F3 rear tire

[AllanSpyder]

Hi!

My F3 needs a new rear tire and I am not 100% sure if I should buy a new Kenda tire. I am sure there are better tire options available (better grip and wear characteristics). Can anyone suggest alternative rear tire that would perform better than Kenda?

Allan

[trikermutha]

There are plenty of tires being used and you will get all kinds of information. In the search area you can read all the fine comments on this topic.

General,Kuhmo, are just a few we all use.

[papanorm]

I put a Yokahama S Drive on in size 205/55/15 and am very pleased; amazing improvement in
handling and smoothness. I am running 22 psi. No more Kendas for me.

[Bob Denman]

Question: How do you define "perform better"?
To some folks: it has everything to do with tread-life
Yet to others: they want to be able to corner hard enough; to throw the radio out of tune...

[Peter Aawen]

Doesn't matter Bob, whatever criteria you want to 'perform better', just about ANY OTHER similar sized car tire will beat the OE Kendas, except maybe performing at 'being crap!'

[Bob Denman]

We ALL know that Kenda set the bar pretty low...
But it helps to know what the O.P. might be looking for.

Personally speaking: My Kumho Ecsta AST has given better than twice the tread-life, and seems to handle at least as well... (Although that isn't my #1 priority...)

[Machinegunner]

I got 9,000 miles on my first tire on my F-3. I have 12,000 miles on my General Altimax and it doesn't show any wear yet.

[pauly1]

My concern for looking at a tire that wears longer is that they need harder compound. Harder compound is less grip. Especially the F3 and F3-S need the grip and wet weather traction. The primary issue with the Kenda tire is it wears it the center. Wear will occur where the stress is biggest. In looking at the pattern from an aggressive start and 'burn out', there is a darker pattern near the edges. But the tire wears out in the center.

My friend Butch related that the carcass doesn't hold its shape at speed, allowing centrifugal force to stretch the center, with more contact force and stress going down the road. As we typically spend more time at highway speeds than doing a burn out, I offer that seems to be a more plausible explanation for the wear. He recommended running higher air pressure for the tire to hold its shape.

Since that time I've run 30 to 35 psi with better results. Somewhat counter intuitive but it works. We run our Spyders hard and typically get 13K to 17K on the Kendas. Yes, the center still wears at a faster rate but then the sides catch up. We've got about 120K Spyder miles on GS, ST and F3 models.

We did try a Kumho with better flatness in the wear pattern across the tread but the tire was severely out of round. Plus it had had lower traction. I find the KENDA to be a reasonable value while retaining OEM traction.

[rays hell]

My thoughts are with a softer tire compound and more start stops even though you don't spin the tire, it would cause
more wear than a tire with more highway miles, because it has to grip the pavement as you go through the gears.

[hypurone]

My concern for looking at a tire that wears longer is that they need harder compound. Harder compound is less grip.

While that is "generally" true, it is NOT empirically true. There are many different compounds, components and methodologies (carcass and belt materials, winding etc) that make up a tires' characteristics. You can have better wear AND better grip when the tire compound and components are designed correctly. Silica has changed the "generally true" thinking in the matter.... OK, I'll admit it, I was in the industry for many years....

[WackyDan]

My concern for looking at a tire that wears longer is that they need harder compound. Harder compound is less grip. Especially the F3 and F3-S need the grip and wet weather traction. The primary issue with the Kenda tire is it wears it the center. Wear will occur where the stress is biggest. In looking at the pattern from an aggressive start and 'burn out', there is a darker pattern near the edges. But the tire wears out in the center.

My friend Butch related that the carcass doesn't hold its shape at speed, allowing centrifugal force to stretch the center, with more contact force and stress going down the road. As we typically spend more time at highway speeds than doing a burn out, I offer that seems to be a more plausible explanation for the wear. He recommended running higher air pressure for the tire to hold its shape.

Since that time I've run 30 to 35 psi with better results. Somewhat counter intuitive but it works. We run our Spyders hard and typically get 13K to 17K on the Kendas. Yes, the center still wears at a faster rate but then the sides catch up. We've got about 120K Spyder miles on GS, ST and F3 models.

We did try a Kumho with better flatness in the wear pattern across the tread but the tire was severely out of round. Plus it had had lower traction. I find the KENDA to be a reasonable value while retaining OEM traction.

Kenda doesn't have enough plies so it balloons in the center at almost any pressure. So that makes the Kenda wear faster. Every car tire I've used has been better than the Kenda.

1. Kumho.... Piece of crap, but at least the wear was even across the tread. Didn't get much more life out of it compared to the Kenda, but the Kumho also sucked in the rain.

2. I've been running Toyo Proxes 4's on both the GS and now the F3. You can't get them anymore (only the race track only variant), but I have a new one on the F3 and another in reserve in the shed. The Toyo Proxes was WAY STICKIER than the Kenda. It also had longer wear. It is also fantastic in the rain.

