HarleyTechTalk

Pirelli Night Dragons,,, Pros Cons to them,, Thanks

Some Chinese company bought Pirelli, so they are of my list.

Quote from: RK#1637 on June 13, 2015, 06:55:42 PM
Some Chinese company bought Pirelli, so they are of my list.

off you meant? regardless, like much else you buy isn't made there...suck it up...if the OP is on the fence, just do it...I have stuck with a brand only to fing I was played...just do it...whatever that may be...

Quote from: Maddog on June 13, 2015, 06:46:23 PM
Pirelli Night Dragons,,, Pros Cons to them,, Thanks

Don't know ur bike.... but check the weight ratings. They are a softer, performance tire....

Paul

02 FXDL one up 90 percent of the time ,, back an forth to work,,etc etc

Quote from: Maddog on June 13, 2015, 07:17:08 PM
02 FXDL one up 90 percent of the time ,, back an forth to work,,etc etc

They'll work. Great handling, less mileage tho.  (as opposed to stock Dunlop D401's).
Can u consider the Michelin Commander II's??  Great handling and above average mileage, again as opposed to the D401"s......

Paul

Quote from: Oclaf on June 13, 2015, 07:01:41 PM

Quote from: RK#1637 on June 13, 2015, 06:55:42 PM
Some Chinese company bought Pirelli, so they are of my list.

off you meant? regardless, like much else you buy isn't made there...suck it up...if the OP is on the fence, just do it...I have stuck with a brand only to fing I was played...just do it...whatever that may be...

yes, meant off. I don't want to change the topic, its just me, can't avoid Chinese made stuff, just try to avoid Chinese own companies.

I just put on a Michelin commander II on my rear about 2 weeks ago. So far I like it. Rides smooth and feels grippy.

Pirelli Night Dragons are made in the Brazilian Metzeler plant.  Average at best for grip and mileage and typically undersized as far as width.  My lest favorite of several tires I've run.

Michelin Commander II are made in Thailand,  good mileage but poor wet grip.

A couple of popular choices for good reason are Dunlop American Elites made in USA and Avon Cobras made in England.  American Elites are a good all around tire.  Cobras offer good grip for a cruiser tire if you are willing to trade some mileage.  -Rick

     Dunlop american elite........ Calif. Phil will get you set up nicely with some rubber.

Dunlop American Elite 

Great advise here so far    I would also recommend the Dunlop AE. Or Avons   

Avons might just be another way to go, I ran them years ago like the 70s !!     Thanks for all the info

Depends on the bike, on a sportster or a dyna I put the widest pirelli tire possible on that is of the right weight category, fill ti to the max suggested pressure and have loved the results. The street bob LOVED the Pirelli's...
The 48 LOVED the pirelli's...
I thought they warmed up quickly, had great handling and lasted quite well compared to the dunlops and avons

Quote from: Mountainman streetbob on June 14, 2015, 10:44:29 AM
Depends on the bike, on a sportster or a dyna I put the widest pirelli tire possible on that is of the right weight category, fill ti to the max suggested pressure and have loved the results. The street bob LOVED the Pirelli's...
The 48 LOVED the pirelli's...
I thought they warmed up quickly, had great handling and lasted quite well compared to the dunlops and avons

The Pirelli ND has an old tech profile which has a round/ed tread profile as opposed to current performance profiles found on sport/sport touring and some other cruiser tires that have a profile optimized to put a larger contact patch on the ground.  The more rounded profile of the ND makes it easier to initiate turn-in as the bike feels like it will fall into the corner with less effort,  same for effort needed to adjust lean angle/line while cornering.  The result of a tire that is easy to adjust lean is a less stable or planted feel while cornering.  I personally prefer for the tires to return a somewhat planted feel when cornering as I regularly use all available lean angle with high turn speed so feedback and feel are important.  ND's may feel good to a person that likes nimble over feel/feedback.

The Pirelli/Metzeler tires coming out of the Brazil plant are products who's glory day was basically over prior to manufacturing being moved to Brazil,  the lower quality and sizing of the Brazilian product makes it a no brainer.

Brice,  I tried the same 180/60-17 Night Dragon (measures 169-170mm mounted)  that you use on the rear of your Street Bob.  I still have that tire in the used up pile.  If you like we can post pictures of our respective tires...might explain a lot.   -Rick

Don't forget about Shenko tires.

Every NEW tire I put on my bikes feel great compared to the old worn out ones.....I have Elites on my Softail and Metzlers on the Ultra..

About the China tires...I just replaced my stock Harley horn [rain killed the old one] their made in India !

Benn running Shinko's on Dyna's for awhile now usually run the 777's but have run the tour masters , pretty sticky tire with avg. tread life and are relatively inexpensive.

