METZELER CRUISETEC TIRE
PRODUCT TEST
P86
surprisingly light steering and
agility. The ride was smooth over
all manner of bumps, potholes,
pavement cracks, etc., with little
of the deflection that you often
encounter with average tires,
especially over rain grooves,
where there was no wandering
whatsoever. Cornering grip was
excellent, although that was up
to the point when the floorboards
signaled that the cornering limit of
the bike had been reached.
It wasn't until I got to throw a
leg over an Indian Scout Bobber
that I had the chance to really
find out how well the Metzeler
Cruisetec worked. The Indian
has enough performance to push
its tires, plus its seat wasn't near
as comfortable as the Harley's,
so ride smoothness was the first
aspect that came to mind. In this
area, the Cruisetec was superb,
with just enough firmness to
give the feedback necessary to
understand what the tire contact
patches were up to.
But in the mountains was
where the Metzeler shined
with the Indian. Steering into the
corners was fairly light but neutral
all the way to max lean, and there
was plenty of feedback even when
the forward-mount pegs were
scraping on the tarmac. Charging
out of corners with the Scout's
big torque resulted in no traction
theatrics, and heavy braking was
never an issue. In short, there was
nothing that left me wanting with
the Cruisetec (of course, we didn't
spend enough time on the Metzel-
ers to find out about their mileage—
but given Metzeler's reputation for
long-wearing rubber, we wouldn't
doubt the Cruisetec's abilities in
this area).
The Cruisetec is available in
numerous sizes to fit a wide range
of cruisers, with fronts ranging
from 16- to 21-inch diameters in a
huge variety of sizes, and rears in
mostly 16 inches, with one 17-inch
size. Go to https://www.metzeler.
com to see if there's a size to fit
your bike. CN
Under the extra
weight of the
Road King,
the Metzeler's
feedback and
cornering
prowess were
excellent.
