Need info on tires please

[Gray Ghost]

That is what i ask the guy, he said it would not damage the wheel, in my opinion if you have liquid permanently something is going to mess up, will find someone else to install the tire, that dealer sux

Depends on the liquid. Ride on is excellent at balancing and will not corrode wheels. I have run it in 2 wheelers and now the Spyder for years, never had a problem with it. And none of the folks changing tires have ever had it make a mess when the tire came off. Slime, on the other hand, will corrode rims and causes a mess when changing tires.

[jaherbst]

I knew it was a typo, just waiting for you mean guys to start the fun

We try to ride herd a little on Bob. With 60,000+ posts we allow him one typo every Leap Year!

Jack

[jaherbst]

That would be one tired Bear. (sorry I could not resist)

​Jack

[Web Runner]

I went to my local tire place and asked for a tire the same size of the one i have and they almost laughed at me, they said that is a very rare tire, what other choices do i have? i tried the serch but nothing came up, what are you guys using?
Thanks!!!

I am running a BF Goodrich Advantage T/A for my rear tire and have been very pleased with it. It is a 215/60 15. Here's a link to BFG's website:

http://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/tire-...a/tire-details

Also, my oem rim has weights on it.

[Mexican]

I am running a BF Goodrich Advantage T/A for my rear tire and have been very pleased with it. It is a 215/60 15. Here's a link to BFG's website:

http://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/tire-...a/tire-details

Also, my oem rim has weights on it.

Installing 215-60-15, they say it may not work on my rs, rt has more room under the fender, we are about to find out.............

[Mexican]

I am running a BF Goodrich Advantage T/A for my rear tire and have been very pleased with it. It is a 215/60 15. Here's a link to BFG's website:

http://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/tire-...a/tire-details

Also, my oem rim has weights on it.

Installing 215-60-15, they say it may not work on my rs, rt has more room under the fender, we are about to find out.............

[sawtooth]

I bought a Kumo rear tire for my 2012 RT from Discount tire and had the dealer mount it for $30.
The tire had 10,000 miles on it when I traded the bike in and it still look good. I will get the same tire for my 2016 when needed.

[Mexican]

I am running a BF Goodrich Advantage T/A for my rear tire and have been very pleased with it. It is a 215/60 15. Here's a link to BFG's website:

http://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/tire-...a/tire-details

Also, my oem rim has weights on it.

Well, 215-60-15 did not work on my spyder, too tall and it almost rubs the fender,,, had them take it off( the search continues,,,,

[Highwayman2013]

What Spyder model do you have? Even on a GS it will fit with a little spacing of the fender. On an RT that size fits fine. Works great on my RT for 19,000 miles.

[Mexican]

What Spyder model do you have? Even on a GS it will fit with a little spacing of the fender. On an RT that size fits fine. Works great on my RT for 19,000 miles.

2011 rse5, tech showed me the tire difference, i told him try it anyway, he made an effort but i could see that it was not going to work, had less that 1/4 inch clearence and it was rubbing the wire for the license plate light, there was a oem tire at a dealer nearby and they went to get it and install it for $210.00 not bad, got my money back for the other tire. all good now

[Web Runner]

Well, 215-60-15 did not work on my spyder, too tall and it almost rubs the fender,,, had them take it off( the search continues,,,,

I'm not sure what the rear wheel/fender difference is between your 2009 and my 2010, but I have not had any issues with the tire contacting the fender whatsoever. Did you take a picture by chance?

[Highwayman2013]

It's only 5% taller.

[robmorg]

What kind of mileage are people getting out of [the Yokohama sDrive] tire?
Size comparison looks great. [The Yokohama is Tire #1, the OEM tire is Tire #2]

Sorry I didn't see your question before. As for me, it's too soon to tell. It's only got about 3500 miles on it so far, but it still looks brand new with no uneven tread wear. I really like this tire. As you can see by your chart, it is very nearly the same height and circumference as the OEM tire. The casing is a fraction of an inch more narrow (although the actual tread width looks to be very similar.) It handles very nice on wet roads also.