Shinko used to make excellent bicycle road racing tires.

got thinking about all the info,,  Might just go with the Avons, don't mind a softer tire compound,  Its true Metzler an Pirelli are pretty much the same tire, Iam running ME880s tire mileage isn't a issue with me, as long as they stick an warm up fast an handle good. I do my own mounting, I did notice the Avons don't use the dot for the balance point, The Metzler"s an NDs do, which would complicate things a bit,, I haven't seen or heard of any problems with the Pirellis??  Thanks for the info some good stuff here as always! 

Quote from: 04 SE DEUCE on June 14, 2015, 11:52:39 AM

Quote from: Mountainman streetbob on June 14, 2015, 10:44:29 AM
Depends on the bike, on a sportster or a dyna I put the widest pirelli tire possible on that is of the right weight category, fill ti to the max suggested pressure and have loved the results. The street bob LOVED the Pirelli's...
The 48 LOVED the pirelli's...
I thought they warmed up quickly, had great handling and lasted quite well compared to the dunlops and avons

The Pirelli ND has an old tech profile which has a round/ed tread profile as opposed to current performance profiles found on sport/sport touring and some other cruiser tires that have a profile optimized to put a larger contact patch on the ground.  The more rounded profile of the ND makes it easier to initiate turn-in as the bike feels like it will fall into the corner with less effort,  same for effort needed to adjust lean angle/line while cornering.  The result of a tire that is easy to adjust lean is a less stable or planted feel while cornering.  I personally prefer for the tires to return a somewhat planted feel when cornering as I regularly use all available lean angle with high turn speed so feedback and feel are important.  ND's may feel good to a person that likes nimble over feel/feedback.

The Pirelli/Metzeler tires coming out of the Brazil plant are products who's glory day was basically over prior to manufacturing being moved to Brazil,  the lower quality and sizing of the Brazilian product makes it a no brainer.

Brice,  I tried the same 180/60-17 Night Dragon (measures 169-170mm mounted)  that you use on the rear of your Street Bob.  I still have that tire in the used up pile.  If you like we can post pictures of our respective tires...might explain a lot.   -Rick

Rick isn't this the third time we have had this same discussion? Why do you keep bringing it up?
I didn't say you were right or wrong I just said what works well for me.
I like american elites on the touring bikes and night dragons on sportsters and dynas.
I like michelins and pirellis on ducati's and gsxr's too.
If you can't respect other people disagree with you, maybe you need rethink something.
Brice

I'm actually pretty impressed with the Shinkos, running the 230s on my FXD.

Was turned off by the name & price, but after reading up on 'em & given the price, I figured what the hell. Plus, I'm planning to swap over to a FLST front end & run a 130-16 up front, so didn't want to drop a load of cash on a tire that'd be replaced relatively quickly. So far, so good. I don't ride particularly hard these days, but they ride nice & stick as well as the Dunlops they replaced. And, at $70-ish each, who cares if they don't last as long as a "premium" tire.

Quote from: Mountainman streetbob on June 14, 2015, 09:02:08 PM

Quote from: 04 SE DEUCE on June 14, 2015, 11:52:39 AM

Brice,  I tried the same 180/60-17 Night Dragon (measures 169-170mm mounted)  that you use on the rear of your Street Bob.  I still have that tire in the used up pile.  If you like we can post pictures of our respective tires...might explain a lot.   -Rick


Rick isn't this the third time we have had this same discussion? Why do you keep bringing it up?
I didn't say you were right or wrong I just said what works well for me.
I like American elites on the touring bikes and night dragons on sportsters and dynas.
I like michelins and pirellis on ducati's and gsxr's too.
If you can't respect other people disagree with you, maybe you need rethink something.
Brice

Just sharing my opinion,  same you Brice.  I copied in red above the only part of my post the was personal in nature.  The point of my offer was to let the members here "read" our tires which might help them interpret for themselves between our contrasting ND reviews.   -Rick

Ran a set of NDs on my 02 RKC back when the wheels were both 16 inch..(run an 18 on the front now).. IIRC I had a 150x16 in the rear and 130x16 in the front..  For me they were pretty sticky in the corners.. They are rounded pretty much like the E3s.. The only issue was that the rear lasted only about 2500 to 3500 miles before it was bald. This was back in 2008 or 9 or 10 and the tires were about 2 years old at the time.. Not sure if the compound changed since..

  I've been running Avon's Roadrider series tires for the last 4-5 yrs.I was looking for something to replace the Dunlop591 front I'd used for years that's had very bad tendency to scallop, one hard stop ripped them up. I had been running D404 on the rear then, and found them ok on dry pavement but very slippery on wet.
I replaced the rear too after becoming very happy with the Roadrider front. Far better traction, wet or dry, close to 20K (klms) on the last one. The Avon Roadrider is a winner in my eyes.  Buffalo

Avons now include a free road hazard    I think it's just for the first 1mm but  I have seen folks pick up a nail the first few days after a tire purchase. 

Thanks everyone for your input,,,   Just ordered a set of Avon Cobras   Should work out fine for my style of ridding