rear tire?

[debbieg]

My husband says I need a new rear tire for my 06 400. I came to this forun ( where else would i go _ and think I want to get a Michelin gold but when I went to the michelin site they only have the front tire in size 130/70-13 and not the rear. I am confused. How do i get that size for the rear tire?

[Daboo]

Like you, I could find that size in the front tire pattern, but not the rear tire. Maybe Bill Meeks, or someone else, will have a good recommendation.

Chris

[Buffalo]

I can't find the 130/70-13 rear in a Michelin tire either. The nearest I can find is a 130/60-13 rear and that was in the Pilot Sport SC not the Gold Standard. I think I will try the Pirelli GTS24 when my Bridgestone Hoop wears out although I am also considering the IRC SS530.

[happytech]

I know Dunlop makes a tire for the rear.

[billmeek]

Debbie,

I've only used the Pirelli, Avon, Dunlop, and (of course) the Bridgestone tires on my 400 so far. Not tried the Michelin so far.

If you want to buy another brand, avoid the Avon. The Pirelli tires are very good handling (sticky) but wear out quickly only providing about 1/2 the life of the Bridestones. The Dunlop and Bridestones are about equal in my book and give the best tire life so far.

[jgalar]

What problems did you have with the Avons??

[rimjaine]

I can't find the 130/70-13 rear in a Michelin tire either. The nearest I can find is a 130/60-13 rear and that was in the Pilot Sport SC not the Gold Standard. I think I will try the Pirelli GTS24 when my Bridgestone Hoop wears out although I am also considering the IRC SS530.

Howdy,
Here's a site you can check for scooter sizes, if not exact size, they make them close to it.
http://www.schwalbe.com/gbl/en/scooter/ ... int=Reifen
Later, Jim

[william-liu]

If I'm not wrong, the front is a 110/90 13 and the rear is the 130/70 13, both can be found in this link.

And this US site is offering the tyres in the sizes. Think they got the rear mixed up with the front.... see this UK site. Hope this helps!

[billmeek]

jgalar,

The Avon tires cupped VERY quickly and and had less life that the Pirelli without the benefit of the stickyness the Pirelli provided. If I did all short riding (i.e. - mostly city), I'd consider using the Pirelli tires for their grip. But given the number of miles I ride, I need something with more durability so I'm using either the Bridegestones or Dunlops at this point. I might try out another brand and see how they fair later on.

[Buffalo]

If I'm not wrong, the front is a 110/90 13 and the rear is the 130/70 13, both can be found in this link.

And this US site is offering the tyres in the sizes. Think they got the rear mixed up with the front.... see this UK site. Hope this helps!

William, not sure if they mixed it up or not but every US dealer that I have looked at list the Gold Standard 130/70-13 as a front tire on their web site so unless Michelin is telling them wrong I would think it is a front tire. Tires sold in the US are not always the same as those sold in Europe under the same name. The Mechelin site says the tread is different for the front and back tires and it list the sizes but it doesn't say which ones are front tires and which are rear.

[billmeek]

I contacted Michelin USA and have them investigating the issue. I brought up the possibility that the 130/70P13 may be mis-designated as a front tire in the USA. According to their fitment guide, it should be a front tire.

The rep (Dale) is going to investigate further and call/email me back when he's able to verify the information.

[rimjaine]

Howdy,
I was in a hurry to get off to work this morning, anyway here is a link that lists the rear tire size you've been looking for, 130/70-13. http://www.schwalbe.com/gbl/en/scooter/ ... int=Reifen
If it doesn't open to the proper page, just check scooter tires under the Power Track name. I ran across this web site about 4 years ago when I was looking for a rear tire to fit my Atlantic 500. At that time they had a stocking distributor in Washington State. It appears that the 110/90-13 front is also made under the same name.
Later, Jim

[billmeek]

One very interesting thing about the Schwalbe brand is that they make winter tires for scooters... including spiked tires. The "Iceman Spikes" 130/60-13 would probably work on the 400.

[billmeek]

Sorry for the delay in posting this... the email got hung up in the spam blocker on the server. This is the response I received from Michelin about the tire sizes for the Burgman 400:

Dear Mr Meek,

Thank you for your email. We appreciate the opportunity to serve you.

According to the information that we have the Gold Standard in size
130/70-13 is a front tire in the US market. The website for UK does show
this size as the rear tire. Either the market is different there or the
website is incorrect. I will bring this to management's attention.

Thanks again for bringing this to our attention and thanks for choosing
Michelin.


If your questions have not been answered to your satisfaction, please call
me at 1-800-847-3435 (toll-free) between 8:00AM and 8:00PM Eastern Time
Monday through Friday.


