Tires

[gerald37]

I am starting to shop for tires for my 2015 Can Am Spyder RT. I am thinking of going to car tires but do not know what is best for the Spyder. After looking on the internet I really got confused. There is so much different priced tires. This will probably start a big conversation but I do need some help.

[ARtraveler]

We have you mostly covered. Go to the search engine and type in "Tires," you will be pleasantly surprised. :yes:

[Fatcycledaddy]

We have you mostly covered. Go to the search engine and type in "Tires," you will be pleasantly surprised. :yes:
Or scared to death!:shocked:

[HankD]

Or scared to death!:shocked:

After having read several of the tire discussions on the forum, I've pretty much decided on Schwinn bicycle tires for the fronts, and a Mickey Thompson N-50 Drag Racing tire for the rear. I'll be stylin....:ohyea:

[Chupaca]

:agree: there is no end to tire information here but as to giving you a clear path to take or tire to choose.....your on your own. Take the information, reviews and opinions and decide....good luck.:thumbup:

[gerald37]

After having read several of the tire discussions on the forum, I've pretty much decided on Schwinn bicycle tires for the fronts, and a Mickey Thompson N-50 Drag Racing tire for the rear. I'll be stylin....:ohyea:
Sorry I came on here I do my own.

[Highwayman2013]

Sorry I came on here I do my own.
There are many options for the rear in 215/60/15. I have experience with this size on an RT and it works well. There are Federal EVO's or Formosa's available online for the front in the stock size. Good luck on your hunt

[Fatcycledaddy]

Sorry I came on here I do my own.
That was ll sort of tongue in cheek.
There is a ton of GREAT information on tires on here with several brands and sizes that will work on your spyder listed.
There is information explaining all of the info on the side of the tire and the most important part of that information is when was the tire manufactured.
Then you will find several discussions on tire pressures and some of them can get rather heated at times.
I will tell you this, the factory or stock tires on your spyder will require a lot more air pressure to keep them safe than a car tire will. The reason being is the sidewall of the stock tire is only 2 ply and therefor very soft requiring a lot more air pressure to keep the spider riding on it as it should. The car tire is normally about a 4 ply sidewall allowing you to run less air pressure to keep the spyder riding the way it should.
I followed Bluenight, Igetaround, and Peter Aawen sugestion of 18 PSI in the rear and 15 PSI in the front with the car tires I have. Spyder handles great and the wet traction is awesome.
I did have to run a little more pressure when riding two up, fully loaded, towing a fully loaded trailer just to stay in the 4 PSI rule. If you are unfamiliar with that rule, it basically is that check your tire pressure cold, ride for about 30 min for the tire to warm up, if the pressure increases more than 4 PSI over what it was cold, you should add more air to it. The bigger increase in tire pressure over the 4 PSI means your tire is creating too much heat because of being too low on pressure.

Hope this helps.

[Navydad]

2015 RT with Federal Formosa on front and General Altimax on rear, all in stock sizes. 18 PSI in fronts and 20 PSI in rear. I have almost 7000 miles on this combination, mostly two up and loaded. Works great wet or dry.

[Bob Denman]

I tried a Falken ZE912...
It was great when it was new, bur got downright scary, once it wore down. nojoke
So I went to Kumho Ecsta AST for the rear.
I always stuck with the OEM sizing: why rock the boat? :D
It was a VAST improvement over the Kenda, and I felt no loss of traction as it wore down.
Everyone will tell you that their choice is the best: I'm just saying that the Kumho is worth some consideration. :2thumbs:

[Road-Kill]

Friendly advice.

Putting car tires on any lighter weight vehicle will cause your braking distance to increase. (see all tire manufactures for more)
Putting car tires on a motorcycle is illegal and voids your inspection. (see both Federal and State DOT websites for more)
Putting car tires on a motorcycle will/might void your liability coverage in an accident. (visit or call your insurance company for more)

These are a few of the thrills you will encounter if an investigation ensues because of an accident.
Motorcycle accidents are very expensive because of the injuries sustained in them. (VERY EXPENSIVE!)

So if you want a few extra miles out of the tire tread you might want to rethink that initial savings.

