best vibration fix...new front tires

[bikerjays]

For the past 10K miles I have had a worsening vibration in my handlebars. The original Kenda fronts had 16k miles on them and had slight cupping on the outer edges. I tried my fixes and finally mounted 2 new front tires. I mounted and balanced Kuhmo Solus KH16 185x55/15. The following occurred:
1. They fit fine with no interference with the fenders.
2. The Vibration disappeared.
3. The annoying pulling left then right under hard braking disappeared. Braking with direction tracking is much better under all conditions.
4. Cornering at speed improved as the bike remains more level thru the turns.

I understand that BRP must use a motorcycle tire on the bike as it is classified as a motorcycle. The Kenda front tire are poor for many reasons but BRP cannot tell anyone to use a car tire.

bikerjays
2015 RTS
Bajaron sway bar
BRP belt pulley with Doc H adapter
Magic mirror attachment

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Actually BRP uses tires that are stamped " for special motorcycle use only " ( ie motorcycle tire ) .... However in reality it's a car tire ( and a poor one at that ) that Kenda stamps the sidewall with ....... Mike :thumbup:

[Chupaca]

Glad that fixed all the problems you have been having. If you didn't get a good laser alignment and you should be good for many a mile....:ohyea::ohyea:

[jcthorne]

I have seen multiple sets of Kenda front tires fail exactly this same way. Its the poor construction quality allowing the belts to shift. The tires get further and further out of round and out of balance. Replacement, no matter the tread left, is the only remedy. Use better quality tires and move on.

[Firefly]

Yup.. the OEM tires are 2-ply crap. It's one thing to use such crap off-road for an ATV... but for a road vehicle it's ridiculous. You don't see HD, Honda, etc. putting crap tires on their bikes.

Thing is... Kenda could make a good tire if BRP would just increase the specs to something decent.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Yup.. the OEM tires are 2-ply crap. It's one thing to use such crap off-road for an ATV... but for a road vehicle it's ridiculous. You don't see HD, Honda, etc. putting crap tires on their bikes.

Thing is... Kenda could make a good tire if BRP would just increase the specs to something decent.
I have heard lots about the Tire specs thing.... ie BRP decided the specs for the tire , from quite a few members here ..... Why does anyone THINK - BRP set the specs ..... To me that's like hiring a golfer to be the Batting coach :banghead::banghead::banghead: . When the Spyder was designed , I'll bet they were using regular high performance CAR tires, because the KENDA tires didn't even Exist...... and Kenda actually makes a better Car tire right now..... But they cost more to produce than the Spyder version tire ...... Mike :thumbup:

[Deanna777]

I had Kenda's tires on the front of my 2014RTS-SE6, and had a vibration on the right front tire. I also had a laser alignment done. Last year I changed the front tires to Continental Contiprocontact's, I do not have any vibrations with these tires.


Deanna

[Firefly]

I have heard lots about the Tire specs thing.... ie BRP decided the specs for the tire , from quite a few members here ..... Why does anyone THINK - BRP set the specs ..... To me that's like hiring a golfer to be the Batting coach :banghead::banghead::banghead: . When the Spyder was designed , I'll bet they were using regular high performance CAR tires, because the KENDA tires didn't even Exist...... and Kenda actually makes a better Car tire right now..... But they cost more to produce than the Spyder version tire ...... Mike :thumbup:

I know for a fact the engineers at BRP spec the tires they want. We spoke with many of them at Valcourt. Why wouldn't they spec the tires??? It's not like Kenda had those just laying around for use on some other vehicle. They spec everything else that is going on the bike whether they're developing it in-house or outsourcing it. Your golfer/batting analogy simply doesn't apply here.

[rudym]

I have heard lots about the Tire specs thing.... ie BRP decided the specs for the tire , from quite a few members here ..... Why does anyone THINK - BRP set the specs ..... To me that's like hiring a golfer to be the Batting coach :banghead::banghead::banghead: . When the Spyder was designed , I'll bet they were using regular high performance CAR tires, because the KENDA tires didn't even Exist...... and Kenda actually makes a better Car tire right now..... But they cost more to produce than the Spyder version tire ...... Mike :thumbup:

This issue is really economics - if you save $20.00 per tire x3 that's $60.00 more profit per unit sold. Do the math and you will understand why most OEM tires are the lowest price point the MFG can get from a bulk purchase.:doorag:

[Michaelscs]

I know for a fact the engineers at BRP spec the tires they want. We spoke with many of them at Valcourt. Why wouldn't they spec the tires??? It's not like Kenda had those just laying around for use on some other vehicle. They spec everything else that is going on the bike whether they're developing it in-house or outsourcing it. Your golfer/batting analogy simply doesn't apply here.

While it might be true that the engineers spec the parts & tires they want, the money pinchers get involve and they don't always get exactly what is spect!

My son is an engineer for Polaris, and the part they design and spec might work perfectly on the prototype. Then the money men got involved and find a vendor who can build the part "to spec" for less. They don't always get exactly what was spect! That's many how recalls happen!

What rudym says is totally true. Only many times it's not dollars, It's pennies!!!

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

I know for a fact the engineers at BRP spec the tires they want. We spoke with many of them at Valcourt. Why wouldn't they spec the tires??? It's not like Kenda had those just laying around for use on some other vehicle. They spec everything else that is going on the bike whether they're developing it in-house or outsourcing it. Your golfer/batting analogy simply doesn't apply here. So it's your UNDERSTANDING , that the BRP engineers got together ....and said .. let's design a real crappy tire for the Spyder and find some company that will make them for cheap and let them sell them for a lot more than they are worth. :roflblack::roflblack::roflblack::roflblack::roflb lack: ..... Mike :thumbup: