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Elite 3 help

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duffey22

Member
08 Ultra
I have been hearing nothing but good responses about the elite 3, so here is my problem. My rear tire a Dunlop 402 with about 3000 miles on it. The fnt tire had some cupping so I decided to go with the Elite 3. On the way home I got up to 70 mph and I started to get a tail wag. I thought the rear tire was flat so I stopped, but it was ok. checked fnt and rear tire pressure but both were 40psi. I have lowered the fnt to 35 and still get the tail wag. I have retorqued all the bolts, checked the bearings and all appears good. The steering is very sensitive, the least gust of wind will cause the tail to wag as if the rear tire pressure was low. I have read where others have mixed sets with no problem. Do I just have a bad tire?
 
Heard this same experience from a fellow motocyclist who changed to the Elite 3 on the front. After putting 100 miles on it, he experienced progressively worse "wagging" you are talking about. When you put your palm on his tire, you could feel the tread pattern had uneven raised areas all along the tire's slanted tread pattern and with no concentric pattern you could feel his bike wander especially in rain grooves. He promptly went back to the ribbed tread pattern of OEM Dunlops.

The tread pattern of the Elite 3 was based on track conditions and cornering on lighter sportier bikes (the original Elites I remember from the GP days when tire patterns were more like modified slicks for semi-wet conditions. JMO, but I would go back the OEM Dunlops, go with Metzler Marathon or Avons that have ribbed pattern and normal concentric grooves made for straight tracking...just to be sure.

But to put things in perspective, Glider stated earlier that he used the Elite 3 with fine results as other have, so for this one instance I would still stand for this particular bike and application to go back to OEM tread pattern or similar.
 
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Just put E3's on the wife's 89 FXSTS replacing the Metzlers. Ran tight turning mountain roads peppered with tar snakes multiple variations of road surfaces and highway speeds for a 300 mile putt. Verdict : Superb
tires wife states they handle better then the Mets and shes' been in the saddle for 23 years. Can't wait to put them on my HT !
 
Maybe the problem you're having is with the rear tire. I'm running E3's front and rear with 40PSI in both and the handling is excellent and I've been doing a lot more wet weather riding than I'd like too,I've hit puddles that with the stockers it was "hang on and float through" and just rode right thru them with the E3's.
They are made for touring bikes.
Here's part of the description of the E3's from the Dunlop site....
Click the link to read the rest... Touring/Sport Bias/Cruiser
Complete range of bias and bias-belted high-mileage premium touring tires replaces the 491 Elite II in like sizes with black sidewalls.
The high-mileage E3 bias and bias-belted tires suit a wide range of large-displacement touring motorcycles as well as most of the most popular cruiser bikes available.
 
Update
Unable to get rid of the wag so i replaced the rear tire to match the fnt. Still got the severe wag. Feels like the rear tire is flat. Got to be the front tire. Shop has agreed to replace the tire under waranty. Both tires have less than 50 miles on them. Speeds over 65mph is very scary.
 
Has the shop verified the wag or are they just warrantying the tire out of good will. I put my E3's on 2500 mies ago and am very satisfied with all aspects. I even just ordered an extra rear to keep in stock.
 
I run Elite 3's on my Ultra, best tires I have ever had. These tires were actually built for Goldwings, but they fit nicely on my HD.

Highly recommended :s
 
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