Kumho tire story

[LJspydee]

With the ever discussed tire issues, this is my recent experience. Wanting to replace my current Kenda stock tire with something with longer wear life I followed the suggestions to buy Kumho tire. I placed an order on-line thru DiscountTire.com. I was later told by a Discount Tire agent over the phone that Canam had advised/ordered them not to sell the tire to Spyder owners. I was told that the only way that I could that I could get a replacement tire was to see my Canam dealer. I told the agent that I was a customer wanting to to buy this particular tire and it was there loss if they wouldn't sell me one and I would get one another way. I will be receiving a Kumho this week from another source.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

With the ever discussed tire issues, this is my recent experience. Wanting to replace my current Kenda stock tire with something with longer wear life I followed the suggestions to buy Kumho tire. I placed an order on-line thru DiscountTire.com. I was later told by a Discount Tire agent over the phone that Canam had advised/ordered them not to sell the tire to Spyder owners. I was told that the only way that I could that I could get a replacement tire was to see my Canam dealer. I told the agent that I was a customer wanting to to buy this particular tire and it was there loss if they wouldn't sell me one and I would get one another way. I will be receiving a Kumho this week from another source.

This has been reported here by others as well......it seems to be hit or miss though.........If they ask and you tell them ...the tire is for a MOTORCYCLE .....They just do not want to get in the middle of a possible LAWSUIT ......................The HOW and WHY ,,,BRP got involved in this with Discount tire is beyond my comprehension JMHO.....Mike

[Spyder-Buck]

Bought my Kumho tire on E-Bay .Came from Discount Tire. No questions asked.

[Chupaca]

to order that tire you need to give them the size and be done with it. They don't need to know what it is for. Only if they have to look some size type etc would they need to know. Jmo...

[Bob Denman]

Just tell them that it's for a 2wd Tacoma pickup...

[Eagle1]

to order that tire you need to give them the size and be done with it. They don't need to know what it is for. Only if they have to look some size type etc would they need to know. Jmo...

When I ordered mine from them, one of the required blanks to fill in was vehicle make. I got mine before BRP got involved. I have over 2000 miles, no problems.

[2Paw]

When I bought mine, no Discount Tire store would sell me one without know what it was going to be put on and I wasn't prepared with the lie at the time. I went on ebay and bought one that was shipped to me from Discount Tire Direct, probably from the same warehouse the stores would have gotten it from.

[Orange Spyder Man]

wise choice to install a Kumho... not a sub-standard 2 ply Kenda..

osm

[SPYD3R]

has any1 ever contacted BRP to ask why....?

HEY, BRP, WHY ARE YOU ADVISING 'DISCOUNT TIRE' TO NOT SELL US THE KUMHO'S..?

there... i did it... let's see if we get an answer from them...
Dan P
Easley, SC
SPYD3R
ps: I'm on my 2nd Kumho AST with excellent results...

[MouthPiece]

"Don't ask, don't tell"

Chris

[oldguyinTX]

has any1 ever contacted BRP to ask why....?

HEY, BRP, WHY ARE YOU ADVISING 'DISCOUNT TIRE' TO NOT SELL US THE KUMHO'S..?

there... i did it... let's see if we get an answer from them...
Dan P
Easley, SC
SPYD3R
ps: I'm on my 2nd Kumho AST with excellent results...

Good luck with that. Steve, are you watching?

[finless]

I ordered my Yokohama S Drive 205-55-15 from Discount Tire and had no issue! This was about a month ago. They did not ask me what it was for..... While they may have the "word in" about somone ordering Kumho, they do not when it's another brand.

Bob

[LJspydee]

I was able to get a Kumho tire from DiscountTireDirect, but didn't want to say that until it was shipped.

[billybovine]

I ordered my Yokohama S Drive 205-55-15 from Discount Tire and had no issue! This was about a month ago. They did not ask me what it was for..... While they may have the "word in" about somone ordering Kumho, they do not when it's another brand.

Bob

I may try that tire next since I was not happy with the kuhmo. Have you got many miles on it yet?

[SPYD3R]

I may try that tire next since I was not happy with the kuhmo. Have you got many miles on it yet?

Billy;
what was it about the KUMHO that you don't like....?
i'm on my 2nd, and got almost 26,000 miles out of my 1st... so it most likely isn't mileage... is it handling, price, looks, traction....???? what...????
Dan

[finless]

I may try that tire next since I was not happy with the kuhmo. Have you got many miles on it yet?

0 miles. I have not installed it yet. I still have another possibly 2,000 or more left on my original Kenda. Like some have reported my 2011 tire it looks like I am going to get about 13-14K out of it. I am rght now down to the water dams in the center of the tire.

Bob

[billybovine]

Billy;
what was it about the KUMHO that you don't like....?
i'm on my 2nd, and got almost 26,000 miles out of my 1st... so it most likely isn't mileage... is it handling, price, looks, traction....???? what...????
Dan

It's a traction problem. I was happy with it was when new. As the miles went on the worse the traction got, even on dry pavement. On wet pavement it's awful. The Spyder is in storage now but when I get it out a new tire is going on. The tire only has 10,000 miles. Thinking back on it I should have changed it at 6,000. I need a stickier tire so on to the next one.

[DubuqueSpyderRyder]

I may try that tire next since I was not happy with the kuhmo. Have you got many miles on it yet?

