rear tire air pressure

[dickgi]

I barely have 5,000 miles on my rear tire. It looks like almost half of the tread is gone in the center. I am wondering if this is because the tire was inflated too much. Someone told me the middle wears out faster than the ends because the tire expands when you accelerate and that causes the center to wear out faster. Not sure what to believe. My question is what should the tire pressure be for the rear and front tires?

[SPYD3R]

if it's a KENDA, you are doing about right....
upgrade to a regular car tire when you replace this one... far better...
Dan P
SPYD3R

[JKMSPYDER]

if it's a KENDA, you are doing about right....
upgrade to a regular car tire when you replace this one... far better...
Dan P
SPYD3R

I agree with Dan. A car tire is much better for mileage and smooth ride!

[dickgi]

Yes, it is the stock Kenda. Maybe I should run a lower tire pressure to make it last longer?

if it's a KENDA, you are doing about right....
upgrade to a regular car tire when you replace this one... far better...
Dan P
SPYD3R

[Chupaca]

You have heard right. Over inflation and high speed ryding will were your tire more in the center no mater who's tire it is. Not knowing what tire or the pressure you are using you can lower it some depending. I run 28lbs and use motorcycle recommended tires.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

You can't do anything to prolong that tire ..... it has two tread plies and that allows the tire to balloon at anything above about 40 mph...... This is very well known on this forum .... PS, the Arachnid tire is almost identical to the Kenda construction, so it will also wear out prematurely ..... There are a few rear tires that will work for you .... get the 215/60-15 size ...... the General Altimax RT43 is a winner in the performance categories that count ..... The only drawback is there are dealers who won't mount them on your Spyder .... so check and make sure first ..... If you can get the wheel off yourself most shops that do cars/trks etc. can mount the tire with their reg. equipment ..... they won't balance it .... But my last three rear tires weren't balanced and they perform fine ....good luck ..... Mike

[Peter Aawen]

Yes, it is the stock Kenda. Maybe I should run a lower tire pressure to make it last longer?

Doing that on an OE Spec Kenda won't make any difference!

It likely would make a difference on a 'real' tire, but the OE Spec Kendas are made with 1/2 the normal number of tread plies than those used in most normal car tires AND the thread they use in those tread plies is about half the strength & thicknesss of the thread generally used in the tread plies of most normal tires (some heavy duty or high performance tires use thread that's even thicker/stronger than the usual double the Kendas strength in order to help keep the tread flat & in contact with the road surface, especially during cornering!!) so as the Kenda rotates, the centre of the tread has little resistance against being thrown out by the centrifugal force and the tire ends up running on & wearing the very narrow strip down the middle that you see worn on yours!! Then when you come to cornering, it's really only the air pressure in the tire that is stopping the whole thing from folding under due to cornering forces and peeling right off the rim - with potentially disastrous results!! And I don't really want to detail all the absobloodylutely appalling construction defects that Kenda tires have revealed.... just suffice to say that out of the 30 plus Kenda tires I have dissected/cut apart to look at their construction, only ONE has had what I would consider to be safe & roadworthy construction - all the others had significant construction defects that I would've thought most manufacturers would've picked up during their quality control inspections and rejected!!

So while some people may be satisfied that the OE Spec Kendas meet their riding needs, & due to the exceedingly light load on the front end, if you are lucky enough to get a pair of front Kendas that ARE round & that can be balanced, they should actually work 'sorta OK' for quite a respectable tire life, especially if you get your Spyder's wheel alignment done properly by one of the competent ROLO or Laser alignment operators out there (there are some, but not all and sadly, seemingly very few dealers!) but most find out very quickly that pretty much no matter what you do, the rear OE Spec Kenda is somewhat 'less than suitable', particularly in the way & rapidity at which it wears!! However, since these Kendas are for all intents and purposes a normal Passenger CAR TIRE (except for the label on their sidewalls intended to stop some imbecile from trying to run them on their full sized car!) many have chosen to upgrade their tire choice (especially the rear tire!) to something more suitable to their riding style or tire life needs & have fitted a similar sized but higher load & often speed rated car tire on the rear! And very VERY few who have done this have failed to discover & be impressed with the improved wear that they find this brings, as well as the better traction, ride, and handling that running a better quality better constructed tires brings with it, especially if they run a lower pressure than that needed in the lightweight Kenda, ie, a pressure more suitable to carrying the significantly lesser weight of a Spyder instead of the weight of a much heavier car! In fact, I haven't heard of anyone volunteering to go back to running the crappy Kendas once they've tried a 'proper' car tire! And with the greater range of tire construction, compounds, and tread patterns available in 'normal' car tires, you can choose a tire that is best suited to your riding style &/or what you want from your tires!

