Originally Posted by
Brasco
Breathing life back into this thread concerning running the Michelin Commander II bias ply tire on the F6B. I've looked back at older threads on the site but haven't seen anything that specifically addresses my concern. I was at the Hell's Canyon Rally in Baker City, Oregon and wore the rear OEM Stone to the threads after a few days running curves in 96F temps. Tire was shot at 13,000 miles which caught me by surprise as I've been careful to keep rear pressure at 40 psi. I really thought I'd get home to Alberta before needing to replace it. I had no other option but to put a Commander II on the rear. I grabbed the last one a vendor at the rally had ($$) as I wasn't about to risk running the worn tire on the interstate to get to a bigger town where more tire options would be available.
So the question. I'm pondering putting the OEM-sized Commander II on the front now for a match but I'm a bit unsure whether going to full bias-ply setup on a bike designed for radials is the best idea. Have friends running the Commander II on Victory bikes who speak highly of them and they rate really well in reviews for handling and longevity, My only concern is the bias setup and the fact the rear isn't a perfect size match to OEM (aspect ratio 5 mm higher). It also seems like a 'rounder' profile tire too compared to the OEM Stones if that makes sense. I noticed the bike wanted to stand up a bit sooner when leaned over in curves with the Commander on the rear. Nothing serious but different. I did read a comment on a Goldwing forum stating going bias-ply is a bad idea as the bead seal with a bias tire on our rims will not seat correctly.
Anyone have thoughts on this?
Cheers.
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