Greetings all, My new 09 GW1800 is nearing 10K - has factory Dunlops. I'm a bigger guy with big Spouse and Kids. Towing long distance too. Starting to get a lot of growling and semi cupping on the back. Looking for advance info before "the time comes" to replace. What's "the best for the above issues. I've heard Dunlop 400 series?
Thanks, ProfsTel

Welcome to the forum Profs from the Keystone state and congrats on your 09 Wing. Lots of choices out there. (Dunlop, Metzler, Avon, Bridgestone and others). Everyone has an opinion on the best one.. If you check the websites you can find the weight limits for each and go from there. From what I can see on other forums most like either the Dunlop or Bridgestone. I've not had to replace mine yet, but on my 98 GL1500 whenever I had to replace them I went with the OEM tires that came with the bike. Your choice, your $$. Do some research and good luck. Ride safe..

I am on my third set of tires on my 06 gl1800 ,my oe tires were dunlops that lasted 16000 miles and made alot of noise,my second set were a set of dunlop elite 3 and lasted about 12000mi I honestly replaced them cause I could not stand the noise from them anymore.I spent alittle time researching and found avon cobra av71,av72 tires.These tires are a dense belt in the center and a less dense belt on the shoulder for extended wear.All my rear tires so far have always after about 4 or 5 thousand miles had a flat spot with feathering on the edges and when riding double made alot of noise or when lightly leaning made noise and i can honestly say after 3 thousand miles my new set of avons are still perfectly round,but i still have a few more miles to go to be for sure

Whew! Glad this is not an offensive site as talking of tire brands on other sites will stir up a firestorm. I too read a lot of replies and a whole lot of folks favor the Bridgestones. I have a Michelin on the front and two dear whistles so I really don't know which is causing the whine I hear, but I did not get but about 7800 on my oem Dunlops.
You would think that some manufacturer would come out with a long life, run flat, type tire for motorcycles. If anyone knows for a fact of one, I'd like to hear about it...and please no dark side car tires at this time. Thanks.

I have ran Dunlops on all my Gold Wings in the past, now I run Bridgestones 709 front and 704 rear. I like them a lot!!

I have ran Dunlops on all my Gold Wings in the past, now I run Bridgestones 709 front and 704 rear. I like them a lot!!

I'll be getting tires next year so I'll check back with you on your Bridgestones as they are to date.

the load rating for the dunlop 400 tires is too low for a fully loaded wing. funny thing about dunlop e3 tires is the ones on my 1200 don't make any noise and the e3's on my 1500 only make noise sometimes. i thought it was pavement related but even going to and from work ( i take the same route ever day ) there noisy one trip and not the next

ive had nothing but good luck with the stones they last as long as the e3's and grip like the avons plus you can usualy find them for less! good luck

Years ago, many years ago, like about 30. I used to replace my original tires with Continental tires. They were quiet and very good in the rain....I don't know where they stand now....

Hi Kurtski.I have an 06 1800 also and just love it.A lot of guys in here are really long time owners of wings,it would seem and i would like to ask all of you one question.Why is the tranny (or engine) so whiney ?
its really the only thing i dont like about my bike.the previous owner upgraded to a new wing and he told me they are all the same,including his brand new one.does anyone else have this complaint, or should i just put a throatier exhaust system on it and turn up the CD volume ?
Cheers
Graham from Downunder

hey guys you hear tire noise and crying about engine whine on your wing i road harleys now thats noise my wing when i hit the gas you hear grrrr and i dont even hear tires rolling its like its floating down the road

I wore out the stock Stones in 16000 Km's ( about 10,000 miles). Installed Elite 3's and have 6500 miles on them and they look like they will not last much longer than the Stones. But and this is a big "But" the Stones were good in the rain and quiet, the Elite 3's (Dunlop) are very noisy and the front is positively spooky in the rain crossing soft tar expansion strips. I have been riding for 47 years and I have never had a tire than I had zero faith in running in the rain until I started to run these Elite 3's.

The factory dunfloppys went 7,500 on the rear then a sidewall bulge emerged.
The front went 9,100 and cupped out badly.

I have a set of Elite 3's now and they even removed all signs of decell headshake. Happy for now.

I was going to wait until next year to replace the front but it is going downhill fast. I can feel the wobble when I " push " the bike in the driveway. Not to be a renegade, but my choice will either be the Metz ( to compliment my rear tire ) or the Stones. I like the shop I patronize and my method is to give them my preferred choices and let them decide.

