Hitchcocks Forum

The tyres on my C5 seem to be Teflon coated and don't stick to the road especially when wet.
There are several manufacturers I have used on previous bikes, but which are the most suitable for the Enfield. My choices would be between Bridgestone battleaxe or the Avon road rider.
I notice that the Avon is a universal front/rear tyre does that make a difference and also, do i need a special tyre to take an inner tube or will standard tubeless ones be ok?
Thanks in advance.

I have never has a problem with fitting tubes into tubeless tyres. (If you fit tubes into tyres on a tubeless wheel, you need to very diligent in making sure the inside surface of the wheel rim that will be in contact with the tube is totally smooth.)
If you happen to own a plastic missile you need to get expert advice. (The fastest bike I have fitted tubes into tubeless tyres was only capable of 115mph.)

My 2015 C5 has Avon Roadriders, fitted from new. They are tubeless tyres, fitted wth tubes. I can thoroughly recommend them and I intend to fit them to my Triumph Thruxton when the tyres on that wear out. The Avons warm up quickly and have tremendous grip, wet or dry.

I have Roadriders on my bike. 24k miles and I have complete confidence in them, which is good as there aren't many other choices in 19 inch rear. I get 8k from the rear and twice that from the front. If the C5 has an 18 inch rear you might get more choice than us Electra owners, but if it were me I would choose the Roadriders - but use Avon's recommended pressures not Enfield's, which are way too low.

I'd be careful about going away from the OE Avon AM26 - the C5 can have problems with 'head shaking' at higher speeds when other makes are fitted. Note, 'headshake' that can also be a sign of incorrectly adjusted head races. I had Avons on my C5 and I got excellent mileage and good grip in the wet, my B5 came with Avon SMs and they are fine too. See our hosts catalogue p170 for all your choices!

the tyres done enough miles to lose the Teflon

Hello there, i have a 2010 C5 that came with Avon Roadriders. They gave good milage and gripped well in the dry, but i found them skittish and the bike unstable in the wet. I had enough when i crashed after locking the front wheel under moderate braking in the rain. The front tyre is quite a narrow profile and the tread pattern does not look designed for wet weather riding. I replaced both with Bridgestone BT45's, 100/90/18 front and 110/80/18 rear. I also replaced both wheel rims with WM3 width as the original WM2 front is too narrow and 2.5 inch rear is too wide.
The bike is transformed and is very stable in all conditions and i now ride in confidence in the wet.
The wheel rim swap may seem an extravagance but they are the correct size for these tyres.
I hope this helps.

I run a Michelin Anakee on the front (adventure bike tyre) and also had one on the back but as it was a front only tyre fitted 'wrong way round' it only lasted 2k miles, then tried another front only (I don't learn) Mitas trail tyre which didn't even last that long before now going for a Dunlop K81 TT100 - it is a universal front/rear fitment.
The Dunlop roll over nicely, has never felt anything other than perfectly stable, wet or dry and seems to be giving very good wear (so far has done 1,000 miles with no apparent wear) but it was quite pricey at about £90.
All the tyres I've tried have gripped pretty well in the dry, Mitas felt a bit vague in the wet if trying to push on.
I'm likely to go for an Indian made 18" rear wheel soon as would like to fit a rear trail or adventure tyre next but choice is very limited on a 19" rim

Before fitting a tyre designed for tubeless use with a tube you should carefully check all around inside the tyre for any small labels (e.g. quality control stickers) there may be, and remove them.

Also, make sure you use plenty of tyre chalk or fine talcum powder (any fragrance will do!) as otherwise the tubeless inner liner could cause problems due to the tube adhering to it.

Hi all. Thanks for the good advice. Think i will go for the Avon. It does seem like a bucking bronco wHen going over white lines so will check the head race while i am at it. There does not feel as if there is any play.
I am used to a .BM R1100 with ABS. After several lockups in the wet and lots of twitching on bends on the enfield a change is now necessary. Especially as i plan to cross Europe on it in the summer.
Thanks all.