Suggestions on where to buy new tires? XJ650J

I'm looking to buy a new set of tires for my '82 XJ650J. I've seen some good reviews on Dunlop D404's.
Anyone have suggestions on where to buy a set, or another tire I should consider?
Thanks

 

I got mine at MotorcycleSuperstore dot com. But I change and balance my own tires, Keep in mind that a motorcycle shop will charge you about an hour's labor (around $75) to mount and balance, but they may cut you a deal if you buy the tires from them. (but not usually)

As far as what to buy:
You can't go wrong with the 404s.

In Texas you shouldn't have to worry too much about traction in rain, so not having to buy a rain-specific tire will broaden your choices. Then you just have to figure what type of riding you'll be doing.

Lots of long straight roads, grip won't be as much a concern, so you can go with a longer lasting tire, i.e. Dunlop 404s or Bridgestone Spitfires.

But if you do a lot of twisties, you'll want to sacrifice some of that durability for cornering grip, i.e. Avons

 

+1 on Motorcyclesuperstore.com. I have been ordering from them for a number of years now; good (selection), fast (shipping), and cheap (good prices and free shipping on a set of tires). However, like tskaz, I mount and blance my own.

As far as what brand/model to buy, lots of opinions, so here's mine. I have been running Shinko tires on all my bikes for the last 5 or 6 years and have been very satisfied. I ride year round and average about 11K miles a year. I used Ravens on my R1150RT, and now on my K1200LT (front only, rear LT tire is an unusual size and weight rating). I have Shinko 712 tires on my R75/7 and my Seca. IMO, once you try them, you'll never go back.

 

I think I'm gonna go with battleax's (BT45Vs) next time around... Had spitfires on the maxim, but I do believe those are being phased out...

Marcel

 

I live in a small town, and am a believer in shopping local, so I bought at the local dealership. Installed pricing was only $30 more than having tires shipped to me. (yes, I consider myself lucky in that regard). I chose Conti-Go tires and have been very happy with them so far. They don't try to follow irregularities in the road (tar snakes, grooved pavement, ect.) and offer good feedback on grip level in corners.

 

Thanks for all the input guys. I did look at motorcyclesuperstore.com and they did have some good prices with free shipping. I'll check locally on prices for tires and mounting costs and go from there.
Just curious... how hard is it to mount / balance tires and is there any expensive tools and/or equipment required?

 

You'll need at least two long sturdy pry bars. The act of mounting and unmounting is pretty straight forward. On a scale of 1-10, 1 being the lowest:
Mounting - 2 (only because you have to be able to read the tire direction)
Balancing - with a spin balancer, 3.....without a spin balancer, 7

For balancing, you can do it on the bike and go cheap, or you can spend up to $200 or $300 on a good tire balancing machine.

Plus wheel weights. Clip on or stick on, but personally I stay away from stick on because I don't trust them to stay on in the conditions I ride in.

 

My local "Motorsports Franchise" charges $40 to mount and high-speed spin balance if you drag them in, and $30 if you buy the tire from them.

Personally, I find the peace of mind that comes with professionally mounted (no gouged rims) and spin balanced (smooth at over the ton) tires well worth it.

There ARE two sides to this "debate" it's up to you.

 

I use a Harborfreight tire changer with a motorcycle tire changing attachment (Looks like it may have been discontinued...), a Mojolever mount and demount bar, and a Marc Parnesstatic balancer. Believe it cost about $350ish for all of it, but where I live the local Harley dealer is the only game in town and they charge ~$35 a pop to mount and balance per tire. So, the gear paid for itself in 10 individual tire changes. This gearlooks nice too...

 

This is the big thing for me. Yeah, sure, mounting a tire and balancing it isint rocket science. I've changed and balanced many, many car and truck tires using the snap-on changer and spin balance at my old high school shop. However, when it comes to my life riding on two wheels at speeds that could no doubt kill me as the result of a tire being mounted or balanced not just perfectly, I'll leave it up to someone who does it for a living.

In the end, as fitz said, its all up to you, but to me its worth the extra 60$.

The guy that i bring mine to mounts and balances them for 60 a set.

I asked him to call me once he had old ones off and i went and picked up the rims so I could clean and polish the heck out of the bead and inner rim.

