials. Helluva lot better tires than Metzler, Bridgestone or Dunlop IMHO.

[BigJohn]

Reserection time. They just keep coming back form the dead. Oh, yeh...yesterday was Halloween. Now I know why.

[blackiedog]

I've got 22000kms (15kmiles) on the front stone..doesn't seem to want to wear out!! No cupping at all..but with that many kilometers, it tends to take about 5 mins. of hwy speed to warm it up and then its good. I'm running a metz 880 on the rear with about 8000kms (5000 miles) and I have no complaints. Not sure what to put on it next yr. so I guess I will sit back and see what you guys do?

[BOURBON BOY]

Even though this is a ancient thread, I love my EIII's, and so far the Avon Cobra's are doing well on my bro-in-laws Valk, which is about the same weight as a Nomad. BB

[lh4x4]

I have found that running 4 to 6 pounds over the recommended psi will reduce cupping. Dunlops seem very prone to cupping.

I have 5K on my 07 Nomad and no cupping. The same with my other three rides. They are all big bikes. The VTX1800 and the Rune are 840 lbs curb weight. I run all of them @ 6 psi over. That still puts the pressure below the maximum inflation limit posted on the tire.

[NY_Guy]

Originally Posted by Ron.Wade

Hi all,
I am Ron Wade, 62 yo, retired and live on the nw side of Indianapolis. Any other Indy people out there? I'm a total newby to this web site and have found it very informative. I was made aware of the site by a member who was also tired of the VROC bull s---.

The first of May, I bought a used 02 Nomad with 13K miles on it and with very noisy Bridgestone tires that I just had to replace. After some research on the VROC site, I decided the tire to go with was the Dunlop 404's. I now have 8K miles on these tires and these have gotten to be almost as noisy as the Bridgestones. For the record, I have carried the recommended 40# pressure in each tire.

I contacted Dunlop and have a meeting set up with the tire rep on Monday. In the initial look see by the tire selling MC shop, the shop guy told me that 404's were not designed for the heavier cruisers and that is probably why they are cupped so bad. Is that correct??????

He also said that I have exceeded wear expectations on the 404's with 8,000 miles on them. Since I hadn't used 404"s before I couldn't argue but, that seems like way too short of a tread life. I still have over 50% center tread left on the tires.

"IF", I say "IF", I get some sort of adjustment from Dunlop, I sure don't want to put 404's back on. They make a 491 tire but, my understanding is that they don't make a rear tire our size (180/50/16).

I am curious to know if any other "heavy" cruiser bike owners have had this cupping problem with 404's and what eventually happened to them?

I'm also looking for suggestions on 150/80/16 tires that are a harder compound, high mileage tire. I know the Metzler 880's have sizes for the Nomad but, are there any other options?

Thanks.................

Ron
ron.wade@att.net

Avon Venom X: quiet and excellent handling in wet weather. And BTW: bias is just fine, though not as much mileage.

Jan

[brother]

The noise is caused by the tires wearing and cupping. When you lean into a turn they get noisy like a 4 whell drive mudgrip,straighten up they get quiet. It's telling you it's tire change time again.