I always felt this way, but last night I had to ride home in the pouring rain for 50 miles. What fun!

My stock (original equipment) tires gave me the screamin' heebie jeebies! When I got off the freeway, I downshifted through the gears like I always do. On a couple of those downshifts, the tire slid as I eased the clutch out. And then the rear tire skidded as I accelerated (moderately) away from a traffic light. It had been raining long enough such that the surface oils were long gone.

I'm not sure what my next tires will be, but they sure won't be the same ones!! I gotta get something that's a lot more sticky in the rain.

Im not a fan either. I dont have any confidence in my tires. These suckers arent cheap either! I think they are made for high miles and thats about it.

I used to run Sheng Shin (?) on my Nighthawk cause they were sticky. They didnt last too long but they were cheap enough to replace and I had no problem running them to the edge...and back!

These HD tires worry me. Every time I try to push them I get "that feeling" and I back off.

I thinking some of the problem is the skinny front tire, but there is no doubt the tires get loose real fast.

Adios

My tires are done at 7000 miles, and I couldnt get them replaced before a ride last weekend. I felt my rear end slip 3-4 times, and I was not pushing them at all, I was scared to ride hard because I knew they where low on tread. I had to play catch up in the twistys and I rode like crap because all I could think about was my rear tire, after I felt the first slip. I have a appointment to replace the tire on Sat. Also the front 21" has to go, It needs a 19.
Maybe I should look into something that will work better in the twistys for the rear?

Dave ... I agree with "turfpro" ... Dump the 21" front tire and wheel and install a 19" tire and wheel from a Roadster.

Replace the Dunlops with a set of Metzler ME 880s.

Since you have an 04, you could actually replace the rear tire with a 160 / 80HB -16 Metzler which is 1 size larger than your stock 150 / 80HB -16.

Dave ... I agree with "turfpro" ... Dump the 21" front tire and wheel and install a 19" tire and wheel from a Roadster.Wow, I'm not sure I could bring myself to do that. I kinda like the 21" spoked front wheel. I'm pretty happy with the handling (but not the tires). What would a 19" wheel and tire do for me?Replace the Dunlops with a set of Metzler ME 880s.

Since you have an 04, you could actually replace the rear tire with a 160 / 80HB -16 Metzler which is 1 size larger than your stock 150 / 80HB -16.Yeah, I've heard good things about Metzler's, and going one size up would almost certainly give me better traction (all things being equal) and look better too!

Thanks for the advice!!!!!

The 19" tire has a larger contact patch than that skinny 21"

The 19" tire has a larger contact patch than that skinny 21"But that's the diameter of the entire wheel, which doesn't say anything about the width of the tire. ?

But I guess you're saying that you can't (or wouldn't want to) put a wider tire on that 21" rim, while the 19" rim can accept a wider tire to begin with...

Dave ... I agree with "turfpro" ... Dump the 21" front tire and wheel and install a 19" tire and wheel from a Roadster.

Replace the Dunlops with a set of Metzler ME 880s.

Since you have an 04, you could actually replace the rear tire with a 160 / 80HB -16 Metzler which is 1 size larger than your stock 150 / 80HB -16.


I'm not really up on tires. Can you really put a larger rear tire on a '04? How much wider would it be? Any side clearance problems?

I will agree the stock tires SUCK in wet weather. I don't understand why, I run stock Dunlops on my bagger and have never had an issue with them.

The front tire on a stock 04 1200R is wider than the tire on a stock 04 1200C. It has nothing to do with the wheel diameter (19" vs 21")

I'm not really up on tires. Can you really put a larger rear tire on a '04? How much wider would it be? Any side clearance problems?


You can replace the 150 with a 160 on the 04-06 Sportys.

Any wider than a 160 will cause the drive belt to rub the side of the tire. Also the width of the rear wheel rim is not wide enough to safely run any wider tire than a 160 on the 04-06 bikes.

You can replace the 150 with a 160 on the 04-06 Sportys.

Any wider than a 160 will cause the drive belt to rub the side of the tire. Also the width of the rear wheel rim is not wide enough to safely run any wider tire than a 160 on the 04-06 bikes.I just downloaded the catalog (.pdf) from Metzeler, and they agree. For a '04 1200C, they suggest:

Stock: Front 90/90-21 ME880 Rear 150/80B16 ME880
Stage1: Front 90/90-21 ME880 Rear 160/80B16 ME880

The rear size (for both stock and "stage1") specification was the same for all '04 Sportys ('05 and '06 weren't listed).

I've got no slipping issues with the tires on my 883. Like someone said, switch to the 19" up front and the problem will most likely go away.

