January 2014 Hankook H426 195/60/16 Finally went dark!

  Happy to report I finally went to the "dark side" after about 3 1/2 months of research and bugging folks trying to get my questions answered about how it would affect the handling of my 02 Wing.  I will try to report what "I" wanted to hear when I was searching so maybe this will help some other dark side considers out....here goes.  

Alittle on myself....rider of motorcycles 43 years. Raced mx for 19 years and just stopped racing a few years ago but still like to get the adrenalin going sometimes.     This is my second Wing and I have had this one almost 4 years, first ct to put on the bike. My wing is a 02 and I just  put Progressive springs on the front because I was dragging the sides too often and the front seemed soft to me. Since then I can corner faster and not drag the sides as often.  I ride 12-14 thousand miles a year and ride straight line to get from point A to point B but I love to ride in the mountains and the twisties.  My problem is the Bridgestone tires gripped well but I only get 10k miles out of them if I am lucky. I did get 12 out of one set after a 7,000, 14 state ride...but barely. I usually use the Dunlop E3's and get 15-17 out of them but I still end up changing tires every year and they are expensive.

I have read many posts here and other sites and realized many of the tires sold to put on wings a couple years ago are no longer made.   I am a stickler for the speedo being right and was using a 180/70/16 rear tire that trued up the speedo so I had to find something that made it as close to right as possible. I tried a 205/60/16 but it rubbed on the inside of my fender weld and I could really feel the transition from side to side. Just too wide. I finally chose the Hankook H426 195/60/16. My speedo is only about 1.5 mph off and I can live with that. It is a passenger car/ light truck tire.  It has a nice tread design and reports on this tire said it had good wear and handled well in the wet and snow. It has some natural curvature to it and the edges are rounded not square like performance tires are.  Currently I have rode around 450 miles on it in the past 6 days. I have rode on the interstate, backroads, long sweeping turns, S turns, on dirt and gravel roads. I have made 90 degree turns from one street to another where I leaned the bike hard and hit the gas in second gear trying to make the back end give some or slide.......nothing...stuck like glue.   Here are some experiences, questions and answers you may be wondering about  

-Gas mileage has not changed while using a car tire.
-Tire is very smooth on the interstate or back roads...smoother than a mt.
-This tire is very quite on the road.
-I ran 41/36 psi in the mt and I could feel every little rock under the tires...still do with the front but not with the back. (ct)
-Found a good dirt road, cause you will find these in Colorado, and rode on a good gravel road. Bike was much more stable with the car tire.
-I started off with 37 psi in the ct but it felt too soft for me, so I upped it to 40psi. LOVE it!
-Occasionally I would let go of the handle bars to adjust clothing or something and as the bike slowed down it would develop head shake. This is all but gone with the ct.
-Do I feel a transition point while riding "S" turns?  Very little although there "is" a difference between a mt and a ct. With the 195 it is just a touch wider than a 180 so to me it does slow my transition down some but not that much. A mt wants to lean, a ct will lean but wants to stand back up so it takes alittle more effort but it is not overwhelming.  Running a Dunlop E3 on the front right now.
-Can't tell the difference between the two tires with easy weaving back and forth in my lane.
-Braking seems to be improved with the ct.
-Long sweeping turns are held with no problems.
-Haven't drug the sides yet with this tire but took some pretty sharp turns at my regular speed and got off the bike to see if I was on the sidewall. Wasn't and had plenty of tread left on the side before I get to the sidewall. Tire did not give me a settling in feel in the sharp turns at 40 psi.  Felt a touch of some at 37psi.
-Do you feel the slant in a road or uneven pavement with a ct more than a mt? So far no. If the slant is not that great, it feels like a mt to me. Hitting a curb at a angle at a very slow speed you will feel more than with a mt.
-Is the handling affected when hit with a crosswind on the highway? No, we had some 30 mph gusts the other day and I rode the bike in a straight line leaned over just like with a mt with no problems at all.
-When in very slow traffic, like at a 4 way stop, you have to wiggle the bars back and forth some to keep from putting your foot down with the mt. You can almost come to a stop with a ct and hold it straight.

As far as how many mile I will get out of this tire...I have no idea. It is a 60,000 mile tire but depending on your load, driving ways and types of roads you ride will determine how long it will last. As for me, if I can get 25-30,000 miles out of it I will be happy. As I said I have tried to make the tire give or do something to get my attention.....rode in some ways that I normally do not ride but I have been very happy with the way this tire performs.  

Can't think of anything else at this point   but feel free to ask any other questions about this tire and I will try to answer them. 

Nice report! Welcome to the darkside.   

Update. I have over 8000 miles on this tire and still no complaints. Just got in from a 3700 mile trip up north to Canada and around the Great Lakes and the tire still looks new. Handles well in the rain and in the twisties.

Flyn Tiger wrote:Update. I have over 8000 miles on this tire and still no complaints.  Just got in from a 3700 mile trip up north to Canada and around the Great Lakes and the tire still looks new.  Handles well in the rain and in the twisties.

I've got close to the same mileage on the Firestone that was on the rim when I bought it(not a tire I would normally use on anything)and it works great on my 04.Can't really see any wear at all yet and that is all 2-up riding.Much easier on the wifes back.

Went double dark with a BT45 back in July before we did our trip to the States.Really liking this set-up so far.

5-31-15 UPDATE Still loving the Hankook H426. Almost 16,000 miles on it. My front tire is the Dunlop E3 is about done. Thinking I will get 25,000 miles or so out of the Hankook before replacing it.

Well the final report is in on the Hankook H426 195/60/16 rear car tire and the Dunlop E3 front tire. Total miles was 18,500. The front tire was gone. So far gone that the last riding I did on it while my new front was coming in was slowing riding up town. The Hankook had maybe another 500-1000 miles left in it but was not going to push it.

 The rear car tire never gave me a problem, never slipped in dry or wet conditions. I think I could have gotten more miles out of it if I had known from the start how many pounds of air to run in it.  My low was 32-33 psi, high was 43-44 which was too much. Final setting which worked good was 36-37 psi. Tire was smooth, quite and never cupped or gave me a reason to doubt it.  Would I buy this tire again, yes but trying a different brand, little higher quality tire this next time. Only complaint was from the beginning I thought this tire should have a deeper tread. Still a good tire. If I can figure out how to add pics of the tire from the beginning to the end, I will post them.

So what combination of tires is next?!  Well I am going double dark. I have a Bridgestone Battleax B45 running in the forward postion and a Yokohoma Avid Ascend in a 195/60/16 @ 36 psi. It has a different deeper tread design and is a higher grade tire than the Hankook. Hankook was rated at a 490 I think and the Bridgestone is rated at 740.  Also running Ride On as a balancer and to help with flats.

 If you have any questions about the Hankook feel free to ask and I will be posting on the Yokohoma soon.