I have about 4500 miles on my Yokohama rear tire, same size as above, 2014 RT.

Would not trade it for any other brand. Excellent traction wet, excellent traction dry, no road noise.

Almost all interstate driving, 70+ mph. Used balance beads for the first time in my life, they are better than advertised.

When the fronts wear out, I will use Yokohama for them.

DubuqueSpyderRyder

[Pennyrick]

wise choice to install a Kumho... not a sub-standard 2 ply Kenda..

osm

I've noticed from other postings that you seem to have a hang up on number of plies in a tire. Here is an explanation of what a ply rating means. As far as number of plies it is most likely that almost every automotive application tire on the market is built with only one ply. On a Kenda as on a Kuhmo, the tire is built with one ply and since there is no letter present showing the construction capacity they both have a 4-ply rating.
Ply Rating

This letter indicates the load carrying capacity of the tire in terms of its construction. A "C" indicates the tire has a 6-ply load carrying capacity. The tire is not actually built with 6 plies, but contains one or two plies of equivalent strength. A "D" is an 8-ply rating, and an "E" is a 10-ply rating. If there is no letter, the tire has a standard 4-ply rating.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

This is why:

The bead of a car tire doesn't fit into the bead hump of the motorcycle rim and a hard hit on the sidewall of the car tire can break the bead and cause the tire to go flat rapidly. If it's on the rear tire of a Spyder at highway speed you would lose control. If the person installing or selling the tire knew the problem they would be held liable.

Mike

.....Just throwin this out , when I was at SPYDERFEST 2014 I drag raced my 2011 RSS that had a 205/60 -15 General Altimax CAR tire on the rear. I also only had 18 lbs PSI in it. I'm not saying the above shouldn't be considered, however I am now wondering HOW I managed to keep air in the tire for approx. 40 serious burnouts .........PS I did get a First Place trophy in my class ................Mike

[jcthorne]

I have about 4500 miles on my Yokohama rear tire, same size as above, 2014 RT.

Would not trade it for any other brand. Excellent traction wet, excellent traction dry, no road noise.

Almost all interstate driving, 70+ mph. Used balance beads for the first time in my life, they are better than advertised.

When the fronts wear out, I will use Yokohama for them.

DubuqueSpyderRyder

Can you be more specific which Yoko you purchased? Very interested. I have a long history with Yokohama tires and this looks good to me.

[Orange Spyder Man]

I've noticed from other postings that you seem to have a hang up on number of plies in a tire. Here is an explanation of what a ply rating means. As far as number of plies it is most likely that almost every automotive application tire on the market is built with only one ply. On a Kenda as on a Kuhmo, the tire is built with one ply and since there is no letter present showing the construction capacity they both have a 4-ply rating.
Ply Rating


This letter indicates the load carrying capacity of the tire in terms of its construction. A "C" indicates the tire has a 6-ply load carrying capacity. The tire is not actually built with 6 plies, but contains one or two plies of equivalent strength. A "D" is an 8-ply rating, and an "E" is a 10-ply rating. If there is no letter, the tire has a standard 4-ply rating.

you betcha i have a hang up on a 2 ply tire... EVERY MOTORCYCLE I HAVE EVER RIDDEN ( quite a few & quite a few miles on each) HAS HAD A 4 PLY ON IT.. i won't sit my hind side on a 2 ply tire on a 1000 lb vehicle at 60+mph on concrete.. i value my life more than that.. the Kenda tire that that has been installed on 2014 Spyders don't last 10,000 miles .. from pretty good explanations why these tires wear out quickly is because they flex or grow at speeds ... 2 ply tires are ok on lawn mowers & wheelbarrows...
ride what you like.. i took off the 2 ply "SUBSTANDARD" Kenda off my 2014 RT.. and left it at the tire dealer that mounted it.. I told them that tire in my opinion is junk.. he agreed.. .. i for sure won't trust my life on a Kenda..

OSM

[BikerDoc]

wise choice to install a Kumho... not a sub-standard 2 ply Kenda..

osm

I have 75000 miles on three Kumhos, and not because they wore out but because I traded bike - on each the
tires were still great at trade in

[2Paw]

I put the Kumho on the rear of my 2012 RTS almost a year ago (not sure what that equals in miles, I think around 6K) and have not had any traction issues or any other kind of issues with it. The tread still looks pretty new.

[Pennyrick]

you betcha i have a hang up on a 2 ply tire... EVERY MOTORCYCLE I HAVE EVER RIDDEN ( quite a few & quite a few miles on each) HAS HAD A 4 PLY ON IT.. i won't sit my hind side on a 2 ply tire on a 1000 lb vehicle at 60+mph on concrete.. i value my life more than that.. the Kenda tire that that has been installed on 2014 Spyders don't last 10,000 miles .. from pretty good explanations why these tires wear out quickly is because they flex or grow at speeds ... 2 ply tires are ok on lawn mowers & wheelbarrows...
ride what you like.. i took off the 2 ply "SUBSTANDARD" Kenda off my 2014 RT.. and left it at the tire dealer that mounted it.. I told them that tire in my opinion is junk.. he agreed.. .. i for sure won't trust my life on a Kenda..

OSM

Okay. I don't understand the response. It may have made sense for tires made 25 or 30 year's ago.

But it seems to me you are trusting your life on a one ply tire that has a four ply rating right now.

Where do you get your information that the Kenda has two plies and how do you figure that equals "substandard"?