Here is a picture of the two end-to-end. The Yokohama is the new one...

[Mexican]

I'm not sure what the rear wheel/fender difference is between your 2009 and my 2010, but I have not had any issues with the tire contacting the fender whatsoever. Did you take a picture by chance?

No, i did not take any pictures and i was thinking the same thing but the guy tried, i paid him extra just to try it out, even the bolts holding the tag were hitting the tire, he showed me everything and there is no way that was going to work, the tire was a Uniroyal since they did not have any other brand on that size, what the tire guy told me is that sometimes you can put 5 tires of the same size side by side and they will be slightly different. the good thing is that the Spyder is back on the road

[Peter Aawen]

.... As you can see by your chart, it is the same dimensions as the OEM tire, except that it's about 3/4 of an inch wider. ......

Isn't the stock rear tire size 225/50R15?? Which means that the text bolded above is the wrong way 'round.


As shown on the chart, the 205/55R15 tire is going to be a little taller in the sidewall/profile (ie 55% of the width vs 50% of the width) and a little narrower than the stock tire, (cos 205mm is less than 225mm) but the taller profile teamed with an 'only just' narrower width all balances out to give what is effectively the same rolling dia/circumference.


The narrower width of the footprint can help improve wet road handling (there's not as much footprint width to push or collect water in the tread grooves, so you get better grip on the road surface) but generally a smaller footprint will tend to mean faster wear - except in this case, the better quality & (even if just slightly) harder compound rubber in the a/mkt car tire than the crap that the Kenda is made of significantly overcomes that tendency, & the a/mkt car tire will almost always wear significantly longer & almost always grip & perform better than the Kenda crap too!!


When it comes to the Uniroyal 205/60R15 not fitting, it probably comes back to the fact that some manufacturers use the tire casing or carcass to decide on what nominal tire size to call that particular tire, while others use the casing plus tread to determine the nominal size. All that means is that you just can't rely on the 'nominal size' to work out if a tire fits, nor rely on the generic size comparison charts (like that one shown earlier) - they are just a guide or starting point, you really need to compare the specific tire dimensions & specs, and even then, just like your tire bloke said, there can be (generally small) variances even between tires of the same brand, nominal size, tread pattern, & construction!! You hafta look very carefully at the specific dimensions of any tire you want to try.

But as a general rule, dropping a size/step in width & going up just one profile size step will work/fit, ie going from 225 to 205 width & from 50 profile to 55; in this case, going up two profile size/steps ie, 50 to 60, was obviously just a touch too much!! Still, it might work fine with another brand/tread pattern.... Shame that there is no mandated standard way of specifying tire sizes that all tire manufacturers actually used....

[robmorg]

Isn't the stock rear tire size 225/50R15?? Which means that the text bolded above is the wrong way 'round.

Peter, you are right. I got the sizes turned around. Thanks for the correction.

I revised my message #38 above, so as to avoid confusion, and posted a picture showing the tread widths. You also raise a good point about the tire size calculations being somewhat different with various tire manufacturers. In a tight fitment situation, it's often better to go by the manufacturer's specs, rather than generic tire size calculations.

[bardar]

I went to my local tire place and asked for a tire the same size of the one i have and they almost laughed at me, they said that is a very rare tire, what other choices do i have? i tried the serch but nothing came up, what are you guys using?
Thanks!!!

mexican, i just change my rear tire on a 2014 spyder. i'm trying the VEE rubber vtr 350, product CODE V35004. found a tire changer at a tire shop, they never did one before, but it was mounted. not balance. order online RIDE ON liquid sealer and balancer, hope it will work. when you change the rear tire,check the brake pad wear,mine where half gone at 13000 miles. if you need brake pads the the fun begins. doing the pads you will need needle nose pliers. when you remove the old pads, take the needle nose pliers and put them in the two small holes on the brake cylinder and then turn clockwise slowly and push in at the same time. also i use blue loctite on the bolts, the yellow loctite is real hard to break free, but it does come free. you should watch the you tube videos on this, very helpful.
any question just ask.
bardar

[jegarh]

Would not recommend a 16" tire Bob.