Me, since we can't readily get those Generals or Altimax here in Aus, I've chosen a slightly harder & longer wearing 'sport touring' tire that handles our mainly rough surfaced Aussie roads very well in both the wet & dry and that returns a reasonable tire life instead of wearing out rapidly, knowing that I've sacrificed a little ultimate traction for longer tread wear - and because the Spyder imposes about 1/3rd the load on this tire to that of the normal sized cars the manufacturer expected it to usually carry, I only run 16-18 psi in the rear 225/60R15 Kumho Ecsta I am currently on - any more than that & the traction drops off markedly while the ride & handling rapidly gets harsher & the tread visbly & measurably wears faster in the centre of the tread! I got somewhat less than 5000 kms out of the original OE Spec Kenda, and have since achieved over 35,000 out of the first Kumho KH17 that I ran at those pressures mentioned above, and am now well on the way to achieving about the same from the current Kumho, altho I must admit to playing 'boy racer' a helluva lot more on this one shortly after I got the 'RotaxRacing ECU Xtreme' upgrade done, and as a result I just may have sacrificed about 10,000km or so of potential tire life by converting it into tire smoke & noise by exercising my right wrist on the throttle so much & digging chunks outta the tarmac! But I've gotten over the excitement (a little, anyway) & am now behaving better so I expect the tire life to be almost as good as that of the first Kumho - regardless, the traction, ride, and handling I'm getting now is waaaaaayyyyyy ahead of that I got from the Kenda, and the massively improved tire life is just another bonus!

Enjoy, or whatever!

[Deanna777]

I am running( Continental Contiprocontact's) 19PSI on the fronts, and 28PSI on the rear( General Altimax RT43).


I have a 2014 RTS-SE6.

Deanna

[JAS POWER]

COLD TIRE PRESSURERECOMMENDATION
FRONT
Nominal	103 kPa (15 PSI)
Minimum	89 kPa (13 PSI)
Maximum	117 kPa (17 PSI)
REAR
Nominal	193 kPa (28 PSI)
Minimum	179 kPa (26 PSI)
Maximum	207 kPa (30 PSI)

[PCBeachBum]

I have the same tires that came with my 2008 GS and put 18 PSI's in front 27 PSI in rear. I have no excessive wear on any of the tires and have always used the same PSI's in all tires.

[jaherbst]

JAN 9th 2018-- we have regressed back to tire pressures and flogging the Kenda tires. I guess this group will never progress any farther. I am disappointed in all of you.

I was hoping to gain intelligence here and further my education in where all the eligible good looking older ladies hang out.

To find out where the best Brew Pubs are.

To learn to text and drive my Spyder at the same time.

Maybe learn a few phrases in Canadian.

But no we are back to tire pressures and flogging Kenda tires.

Oh well.

Jack

[canamjhb]

Consistent problems, new readers, = same answers and information.

[SpyderAnn01]

I am betting that the born on date on your rear tire is somewhere around 2713 to 2514 which would make it one of the soft compound tires. BRP ditched that compound and went back to a harder compound but most 14's had the soft ones.

Like the others said your tire is done - nothing will save it now - so get a new one. Changing tire pressure will not help.

[trikermutha]

I agree with Ann I have a 2014 RT and the stock tire wore out at 5800 miles and had the softer compound. IF you decide to go back to stock make sure they put a newer model year stock tire back on. You will get more miles on the tire.