Sincerely,
Dale
Michelin North America
Consumer Care

[Steve1948]

So Bill what's the bottom line? There was a tone of uncertainty in their response wasn't there. I hope they clear it up as I'm a big fan of Michelin. I wonder how many scoots are running around with the wrong...err opposite tire they need? Thanks for pursuing this with them.

[billmeek]

Agreed. I'm sending this back to Dale via email:

Dale,

I hate to say it, but this doesn't sound very conclusive and was not the response I was looking for from Michelin. The one possibility that you didn't list is that the information you have here in the USA is incorrect and therefore Michelin is missing sales of the 130/70 13 tires because of mislabeling of the informational material.

As I pointed out to you in our phone conversation, the Suzuki Burgman 400 (nor the 650) is listed in the tire selector on the Michelin USA web site. However, if you look at that UK, Australia, and Canada sites which are all three separate regions of the world, the all list the Burgman 400 in the tire selector and provide the following details:


Front
Sizes :
110/90 - 13 56 P TL
Pression :
2.1 bars

Rear
Sizes :
130/70 - 13 63 P REINF TL
Pression :
2.3 bars

Although BurgmanUSA.com lists "USA" in the domain name, we are a global community of Suzuki Burgman riders. If your suggestion that UK website mislabeled the 130/70 - 13 as rear tire rather than the front is correct, then some of our forum members are currently running the wrong tire on their Burgman 400 because of Michelin's mislabeling and may be exposing themselves to risk. Given the severity of the issue, I think it would be in Michelin's best interest to verify the information as soon as possible.

Sincerely,
Bill Meek

[debbieg]

Thanks for looking into this Bill. This is only one of the benfits of such a great forum.

[JJ]

Back in October as a result of the Bridgestones on my Burger cupping badly both front and rear, I changed to Michelin Gold Standards (MGS) as I had always used them on my previous X9'S and always found them to have a great combination of grip and long life.

The Michelin UK site gave the right sizes and I had some fitted at my dealer.

However after only about three and half thousand miles the rear MGS began to cup. This tyre now has five and a half on it and is now is really bad... at low speeds it feels as if I riding on corrigated Iron... I will be changing both front and rear within the next few weeks.

I shall most likely be going for either a set of Bridgestones again or some Michelin Pilot Sports but not MGS'

This cupping problem is a total PITA, I've always monitored the pressures and am a loss to explain wh it happens.

JJ

JJ

[larry]

i cant find them either...larry

[alloo]

I loved the Pirelli GTS23 and GTS24 as tires for the 03 Burgman 400. Good tire life and traction.

[rodr]

This cupping problem is a total PITA, I've always monitored the pressures and am a loss to explain wh it happens.

Cupping suggests the wheel is unbalanced. Perhaps it was not balanced properly when the tire was put on, or perhaps one of the weights came off.

Rod

[JJ]

Come to think of it......

I've never seen any balance weights on the rim of either wheel and I know for a fact that the wheels weren't balanced when I had my last set of rubber fitted. (dealer hasn't got a balancing machine).

I'll have to get a new dealer for the tyres m'thinks.

JJ

[billmeek]

More not answering my question from Michelin:

Thank you for your email. We appreciate the opportunity to serve you.

Concerning your question, I have attached a link to the new U.S. 2 wheel
website. We have no listing for a Suzuki Burgman 400. If your scooter runs
size 130/70r13 on the front, you can certainly use the Gold Standard in this
size as your front tire. We do not list scooter fitments in our catalog and
therefore do not know the sizes for these bikes. This is the office for
North America only and we are not knowledgeable in sizes for other
countries. The old website was incorrect and in need of updating. We
apologize for any inconvenience. Please feel free to run the Gold Standard
in the original equipment size on your bike. You will need to go by the
manufacturers specifications concerning air pressure. We appreciate your
interest in our products.

http://www.michelinmotorcycle.com/

If your questions have not been answered to your satisfaction, please call
me at 1-800-847-3435 (toll-free) between 8:00AM and 8:00PM Eastern Time
Monday through Friday.

Sincerely,

Eddie Styles
Michelin North America Consumer Care

[billmeek]

Called Michelin USA customer support again and spoke to John and explained the situation to him. John made a call and came back and stated the information they have is valid for the USA and Canada. I then pointed out that the Canada web site agrees with my suggestion that the tire is made for the rear fitting the Burgman 400 and stepped him thru looking at the information via http://www.michelin.ca site. He's going to forward on the information and get a definitive answer.

[william-liu]

Thanks to Bill for taking the effort. Previously I recommended the tires to another forumer (nick = Teacher) and he was quite impressed with them, so you can't go too wrong!

JJ: I've been running the MGS for more than 20,000kms (think I'm on my 3rd set), have not experienced the cupping problem you described. The only time I encountered cupping was with the OEM Bridgestone Hoops that came with the scoot. (I don't balance my tires, but I do use Ride-On which is supposed to dynamically balance the tires)