I was reading this thread with great interest becasue I've got ~10,000mi on my tires and I'll be getting new ones before summer. The reason I'm curious about this thread is that I've always felt my stock tires were rock solid in the rain. I get stuck in the rain on a regular basis here in So. Indiana so I have a fairly large "sample size". In fact, coming home from the XL rally last summer I rode about 4hrs straight through a torrential downpour at highway speed and kept thinking, Man, these tires are great. The only time I even felt slightly uncomfortable was going over the rubber lane markers. I'm wondering if perhaps it's not the tires, but some other component of the setup that's making folks slip in the rain, e.g. shock preload, brake adjustment, air pressure, etc. Maybe I'm just weird or got a mutant bike, I like the stock seat too :dunno .

I've got no slipping issues with the tires on my 883. Like someone said, switch to the 19" up front and the problem will most likely go away.Why would switching out the front wheel and tire to a 19" stop the rear tire from slipping? I've never had a problem with the front tire slipping... ?

Maybe I'm just weird or got a mutant bike, I like the stock seat too :dunno .You *must* be weird if you like the stock seat! :D

I do run higher pressures in the tires (40# in the rear, solo, rider weight 230#). That might contribute to the loss of traction.

I put the 90/90 on the front of my 04 1200c and think it helped alot on stability. I only got 7k out of the oem. I ordered and will have put on next week a 160/80/16 on the rear. I now have 10k on the oem back and it has gotten progressively slipperier(sp) after about 8k. both are m880's and i think the front was right at $100 and ath rear about $138 delivered. I think/hope this will help alot:tour :tour .................got to ride:clap

Bike geometry is going to determine a lot about how a tire will behave. Those with the 21" front have most likely have customs. Customs are a different geometry that the standards and R's because of the rake in the bike due to shock heights. The customs have slightly more rear weight and slightly less front weight. Top a lighter front weight with a skinnier tire (smaller contact patch) and you can see why the customs tend to have a disadvantage up front regardless of brand/model tire. The Dunlops provide a fairly good mix of treadlife, wear patterns, wet traction and dry traction. Other tires may be designed to be better suited for certain conditions.

Tire pressures and tread wear patterns make a huge difference in how the bike handles. Most riders (ok, Ill just say it....ALL street riders) have more center wear than edge wear on tires. As the center wears, the tire slowly looses it's ability to push the water out. Always ride MUCH more cautious in the rain. Think about this, you are riding on two contact patches that are roughtly 1" by 3". So 6 square inches on tread on the ground. Even little cars have at least twice that on ONE wheel!

Oh and on my custom I have found that for typical street riding, I like to run 40 psi in the front and 36 in the rear.

This thread is interesting. I have over 7500 miles on my stock tires and they look like they can go many more miles before replacing them. It's a Roadster. I have driven many hundreds of miles in the rain too. I have only had TWO problems with slipping. One was when it JUST started raining (I know you're supposed to wait a while for the oils to be washed away) but I was on my street anyways when it started raining. I decided to goose it at around 3 grand on the tach and the tire broke loose obviously. So lets not even count this time cuz I did it on purpose.

But the other time it slipped was when it was kinda cold out, and I was turning and accelerating. A lot of times people don't factor in tire temperature when they're riding. Make sure you don't goose it when you're pulling out of the parking lot after eating dinner! Your tires will have cooled off and next thing you know you're kicking it out sideways and you need to change your pants! This is what happened to me.

lata,
Rideout

Oh and on my custom I have found that for typical street riding, I like to run 40 psi in the front and 36 in the rear.Hmmm. That sounds backwards to me. Are you it's not 36 in the front and 40 in the rear?

Hmmm. That sounds backwards to me. Are you it's not 36 in the front and 40 in the rear?


Nope, from what I have found with trying different ap's, 40 up front provides a very sure footed feeling while 36 in the back gives the same feeling and allows fo rht tire to provide good grip.

On my '04 Custom, I have found a definite improvement in traction and handling since replacing the skinny 21" front wheel and narrow tire with the
19" wheel and wider tire. :smoke

Nope, from what I have found with trying different ap's, 40 up front provides a very sure footed feeling while 36 in the back gives the same feeling and allows fo rht tire to provide good grip.Hmm. I'll have to try that!

You *must* be weird if you like the stock seat! :D

I do run higher pressures in the tires (40# in the rear, solo, rider weight 230#). That might contribute to the loss of traction.


I have a stock 2up touring seat and I love it no burn on long rides. I have an 06' though so maybe they are getting better at this stock sh*t.:banana