So...Softer compound doesn't mean much. It is all about finding the right alternative. There are far stickier, longer lasting, and water shedding tires than the Kenda out there and....for only $100 or so. I think I paid $115 each for my Toyos.

[AllanSpyder]

Thank you all for your comments!

I found Toyo Proxes T1R tire from the local tire shop. I guess I will try out the Toyo, let`s see how it performs on my F3.

Allan

[deer30084]

Human nature seems to make people think the grass is greener elsewhere. If BRP mounted Dunlop (or whatever) tires on your Spyder, you'd be giving Kenda a look.

[Highwayman2013]

Human nature seems to make people think the grass is greener elsewhere. If BRP mounted Dunlop (or whatever) tires on your Spyder, you'd be giving Kenda a look.

If Kenda were good we wouldn't look elsewhere.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Human nature seems to make people think the grass is greener elsewhere. If BRP mounted Dunlop (or whatever) tires on your Spyder, you'd be giving Kenda a look.

I agree with your first sentence but not the second..... People who know tires probably wouldn't pick the Dunlop ( for a Spyder ) and definitely NOT the Kenda ...... Mike

[WackyDan]

Human nature seems to make people think the grass is greener elsewhere. If BRP mounted Dunlop (or whatever) tires on your Spyder, you'd be giving Kenda a look.

The Kenda BRP uses for the SPyder is specifically built for the spyder. In other words, that tire didn't exist before 2008, and it is a cheaper build than a normal car tire...Less plies, etc. You can't go out and buy those specific Kenda tires for your car.

BRP has a significant OEM relationship with Kenda, with Kenda being the tire make they use on everything they sell.

Now I have Kenda Klever's on my Jeep rock crawler. Not the best choice, but they do pretty good offroad. You are right that if BRP chose "Dunlop" as the OEM for a spyder that we would still be experimenting with other brands. That said, if BRP used an off the shelf Dunlop car tire instead of a cheaper design just for the spyder you can bet we wouldn't be bitching about it as much... Nor would the tire have uneven wear across the center.

That Kenda rear is a piece of junk and in my opinion is unsafe. When you have significant center wear at 4500 miles that means I now face high risk to hydroplaning than I would running a car tire that has the extra plies so it wears evenly and lasts longer. Seriously... I'm about to take an almost 3500 mile trip, In most cases that would mean I would be swapping out the OEM Kenda just to make sure I didn't need to stop at a dealer on the way to get a new tire.

I have no issue with anyone choosing to continue to use the Kenda. There are far better options out there however.

[rudym]

Human nature seems to make people think the grass is greener elsewhere. If BRP mounted Dunlop (or whatever) tires on your Spyder, you'd be giving Kenda a look.

manufactures often put the cheapest price point tires they can get away with on products to increase profit margin - been happening in the motorcycle world for years.

[deer30084]

Ok, so seems that people dislike Kenda. I have about 4200 miles on my 2015 F3 with the stock Kenda rear tire. I don't notice any uneven wear. I do check the PSI periodically.

[Mikind7]

I put a Yokahama S Drive on in size 205/55/15 and am very pleased; amazing improvement in
handling and smoothness. I am running 22 psi. No more Kendas for me.

What he said.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Ok, so seems that people dislike Kenda. I have about 4200 miles on my 2015 F3 with the stock Kenda rear tire. I don't notice any uneven wear. I do check the PSI periodically.

I'm pretty sure you got a Kenda from the batch that they had switched back to using. It has the harder compound. But I wouldn't be surprised if in 2-3000 miles you notice considerably more wear in the center bars than on the edges..... If you actually measured it now it would show, maybe not to the eye but to a Depth checking tool ..... The human eye can't tell the difference in 1/32 from looking at it ....... jmho ..... Mike

[AllanSpyder]

I'm pretty sure you got a Kenda from the batch that they had switched back to using. It has the harder compound. But I wouldn't be surprised if in 2-3000 miles you notice considerably more wear in the center bars than on the edges..... If you actually measured it now it would show, maybe not to the eye but to a Depth checking tool ..... The human eye can't tell the difference in 1/32 from looking at it ....... jmho ..... Mike

Just for the feedback:
I have been running Toyo Proxes T1R now couple of weeks and it is certainly performing better than Kenda. It has better handling (especially in wet conditions) and also better grip when accelerating. I am very happy with this choice. And best thing is that this tire cost me half the price of Kenda

I would like to thank once again everybody for their comments and thoughts!

Allan

[rays hell]

Just for the feedback:
I have been running Toyo Proxes T1R now couple of weeks and it is certainly performing better than Kenda. It has better handling (especially in wet conditions) and also better grip when accelerating. I am very happy with this choice. And best thing is that this tire cost me half the price of Kenda

I would like to thank once again everybody for their comments and thoughts!

Allan

What size Toyo T1R have you been running and where did you get them?

[AllanSpyder]

What size Toyo T1R have you been running and where did you get them?

I ordered 225/50 R15 tire from a local Toyo dealer ( I am in Estonia). Three days later I had tire already in workshop.

Allan