What do the Elite 3 Rear Tire Riders Use For a Front Tire?

[PNBR549@Bell]

Today, I had to replace my 1600 Nomad's rear tire. The dealer said they had Avon and Metzler but, at the end of the day, they only had Dunlop Elite III. My bike was already in pieces in their shop. So..... Eventually, I will have to replace the stock front tire. I like to use matching sets. I'm confused. The 180/70/16 E3 is a radial. I don't see a radial front tire on the fitment charts to match with the rear. What do the Elite 3 Rear Tire Riders Use For a Front Tire?

[notahd]

I have about 9,000 miles on my set of elite 3's. The back is a 180 and the front is a 150. The ride and handle great. I think that the front is ewearing better then the back, might get 12,000 oyt of the back one and 15,000 out of the front one. So as it looks the radial dosn't wear as good as the biuas one

[kawgirl]

I got between 13K and 14K out of my last rear Elite3. Love them.

[BudMan]

Glad you ask this question. Are you guys using the E3 150/80 bias on the front and the E3 180/70 radial on the rear?

[caper]

Loved my elite 3, I had 18,000 k and alot more thread left!

[AlabamaNomadRider]

I am running the Elite 3 180-70R-16 on the rear and it now has close to 10,000 miles on it. It should get many more miles.

I am running the Elite 3 150-80-16 on the front and it now has close to 9,000 miles on it. Still lots of tread remaining.

I will definitely be buying Dunlops again when it is time to replace the ones I now have. I have been very satisfied with their performance and tread life. I expect to get 17,000 to 18,000 miles out of them.

[bigdave]

Yes you can run a bias front and radial rear.

[jd01]

I run the Elite 3 150/80-16 bias tire on the front wheel.

[PNBR549@Bell]

THANKS Everyone !

Since my front tire will be in spec for a "Little" while longer, I can search the web for the bias front and have it shipped. The dealer price on the rear was $65 more than Bikebandit.

Looks like my Nomad is going to get better tire life than the Valkyrie Tourer I had. MAN that thing could eat tires...front and back!

[fammdw]

I just ordered the 160/80/16 rear and 150/80/16 for the front. Elite 3 - both bias. This will be my first set of tires on the 2006 Nomad I bought a couple of months ago. A lot of local riders like this combination so I'm hoping for good things.

I just turned 13,000 on the odometer and I still have the stock Bridgestone's on the bike. I was hoping to squeeze the rest of the summer out of the Stones, but it ain't gonna happen!

[classic1]

I have over 13,000 on my rear E-III, more on the front one. I just ordered a new rear tire yesterday. I think that I can get some more miles out of it, but the way the tire is wearing "flat" in the middle (which all of the rear tires do) I can feel the bike kinda wandering in the lane on some roads. I actually thought that the tire was low on air until I looked at the tire wear. I'm going with the E-III again because I was only getting about 8 - 10,000 miles out of the rear Metzler ME880s.
Also, you can run radials on the rear and bias on the front, but not bias on the rear and radials on the front.
And one more thing, some dealers won't install tires bought from other places. Insurance reasons.

[danvero]

I think I'm going with Dunlap 251 Radial on front, 150/80R-16 (71V) Dunlop D251 Front Motorcycle Tire ... OEM on KAWA VN2000 .... Just put the 180 E3 RADIAL on rear ... Best price: http://www.rockymountainatvmc.com/p/...FQPznAodbiMAqA

[usranger74]

My rear E 3 is 160/80B16. I now have 11,000 mile on it and it looks good for 5+ more. No signs of culping.

My front E 3 is 150/80-16 . It only has 7,000 on it and it will get many more.

I run 42 PSI in both.

[schoeney]

I run E3 Bias front and back.

This is my second rear E3 rear. First one had 14k miles and still looked good but I was headed out on a long trip so decided to replace it before I left . Suspect I could have gotten at least 16-17k out of it.

[dholmer]

My rear Metz 880 is getting close for replacement, but the front is looking good, except for cupping. Anyway, what happens if I replace the rear to a Dunlop E3 and keep the front Metz on till it wears out? Do you need to keep matching pairs? I do want to change both eventually and run the Dunlops. Not really impressed with the Metz because of the cupping and poor wear on the rear.