Austone or Goodyear?

1993 GW Aspencade...availability of both the Austone and or the Goodyear Assurance look reasonable..... price is close ( 143 vs 124)
anybody out there have experience with both? which one do you prefer?...out here in the SW it's hot and dry ....with a rare thunderstorm thrown in to mix things up..where I ride/live ( on the left coast) we do get morning drizzle and it drys out during the day...when I head East - it's just hot and dry...any advice would be appreciated.

Looking at a Mich. 130/70H-18 (Rear Tire) for the front...any other makes/models (rear tires)recommended?

Thnx in advance

I"m running the Goodyear and am very happy with it, the wet traction is fantastic.

I would go with the Goodyear, the Austone is one of the tires that have been known to be wobblers. Not all of them, but what makes one wobble and not the other has not been determined. If someone has a problem with a tire on the same bike or style of bike as I ride I try to stay away from that tire.

ROD

I'm with you brah...not gonna run another Aussie if there's something else, like that wikkid Nokia Cargo tire I found, here:
http://www.tiresbyweb.com/p-8963-nokian-hakka-c-cargo-tires.aspx
I just GOTTA try this; and cheaper than the Dunnie Taxi tire too! Click on the specs and blow your mind!
EDIT: I'm sorry; that was a link to BUY it, but here is a link to LOOK at the specs:
http://www.nokiantires.com/tyre?id=11896&group=3.02&name=Nokian+Hakka+C+Cargo

I put a 175/60R-16 on the rear and it was squishy at 30 lbs so I went to 40lbs still not stable on acceleration or turns, so I went to 50 lbs and at least now I feel I have better control. Its kinda like the walls are weak. and a friend on his wing is at 34 so I tryed that and had no control, squishy, walls weak so I went back to 50lbs. Has anyone else have this problem. I use to have a Dunlop Run-flat and never had that problem at all but apparently Dunlop stop making the Wintersport 3D 175/60-16 Runflat, so I went with the Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max 175/60R-16. I guess I'm going to run with it and just keep a close eye on the tread wear and walls for possible failure....

I've found that my tires ride & feel best @ Max Pressure, I run 51 lb's & love it. The C/T side wall is lighter than a M/T & not noticeable when used with 3 others, with the single use the softer side wall does show the sidewall deflection. Max pressure will give better performance and handling in any and all conditions.
At my "Skid School" (for cars) we preach and use Max pressure in all our tires for safety in extreme conditions, any driver can find themselves in an extreme situation at any time and it's best to be prepared ahead of time.

After some searches made up the following 'list" NOTE! list is for GL1500 REAR TIRE application...in alphabetical order
brand................... size............. price..source.......................comments
Austone Taxi tire......175/??R-16.....152...Universal Vintage tire co..wobbles at speed?**EDIT** note tire is NOT a 60 series profile-see post by "ROD" below
Bridgestone Turanza..175/60R-16.....115....Tirerack.....................low inventory/car people don't like it
Dunlop Graspic.........175/60R-16.....117....1010 tire....................unknown on GL1500?
Federal Formoza......175/60R-16......50.....online tires.................too low a price to be believable
Goodyear assurance...175/60R-16.....123...Tirerack..................... appears to be the new "standard"


front tire
Bridgestone Battax rear.130/70H-18...120..amazon ( Rear tire mnt Bwards)

goona go for the Goodyear /Battax combo

curley wrote:After some searches made up the following 'list" NOTE! list is for GL1500 REAR TIRE application...in alphabetical order
brand................... size............. price..source.......................comments
Austone Taxi tire......175/60R-16.....152...Universal Vintage tire co..wobbles at speed?
Bridgestone Turanza..175/60R-16.....115....Tirerack.....................low inventory/car people don't like it
Dunlop Graspic.........175/60R-16.....117....1010 tire....................unknown on GL1500?
Federal Formoza......175/60R-16......50.....online tires.................too low a price to be believable
Goodyear assurance...175/60R-16.....123...Tirerack..................... appears to be the new "standard"


front tire
Bridgestone Battax rear.130/70H-18...120..amazon ( Rear tire mnt Bwards)

goona go for the Goodyear /Battax combo

I don't know about the other tires but the Austone Taxi tire is a 175/80-16 or 175/78-16 size tire. If you have a web page that shows the Austone Taxi tire as 175/60-16 can you please post it. That could help others who are looking for tires.

ROD

Rod...here ya go...don't know how accurate the page is ...but it's the same source I listed above...
https://www.universaltire.com/dunlop-tires/dunlop-radial-tires/175r16-austone-taxi-black.html

That tire is a 175/80r16 at 26.9" tall, a 175/60r16 would be around 24 1/4" tall.

ROD

Thnx for the info Rod - I corrected the original post/list above.

http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/14/72/961/6158/PRODUCT-REVIEW/Michelin-Pilot-Activ-Rear-Tire.aspx This is the tire on my 1988GL1500 for the front, great tire even over 100mph my rear tire is the
Goodyear Assurance listed here but I bought mine at discounttire.com , its a little squishy on hard acceleration but over al especially while I run my trailer full loaded at 500 lbs worth of camping gear it works great... Double darksider here forever

BOY, talk about mis-labeling a tire size !  Checked my recently-removed Austone;  shows: 175/60R-16 on sidewall. .....Old Tom

papasmurf37 wrote:BOY, talk about mis-labeling a tire size !  Checked my recently-removed Austone;  shows: 175/60R-16 on sidewall. .....Old Tom

Austone makes more than one size tire, A 175R16 tire is 175/80-16(26.9" tall) if your tire says 175/60-16 I have no doubt that that is the size of your tire. Your tire(175/60-16) should be around 24.3" tall.
Does it have any other markings on it to tell us what Austone tire you have?
Here is the Austone web site, if you can look it over and find the tire you have it might help others(me too)  
http://austonetire.com/

Thank's,
ROD

Since me eyesight ain't too good any more, rolled wheel out into daylight. Printed on both sidewalls: 175R16C. Tire measures 26.6" high, inflated to 41psi....papa

New to the forum. My name is Gary and I ride a 1996 GL1500 SE. I am looking at crossing over to the Darkside. Can I get some opinions on rather the Austone or the Goodyear Assurance is a better tire for the 96. I have a Tirerack 20 miles from me, where I can get the Goodyear or I can order the Austone online. Which tire fits and preforms better on the Wing?

Backing up my former rant, the Dunnie 175/80/16 taxi is definitely just a cut above the Aussie and the old Comtrac I'd run.
No crossover feeling and the one downside is slightly less braking ability, probably due to the narrower tread. But that's
comparing to the other two, which were off the charts for stoppage. It's still way better than a MT.