New to the forum so sorry if this has been asked before. What are the best Tyres for a 2011 America? Most of my riding is two up with camping gear. It has the factory Tyres fitted and they are cr@@p in the wet and the bike falls off white lines and hates going round roundabouts. I need to fit something that will make this bike nice to ride or I will have to go over to the dark side and buy a BMW
I have tried most brands. Have No preference, been round our local race track on my 2008 America (Wanneroo in Perth's North sub's) found the tyres are far more capable than I am, been round the track on my 2000 sprint too! Both were a hoot! Best advice slow down or practice practice and more practice in the wet. Oh and the obvious. Avoid white lines drain covers and tram lines ( tramlines even in the dry ) . someone will point you @ their choice and that may or may not be good for you ?
Aside from saving my ass on that bend, really rate the Avon Cobra's. America will never be a great handling bike, but the cobras really improved it. No longer wandering about every time you cross a white line and wet weather is no longer a worry. Cannot recommend enough, so much better than metz marathons.
As a matter of interest, what are the factory tyres on a 2011 America ? Mines a 2010 on Continentals and they're shite but they aren't the originals. I've found that knocking about 5 psi out on the rear improves things a bit. Maybe I'll try knocking a bit more out.
Mine is still on original tyres and on the odd occasion that I overtake it doesn't like the white lines and cat's eyes. Are you saying that the Avons are less prone to this? Andy
Abso-bloody-lutely! As mentioned in the other thread, even my missus noted how much less it "wiggled" over white lines / cats eyes! And I've only swapped a rear, front will be fitted next month, once I've paid for my jollies abroad. It amazed me how much difference it made just swapping the rear, so much more stable and secure the bike feels.
What pressure are you using? Enjoy your hols but not too much I'll be in carvoeiro a week on Thursday and I don't want total civil unrest. Or not until I've got there Andy
Just ordered some Cobras from Round & Black, AV71 £105.95 and AV72 £112.95. I will be back with some feedback when they have been fitted.
Yes ME880 are OE fitment and still shit ! Running mine at F30 R42 as per handbook, never found need to change, so left as prescribed by Triumph. Used to play around with pressures on the gixxer and that did make a difference runnng them lower than recommended, but ride the Triumph 2 up a lot, and have found no need to change as yet. Once fully cobra'd up, might try changing them down a few psi, but will wait till next year now.
Update. So nearly a year since I first posted about tyres for my America I finally got the Cobras fitted last month. Due to working 7 days a week I have gone from doing 20K miles a year to about 2K :-( OK, since fitting the new boots I have been out 5 times and all in the rain (you get a lot of it in Wales). All I can say is nothing has changed and I will be selling the bike mid October after doing the RTTW event. The America is a nice bike but it is just not for me coming from a Street Triple so I am looking for a Tiger 800XC. Give me a shout if you are looking for a low millage 2011 America fitted with a new pair of Avon Cobras
as one coming from the Bmw dark side to a tiger 800xrx I always used Anekees or Tourances on my GS, I will probably do the same on the Triumph both Tyres performed well in distance and wet conditions
I'm just finding this out. Its like they are made from hard plastic. Had tegh front end try to tuck on me a few times in teh rain but managed to save it. Also getting away from the lights a bit quickly and the rear just spins up! These are bordering on dangerous in the wet.
Get yourself a set of Avon on there. First thing I'll do when I get my replacement bike, is fit a pair.