More friendly and fun advice.......
1. If you are going to call or visit your insurance company I suggest you do it anonymously, they keep track of stupid things customers do for future claims denials. I know, I used to do those investigations.
2. If you still want to put car tires on an MC don't post your stupidity online for an investigator to find. (they love admission!)

[bmccaffrey]

just put general altima back
federal evo front. Seem to work good so far

[Fatcycledaddy]

Friendly advice.

Putting car tires on any lighter weight vehicle will cause your braking distance to increase. (see all tire manufactures for more)
Putting car tires on a motorcycle is illegal and voids your inspection. (see both Federal and State DOT websites for more)
Putting car tires on a motorcycle will/might void your liability coverage in an accident. (visit or call your insurance company for more)

These are a few of the thrills you will encounter if an investigation ensues because of an accident.
Motorcycle accidents are very expensive because of the injuries sustained in them. (VERY EXPENSIVE!)

So if you want a few extra miles out of the tire tread you might want to rethink that initial savings.

More friendly and fun advice.......
1. If you are going to call or visit your insurance company I suggest you do it anonymously, they keep track of stupid things customers do for future claims denials. I know, I used to do those investigations.
2. If you still want to put car tires on an MC don't post your stupidity online for an investigator to find. (they love admission!)
One thing you are not taking into this whole reply.
A Spyder is not called a motorcycle by BRP, it is a
Raodster and in several states it is not considered a motorcycle and a cycle endorsement is not needed. Never heard of one failing inspection yet because of car tires.

Next, as stated in this quote, May 20, 2016 - The Motorcycle Industry Council puts it more directly, “Never mount a passenger car tire on a motorcycle rim; the flat profile of a car tire is incompatible with the dynamics of a vehicle that leans as it corners".

A Spyder does not lean in the corners, (just in case you haven't noticed that yet) so the argument has NO validity.

I will bet that I can stop quicker with my car tires than you can with your stock motorcycle tires. It's all about traction or how hard they hold the road. I could spin my stock tire at will and struggle to break lose the altimax I have on there now.

Last, the stock tire wore out in the middle only extremely quick with the recommended tire pressure in it. That tells me that very little of the tire was in contact with the road giving traction at highway speeds, and if I had a hard brakeing situation the load transfer to the front would reduce the amount of contact and traction that tire provided significantly.

[Buckeye Bleau]

Federal Formosa AZO1 but move up to the 175 55R15 on the front it is incredible!

Joe

[gerald37]

That was ll sort of tongue in cheek.
There is a ton of GREAT information on tires on here with several brands and sizes that will work on your spyder listed.
There is information explaining all of the info on the side of the tire and the most important part of that information is when was the tire manufactured.
Then you will find several discussions on tire pressures and some of them can get rather heated at times.
I will tell you this, the factory or stock tires on your spyder will require a lot more air pressure to keep them safe than a car tire will. The reason being is the sidewall of the stock tire is only 2 ply and therefor very soft requiring a lot more air pressure to keep the spider riding on it as it should. The car tire is normally about a 4 ply sidewall allowing you to run less air pressure to keep the spyder riding the way it should.
I followed Bluenight, Igetaround, and Peter Aawen sugestion of 18 PSI in the rear and 15 PSI in the front with the car tires I have. Spyder handles great and the wet traction is awesome.
I did have to run a little more pressure when riding two up, fully loaded, towing a fully loaded trailer just to stay in the 4 PSI rule. If you are unfamiliar with that rule, it basically is that check your tire pressure cold, ride for about 30 min for the tire to warm up, if the pressure increases more than 4 PSI over what it was cold, you should add more air to it. The bigger increase in tire pressure over the 4 PSI means your tire is creating too much heat because of being too low on pressure.

Hope this helps. This is the reason I posted on this website. I knew there would be smart remarks but this is what I was looking for. I have been riding motorcycles for 62 years and have had many brands but this Spyder is totally different. I have had it for 7 weeks and have put 3,000 miles on it. So far I love the thing. It is a 2015 and had 10,000 miles on it. The tires have the 13,000 miles on them and look good but not to far from the ware bars. The person that had it never rode it very hard or fast I think it will run 15,000 on the tires. It has Arachnid tires on it.

