FJ TIRES AND COMMUTING

[1989FJ1200]

Hey FJ people, I commute about 80 miles round trip interstate 80+mph each day on my 89. Stock rims, It had new Avons, Azzaros, AV46 rear, AV45 front at 2500 miles this summer. I'm now at 9000 miles and while they are worn but not worn out they are severely cupped. I weigh in at 300 lbs. so I keep the air and suspension set to max pressure, spring and damping. Any one have any experience with a long wearing tire that will withstand the rigors of daily straight line high speed riding? The choices seem limited by the sizes. Metzeler me880's? Thanks and keep the shiny side up.

[andyb]

9k ?

Got your money's worth, IMO.  That's awesome tire life on an FJ.

[1989FJ1200]

what i meant to say was 9k on the bike, got 6500 on the tires.

[FJmonkey]

I got less miles on the same tires. I was also avoiding the vertical position.

http://www.fjowners.com/index.php?topic=287.msg2088#msg2088

Hope this helps...

[rvnmaniac]

 Wait til you guys see what Chris P gets for mileage on his FJ.....

[FJ Flyer]

Okay Henry, I'll take the bait. 

I was getting about 12-15K miles on the Dunlop D205s.  But they say they're not making those anymore.  I did get 20-22k miles on the old Dunlop K591s, but they are bias and not made anymore.  Their replacements, the GT501s didn't do as well, about the same as the D205s.

I know some Beemer guys using the Metzler 880s and they get great miles out of them, I think in the 15-20k mile range, but they're running them on LTs, which are more straight line touring bikes.

I've got a Dunlop 660 on the front now.  Wearing like iron, but I'm not a fan of the feel or handling, although they are pretty good in the wet. 

Given the 16" rear, your options are a little limited.

[SlowOldGuy]

I've got a Dunlop 660 on the front now.  Wearing like iron, but I'm not a fan of the feel or handling, although they are pretty good in the wet. 

I'm liking the Dunlop Roadsmart on the front of my '93. 

I think there are quite a few rear D205s left out there, but the fronts seem to have dried up.  I still have a few rear 205s, but I'm getting a little concerned about the manufacture date.  They're many years old at this point and that seems to make the tread wear rapidly.  I only got about 3000 miles on my last front 205.  It was some fun miles, though, I wore out the sides and still had tread in the middle.  That's not easy to do around here.

DavidR.

[RichBaker]

Okay Henry, I'll take the bait. 

I was getting about 12-15K miles on the Dunlop D205s.  But they say they're not making those anymore.  I did get 20-22k miles on the old Dunlop K591s, but they are bias and not made anymore.  Their replacements, the GT501s didn't do as well, about the same as the D205s.

I know some Beemer guys using the Metzler 880s and they get great miles out of them, I think in the 15-20k mile range, but they're running them on LTs, which are more straight line touring bikes.

I've got a Dunlop 660 on the front now.  Wearing like iron, but I'm not a fan of the feel or handling, although they are pretty good in the wet. 

Given the 16" rear, your options are a little limited.

How the hell were you getting that kind of mileage???  I was getting 3-4k miles per rear, ~6k per frt. w/591s. I got ~6-7k from the Avons....

[rktmanfj]

Okay Henry, I'll take the bait. 

I was getting about 12-15K miles on the Dunlop D205s.  But they say they're not making those anymore.  I did get 20-22k miles on the old Dunlop K591s, but they are bias and not made anymore.  Their replacements, the GT501s didn't do as well, about the same as the D205s.

I know some Beemer guys using the Metzler 880s and they get great miles out of them, I think in the 15-20k mile range, but they're running them on LTs, which are more straight line touring bikes.

I've got a Dunlop 660 on the front now.  Wearing like iron, but I'm not a fan of the feel or handling, although they are pretty good in the wet. 

Given the 16" rear, your options are a little limited.

How the hell were you getting that kind of mileage???  I was getting 3-4k miles per rear, ~6k per frt. w/591s. I got ~6-7k from the Avons....

They were frozen much of the time...     

Randy T
Indy

[FJ Flyer]

How the hell were you getting that kind of mileage???  I was getting 3-4k miles per rear, ~6k per frt. w/591s. I got ~6-7k from the Avons....

No idea.  90% of my riding is/was commuting.  I'm fairly light, relative to most of the FJ community (at least that I know  ).  The 591s were awesome on mileage.  Being my first 'sport bike', I didn't know any better and after two sets with similar miles, I thought it was 'normal'.  The switch to radials woke me up, a bit. 

The FJR eats tires faster, but it still appears I'm doing better than average, barring one Avon Storm front anomaly (chalk it up to Avon quality control, or lack thereof).

[1989FJ1200]

I think im gonna try the Metzeler Lasertecs. Anyone tried them yet?

[smokamoto]

I think im gonna try the Metzeler Lasertecs. Anyone tried them yet?

I put a front Lasertec 120/70-16 on my '91 FJ when I bought it in July of this year.  I've put 2,000 miles on it, mostly commuting to work, one 400 mile trip through the mountains.  I've used the original front Lasers for years on other bikes with good results so I went with this new Lasertec.  It works well, does get a little dancey on grooved pavement (like any other ribbed tire), sticks better than the Metzeler ME55A Metronic rear that is 4 years old (by the DOT#) and now worn out. Now I'm changing to a YZF-600 rear wheel to run radials.  So I need to sell this front Lasertec-interested?  Half price-$70.00 plus shipping.

[1989FJ1200]

Thanks for the info but no I'm gonna go with a new set.  Is the FZR 600 wheel conversion a bolt on operation?

[smokamoto]

Thanks for the info but no I'm gonna go with a new set.  Is the FZR 600 wheel conversion a bolt on operation?

Not quite-http://www.btinternet.com/~fj1200mods/Project_FJ/YZFRear.htm  this is for the rear-
For the front, most members go with a FZR1000 wheel.

[roverfj1200]

The GSXR1000 90-92 is about as close to bolt on as one will get.

Takes about 2 hours to do the fit up . http://home.mysoul.com.au/rover/page02.htm Bottom pix.

cheers