Car tire on the rear will last twice as long & is quieter , smoother ride. Bridgestone 709 seems to be a favorite front tire.

I had to replace my rear Dunflop tire due to a dang roofing nail at 300 miles. I replaced it with the 704 'Stone, and am very happy so far. Got the tire for about $130, Honda dealer mounted/balanced it for $45.

One of our local Honda dealers sells takeoffs from trike conversions. I think they sell for $200. for tire & wheel. Very easy to change out rear wheel & having an extra at home comes in handy.

Rider Magazine's March 2011 issue has a very good article on Motorcycle tires. Intersting to note is that Bridgestones are OEM tires on GoldWings, except in the USA where Dulops are used.

After studying the different tire brands, I think I'm going with Bridgestone when the time comes. I used Metzlers on my Triumpn Rocket, they were fine. My last Kawasaki Voyager came with Bridgestones, they ran an estimated 9300 miles before I changed them. (Still had thread left, but I had another 3000 miles left on my trip so better safe than sorry.)

Read the article, make up you own minds. Please note, the info supplied on each tire is provided by the manufacturer...and we all know they don't lead biker down the garden path. :)
T-Rex

I have E3's front and back on my 08 now. I am near 15K miles and still have some tread left. They are noisy but I can't fault the tire at all. Great mileage. I have several friends that run the stones and they say they are noisy in turns as well so I don't know what I will do next.

I've got no complaints with my stock Dunlop D250's. I bought another wheel and tyre from a trike conversion, so I won't be changing brands anytime soon. should be good for another two years now. Was seriously considering the Avons though. The back is going to go before the front, so when I swap wheels I may have a new tyre put on the front anyway, that way when I need a new rear in a couple years, I may go Avon then. Not going to worry for a while though.

I liked the stock rear but the front started to cup right away. Didn't matter what I ran for air pressure. I put up with it till I had 10K on it then it was worn out enough to toss. The rear seemed ok right up till I had a tread separation at 8800 miles. When that happened it was like riding a paint shaker down at the local hardware store. I put the E3's on it and now have more than 25K on the bike. The tires are good for me.

does anyone know if there is an exust system for gl1800 other then the oem system? would like to have pipes with a throaty sound but not to loud.

Went through the Dunlop 250's on my 10 wing at about the same mileage as you. After reading a lot of comments here and on other sites I went with Bridgestones. I have about 400 miles on them and so far so good- the bike handles great and the tires are quiet. I used to feel like the wing always wanted to stand up in corners , not anymore.
Hope this helps.

Hey guys I wonder if all the noise we are hearing could be because of the close proximity to the ground and tires that is inherent with riding a motorcycle? Get me a full page report on this situation (in triplicate) on my desk by monday. LOL

I don't know how many miles you have on your tires, but I can offrer this, Metzler makes in my opinion the best Tire for the 1800, I had Dunlops on my 02 Wing from the factory, they cupped, so I put Bridgestones on and they cupped, Bridgestone wouldn't stand behind them, saying that it was caused by improper inflation, which was absolutely incorrect, Honda Dealer helped out and I got the Metzlers ME 880, they ride/handle very good.

10k miles is very good for an 1800 from what I know, front or back. I have minor/barely visible cupping on my front at 8k miles andI'm not concerned (yet). My rear tire is fine. the general concensus is 'stones' are a bit better, but I won't know for a good while since I have another D250 to wear off after this season or close to it. I'll run another D250 front when I do that, then it's either 'stones or Avons, jury's still out and it may come down to whatever deal I get from which supplier I have at the time.
Lone Rider I have TorqueMasters on my '09 and luv em. A couple riders have the Cobras and seem happy too. You have to be sure you want more sound though, because one of the most aluring traits of the GL is it's quiet note. Be careful what you wish for, a louder Wing isn't for everyone, but I luv mine!:cool:

Interesting to note that if I remember correctly, the 2012 Wing comes with Bridgestones as OEM.