[Fatcycledaddy]

This is the reason I posted on this website. I knew there would be smart remarks but this is what I was looking for. I have been riding motorcycles for 62 years and have had many brands but this Spyder is totally different. I have had it for 7 weeks and have put 3,000 miles on it. So far I love the thing. It is a 2015 and had 10,000 miles on it. The tires have the 13,000 miles on them and look good but not to far from the ware bars. The person that had it never rode it very hard or fast I think it will run 15,000 on the tires. It has Arachnid tires on it.
Be aware that those tires you now have on there are not the stock tires. They were changed before you got it. The stock tires are Kenda. Tells you how fast they wore out.:yikes:

[gerald37]

Be aware that those tires you now have on there are not the stock tires. They were changed before you got it. The stock tires are Kenda. Tells you how fast they wore out.:yikes: I sure did not know that. I just check and the front tires are Kenda. That is why I am getting more miles on my rear tire than most. So I don't know how many miles is on the rear tire. The Spyder has 13,000 on it and the rear looks good. It is not near the wear bars. I have just been worrying about the tire. Rear has Arachnid and front has Kenda. Are Arachnid good tires for the Spyder?

[SpyderAnn01]

I sure did not know that. I just check and the front tires are Kenda. That is why I am getting more miles on my rear tire than most. So I don't know how many miles is on the rear tire. The Spyder has 13,000 on it and the rear looks good. It is not near the wear bars. I have just been worrying about the tire. Rear has Arachnid and front has Kenda. Are Arachnid good tires for the Spyder?

No, the Arachnid's are crap tires just like the Kenda. I have run 3 of them, two of which were given to me for free, on my 14 RT and they were all crap. I got less mileage out of them than on a Kenda. Go to car tires. Only you can decide which one you purchase and we all have our own opinions. I currently run the Federal Formoza in the stock size on the front and a General Altimax RT 43 on the rear. I have run this combo several times (I have 122,000 miles on my 14) and I like it. Great handling wet or dry.

[ThreeWheels]

I've always had good results with the stock Kenda tires up front. 20K to 25K miles.
The stock rear is awful. I went with a Kumho.

Just my opinion. I could be wrong, and I'm sure somebody on this site will tell me about it.

[Fatcycledaddy]

No, the Arachnid's are crap tires just like the Kenda. I have run 3 of them, two of which were given to me for free, on my 14 RT and they were all crap. I got less mileage out of them than on a Kenda. Go to car tires. Only you can decide which one you purchase and we all have our own opinions. I currently run the Federal Formoza in the stock size on the front and a General Altimax RT 43 on the rear. I have run this combo several times (I have 122,000 miles on my 14) and I like it. Great handling wet or dry.
Same combination I have and I love it.

[Road-Kill]

One thing you are not taking into this whole reply.
A Spyder is not called a motorcycle by BRP, it is a
Raodster and in several states it is not considered a motorcycle and a cycle endorsement is not needed. Never heard of one failing inspection yet because of car tires.

Next, as stated in this quote, May 20, 2016 - The Motorcycle Industry Council puts it more directly, “Never mount a passenger car tire on a motorcycle rim; the flat profile of a car tire is incompatible with the dynamics of a vehicle that leans as it corners".

A Spyder does not lean in the corners, (just in case you haven't noticed that yet) so the argument has NO validity.

I will bet that I can stop quicker with my car tires than you can with your stock motorcycle tires. It's all about traction or how hard they hold the road. I could spin my stock tire at will and struggle to break lose the altimax I have on there now.

Last, the stock tire wore out in the middle only extremely quick with the recommended tire pressure in it. That tells me that very little of the tire was in contact with the road giving traction at highway speeds, and if I had a hard brakeing situation the load transfer to the front would reduce the amount of contact and traction that tire provided significantly.

