Tires for my 1979 Honda GL1000


Kynan C.

Admin
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Howdy fellows,

Any suggestions for a pair of tires for my 79 GL1000? I put a set of Metzeler Lasertek's on my XS1100 and really liked them.

What do you guys run of your GL's and suggest?
 

roncar

Moderator
That's always an "it depends" question. Chewing up twisties in the mountains and eating up miles on the superslab have different requirements (stick to the road like glue or last many many miles.)

Here's some recommendations but keep in mind styles/models change and could be replaced by something new or discontinued in the size you need. http://www.randakksblog.com/tire-recommendations/#more-1184

If you liked the Metzelers try them (if available in the size you need.)

Keep in mind, Comstar wheels on 78 & 79 Goldwings are rated for use with tubes. A lot of folks run them tubeless but from a liability point, most shops will not mount them tubeless.

Oh I'm running Dunlops.
 

brianinpa

Five Star Vetteral
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I used to run the Shinko 230's. The tire cost about $70 and two tires would last about as long as one tire that would cost me $300. I do all my own mounting/balancing so it was just the cost of the tire that I had to deal with. The compound is a little bit softer, but the traction is obviously a little better than some of the harder tires. Even with the softer compound, I was averaging around 7,000 miles per tire.

Now I am running a 165/80R-15 car tire that I paid $65 for, but I had to do a bit of work to get that tire to fit. :D

I am about 5,500 miles into this tire and it is only now starting to show that it is being used.
 
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Scott-E

Vetter Aficionado
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I can't help but wonder about leaning on a tire meant to run upright.
You can feel the transition from running on the flat to running on the corner when you start leaning into a turn. As the corners round off from use that feeling goes away and it starts to feel like a motorcycle tire. Back in the days before steel belted radial tires tire shops had tire shavers. Bias Ply tires subjected to excess heat would develop bumps or the tire could get so out of round it would beat the car to death. The tire was placed on a tire shaver and cut so it was truly round again. It was common to put car tires on motorcycles back then. We would take our new tires to the tire shop and have the corners shaved round on a tire shaver before putting them on the motorcycle. Tire shops no longer have tire shavers today. I've seen people build home made tire shavers just to round off the corners of new car tires before putting them on their motorcycle. Running car tires on motorcycles is called "Riding on the Darkside".

A home made tire shaver.
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A vintage tire shaving machine.
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brianinpa

Five Star Vetteral
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Larry it isn't quite as bad as you would think. I can still carve up the twisted roads just like if I had a bike tire on the back. I just expect to get about three times the mileage out of a tire - that's about the only difference.

By the way AV... make sure you get the heaviest weight rated tire you can find. They last a lot longer even if you do not need the heavier weight rating.
 

steppenwolf

Vetter Master
Interesting stuff. When I ran Dunlaps on my 11 I would take a grinding wheel on my drill and smooth out all the cupping they would do.
 

BeachedSquirrel

Vetter Aficionado
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I haven't put any new tires on my Goldwing, yet. In the past on other bikes I ran Shinko's and never had any issues.
 

Scott-E

Vetter Aficionado
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After reading the post that Ron linked, I am thinking of the Bridgestone BT45 Battlax.
I thought about 'Going to the Dark Side' when my rear tire needed to be replaced. The last tire I put on it was a Kenda K671 Cruiser tire. I got 13,000 miles out of it but I should have replaced it at 12,000 miles. The cost difference was only $15 between the suggested Dark Side car tire and another Kenda K671. I went ahead and put another Kenda K671 on it. It's a good all weather tire and it rode very well for 12,000 miles. It rode kind of strange at times when I was squeezing another 1,000 miles out of it. After removing it I took a close look at it and found a couple of areas where an inner cord was starting to show. My Bike is a Honda VLX 600 so it weighs about half what larger Bikes weigh so if you put one on a larger bike it most likely will not get the same mileage I get.
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dieter

Learning the Ropes
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Hi guys,

just a short reply on an old thread....

You pay for a complete tyre but use it in the middle only.....you have to use it everywhere and it will last longer:)

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