Some of us prefer going to the dark side and put on a car tire on the Spyder.

[Easy Rider]

I am wondering if this is because the tire was inflated too much.

Maybe but not likely. What you heard about the center expanding at speed is correct.
The more high speed road miles you do, the more pronounced the wear will be.
The stock tire is soft and flexible.

In addition to the owners manual, there should be a sticker on the frame somewhere with the recommended pressures.
Many reporting in here like to run a LITTLE higher; maybe +4. More than that might have an adverse impact on ride quality.

P.S. YOu can get a really LOT of good information here by reading old discussions or doing some searches.
All of that has been covered.......MULTIPLE times already.

[Easy Rider]

I am disappointed in all of you.

HEY, I resent that remark.
This forum is no different than ANY of them.
New users tend to ask the same questions over and over and over.......and those who do not repeat the same answers and instead encourage them to search first.......are labeled as unfriendly. THAT is the only part that I am disappointed with, but that is the same everywhere too.

[Raprider]

P.S. YOu can get a really LOT of good information here by reading old discussions or doing some searches.
All of that has been covered.......MULTIPLE times already.

Or y'all can just ignore us and our repetitive questions

[Little Blue]

All Good TIPS. MY 2, GO with Tire that works for you.

[ofdave]

Jack hit the nail on the head in post #11.
Many here do not like the stock tires and gladly share that info.
Many here run the stock with no issues and infrequently share that info.
Choosing the tire you run is a decision only you can make. Many of the "facts" about kenda tires are opinions that have been posted and shared so much that they have in fact become "fact". Some info you get is correct but not all.
No one here is a tire engineer. We're just a bunch of people who love and ride our Spyders and want them to be the best they can be-for us.
Do your homework and make your own decision.
Meanwhile run the pressures shown for your bike and maybe drop 2 lbs. in the rear-keep an eye on it to see if you get the result you're after. If not, go back to recommended pressure.
When it's time for a new tire, come back, re-read all the tire posts and buy what you want. There will still be no consensus on the best tire. And those who prefer one over the other will still both be wrong!

[dickgi]

I did use the advanced search but obviously didn't refine it well enough. Many thanks to the constructive comments that actually help me understand the issue.

Consistent problems, new readers, = same answers and information.

[dickgi]

I have a 2013 and it has the worn stock tire. How do you tell if there is a better stock tire...is there a date code or some other identification?

I agree with Ann I have a 2014 RT and the stock tire wore out at 5800 miles and had the softer compound. IF you decide to go back to stock make sure they put a newer model year stock tire back on. You will get more miles on the tire.

Some of us prefer going to the dark side and put on a car tire on the Spyder.

[trikermutha]

I have a 2013 and it has the worn stock tire. How do you tell if there is a better stock tire...is there a date code or some other identification?

https://www.tirebuyer.com/education/...-of-your-tires

This should help you when you buy a new tire.

They changed the compound on the tire sometime 13/14 I am guessing before everyone complained then went back on the compound from what I have read.

Like I said mine lasted 5800 and worn in the middle too. My PSI was set per the manual.

[dickgi]

Perfect! Thanks.

https://www.tirebuyer.com/education/...-of-your-tires

This should help you when you buy a new tire.

They changed the compound on the tire sometime 13/14 I am guessing before everyone complained then went back on the compound from what I have read.

Like I said mine lasted 5800 and worn in the middle too. My PSI was set per the manual.

[canamjhb]

The last Kenda tire on the rear of my bike was taken off a couple of months ago. Just for giggles, I asked the dealer to look at the tire after it was replaced. The tread was 2/3rds gone and when I pressed on the middle of the tire it collapsed like a bicycle tire. For those who think the OEM is just fine, this might be something to think about. Your ride, your a..

[asp125]

Don't listen to the grumpy ones. new riders will always ask the same questions. Since it's the same old Kendas the same old responses are to be expected.

FWIW we run Kendas 18/28psi and have no abnormal wear. Then again, I am use to <6000mi tread life on my sportbike tires, so whatever.