Michellin Commander II rear tire

Tonydtiger1971

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Ok, been running Michelin Commander II on cruisers for several years. This bike came with one already on it and was wondering if anyone else may have tried this tire out? I know I was getting 20K or more on a cruiser, I also know its a bit more square on the edges than a sport tire so you can't lean as far.
 

Warren

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It's not a radial tire. It does not come in the correct size. It is not designed for a sport touring bike. For those reasons I would not put one on my NT. On the other hand if you have one that works and suits your needs for longevity then there is no reason not to continue using them.
 
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sounss almost equL TO CT on a ST , JR , or wing, it LAO MIGHT Mke GREAT SIDE Cr tire! I M JUST OPEN MINDED / CRAZY ENOUGH THAT I WOULD TRY ONE FOR SAKE OF A GOOD ARGUMENT WITH THE NAY-SAYORS:doh1:
 
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Tonydtiger1971

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It's not a radial tire. It does not come in the correct size. It is not designed for a sport touring bike. For those reasons I would not put one on my NT. On the other hand if you have one that works and suits your needs for longevity then there is no reason not to continue using them.
It came with the tire already on it, looked at the records and it already has 10,000 miles on it, still looks pretty good.
 
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Tonydtiger1971

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It's not a radial tire. It does not come in the correct size. It is not designed for a sport touring bike. For those reasons I would not put one on my NT. On the other hand if you have one that works and suits your needs for longevity then there is no reason not to continue using them.
It came with the tire already on it, looked at the records and it already has 10,000 miles on it, still looks pretty good.
 

Phil Tarman

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I'm guessing you've got the 160/70 X 17. Which means you've got adequate clearance for the slightly bigger tire.

Back when I had my Kawasaki Concours, it came with Dunlop K700 and K701 radials, a tire that nothing else used except for the Connie. At 6,000 miles it had decent tread on half the tire and was down to the cord on about 1/3 of it. There weren't many radials that would fit the Connie, but there were a bunch of bias-ply tires. Over the 165,000 miles I put on two '99 Connies, I never ran another radial. I used Dunlop K491 Elite IIs, Metzler ME-880 Marathons, and my favorite, a Michelin Pilot Tour (or something like that, which Michelin discontinued after I'd used two of them. I could never tell that I lost any traction, wet or dry compared to the lousy K700/K701 combo.

What front tire are you running?

I tried Metzler ME-880 on the NT, and there was an ME-880 in 120/70 X 70, but in the 150/70 X 17 rear size, they only had a bias-ply tire. It didn't last a whole lot longer than the BT-20 and didn't feel as grippy, wet or dry. I probably wouldn't go back to that.
 
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Tonydtiger1971

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I'm guessing you've got the 160/70 X 17. Which means you've got adequate clearance for the slightly bigger tire.

Back when I had my Kawasaki Concours, it came with Dunlop K700 and K701 radials, a tire that nothing else used except for the Connie. At 6,000 miles it had decent tread on half the tire and was down to the cord on about 1/3 of it. There weren't many radials that would fit the Connie, but there were a bunch of bias-ply tires. Over the 165,000 miles I put on two '99 Connies, I never ran another radial. I used Dunlop K491 Elite IIs, Metzler ME-880 Marathons, and my favorite, a Michelin Pilot Tour (or something like that, which Michelin discontinued after I'd used two of them. I could never tell that I lost any traction, wet or dry compared to the lousy K700/K701 combo.

What front tire are you running?

I tried Metzler ME-880 on the NT, and there was an ME-880 in 120/70 X 70, but in the 150/70 X 17 rear size, they only had a bias-ply tire. It didn't last a whole lot longer than the BT-20 and didn't feel as grippy, wet or dry. I probably wouldn't go back to that.
Yes, have never been happy with Metzler, always feels a little slick and never got any better wear than other tires.
 
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Tonydtiger1971

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Ok I have finally gotten around to looking at the front tire and the front tire is an Michelin Pilot Activ. I can't seem to find much out about it except many people put them on trikes and get 22,000 miles on them.
 