My dealer will not install a car tire on a Spyder without the owner signing a waver....so the dealer will not be sued if an accident happens.
The reason tire manufacturers or dealers will "mostly" not sell a car tire for the Spyder is because the weight rating is wayyyyyy off.
The reason the stock tires wear as you say is because they are designed for lighter weight vehicles and as such have softer tread.
Just because the Spyder does not lean does not mean you can put anything you want on it and expect the same performance.
Dealers "might" pass you for an inspection is money. You have it and they want it and people vote with their feet.
I think 13,000 trouble free miles with extra tread left makes my stock rear tire ok in my book.
I think my front tires with over 14,000 trouble free miles makes them ok in my book as well.
I feel like I'm discussing a non-existent problem.:banghead:

[kngfsh27]

My dealer would only install Kendas. The rear for $360. I could not find a local tire dealer who would mount car tires on my rims. I know that I could have driven miles away and found someone who would have done it. Shouldn't be that hard.

[UtahPete]

I am starting to shop for tires for my 2015 Can Am Spyder RT. I am thinking of going to car tires but do not know what is best for the Spyder. After looking on the internet I really got confused. There is so much different priced tires. This will probably start a big conversation but I do need some help.

Congratulations on having the foresight to research tires before you need them. And, understanding that what comes with a vehicle from the factory isn't always the best choice when it's replacement time.

I'm not sure if researching threads with 'tire' in them is going to be very productive; there are literally hundreds of them. And, having done that search myself, I think too many responses are opinion-based rather than fact-based or experience-based. I tend to lean toward the opinion of people like SpyderAnn, who have been on this forum for years, have many miles of real experience under their belt, and try to be objective and factual with their responses.

Happy hunting. I hope this thread turns out to be more productive and on-topic than a lot of them have been.

[AeroPilot]

Just as everyone has their own expectations for tire longevity and performance, there are many choices of tires in the marketplace. Too bad that the Spyder has only one choice across the broad spectrum of Can Ams from the lighter F3s to the heavier often loaded RT's. If you have 13,000 miles on your rear Kenda Road-Kil you did good, but it is time to get it replaced as I haven't seen a pic of much tread on them at that mileage. I just changed the rear on the wifes 16F3T at 13,880 and one side was bald (wish I took a pic) and the otherside was down to the wear bars.

I do think that Kenda is beefing up their tires as I remember 10,000 used to be good. I also think that the fronts run long enough as long as you don't have any belt issues and have been getting 26-30,000 out of the last two sets. Oh well just my two cents.. to each their own.

[Fatcycledaddy]

My dealer will not install a car tire on a Spyder without the owner signing a waver....so the dealer will not be sued if an accident happens.
The reason tire manufacturers or dealers will "mostly" not sell a car tire for the Spyder is because the weight rating is wayyyyyy off.
The reason the stock tires wear as you say is because they are designed for lighter weight vehicles and as such have softer tread.
Just because the Spyder does not lean does not mean you can put anything you want on it and expect the same performance.
Dealers "might" pass you for an inspection is money. You have it and they want it and people vote with their feet.
I think 13,000 trouble free miles with extra tread left makes my stock rear tire ok in my book.
I think my front tires with over 14,000 trouble free miles makes them ok in my book as well.
I feel like I'm discussing a non-existent problem.:banghead:
On all that I have ever learned or read I have yet to find a minimum load rating on a tire. I find air pressures for loads, I find max load per air pressure, but nothing on minimum loads.
Looks to me like every tire talks about MAX load and never minimum load. If minimum load was that critical it would also be mentioned and published by every tie manufacture on every tie made.
Spyderann has we'll over 100,000 miles on her spyder and people on here have ridden hundreds of thousands of miles, most of them are on car ties that are and will perform great if the tire pressure is adjusted accordingly.
So yes you are banging your head against a wall. I don't think you will get us to listen.

[Peter Aawen]

Lo
......
Spyderann has we'll over 100,000 miles on her spyder and people on here have ridden MILLIONS of miles, most of them are on car tires that are and will perform great if the tire pressure is adjusted accordingly.
So yes you are banging your head against a wall. I don't think you will get us to listen.

