[paulmh]

Hi,

After work on Friday I did one of my first full rides in the dark with my Classic, and took the opportunity to see what the bike and front light were like on the back roads. Conditions weren't the best - lots of leaf mulch and water. Some of the roads were more 'repair' than original surface and the tyres, while gripping fine, were giving all sorts of weird feedback.

I did think of responding to a thread that was started in the summer but was prompted to start a new one.

Is it more likely to be the front or back (or maybe both) causing the issues with the irregularities and tar infill? Again, I never felt like I was in danger of  coming off (I was taking it easy), but it wasn't altogether pleasant.

[George S.]

Yeah, IDK about these tires. I’ve only been able to put 100 miles on my Meteor yet and thought they seemed fine until yesterday when I rode a somewhat sharp curve, 35 MPH speed limit, where the powers that be inscribed a small very shallow diamond like pattern in the roadway I assume for traction stability, and the tires felt squirrelly, like riding over a metal bridge deck. Kinda more than I expected from the very shallow grooves.

[Isla]

Have gotten a lot more confident with mine since the summer. I used to tense up a lot more over road imperfections and that definitely made things worse. I still get the feedback now but it isn't as bad if I relaxed. Someone suggested this to me when I asked the question.

I don't have enough experience on other bikes or tyres to tell whether what I know experience is a motorcycle thing or a characteristic of the Ceat tyres.

There's a youtuber, CoastriderScotland, who changed his tyres for a dualsport alternative as he rides a lot of narrow lanes of varying surface quality and I recall him mentioning an improvement ... that is something I may consider when the Ceats eventually wear out.

[paulmh]

Thanks for the replies.

Maybe being dark made it feel worse, but I've not really experienced it this badly before on other bikes/tyres. It's been a while but I used to predominantly use Avon Roadrunners and Metzler ME33/99 (very good). In the past it's just been the really obvious stuff - like when the road surface has been scraped in preparation for resurfacing. Or white lining when the rear is worn; which is a different thing I think.

I've seen some of that Coastrider Scotland channel. It does look quite impressive judging by the speed he rides around those muddy back lanes! I'm not sure I want to go to semi-off road tyres yet though. Eventually I think I'm going to change to the Battlax tyres as they appear to be well rated. I may get a front initially as I can get that on relatively easily. Out of interest - I've created a wooden frame support - inspired by Coastrider - to work on the front end.

[gilburton]

Thanks for the replies.

Maybe being dark made it feel worse, but I've not really experienced it this badly before on other bikes/tyres. It's been a while but I used to predominantly use Avon Roadrunners and Metzler ME33/99 (very good). In the past it's just been the really obvious stuff - like when the road surface has been scraped in preparation for resurfacing. Or white lining when the rear is worn; which is a different thing I think.

I've seen some of that Coastrider Scotland channel. It does look quite impressive judging by the speed he rides around those muddy back lanes! I'm not sure I want to go to semi-off road tyres yet though. Eventually I think I'm going to change to the Battlax tyres as they appear to be well rated. I may get a front initially as I can get that on relatively easily. Out of interest - I've created a wooden frame support - inspired by Coastrider - to work on the front end.
 I fitted a trail type tyre to the front of my Triumph T100se as I used to work in a place that was a bit remote and entailed commuting on small country roads in the UK.
I used to find you cot gravel on some of the corners so normal street tyres felt like riding on marbles lol
Trail type tyres usually have a higher speed rating way above the 350 Enfield will ever experience so no problem.
I'm talking about trail/street tyres NOT the aggresive knobbly tyres used in moto cross.
On the Triumph it also looked better as it balanced the rear tyre a bit better and looked more "butch" lol

[Curious wanderer]

I’ve put over 8000 miles on my Classic 350 now and still can’t wear them out. The rear, though squared off a bit, still has about 4mm of tread. I can’t say I notice the tram lining being worse on these tyres than any others I’ve used, in fact they’ve been very good wet or dry.
Maybe those of us that only ride short distances just don’t build up the confidence in them or attribute little twitches to impending doom and blame the tyres rather than the road surface and accepting it’s normal.
Even dragging the foot pegs (occasionally) has not seen the CEAT tyres on mine struggling to cope. It’s just a shame we can’t get them in the UK to replace the originals.😁

The front is hardly worn.😁

[paulmh]

It's not really an issue on most A or even B roads. More on the patched up back lanes - which we have quite a lot of up here and well suited to the 350 in all other respects.

[paulmh]

It’s just a shame we can’t get them in the UK to replace the originals.😁

You can probably have mine in the spring for the cost of postage ;-)

[OREO]

Thank you for bringing this subject up. I too only have 100 miles on my new Meteor.
I didn't notice any problems,but my wife did as I took her for our first 2 up ride.
When we got back her statement was "Feels kind of squirrely."

[ButteMT]

Dunno, I've been riding since 1972, and I see no issues with the stock Royal Enfield Classic 350 tires at all.
They DO run low on air more quickly than tubeless tires do, so I'm always checking/filling them.
I'm actually constantly amazed at how good this bike is for the money.  In 16 months, I've not got any real gripes with it.  None, in fact. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Father of Dragons]

Thank you for bringing this subject up. I too only have 100 miles on my new Meteor.
I didn't notice any problems,but my wife did as I took her for our first 2 up ride.
When we got back her statement was "Feels kind of squirrely."

Did you increase the pressure in the rear tyre?  The Classic recommends going from 32 to 36psi in the rear for two-up.

Since fitting the alloys I now have Avon Roadrider II's on mine, but I can't say I noticed any particular issues with the CEAT tyres when they were on.  The roads round here are pretty poor and are usually wet!

[OREO]

I feel kinda stupid that I didn't check the air pressure

[Curious wanderer]

You can probably have mine in the spring for the cost of postage ;-)

You can PM me when the time comes if you like.😁

[Leofric]

Thank you for bringing this subject up. I too only have 100 miles on my new Meteor.
I didn't notice any problems,but my wife did as I took her for our first 2 up ride.
When we got back her statement was "Feels kind of squirrely."

Tyres are hardly run in at 100 miles anyway - you have to take it easy with acceleration,braking, cornering etc with new tyres to allow them to bed in / the newness to wear off ,or whatever the expression is. New tyres can feel squirrely in my experience.

[ButteMT]

Did you increase the pressure in the rear tyre?  The Classic recommends going from 32 to 36psi in the rear for two-up.

Since fitting the alloys I now have Avon Roadrider II's on mine, but I can't say I noticed any particular issues with the CEAT tyres when they were on.  The roads round here are pretty poor and are usually wet!

Yup!  I'm running 34 front / 36 rear.
Due to me being big at 6'-4", 235 and if I have my wife, we're needing that extra air.
Get a good gauge and keep it with you - the ones at gas stations are notoriously awful and inaccurate!

Ride Safe 🙏🏼