Michelin Commander III Touring.

[redjay]

I had new Commander III Touring tires installed today on my 1300 V Star Tourer. They were on sale at a place near me in London, Ontario.
I took the wheels off the bike on Sunday and took the rims to the shop today. Total cost including install, new 90 degree valves, balance and taxes, $600.

Once I have some miles on the tires I will give a review.

I got 36,000 kms out of the Commander II that was removed and it still had some life left in it but I needed to replace the rear brake disc and pads so rather than take the wheel out again in a couple of months I did it all at once.

[tomm]

I'll be very interested in your review. I know some folks who have had some very serious pucker moments in the rain with the Commander II's. And the last set I had, the rear tire was splitting right down to the cord at the bottom of the grooves with still plenty of tread left.

[redjay]

The Commander III's come in 2 styles of tread pattern and compound. There is the Touring and the Cruiser. I went for the Touring tire as I rarely ride in the rain and longevity was what I was looking for.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/motorcycles/michelin-commander-iii-tire-review/ar-BB11hdaN

[The Black Knight]

I'm also very interested in your review. Thanks mate.:wave:

[redjay]

I hope to get out on the bike on the weekend for my first impressions of the Commander III

[smokier]

Greetings RedJay,


What the others have said: Waiting for your review!



Ride safe,
Smokier

[redjay]

I "scrubbed in" the new tires today. You would not believe how slick the tires are when new, the front one especially. I could push the bike backwards with the front brake held on and the wheel not spinning. It was like the tires were covered in grease. I have never bought new tires that were so slick. The front tire was so slick I was nervous about taking the bike out so got a 5 inch sanding flap disc and used it by hand to scrub the tire and get more abrasion for the first ride. I did about 200 kms today and all went well but its too early to give a full review.

[Sabre-t]

I "scrubbed in" the new tires today. You would not believe how slick the tires are when new, the front one especially. I could push the bike backwards with the front brake held on and the wheel not spinning. It was like the tires were covered in grease. I have never bought new tires that were so slick. The front tire was so slick I was nervous about taking the bike out so got a 5 inch sanding flap disc and used it by hand to scrub the tire and get more abrasion for the first ride. I did about 200 kms today and all went well but its too early to give a full review.

You should complain to Michelin and where you purchased them about that. It may fall on deaf ears, but, if not, it could save someone's life. New tires are always a bit slick, but that's insane.

To actually remove that slick stuff, you could wet a rag with some isopropyl alcohol and wipe them down. The alcohol won't hurt the tire and you would be removing those oils that might creep back to the places you scruffed.

[redjay]

I gave the dealer the heads up about the Commander III's.

Below is their response.

I appreciate the info. We have noticed this more and more through the years that new tires are very slick brand new… some more than others. I will keep an eye out for the Commander III’s for sure. Thanks again.

[redjay]

I have done about 450 kms on the Commander III tires and consider them "scrubbed in". The ride is nice and smooth, smoother than the Commander II front tire which felt like solid rubber by comparison. I have not done any spirited cornering so far, hard to find in Southern Ontario.

[JoeK07]

The front tyre on the bike I'm working on is a Commander 1 and the back a Commander 2. I'll have to look for these as I need to change when up and running.
What's the main difference between Touring & Cruiser or is it just marketing speak?
I suppose either will get me up the M6

[redjay]

The tires have different tread patterns and are made from different compounds.
The Touring gets better longevity and the Cruiser tire is supposedly better in the wet.
If you can still get the Avon Cobra in the U.K you could go with that if they are cheaper. Some have complained the Commander II's are not great in the rain.


Also the Commander III's come in sizes in the Cruiser tread pattern that are not available in the Touring sizes, and vice versa.

[JoeK07]

I've got the whitewall Cobra Chromes on my Scout but only ridden maybe 200 miles or so on them before lockdown so not much to review apart from they are miles better than the Kendas it came with.
They were pretty grim in the wet (not that it rains much up here near Manchester.....)

[redjay]

I have had the Commander III Touring tire on the bike now for about 1200 kms and here is my final review.
The tires are well suited to the V Star and provide good feedback and a comfortable ride.
The bike "tips in" to corners better than the Commander II and in my opinion corners better.
I am happy with the purchase and time will tell if they last longer than the Commander II. I got 36,000 kms on the CII and it had more left in it when it was replaced.
The only comment left to make is the CIII's are very slick when new but after a good "scrubbing in" they perform very well.

[smokier]

Thanks RedJay for the final thoughts. Will be keeping an eye out for further comments on both the C IIIs and the Metzler Cruistecs from all. The technology of these multi-compound tires is fascinating. (Yes, M IIs and others are multi compound also).