Agree wholeheartedly FCD, but I hadta correct the bold bit above! ;)

As for 'not fitting car tires on motorcycle rims', if some people want to believe that just by stamping a 'made-up not recognised by any tire or motoring authority' label like 'Special motorcycle tires only' or whatever on the sidewall of a very poorly constructed CAR tire & fitting it onto a rim that is for all intents & purposes a CAR rim with CAR bead profiles makes it dangerous to fit a higher quality better constructed car tire onto a rim that is made to run exactly that type of tire, so much so that in the Country I live in, if you take a Spyder rim in to your tire dealer & ask them to fit a tire, it is ILLEGAL for that or any dealer to fit anything but a CAR tire, then I guess all there is to say is that it is the said 'some people's' choice to live with; but for me, I prefer to fit the LEGAL & much higher quality, safer, longer wearing, & better handling tire of my choice! Oh, & they are almost always cheaper too! ;)

[UtahPete]

I will tell you this, the factory or stock tires on your spyder will require a lot more air pressure to keep them safe than a car tire will. The reason being is the sidewall of the stock tire is only 2 ply and therefor very soft requiring a lot more air pressure to keep the spider riding on it as it should. The car tire is normally about a 4 ply sidewall allowing you to run less air pressure to keep the spyder riding the way it should.

I followed Bluenight, Igetaround, and Peter Aawen suggestion of 18 PSI in the rear and 15 PSI in the front with the car tires I have. Spyder handles great and the wet traction is awesome. I did have to run a little more pressure when riding two up, fully loaded, towing a fully loaded trailer just to stay in the 4 PSI rule; check your tire pressure cold, ride for about 30 min for the tire to warm up, if the pressure increases more than 4 PSI over what it was cold, you should add more air to it. The bigger increase in tire pressure over the 4 PSI means your tire is creating too much heat because of being too low on pressure.

This is helpful. Thanks.

[Lew L]

1. Mounted a General in the 215 width. Speedo is now corrected. Ride is smoother due to correct tire pressure. perfect balance with NO weights.
2. Dealer had NO problem mounting this tire.

To the Gerald:

IMHO----- get a proper tire for your ryde, not the POS that Can AM put on the :spyder2:.

Kaos

[The Stig]

I have read the discussions here over the past few days concerning the OEM Kendas. My ride is a 2014 ST Ltd and the rear wore out with 8100 miles on it. My dealer suggested the VeeRubber Arachnid as a replacement at $175 (Cdn), $75 cheaper than the Kenda... I am wondering ( as the tire has been out for a while now ) how are folks finding wear and ride quality compared with the Kenda?

[UtahPete]

I have read the discussions here over the past few days concerning the OEM Kendas. My ride is a 2014 ST Ltd and the rear wore out with 8100 miles on it. My dealer suggested the VeeRubber Arachnid as a replacement at $175 (Cdn), $75 cheaper than the Kenda... I am wondering ( as the tire has been out for a while now ) how are folks finding wear and ride quality compared with the Kenda?

SpyderAnn said it best (see post #14);

No, the Arachnid's are crap tires just like the Kenda. I have run 3 of them, two of which were given to me for free, on my 14 RT and they were all crap. I got less mileage out of them than on a Kenda. Go to car tires. Only you can decide which one you purchase and we all have our own opinions. I currently run the Federal Formoza in the stock size on the front and a General Altimax RT 43 on the rear. I have run this combo several times (I have 122,000 miles on my 14) and I like it. Great handling wet or dry.

[Deanna777]

I am running General Altimax RT43(size: 215/60R15) on the rear, ( I have 14,742 miles on the General Altimax still has plenty of tread left). Also running 26PSI on the Generals.

Also, I am running the Continental Contiprocontact ( size: 165/60R15) on the fronts, and I have roughly 4,000miles on them. Also, Running 19PSI on the Continental's.

No problems with either tires.

Deanna

[RudyB]

I am starting to shop for tires for my 2015 Can Am Spyder RT. I am thinking of going to car tires but do not know what is best for the Spyder. After looking on the internet I really got confused. There is so much different priced tires. This will probably start a big conversation but I do need some help.
Here is my experience so far 175/55/R15 Continental Pro Contact front 215/60/R15 General Altimax RT43 back 6200miles on back looks like no wear so far also have Centramatic continues wheel balancers all around you decide

[jneg2]

