Thanks for the details about the tires, Greg. Another friend of ours has been
advocating K491 rears because of the high mileage. My mileage on the rear D404 I
just took off was over 9k - I guess yours didn't last that long. Your web site
says that your rear K491s were lasting about 15k miles. So my D404 lasted 60% as
long as your K491s. Checking the prices of these tires on line, I see that the
D404 costs about 59% of what a rear K491 costs ($81 vs $138). So the price
difference isn't all that significant in my mind, since I change my own tires.
Of course, if I have to pay shipping twice as often, that should be factored in,
too. But otoh, I like to have the tire off once a year or so anyway to clean and
lube the drive splines. And how can a tire with the same tread pattern last so
much longer than the D404? Probably by having less sticky rubber, don't you
think? Our mutual friend claims that he has had no traction problems with his
491s, but I kinda
like the idea of having the stickier of the two tires on my bike just in case I
need the traction, since the cost per mile is about the same.

I would thnk the S11 would have MORE problems with pavement grooves than the
D404, since the front S11 has a large, streight center rain sipe, whereas the
center sipe on the D404 is offset. The S11 rubber may be stickier, but the
serious lack of sipes on the rear has me uncomfortable in the rain.

Well, that's how I see it. It's different from your assessment of the pros and
cons of the tire choices, but obviously there are pluses and minuses to both
tires.

-Mike (69 ambo, 77 vert)


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Hi Mike,

I really haven't had any problems, per say. Really, I'm just a bit frustrated
with a couple things:

1. The mileage on my front D404 is less than half of what my mileage was on the
K491 (which are no longer made). In fact, I got a lot more mileage out of my
rear K491 than I did out of my front D404. The numbers I'm getting for the D404
are still probably good...but I'm comparing them to my numbers with the K491 and
it is a bit disappointing. You can see my specific numbers here:
"http://thisoldtractor.com/gtbender/loopframe_tires.htm#tire_choices"

2. Although I never recall having trouble with my K491 on the front tire, I have
very noticeable trouble with the D404 on the front wanting to track pavement
grooves. I moved from Florida to Arizona at about the same time I fit the D404
on front, so it may simply be that the roads I now ride in Arizona have more
grooves. The tread pattern between the D404 and the K491 are identical (as you
pointed out to me a while back). I do know that I want to get away from the
tracking...and hopefully the S11 will do that. We'll see.

3. I'm hoping the Bridgestones are a bit stickier than the Dunlops. I'm wanting
to lean more in corners and some better glue on the shoes would be nice. I'm
still working to get my self-confidence back after I wrecked the Quota last
fall.

So, there is the deal from my perspective. Who knows? I may change back to the
D404 or try another tire altogether after my experience with the S11. The one
thing about motorcycle tires, they wear out quickly enough that you can try all
sorts of them to find the ones you like :>

Regards,

Greg Bender