Jack

Might work if you stuffed it with hay and rode slooooowly.

[jegarh]

I seem to have noticed a trend. Doesn't anybody spoon on their own tires around here? I have mounted tires on Cat back hoes, large and small farm tractors, trailers,24" truck tires. car and pick up tires, all of my motorcycle tires, bicycle tires and wheel barrow tires. It ain't rocket science.

I even have the little plastic rim protectors so I won't nick my beautiful mag wheels. The only trouble I ever had was when I was mounting a D606 on the back wheel of my XT250. I had the long spoon tucked up under the brake disk and it slipped out and caught me on the side of the head. I staggered around for a while and then went looking for the errant spoon that had flown across the shop. Slop them up with Ru Glide and it is easy-peeasy.

I will report on how I made out with that rear wheel when the time comes. Not soon I hope.

Jerry

[Marvin2488485]

I seem to have noticed a trend. Doesn't anybody spoon on their own tires around here? I have mounted tires on Cat back hoes, large and small farm tractors, trailers,24" truck tires. car and pick up tires, all of my motorcycle tires, bicycle tires and wheel barrow tires. It ain't rocket science.

I even have the little plastic rim protectors so I won't nick my beautiful mag wheels. The only trouble I ever had was when I was mounting a D606 on the back wheel of my XT250. I had the long spoon tucked up under the brake disk and it slipped out and caught me on the side of the head. I staggered around for a while and then went looking for the errant spoon that had flown across the shop. Slop them up with Ru Glide and it is easy-peeasy.

I will report on how I made out with that rear wheel when the time comes. Not soon I hope.

Jerry

Jerry,
I have a Kumho tire coming tomorrow, will be putting it on myself, I have change many a tire the old school way, the only problem i have is getting it balanced.
Ride safe!

[jegarh]

Jerry,
I have a Kumho tire coming tomorrow, will be putting it on myself, I have change many a tire the old school way, the only problem i have is getting it balanced.
Ride safe!

I have a life time supply of Rie On. I am going to try that. It works on my DL650 and other bikes. I just need to calculate how much I need for that rear tire. I might even try to Static balance it before I put the Ride On in it. I wonder if one of those balancers that are supported on a point and have a bubble on top like a level would work on that rear hub.

Please let us know how it goes on your tire mount project tomorrow.

jerry

[Peter Aawen]

jegarh, I think you might be surprised at how many riders actually do their own tire fitting & balancing, but just don't make such a big deal out of it. Sure, there are a lot who try to get their Dealer or a local tire fitter to do it for them, lots of Spyder Ryders have done their time doing all that stuff themselves & now enjoy the privilege of being able to get someone else to do it for them; but then there are a whole lot of Spyder & other 'bike riders out there!! So even if you only see those posting who go public about their search for someone to strip & fit tires, there are still tens of thousands who haven't gone public, & I suspect a fair proportion of those, especially amongst those from the more 'do it yourself' generations, still do most of their minor work themselves, including the stripping & fitting of their tires.

I generally do most of my own & a few friends vehicle maintenance, including tire stripping, fitting, & balancing; pretty much looking after a few cars, a couple of motorcycles, and a bunch of heavier vehicles; but despite being retired from the work-force for some years now, I also help train tire fitters, repairers, balancers, & alignment technicians in 'non-computerised' or 'non-machine' based operations in those various fields for a few of the local Tire Outlets. So to that end I often use my own 'less common' tire fitting tasks as exercises or demo's for those tech's who would otherwise never get to see or do what most of us who've been around for a while might consider as a basic tire maintenance task - it's amazing how many current 'trained & qualified' technicians have no idea about how to safely use tire levers (or spoons); set a bead; how to use one of those 'bubble' type spirit level balancers; or how to do anything to fix a puncture but use an externally applied 'dog turd' type puncture repair (for many, anything they can't repair from outside the tire is a throw-away!) They got trained & qualified mainly on the machines, so if it's not something that they can get their machine to do or it involves a tire/rim combo that just won't physically fit readily onto their machine, then as far as they are concerned it's simply impossible to do!!

