Rear end feels like its not there!!

[Mojo]

Good day all, just a little story

Last few weeks my 2002 DL1000 with 9k miles that I bought few months back has felt abit floaty on the rear end and had a few step-outs while on slow speed cornering freaks me right out so I've pulled it off the road and done usual checks swing arm, bearings, etc all fine!! but the only thing I can put my finger on after abit of googling of the symptoms is the tyre, a little flat spot but what I would consider still OK but!!! I went to check the DOT Age its still got the original rear tyre from 2002!!!!! DOT code is 2nd week of 2002 I think the Tyres well past its life!! the front is DOT aged 2006!! so even that's relatively old!! with such low mileage for its age I would say the Tyres got a tad hard??

[MartinW]

If it's an original 2002 Trailwing rear tyre with 9K miles, then I would say it's time to replace it anyway.

[kwackboy]

Hi,  your tyres are so old they have gone hard and unable to warm up now , the next question is what tyres to buy. Personally I like metzeler tourances but everyone has different preferences on tyres but by the sounds of it any new tyres will be an improvement on what you have right now .  

[Pug27]

Exactly the same symptoms I had when I picked up my Vee with 7.5k on the clock a few months back. Still had original trail wings on. They were like blocks of wood. Riding it home in the wet was not fun!  So much so the next day I went and got new rubber fitted. I put the Adventure A40s on and it transformed the feel of the bike. More than happy with them but each to there own as far as rubber is concerned.

[Mojo]

Cheers all I will have a look at them tyre choices my bike is 100% on road so whatever I get will be for that ... I was looking at Continental ContiRoad Attack's but I shall see

But I do agree anything will be better than these Tyres the feeling of the rear end not connected to the floor isn't a pleasant one haha

Cheers

Chris

[joderest]

If its any help, just had Pilot road 4's fitted to my 650, only done 20 miles, but sooooo much better than what was on there. I do not go off road, hence fitted a road tyre.
Expensive, but recommended on here by another rider, £249 fitted to rims. Just got to wait for rain to see if OK in the wet.

[TimV]

Were Trailwings original fitment then? My K3 Vee had one on the back when I bought it 2 years ago with 11000 miles on it. I put another 11000 on it before replacing it with a tourance this spring, it wasn't entirely worn out either... and seemed to grip alright!

[Yoyo]

I only ride on road and some gravel and sheep sh!t strewn UCR's and the Tourances are fantastic, fast A roads they offer loads of confidence, same in the wet, 3k in and they show no signs of wear. That said, when I had a Bandit and ZX6 I had PR2's on both and they were fantastic too (although I'd never use them on anything other than clean tarmac) and the PR4's are supposed to be better.

[Brucey]

My Glee had the original Death Wings on them when I got it. They were OK in the dry but not great in the wet at all. I swapped them for Michelin Pilot Road 4's as I also only ride on-road. INMHO they are superb. Excellent feedback and a very re-assuring solidly 'planted' feel, both in the dry and wet. They were a big reassurance for me as I'd had TERRIBLE experiences with TrailWings on a Varadero 1000 (that were only two years old but had, I suspect, had already hardened) that left me riding like a beginner despite 30+ years of riding experience.

Everyone likes a particular tyre, and although there are often opposite views on which is a good tyre, I don't think I've seen any posts slagging off the PR4s. They even last well.

[Monkey]

Aye the wings on my DL1000 desert don't exactly give me any confidence in the wet - pretty hot on dry and have no chicken strips left - def looking at pilot 4's for next set ;)