+1 on Bridgestones, A real improvement over the Dunlop 250's IMHO

I wore out the stock Stones in 16000 Km's ( about 10,000 miles). Installed Elite 3's and have 6500 miles on them and they look like they will not last much longer than the Stones. But and this is a big "But" the Stones were good in the rain and quiet, the Elite 3's (Dunlop) are very noisy and the front is positively spooky in the rain crossing soft tar expansion strips. I have been riding for 47 years and I have never had a tire than I had zero faith in running in the rain until I started to run these Elite 3's.
You summed this up perfectly, I ran the original Dunlop 250's until they fizzled. I went to E3's and loved them in the summer! Come the wet weather, Man it was a laundry generating moment with the E3's talk about squirriley in the wet. I now run Stones, wearing well and not so Noisy, grip well in the wet and offer some confidence in the corners..

Have I mentioned that I run a car tire on my wing? lol

I got 5,000 miles on my car tire and I can't see any wear.

You summed this up perfectly, I ran the original Dunlop 250's until they fizzled. I went to E3's and loved them in the summer! Come the wet weather, Man it was a laundry generating moment with the E3's talk about squirriley in the wet. I now run Stones, wearing well and not so Noisy, grip well in the wet and offer some confidence in the corners..

Like I said Metzler ME 880 are the Tires for me, I have Dunflops on my 2010 Wing from the factory, as soon as they are done floppin or maybe even sooner I will have Metzlers.

Metzler 880 for me

Car tire on rear. Three times the mileage & better handling.

I ran the factory Stones for 17,000 km's then switched to the E 3's. They were fine in the dry but in the wet, frigging horrible!! I did however get 20,000 km's from them. I am now running Brigestone Excedra Max Z/R . At $265.00 taxes in at Pocatelo Power Sports for both they are a winner. Performance in the wet is very good and in the dry, execeptional !!! I have 10,000 km's on them now and they are wearing fine. I will NEVER run the E 3's again unless I am living in Death Valley.

Had Metz and was happy with their performance. They are " considered " by some to be soft tires which means they grip the road. I had about 12,000 on the rear and it was still road worthy, albeit noisy. Replaced with a Kuhmo Run Flat car tire. The front had 7,000 miles on her but picked up a screw, replaced with a 'Stone 709. Right now I'm running on new tires and it of course feel good.

Jeez, I always seem to be in the minority. With the new wing, this is my first experience with Bridgestones. Leaving my dealer today, 2 consecutive left turns at 2 consecutive intersections and the bike got squirrely over the tar snakes, don't recall ever feeling those before on the 15 with E3's. I'm still a little uneasy on the bike in the rain as well, not sure if it's the new bike (4.5K) or the tires. Never had a real cause to complain about Dunlops, Ran 491's on the 12, stock dunlops on the 96 and E3's on the 2000, never hesitated on a normal road surface wet or dry! Not sure what kind of milage I'll get out of the stock stones, but the E3's I saw at Gene's Gallery looked like they had a ton of meat on them. Other than the stones being OEM on the bike, it will take some convincing for me NOT to go back to the Dunlop E3.:rolleyes:

[QUOTE=kurtski;18985]I am on my third set of tires on my 06 gl1800 ,my oe tires were dunlops that lasted 16000 miles and made alot of noise,my second set were a set of dunlop elite 3 and lasted about 12000mi I honestly replaced them cause I could not stand the noise from them anymore.I spent alittle time researching and found avon cobra av71,av72 tires.These tires are a dense belt in the center and a less dense belt on the shoulder for extended wear.All my rear tires so far have always after about 4 or 5 thousand miles had a flat spot with feathering on the edges and when riding double made alot of noise or when lightly leaning made noise and i can honestly say after 3 thousand miles my new set of avons are still perfectly round,but i still have a few more miles to go to be for sure[

Just returned from a trip from NC to Denver Co and back, 5000 miles in 11 days on new Bridgestones on my (new) 2008 Wing. The weather was really poor for most of the trip, and the 'Stones were excellent; no sign of drift or poor adhesion in the wet, and no snaking on the tar joints on the road. My other bikes are on Metzelers, but these will also get changed for Bridgestones when due for replacement. The Wing is the best motorcycle I have ever ridden.

Ride safe, all.

I'll be mounting my OEM D250 and replacement rim sometime next year. and will go with another D250 for the front at the same time. I have little to no complaints with the handling, wear, or ride and I've been in some torrential rains with them. If I didn't have the already mounted spare, I'd likely opt for the 'stones that the 2012's come with. I also have heard that the Avon Cobras are pretty well recieved too.