Michelin Commander II tires

[HwyRider]

I recently had a set of Michelin Commander II tires installed on the bike and have put about 1000 miles on them. I have noticed some difference in the bike. The ride is harder and I feel the tar snakes. With the stock Bridgestone's I didn't feel the tar snakes and the ride was softer. When these tires finally wear out I'll more than likely go back to the Bridgestone tires. Just a preference on the ride quality.

[buckey1313]

Wow I feel completely the opposite from you on the tar snakes I do not feel them at all compared to the factory tires. I find them now more fun to even go through. I do realize they are a harder compound that is why you get a higher mileage out of them but I would never switch back to the Bridgestones myself but I am sure everyone has a different riding experience so I do not blame you at all. I just love the Commanders and am a Michelin Man anyways even on my cars.

[HwyRider]

I have had Michelin tires on a number of vehicles I currently have them on our minivan and my wife's Toyota. The Lexus has Bridgestone Turanza Serenity Plus tires on it and give a better ride than the Michelin.

[drains]

I did not like Bridgestone and I also felt the snakes but not with commander.Like the Commander 2 tires.

[canuckrider]

I've had the Commander II tires on for over a year and quite frankly can't say that I have noticed the difference when it comes to tar snakes.

The wear is a lot better; I have over 20,000 km (12,500 miles) on them and probably another 4 - 5,000 km of tread left. The best I ever got out of the Bridgestone Exedras was 17,000 km and that was worn down beyond the safe point.

[Bud2rat]

I just installed a new rear Michelin on my bike. I installed 2 Michelins on my bike 2 1/2 years ago. I got 17,500 miles out of the rear and I'm still running the front. The old rear tire probably had a couple of thousand miles let on her. I'm sold on the Michelin's.

[redjay]

Originally Posted by HwyRider

I recently had a set of Michelin Commander II tires installed on the bike and have put about 1000 miles on them. I have noticed some difference in the bike. The ride is harder and I feel the tar snakes. With the stock Bridgestone's I didn't feel the tar snakes and the ride was softer. When these tires finally wear out I'll more than likely go back to the Bridgestone tires. Just a preference on the ride quality.

Your experience is the opposite of what I experienced after installing Commanders.

[HwyRider]

I'll have to check the tire pressure. Maybe they're over inflated. What are guys running for psi in the tires?

[redjay]

I ran 40 front, 40 rear.

[H8BUGZ]

I just took a Commander II off the rear with 16,000 miles. Not to the wear bars, but it cornered weird for the last couple thousand miles. Run 40 PSI in the rear and 38 in the front. 40 in front made for a rough ride. Only got 4600 miles out of rear OEM with recommended pressure.

[landman]

Originally Posted by HwyRider

I recently had a set of Michelin Commander II tires installed on the bike and have put about 1000 miles on them. I have noticed some difference in the bike. The ride is harder and I feel the tar snakes. With the stock Bridgestone's I didn't feel the tar snakes and the ride was softer. When these tires finally wear out I'll more than likely go back to the Bridgestone tires. Just a preference on the ride quality.

when you go back to bridgestone give the excedra max a try.

[smokier]

Greetings,
Interesting observation HwyRider. I would have said the Commander's were more forgiving on the road snakes. Tire pressure? 40 psi, front and back, with the rear shocks set on III.
Dunlop E3's served me well on the Venture...

Ride Safe,
Smokier

[MET-RICK]

Absolutely love the C 2's, I find them to be a better ride and also have better low speed maneuverability as well. We have good road surface's and a nice variety of twisties and sweepers in the area and since I always ride with a guy who rides a Kawi Z1000 I have to be aggressive in the corners where they also feel better than the stocks. Sunday I got to the lights first and when he pulled up I pointed down at his engine and said, "hey are those cob-webs" , he actually looked down at his engine for a sec then looked at me and did this . Still haven't caught up to him since . Running 36 front 40 rear. Cheers.

[napom]

My first set of C II's lasted 16,000 and developed a front end wobble at about 13,000 . . . Those I ran Kawi recommended pressures on and had traditional balance. My current set have about 12,500 on them and look to have another 6-8 in them - I am running 40 rear 38 front and have tem balanced with dyna beads -

Either this tire batch or the beads have given me the smoothest running tires I have ever had on any motorcycle . . . Whatever it is I am sold and just ordered my next set to put on before my 8,000 cross country ride later next month . . .

[HwyRider]

Learned a valuable lesson today. Don't trust the mechanic. When I took the bike in to have the tires changed he asked me what I ran the tires at and I told him 36 and 40. When I picked the bike up I asked the receptionist if the tires were filled to 36 and 40. She went and asked the mechanic and came back and told me they were. Today I dragged the air hose out and checked the pressure. They were inflated to 30 and 30.

After getting the air back to where it should be the tires feel fine and the bike handles as well as it had before. I have a long ride this weekend so I'll be able to get a better idea of how they feel after that.