Hi all,
I was wondering if anyone had experience with radial ply tires on a bike.
The RS Warrior has radials. I would be curious to find out if they make whitewall radial tires to fit a RoadStar. Radials are supposed to last longer than bias-ply tires, (and we know that cars go farther, ride and handle better on radials than the old rut-chasing wandering bias-plys.) How would radials be on a RoadStar?
...a penny for your thoughts, Anyone?

Most cruiser bikes use bias ply because they are desighned to get hotter and stick better they have a rounder shape and higher sidewall and they wear out quicker because they are softer.The radialis harder, has a flatter profile, and shorter sidewalls and is desighned to run cooler thus getting better mileage on them .In my mind if you do alot of highway riding radials may be the way to go however if you are like me and ride it all but less highway your best to "STICK" with the bias ply tire.....just my 2 cents worth .......Coug

You should probably approach this one with extreme caution. I don't know of anyone in particular going radial on a cruiser, but a couple of friends have tried in the past with mixed results on others. on Seca 600's and V-max, radials on the older bikes result in nearly uncontrolable head shake during acceleration, while a bud who tried them on a 500 interceptor and an older Ninja 600 had great results. The brains I have picked at race shops and whatnot lay it down to looser chassis(more flex) than modern sport designs have. I find the Roadie to have lots of flex, and I already have stability issues on decel, much like the persistent "wag" lots of Gold Wing 1800 riders complain about. 2 hugely different 800 pound bikes, with the same stability issues, one on bias tires, the other, very expensive radials. There is also an issue with bead design being slightly different from a radial to a bias ply, and some older rims are not made with radials in mind. A rim need not be on an old bike to be an old design. As to higher mileage, Bull. The Sport-touring BT_020 tires I ran on my 400 pound SV-650 got 6000 miles, while the MT-66 tires I put on my 500 pound Shadow 750 ACE got 8500-9000 miles consistently, even though I rode both like I stole them, just like I still ride the SV, and to a lessor extent, the 03 Silverado LE, which has just under 5000 miles on the rear D404, and it is shot to hell. Damn Torque, eats tires............

Incidentally, radials on a bike designed for them is pure handling Heaven!

Just got my new J&P catalog and was looking at the tire offerings. I keep it in the reading room near the throne so I can look at it in privacy. I only have around 5K miles on my bike but I was getting a head start looking at what tires I might purchase and what the cost differential was for wide whites.

As I was perusing the offerings from various manufacturers and looking at tread designs and comparing sport to cruiser tires, and profiles I came across a little entry on page 17 upper left, a new tire in the catalog, Bridgestone Exedra Cruiser Radials. The OEM sizing on our factory rubber is 130/90-16" front and 150/80-16" rear. The reccomended radials are 120/70ZR-18" for the front and 200/50ZR-17" for the rear.

I figured the profile of the radial must be radically different to result in such a big difference in sizing designation. The "Z" rating should catch the eye of all you speed demons. It seems to me that radials whine more and have a stiffer sidewall which helps keeps the tire from distorting under the stress of aggressive cornering. Might be a benefit for those who do a lot of two up riding at higher speeds.

I've heard the Metzler ME 880's are the way to go for improved handling on the Roadstar so that's how I'm leaning but I do wonder about the radials. I doubt that our bikes would suffer any major handling issues as these are designed spefifically for cruisers. I'm looking for improved handling and braking not necessarily extended life on the tread. I'd much rather be safer and confident than worrying about running an extra 3000 miles on a hard tire. Just my thoughts....