What brand of tires should I get?

There's some personal taste involved with tires. Some are purchased just because the rider likes the tread design! The major consideration should be "riding conditions". Many Vulcan owners are perfectly happy with the OEM Bridgestone tires and run them until they're bald. Others have thrown them out after the first thousand miles. So, what's the right tire for you?

If you live someplace with nothing but straight roads where the "twisties" are highway on-ramps and almost all of your cornering is 90 degrees to the right or left as you go from street to street you don't need a great handling tire but you could use something with a bit harder tread in the middle. Do you live where it rains a lot? You need a tire with great water shedding characteristics. Do you ride in an area with lots of mountain roads and enjoy scraping the floorboards on occasion? You might opt for a softer compound tire. Are you a low mileage (annual) rider but enjoy full throttle sprints between stoplights? You could probably care less about handling but want a soft tire anyway just for the traction...Maybe you even want to go up a size on the rear. All things to consider when shopping.

Choices:

• The Metzler 880 is a terrific all around tire favored by a seeming majority of Vulcan owners as a replacement tire. Good water shedding terrific traction and they seem to last (rear tire) about 12 thousand miles. About double that for the front.
• Dunlop. Again very good water shedding and good traction. Many riders say they seem to last just a little longer than the Metzler but tend to be noisier.
• Venom X: Softer compound. Don't expect terrific wear but you'll go around corners like the road was made of gummy bears.
• Bridgestone: Stock on the Vulcan Classic/Nomad these are very noisy tires after the first few thousand miles. Almost nobody replaces their OEM tires with the same tire.