When I was done (3+ hours later) the inside of the rims were clean enough to eat off and shiny enough to shave in front of. I used a combination of green scotchbrite pads, along with 3000 grit sandpaper, and then rubbing alcohol to remove any and all remaining dust/residue.

Sure, no one else will ever see it, but I know it's clean

Plus, whoever mounts the new tires will love you for it.

And, even though I check my tires regularly anyway, them needing to be topped off with air is an extremely rare occurrence.

I'm sure you already know, but to say just in case you don't, ALWAYS replace your valve stems when mounting new tires. They're cheap, and old dried up seals in valves are a usual culprit for air loss.

 

I also want to recommend these, I love them and have nearly 5000 miles on mine -



Great grip and ride comfort, no centerline to catch rain grooves, etc.

Treadwear is probably on the faster side compared to the spitfires, but more than what you would get out of a set of avons from what I've heard.

I bought mine from here:

http://www.motosport.com/cruiser/CONTIN ... TIRE-COMBO

At the time they came to right around $185 shipped for the set.

What you want to be weary/careful of when buying tires, be it online OR locally, is to check the date codes. I've seen tires at dealers sitting on the sales racks that are already 4 years old. My general rule is any tire over 5 years gets replaced. Some say you can get 8, but I prefer to stay on the safe side. Putting off spending 100$ on a new tire for one more year isint worth risking my life. Theres two things connecting the rocket you're riding and the road - its not worth relying on sketchy tires.

 

I'll +1 the D404's as I have them on both my XJ's. In all fairness though it's a biased +1 as I haven't been able to compare them to anything else, but I am happy with them.

 

I hope that no one takes offense to me jumping in on this. I've been trying to find a good 90/10 dual sport or a good street tire that does well on dirt roads. I'm not looking to create a dual sport, but I have ridden here in Colorado on some roads that look paved on the map and turn out to have a few miles of gravel.

 

Conti Tubeless TKV-11(front) and TKV-12(rear). Got 4k on first new rear. I was practicing a lot of high speed start and stopping and probably wore it prematurally in the process. I'm on second rear now. Was going to go with "Spitfires" but I didn't want to have two different make tires and I like the handling of the Conti's. I think I got the first set from OLD BIKE BARN. I think I got the replacement rear from the MOTORCYCLE SUPERSTORE. Not for sure tho'.

Gary

 

Balancing a tire is a 7? And mounting a 2? Really? I've looked into mounting my own tires (the cheap way, without the $350 in tools), and it seemed like a frustrating and time consuming process. Balancing them, though, looks dirt easy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgZlWqj ... ata_player

 

Agree. Demounting and mounting tires with tire irons can be super frustrating and IMO is a real art.

While the guy in this video is not me, he does use an identical set up with the Harbor Freight stand and Mojolever mount/demount bar. He even has the same "Mojoblocks" on the cheapo HF stand to prevent marring the wheels. The Mojolever really is a nice piece of gear.

 

Here's where I get my tires.

http://www.rockymountainatvmc.com/c/49/ ... ycle-Tires

Bring the Wheels and Tires to a Shop that has a Motorcycle Tire Machine and High Speed Wheel Balancing Machine.

For $25.00 or $30.00 your frustration factor is Zero.

 

let's see you don't let a professional work on your carbs, set your valves or work on brakes but you guys will take your tires to the professionals and let the lowest man on the totem pole have at your wheels. does he find the heavy spot on the wheel first ? if the dot is by the stem he didn't. any soapy water in those bearings? you'll never know. oh that scratch, forget it.

 

Polock,

You raise a valid point. Got a question tho'...If I didn't know you from this forum (meaning I wouldn't know that you "know" how to mount/balance tires) and I left a set and paid you for the labor, how would I know it was done correctly? Even if I stood there and watched you do them how would I know you were doing them correctly without knowing how to do it myself? What's that? Your point exactly! I tried.

Gary

P.S. - Gotta' trust people to do their jobs just like people trust us to do ours.

 

well if the dot (light spot) of the tire is by the valve stem (theoretically the heavy spot) of the rim, them the guy didn't check the rim with no tire. i've never seen the heavy spot of the rim be at the valve stem, but it might happen.
if he slops soapy water on for lube, first thing is you don't want water in your tire, then he balances it wet, a wet tire doesn't balance like a dry one. if he spins it, it might be ok, it'll throw the water off.
other than not bending your rotors there's not too much to go wrong, but xj rotors are pretty hard to bend