That said, most of the techs I get to see are quite skilled & capable at what they are expected to know as part of their jobs &/or by the various 'schools' they graduate from, and this old hat 'man-draulic' stuff is pretty much just 'the theory of ancient history' to them! It's only when someone actually goes thru the motions & shows them the why's & wherefore's of doing stuff without mechanical assistance from their new-fangled Hi-Teckery devices that the smart operators amongst them quickly learn & apply that to doing their job better!! Then there's those who just don't care at all...... & there seems to be a lot of them!!

[jegarh]

jegarh, I think you might be surprised at how many riders actually do their own tire fitting & balancing, but just don't make such a big deal out of it. Sure, there are a lot who try to get their Dealer or a local tire fitter to do it for them, lots of Spyder Ryders have done their time doing all that stuff themselves & now enjoy the privilege of being able to get someone else to do it for them; but then there are a whole lot of Spyder & other 'bike riders out there!! So even if you only see those posting who go public about their search for someone to strip & fit tires, there are still tens of thousands who haven't gone public, & I suspect a fair proportion of those, especially amongst those from the more 'do it yourself' generations, still do most of their minor work themselves, including the stripping & fitting of their tires.

I generally do most of my own & a few friends vehicle maintenance, including tire stripping, fitting, & balancing; pretty much looking after a few cars, a couple of motorcycles, and a bunch of heavier vehicles; but despite being retired from the work-force for some years now, I also help train tire fitters, repairers, balancers, & alignment technicians in 'non-computerised' or 'non-machine' based operations in those various fields for a few of the local Tire Outlets. So to that end I often use my own 'less common' tire fitting tasks as exercises or demo's for those tech's who would otherwise never get to see or do what most of us who've been around for a while might consider as a basic tire maintenance task - it's amazing how many current 'trained & qualified' technicians have no idea about how to safely use tire levers (or spoons); set a bead; how to use one of those 'bubble' type spirit level balancers; or how to do anything to fix a puncture but use an externally applied 'dog turd' type puncture repair (for many, anything they can't repair from outside the tire is a throw-away!) They got trained & qualified mainly on the machines, so if it's not something that they can get their machine to do or it involves a tire/rim combo that just won't physically fit readily onto their machine, then as far as they are concerned it's simply impossible to do!!

That said, most of the techs I get to see are quite skilled & capable at what they are expected to know as part of their jobs &/or by the various 'schools' they graduate from, and this old hat 'man-draulic' stuff is pretty much just 'the theory of ancient history' to them! It's only when someone actually goes thru the motions & shows them the why's & wherefore's of doing stuff without mechanical assistance from their new-fangled Hi-Teckery devices that the smart operators amongst them quickly learn & apply that to doing their job better!! Then there's those who just don't care at all...... & there seems to be a lot of them!!

Hoo boy. I was beginning to feel all alone. Personally I don't like to own something I can't fix. This computer on wheels may be a first for me. However, I did have the Ford dealer replace the injector wiring harness on my Excursion when I found out how many hours it was going to take a good trained mechanic to do it. Hours for him would be days or maybe weeks for me. The old 6.2 was a piece of cake on the suburban. Sometimes discretion is the better part of valor.

[TomB985]

That is what i ask the guy, he said it would not damage the wheel, in my opinion if you have liquid permanently something is going to mess up, will find someone else to install the tire, that dealer sux

I don't get it...what's going to get messed up with liquid in a sealed tire? Are these various balancing liquids corrosive to aluminum or rubber?

[Gray Ghost]

I don't get it...what's going to get messed up with liquid in a sealed tire? Are these various balancing liquids corrosive to aluminum or rubber?

Ride On is not corrosive, green slime is extremely corrosive. Tires I have taken off with Ride On in them don't make a big mess, green slime is just the opposite.