An Ode to New Tires by Alan Mayes 

            I love new tires.  Every couple of years, I’m reminded of this recurring revelation.  It happened again recently.  Like every time before, I’m amazed at what a difference a new set of tires makes to my vehicle.  Two seemingly innocuous little black rubber donuts can rekindle the previously fading satisfaction with your old ride.  Is your Super-X feeling squirrelly?  Put on a new set of tires.

            When you buy a brand new motorcycle, it comes with new tires.  Chances are that both wheels are pointing in the same general direction, but may not be exactly parallel.  If the alignment is off, it will cause premature tire wear.  In effect, your bike is dragging its rear tire ever so slightly sideways.

Even with proper alignment, over time the tires wear out, but very slowly.   The deterioration is so gradual as to be almost imperceptible…until you replace the old ones with new ones.  Wow, what a change!  Tires are your bike’s equivalent of new shoes, but with one difference; new shoes often hurt but new tires feel good…real good.

The Dunlop Elites I just replaced on my 2000 Deadwood Special had a little more than 10,000 miles on them.  The rear one was worn flat in the middle, typical for almost any rear tire as it spent most of its time going straight, and it carries most of the weight…no wise cracks, please!  The front tire had a couple thousand miles left in it, tread wise, but was starting to wear unevenly.  This was most noticeable during braking.

Today’s tires are so much better than the tires of twenty or thirty years ago, that if they weren’t both round and black, we would be hard pressed to know they were related.  It was not uncommon thirty years ago for a tire to wear out in 5,000 miles or less.  Modern tires will go twice that, or more.  In addition to better wear characteristics, modern tires also offer superior handling and wet traction features.  Tire building has come a long way in the past few decades.

Most manufactured goods, including motorcycles, are made up of components provided by the lowest-priced bidder.  There is low-bid sourcing on tires, too.  But the industry standards for tires are higher, and regulated by our buddies at the good ol’ U.S. Department of Transportation, so even the least expensive tires are going to still be good tires.  There are certain impressions that the motorcycle builders want to convey, so I doubt that you’ll ever see any Cheng Shin tires on major manufacturers’ bikes.  The Dunlops on our Super-Xs are good tires. 

Depending on your riding style, however, you may eventually come to prefer certain other brands.  Based on personal experience, I prefer Metzeler or Avon for sport touring, Avon or Dunlop for sport bikes and Dunlop for cruisers.  Michelins I’ve owned or ridden on seem to have a compound that is too hard, resulting in skittish handling on wet curves.  Bridgestones tend to not track well in rain grooves.  Those are my personal preferences and not everyone agrees with them.  Some Super-X owners, including X-Man, are having good experience with the Metzeler ME 880 these days.  Use what you like best.

Tire sizes seem like a foreign language until you get the hang of the nomenclature.  Then most of it makes sense.  Our Super-Xs came with MT90-16 H-rated tires on the front; MU90-16 H-rated on the rear.  The MT and MU are size designations that compare to 130/90 and 140/90 respectively.  The 130/90 means the tire is 130 millimeters wide and the aspect ratio (height vs. width is 90%).  The wheel diameter is 16 inches.  The H refers to the speed rating, 130 MPH sustained, more than adequate for any riding I intend to do…ever…on any motorcycle.  The Metzeler ME 880s mentioned above come in the metric size designation, not the alphanumeric.  Dunlop makes blackwall and white-lettered Elites in the MT and MU sizes, but the whitewalls come only in MT.  Some other manufacturers also do not have tires in the MU size.  If you want to put any of those tires on your X, you’ll have to drop down to the MT.  As the size designations show, it’s ten millimeters narrower and nine millimeters per side shorter, eighteen overall.  That’s about 3/10 of an inch narrower and 7/10 of an inch shorter.  The other alternative is to go with the metric designation, if that tire maker has your style in that size.

Anyway, if your old ride is starting to wander around on the road and doesn’t feel as crisp as it once did, maybe it is time for a new set of shoes.  I recommend shopping locally for a good price from a dealer you trust.  There is a lot of competition in the tire market and in larger markets, someone is always having a sale.  Many dealers will also promise to meet or beat a competitor’s advertised price, at least for their better customers, thereby making everyone’s sale price their sale price.

Don’t make your local dealer compete with the big mail-order houses that advertise in the national magazines, though.  It isn’t fair to the dealer. The mail-order guy buys in huge quantities from his wholesaler, so he gets a bigger discount than your dealer does.  But the mail-order guy doesn’t have to maintain a comfortable store for you to shop in.  He works out of a warehouse.  Nor does he have to buy a tire mounting machine or a computer balancer.  He also doesn’t have to pay a mechanic to run those machines.  He just has order takers, people you’ll never see, people who may have been flipping burgers at McDonalds last week.  Remember that a good relationship with a local motorcycle dealer or custom shop is extremely important.  It is imperative that he makes some profit on the sale and installation of your tires.  If he doesn’t make a profit, the next time you need him, he may not be there. 

In my opinion, the few dollars you might save in ordering any motorcycle basics by mail order is usually false economy.  The alleged savings often disappear when freight costs are added in.  If there is a problem with the tire later, or if they send the wrong one, the hassle of trying to get a nameless person at a faceless mail-order company to help with the return can be a nightmare. 

Because our Excelsior-Hendersons are no longer being manufactured, we’re in a unique position, parts and accessory-wise.  In most cases, we have no choice but to mail order from the few businesses around the country that are helping us keep our babies on the highway.  Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate those guys and they’ve saved my butt more than once.  I still think it’s a good idea to maintain a relationship with a nearby motorcycle dealer, though, whether he sells Yamahas, Harleys, or some other brand.  If he’s a former Excelsior-Henderson dealer, that’s great.

Buying tires (as well as helmets, leathers, etc.) from a local dealer gives you an advocate.  The middleman works for you.  If you insist on buying from the mail-order dudes, be prepared to pay handsomely to have your tire mounted and balanced by your local shop.  Since you bought it from someone else so you could save five bucks, don’t be surprised if your dealer isn’t too excited about working you into his schedule.

Once you’ve mounted and balanced that tire, be careful to reinstall the wheel properly.  Keep the front and rear straight and properly aligned and keep the tires properly inflated.  Squeeze the brake a couple of times before you take off to get the pads against the disc again.  New tires have a coating of mold release on them that can be very slick, especially on wet streets.  Take it easy for a few miles until the mold release wears off.  Be especially wary when turning.  You’ll be glad you did.  Enjoy your new tires.  Your baby will respond well to its new shoes.