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OK. This is a very interesting thread for me.
I currently have Michelin PR4s which have done almost 19,oookm (11,800 miles).
Whilst they grip well in the dry I have never had a confident feeling about them in the wet.
They PROBABLY have excellent wet grip too but I have not had the confidence to really try them out.
I feel that they don't give me any feedback in the wet.
At 19,000km they probably have another 6-7oookm in them but I don't like the wear pattern.
The front is not too bad but the rear has VERY raised edges on the sipes but the "squareing-off" is moderate.
My main complaint with the PR4s is the noise.
As they have worn the noise has steadily become louder to the point that I removed the back wheel to check the wheel bearings as I thought one of them, or both, was failing.
The bearings are fine and I put them back in.
On a glass-smooth surface they are quiet, but on the coarse-mix bitumen that we have here in OZ they rumble loudly whenever the bike is anything other than dead vertical. I have done several tests now and am 100% sure that it is the raised edges on the grooves/sipes that is making the noise.
Previously I had Michelin Pilot Activ front and rear.
They were new on the bike when I bought it.
I replaced them after 27oookm (168oo miles) and they had about 3-4oookm left in them.
The front had NO abnormal wear.
The rear was squared-off quite a bit but there were NO raised edges on the grooves.
After 27oookm they produced NO noise that I ever detected.
I have already decided that when the time comes I will be replacing the PR4s with a Pilot Activ on the front and a Commander 11 on the rear.
I have always felt that I preferred the feel and feedback of the Pilot Active over the PR4.
The reasons that I choose the Commander over the Pilot Active for the rear are that I want to go to 160/70 and I want to try the Commander for comparison.
For me there are two other considerations.
Firstly, the PR4s do not like sand or gravel at all. I always feel very unconfortable on loose surfaces. I NEVER felt that with the Pilot Activs.
Secondly, there is a huge price difference between them here. The Pilot Activs are about 35-40% cheaper than the PR4s.
Unfortunately, here in Oz, motorcycle tyres are VERY expensive.

These are my thought and I welcome comments.

Macka
 
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Tonydtiger1971

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Thank you Macka. I don't know that cornering will be good with a Commander II they tend to start pretty square.
 
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Isn't there a reason Honda specs a radial tire for the NT ?
I don't know if there is a particular reason for the radial recommendation.
The original radial tyres on the NT were the Michelin Macadam. I have never ridden on them but the concensus is that they were terrible tyres.
As I said, my bike had new Pilot Activ tyres on it when I bought it and I was very happy with them.
The reason i changed to PR4s is because almost all comments were that they were the best by a long shot.
I prefer he feeling, feedback, loose surface grip and quietness of the Pilot Activ.
If the Commander 11 is "square" it may change my mind and I may go back to the Pilot Activ rear.

Macka
 
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Tonydtiger1971

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I've seen articles on why you shouldn't mix the two, radials and bias ply but for the most part the new tires are about equal when it comes to performance.
 

Phil Tarman

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On my Concours, I ran bias-ply tires instead of the radials Kawasaki recommended and they were all better than the only radials that would fit the C-10 Connie.

I ran a radial front Metzler M-880 with a bias-ply ME-880 on the rear as the 3rd set of tires I tried on the NT and did not like them.
 
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The concours tires were an odd size so there weren't many radial options available. I also ran bias ply on my C-10. They had grip and lasted as well as the original radials.
I always had more trouble changing them though. They were harder to spoon over the rim and a couple times I had a hard time getting the tire beads to seal on the rim so I could inflate them. Also were difficult to get the beads to pop out and seat on rim properly. They just fit tight to the rim.
The NT tires are a breeze to install compared to the Connie. I personally will probably stick to radials on the NT. There are several choices in the NT sizes so no need to change it up.

Brad
 
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Tonydtiger1971

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Update on this; The front tire - Michelin Activ - bias ply - has been replaced with a Michelin PR4. The rear tire is still the Michelin Commander II with 16,000 Miles or so on it and still look good. My driving habits are not so aggressive that I notice any issues with the commander II so far.
 

junglejim

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The NT tires are a breeze to install compared to the Connie.
As a former Connie owner I agree (in general). The Michlein are pretty supple and easy to work with. However I had a set of Bridgestone T30s on the NT that were a bit of a challenge both on and off. They were a lot stiffer than the Michlein, Perellis, and Avons that I have used. And the T30s were not the GTs which are stiffer yet. The T30s aso produced a harsher ride.
 
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I have a new standard size Pilot Active front and a 160/70 Commander 11 rear in the garage waiting to go on.
I have unexpectedly done two extra longish weekend trips on the old PR4s as they do not seem to want to wear out.
I have covered nearly 4oookm more that I expected and they STILL have probably another 1oookm or so to go.
At 26oookm the front does not yet have the wear-bars up and the rear has JUST shown them. There is still lots of tread.
I have another camping trip coming up in a couple of weeks but it is only up to the border and back, about 750km.
I will replace them when I return, along with the wheel bearings (just as a matter of course at 72oookm).

Macka
 
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Tonydtiger1971

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I have a new standard size Pilot Active front and a 160/70 Commander 11 rear in the garage waiting to go on.
I have unexpectedly done two extra longish weekend trips on the old PR4s as they do not seem to want to wear out.
I have covered nearly 4oookm more that I expected and they STILL have probably another 1oookm or so to go.
At 26oookm the front does not yet have the wear-bars up and the rear has JUST shown them. There is still lots of tread.
I have another camping trip coming up in a couple of weeks but it is only up to the border and back, about 750km.
I will replace them when I return, along with the wheel bearings (just as a matter of course at 72oookm).

Macka
That's a respectable amount for those tires, I hear.
 
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