Ride safe,
Smokier

[redjay]

2,000 kms on the Commander III's now and no regrets. Comfortable and good in the corners.

[Chuck A.]

When I put on new tires I ride around the yard for about 10 laps then I go to the nearest gravel road and ride it. Helps cut the mold release agent off (that's why they are slick).

[Peg]

I'm going to resurrect one of these MCIII threads with an update on my latest thoughts about the tire.

I've had a pair of MCIII Touring tires fitted for a little less than 7,000km's now, and tread-wise they look about new still. Until this weekend, I thought they were about the best set of tires I'd ever fitted to a large cruiser.

This weekend, my mind has been changed a little. So now I'm going to say they're about the best set of tires I've ever had fitted to a large cruiser for dry weather riding.

We took the Voyager away to visit my wife's father for the weekend. Typical spring weather meant there was likely to be a few showers along the way, so we were likely to encounter some wet at some point in a five hour journey.

We certainly did... About two hours in we caught a torrential downpour around the edges of a heat built thunderstorm. And along with that came two seriously bad pucker moments when the rear tire suddenly let go in very wet conditions. The first was going into a moderate right-hander with the cruise set - nothing too sharp. The rear went suddenly sideways & saw me wrestling with the bars to avoid a tank-slapping wobble, and then half an hour later the rear aquaplaned again, upright on a straight road this time, with the cruise set once more.

Scary stuff, both of them, and with fairly heavy rain for the rest of the journey I found myself riding on familiar roads where I'd usually be dragging the boards - as though I had bars of soap front & back.

I certainly didn't set the cruise much again.

It's knocked my confidence in these tires a little. We have quite a bit of wet weather down here, and this isn't something I've ever experienced with any other tire.

Dry, they're excellent. Fortunately the return journey was hot & dry. Confidence returned to some extent.

[The Black Knight]

Thx for the info, Peg. Have a nice day, my friend!:cheers::wave:

[Sabre-t]

Thanks for the updated review. Wet roads and tar snake traction is what I don't like about MCIIs. Won't use MCIIIs until I see more reviews about traction, but this confirms what I suspected: they are still too hard to have good wet traction.

BTW, I've always read that you should never use cruise control in rain because of what you described, so I don't, but since the Voyager CC gets hinky in rain, I wouldn't anyway.

[redjay]

I'm going to resurrect one of these MCIII threads with an update on my latest thoughts about the tire.

I've had a pair of MCIII Touring tires fitted for a little less than 7,000km's now, and tread-wise they look about new still. Until this weekend, I thought they were about the best set of tires I'd ever fitted to a large cruiser.

This weekend, my mind has been changed a little. So now I'm going to say they're about the best set of tires I've ever had fitted to a large cruiser for dry weather riding.

We took the Voyager away to visit my wife's father for the weekend. Typical spring weather meant there was likely to be a few showers along the way, so we were likely to encounter some wet at some point in a five hour journey.

We certainly did... About two hours in we caught a torrential downpour around the edges of a heat built thunderstorm. And along with that came two seriously bad pucker moments when the rear tire suddenly let go in very wet conditions. The first was going into a moderate right-hander with the cruise set - nothing too sharp. The rear went suddenly sideways & saw me wrestling with the bars to avoid a tank-slapping wobble, and then half an hour later the rear aquaplaned again, upright on a straight road this time, with the cruise set once more.

Scary stuff, both of them, and with fairly heavy rain for the rest of the journey I found myself riding on familiar roads where I'd usually be dragging the boards - as though I had bars of soap front & back.

I certainly didn't set the cruise much again.

It's knocked my confidence in these tires a little. We have quite a bit of wet weather down here, and this isn't something I've ever experienced with any other tire.

Dry, they're excellent. Fortunately the return journey was hot & dry. Confidence returned to some extent.

I had an incident on the Commander III's with about 10,000 kms on the tires. I was on my 1300 V Star. It was a dry day in the summer and I had to make a emergency stop from about 30kmph. The back tire locked up and the tire slid for about 20 feet. It was like I was driving on ice. It really surprised me. I made a comment in an earlier post in this thread about how slick the tires were when new. The tires rode really nice in the dry at speed and cornered well. I never rode it in the wet so I can't comment on their performance in the wet. I am not 100% sure I would buy another set.

[Top Cat]

I have a post on here somewhere telling how freaking bad Commander 2's are on wet roads. I took them off my Victory Kingpin with only 1500 miles on them and put them out for the garbage truck.

[redjay]

The best tire I have used in the wet was the Avon Cobras on my 05 Nomad.
Great longevity out of them too.

[The Black Knight]

Thanks for this last info, mates.:tup::cheers::wave: