New tires for SW

Personally don't know why folks sell bikes with bald tires. Every bike I've ever sold had a fresh oil change, new or good tires and was washed and cleaned. Oh well, rant over. Bought SW yesterday with.....you guessed it....bald rear tire with cord showing and this was a Dallas motorcycle cop's personal bike.

So, ordering new tires. Any suggestions? Installed a c/t on my Burgman but I've been reading here that, that may not be a good idea with ABS brakes due to the difference in tire size between bike and car tires.I also get some fairly strong head shake on my B650 under hard acceleration up to higher speeds. Someone thought that a c/t may create head shake at the handlebars. Anyway, gotta get new tires and change out the drive belt. Do y'all recomrnend  sliders or rollers?

As for the sliders or rollers...I think the sliders are much better. I found the sliders help make the SWing even smoother and I would recommend the 26 gr for just a bit better acceleration but also they seem to reduce the rpm's at interstate speed.

I had the Hoops, Diablo's, and Metzler's and I found the Diablo's and Metzler's much better than the Hoops. They seemd to grip the road much better, IMO, and gave a smoother ride and took the imperfections of the interstate better. The Hoops seemed last longer but the better ride of the Diablo's and Metzler's seemed worth it to me to get about 2,000 fewer miles. I got about 10,000 with the 2 and could've gotten 12,000 on the Hoops.

Hi DanB,
I recently himm-hawed around for quite some time trying to decide whether or not I wanted to go to a car tire or not after I'd worn my rear mc tire (Pirelli Diablo w/6300 miles) down to the cords. Finally "bit the bullet" and went to the darkside and everything is just fine. Had I not decided to do that, I would have gone back to the original IRC's which wore like iron in my estimation and were great tires. My front is still a Diablo and has many miles left yet.

Believe my next project, other than oil and water, will be an OEM belt change and a set of Pulley sliders in place of the rollers. Good luck on your decision.

I pretty much agree with Jeff with the exception that I've never tried the Metzler's. But the last time I needed tires my local dealer had the Hoops on sale and free mounting and balancing so I went ahead and used them again with no regrets. The next time I need tires I'll get the Diablo's, unless the dealer has the Hoops on sale again. I don't mind the Hoops but I do feel the Diablo's have better grip.
I also agree with using the 26 gram sliders, and unlike rollers the sliders never seem to wear out.

DickO posted as I was typing so I'll add I've also used the IRC's with no complaints. Again because they were on sale at the time when I needed tires. I guess we're luckily the the Silverwing handles well on so many different tire brands.

I agree with Diablos, tried 2 sets of Avons beforehand, nearly got thrown off in the wet, complained, got a second set, same happened as they clearly aren't suitable for such a powerful bike (compared to 125's) but since changing, had no problems at all.

Thanks for the info guys. Discovered today that my new SW does not have a stock seat but a Russell. It came with a Givi V46 top box, Givi windshield and a Russell seat. Nice upgrades.

That seat is junk, send it to me and I'll send you a genuine Honda stock seat. See I'm such a nice guy that I'll suffer just to help a fellow Silverwing rider.
I'm jealous I wish I had one.

I have been happy with the IRC's and they wear very well. My rear lasted 11K and the front nearly made 15K. And if you go to your dealer and ask for the OEM IRC tire you might save 40% over the same tire elsewhere. Got both my new IRC's in that manner and saved a ton of dosh... YMMV

Here's the Russell seat.

DanB wrote:

Personally don't know why folks sell bikes with bald tires. Every bike I've ever sold had a fresh oil change, new or good tires and was washed and cleaned. Oh well, rant over. Bought SW yesterday with.....you guessed it....bald rear tire with cord showing and this was a Dallas motorcycle cop's personal bike.

So, ordering new tires. Any suggestions?  Installed a c/t on my Burgman but I've been reading here that, that may not be a good idea with ABS brakes due to the difference in tire size between bike and car tires.I also get some fairly strong head shake on my B650 under hard acceleration up to higher speeds. Someone thought that a c/t may create head shake at the handlebars. Anyway, gotta get new tires and change out the drive belt. Do y'all recomrnend  sliders or rollers?

I use a 165/65R13 on my Silverwing since it is the car tire closest in size to the stock scooter tire and it poses no problem at all with the ABS brakes on my bike. The only time I ever noticed head shake was on deceleration below 40 mph; and that was with both the stock scooter tire and the car tire... Even then, it would only happen if I took both hands off the handlebars. YMMV

If you you have not asked for permission already to join the separate darkside section, maybe it might be a good idea. Then you could look into this thread " Darkside and ABS " here:
Honda Silver Wing Scooter Forum :: Honda Silver Wing :: Accessories & Modifications :: Darkside Car Tire :: Darkside Car Tire Experience.

DanB,

I went ahead and gave you access to the Darkside Tire section.

Thanks Jeff. I"ll go check it out.