Tire selection

[terryd]

So I have a few thousand miles to go on my new 1700 Nomad before I need tires, but out of curiosity I did some shopping to see what new tires will cost me when the time comes. I've found there aren't a lot of choices in stock tire sizes for this bike. As a matter of fact the only two brands I can find that have matching sets are Bridgestone which come on the bike and Shinko. So far I've only looked on RevZilla and Bike Bandit.

[recumbentbob]

check out Dennis Kirk https://www.denniskirk.com/

[Erilflynn]

No you wont find a lot of choices for the exact OEM replacement i.e. in the rear. Many Voyager and Vaq owners go with the 180-65-16 in the rear which will open up some more choices like Commander II's. Check with other Nomad riders to see what they are doing. Another good place to buy is rockymountainatv.

[houndawg]

I have 2010 Nomad and have tried 4-5 different brands, had pretty good luck with the dunlop d404 & k555, I just bought my first Michelin commander ll to try. lots of different opinion out there good luck.

[hlknvlcn60]

I ended up with Commander IIs and love them. And on the rear, yes, the 180/65/16 fits perfect and works well, handles great. They wear nice too although I have yet to see that so far as I don't have more than a couple of thousand on them but so far so good...no signs of wear at all yet. I have seen reports of riders getting well over 10,000 miles on the Commanders. The Motorcyclesuperstore.com has the best prices on them and send them right to your front door. Dealerships always or mostly charge full retail on tires. Better to order them online. The superstore gives free shipping on tires too which is nice.

[robjob]

Originally Posted by hlknvlcn60

I ended up with Commander IIs and love them. And on the rear, yes, the 180/65/16 fits perfect and works well, handles great. They wear nice too although I have yet to see that so far as I don't have more than a couple of thousand on them but so far so good...no signs of wear at all yet. I have seen reports of riders getting well over 10,000 miles on the Commanders. The Motorcyclesuperstore.com has the best prices on them and send them right to your front door. Dealerships always or mostly charge full retail on tires. Better to order them online. The superstore gives free shipping on tires too which is nice.

Commander IIs on my Nomad as well. Great so far. Just rolled over 30,000 kms (18641 miles) on the rear with just over 5mm tread left. 40 psi handles and wears great.

[terryd]

Originally Posted by robjob

Commander IIs on my Nomad as well. Great so far. Just rolled over 30,000 kms (18641 miles) on the rear with just over 5mm tread left. 40 psi handles and wears great.

Wow, that's great mileage!

[terryd]

Thanks for the info guys. A couple guys from the forum over at Delphi told me the same thing. One of them pointed out that the 180/65 profile brings the speedometer closer to accurate and I like that idea. I wonder if anyone has run into any trouble getting service centers to mount tires that don't meet the bikes specifications. I always order tires online and really don't want to tackle mounting them myself. I've heard the stock Bridgestones don't last past around 6000 miles.

[Peg]

Originally Posted by terryd

Thanks for the info guys. A couple guys from the forum over at Delphi told me the same thing. One of them pointed out that the 180/65 profile brings the speedometer closer to accurate and I like that idea. I wonder if anyone has run into any trouble getting service centers to mount tires that don't meet the bikes specifications. I always order tires online and really don't want to tackle mounting them myself. I've heard the stock Bridgestones don't last past around 6000 miles.

Save more money by removing the wheel from the bike, and rolling that into the bike shop with the new tire... I'd be surprised if they even ask what bike it's for.

[JD Hog]

My local Kawasaki Dealer here in town did mount my MCII rear tire on my 2015 Voyager and had no problem with it not being the stock tire size. He even ordered the tire and matched the price I had from an Online seller.

[tonik]

Originally Posted by terryd

One of them pointed out that the 180/65 profile brings the speedometer closer to accurate and I like that idea. I wonder if anyone has run into any trouble getting service centers to mount tires that don't meet the bikes specifications.

That was me. :)

Usually the dealer will point it out to me, but not to give me a hard time. They were just double checking to make sure what I was doing was intentional and not an error on my part.

[jimbo279]

I am on my third set of Commander II on my 2011 Voyager and they have worked well for me. The current set has 33,000 km's and it looks to me like the rear will go another 5 to 7,000 km's making them close to 40,000 km's (about 24,000 miles) and the front will go even further. I am a big guy and about 50% of the current miles were 2 up. I run 40psi front and 45psi rear. I will certainly be going Comm II again.

[terryd]

Originally Posted by jimbo279

I am on my third set of Commander II on my 2011 Voyager and they have worked well for me. The current set has 33,000 km's and it looks to me like the rear will go another 5 to 7,000 km's making them close to 40,000 km's (about 24,000 miles) and the front will go even further. I am a big guy and about 50% of the current miles were 2 up. I run 40psi front and 45psi rear. I will certainly be going Comm II again.

I've never heard of mileage like that from motorcycle tires. That's incredible.

[cnc]

Originally Posted by terryd

Thanks for the info guys. A couple guys from the forum over at Delphi told me the same thing. One of them pointed out that the 180/65 profile brings the speedometer closer to accurate and I like that idea. I wonder if anyone has run into any trouble getting service centers to mount tires that don't meet the bikes specifications. I always order tires online and really don't want to tackle mounting them myself. I've heard the stock Bridgestones don't last past around 6000 miles.

Putting a 180 on the rear is not an issue at all and I, like many went to a 180 on my 1600.
If your Nomad came stock with a 170/70/16 rear like the 1600 did, then putting a 180/65/16 on the rear will not correct the speedo reading, it will increase the error making it read higher ever so slightly.

The side wall height is a percentage of the tread width.
170x70%= a side wall height of 119mm.
180x65%= a sidewall height of 117mm.

[JD Hog]

Originally Posted by terryd

Thanks for the info guys. A couple guys from the forum over at Delphi told me the same thing. One of them pointed out that the 180/65 profile brings the speedometer closer to accurate and I like that idea. I wonder if anyone has run into any trouble getting service centers to mount tires that don't meet the bikes specifications. I always order tires online and really don't want to tackle mounting them myself. I've heard the stock Bridgestones don't last past around 6000 miles.

Here is a link to a tire comparison between both tires

https://www.tacomaworld.com/tirecalc...0r16-180-65r16