My dealer will not install a car tire on a Spyder without the owner signing a waver....so the dealer will not be sued if an accident happens.
The reason tire manufacturers or dealers will "mostly" not sell a car tire for the Spyder is because the weight rating is wayyyyyy off.
The reason the stock tires wear as you say is because they are designed for lighter weight vehicles and as such have softer tread.
Just because the Spyder does not lean does not mean you can put anything you want on it and expect the same performance.
Dealers "might" pass you for an inspection is money. You have it and they want it and people vote with their feet.
I think 13,000 trouble free miles with extra tread left makes my stock rear tire ok in my book.
I think my front tires with over 14,000 trouble free miles makes them ok in my book as well.
I feel like I'm discussing a non-existent problem.:banghead:
Just my 2cents.. If your dealer won't pass your inspection with car tires, just go a motorcycle dealer or repair shop that doesn't sell CanAm's! They most likely wouldn't know the difference.

[pegasus1300]

My experience just before going on a long trip. I bought my Spyder with 8500 miles on it and there was noticeable wear on the rear tire in the middle of the tread. This would normally tell you that the tire is over inflated. Digging out my trusty owners manual I discovered that it was inflated to the factory recommended amount. When I first saw a spyder my first thought "Oh good you can put decent car tires on it" When I saw the wear pattern on the stock factory tire,I knew I was going to put a car tire on it. At 10,500 with a bald center stripe I went to my local tire dealer and asked him what was his best car tire in the size needed for the Spyder RTL. He gave me a Mastercraft 215 60r15 warranted to 80,000 miles(?) We both laughed. Anyway I brought him the rim,he mounted it and it has been a great tire thru 25,000 miles so far and looks like it is good for another 10,000 or so.
The fronts actually did really well. At 22,000 miles they still had plenty of tread on them but because of poor factory alignment had begun to wear on the inside. I was going to get a laser alignment done by Squared Away at Red Rock Spyder Rally and I wanted new tires for that. My tire guy did not have access to anything in the 14 inch size my 2012 needed so I ordered a cheap set off the internet, Mach Thunderers. After 12,000 miles the tread looks great the sidewalls don't roll in a hard corner and I can dive deeper and turn harder into a corner then I could with the Kendas. If the Kendas had not worn funny because of poor factory alignment I might never have changed them out,but I'm glad now they did.

Good luck on your search. If a tire dealer says he wont mount your tire offer to bring him just the rim and see if he changes his mind. I brought my tire dealer just the rear rim,tho he did already know what the tire was going on and didn't care. I also brought him the whole Spyder for the front tires. He could balance the fronts but the rear wouldn't fit on his balance machine,so we used Dyna Beads.

To me one of the joys of owning a machine such as a Spyder, or any of the 50+ years of motorcycles I've had is in seeing what can make them better. Factories don't have all the answers,they have to work inside sales and profitability parameters,so yes you can upgrade things and tires are an easy one on the Spyder.

[Mad Mac]

I sure did not know that. I just check and the front tires are Kenda. That is why I am getting more miles on my rear tire than most. So I don't know how many miles is on the rear tire. The Spyder has 13,000 on it and the rear looks good. It is not near the wear bars. I have just been worrying about the tire. Rear has Arachnid and front has Kenda. Are Arachnid good tires for the Spyder?

The original rear Kenda probably had around 7000-8000 miles on it, that's what I got out of mine and that was mainly 2-up riding. So I would say you have approx. 5000 miles on the Arachnid rear tire. I run a Yokohoma S-drive on the rear and this spring will mount my Conti protracs on the fronts. Have to admit, I have gotten 18000 miles out of my front Kenda's. Good luck with your research and decision. Mad Mac:thumbup:

[007james]

The original rear Kenda probably had around 7000-8000 (tel:7000-8000) miles on it, that's what I got out of mine and that was mainly 2-up riding. So I would say you have approx. 5000 miles on the Arachnid rear tire. I run a Yokohoma S-drive on the rear and this spring will mount my Conti protracs on the fronts. Have to admit, I have gotten 18000 miles out of my front Kenda's. Good luck with your research and decision. Mad Mac:thumbup:

I have 13,600 on my front Kendas as of today, and there is plenty of thread left. My rear Kenda was showing cord in tne center at 13,000 miles, whch I replaced with a Khumo .