Semi slick rear tyre

[Cobwebs]

Times up for the Kenda, I reckon there's one burnout left in its 8,000klm's lifespan on my Daytona.
Searching for it's replacement and the only stuff in the stock size out here look like something you would put on grandma's shopping hack to be honest.
This has led me down the path of semi slicks of the road legal variety which at least look like you mean business and won't be lugging groceries on this baby!
Question is will I be eating my words when I discover some obvious flaw in my plan to at least look like I know what I'm doing.
All I can find are of the 225 45 15profile. I'm thinking I can put up with the speedo error not like it's accurate anyway right?
Still running stock Kendas up front will nanny have me skulking back to the tyre shop for a grocery getter because of some electronic argument or will I be feared by anyone with saddlebags because of my impossible cornering abilities?
Any other downside comments my one track mind hasn't grasped welcome.

[Peter Aawen]

I encountered issues during testing with the Nanny when the rear tire was somewhat different in it's rolling dia/size relationship with the fronts; both with a higher profile rear and a lower profile rear! :sour: But I suspect that if your 225/45 rear has a rolling dia that's a bit on the large side for their nominal size, and knowing the Kendas are a bit on the small side for their nominal size, you might be OK :dontknow: You'd better check carefully tho, cos it was a right pain and almost impossible to turn any corner at a reasonably fast pace without the Nanny crying DANGER & jumping on things PDQ! :yikes:

Aaand I also encountered issues, especially on the track & the skid pan, when I had a tire on the rear that had substantially better traction capabilities than the fronts!! The Nanny objected violently & often, almost as soon as I initiated any turn at a reasonable pace....:gaah: I believe this was because the significantly better grip from the rear would almost immediately push the front tires into fairly significant understeer & things could go pear shaped very rapidly from there!! If the fronts retained/regained grip, the transition from understeer to oversteer was often sudden & quite violent too!! :shocked: But the Nanny coped amazingly well, & I only ended up on the ground once... mainly because I just didn't expect it to be so aggressive a transition. :rolleyes: Spyder stayed upright tho! :thumbup: Easy answer to that one tho - if you upgrade the rear tire to something with substantially grip better than the Kendas, simply also upgrade the fronts to something (anything??) with substantially better grip than the OE spec Kendas! :ohyea:

That said, I've found that on our Spyders, it's the OE spec Kendas that are the limiting factor to better ride, handling, traction, et al!! Even those tires that look like they'd be best suited to grandma's shopping hack perform a fair bit better in all measurable respects to the OE spec Kendas. :shocked: And pretty much all the 'good name brand, better quality tires' that I've tested so far (& quite a few of the 'cheapies' too) perform significantly better than the OE spec Kendas, even if they might not look all that speccy!! :lecturef_smilie: But even without going to the speccy looking road/track &/or semi-slick tires, there are a few that look pretty good without being quite so wild.... Yokohama, Toyo, & Bridgestone immediately jump to mind, and some of the Hankook offerings too. But there are more.... besides, once they're turning rapidly & the only thing on-lookers can see is the smokey blur of the rear tire disappearing into the distance/thru the twisties, who really gives a rats about what they look like :dontknow: just so long as they WORK - well!! :ohyea: :2thumbs:

[Cobwebs]

I encountered issues during testing with the Nanny when the rear tire was somewhat different in it's rolling dia/size relationship with the fronts; both with a higher profile rear and a lower profile rear! :sour: But I suspect that if your 225/45 rear has a rolling dia that's a bit on the large side for their nominal size, and knowing the Kendas are a bit on the small side for their nominal size, you might be OK :dontknow: You'd better check carefully tho, cos it was a right pain and almost impossible to turn any corner at a reasonably fast pace without the Nanny crying DANGER & jumping on things PDQ! :yikes:

Aaand I also encountered issues, especially on the track & the skid pan, when I had a tire on the rear that had substantially better traction capabilities than the fronts!! The Nanny objected violently & often, almost as soon as I initiated any turn at a reasonable pace....:gaah: I believe this was because the significantly better grip from the rear would almost immediately push the front tires into fairly significant understeer & things could go pear shaped very rapidly from there!! If the fronts retained/regained grip, the transition from understeer to oversteer was often sudden & quite violent too!! :shocked: But the Nanny coped amazingly well, & I only ended up on the ground once... mainly because I just didn't expect it to be so aggressive a transition. :rolleyes: Spyder stayed upright tho! :thumbup: Easy answer to that one tho - if you upgrade the rear tire to something with substantially grip better than the Kendas, simply also upgrade the fronts to something (anything??) with substantially better grip than the OE spec Kendas! :ohyea:

That said, I've found that on our Spyders, it's the OE spec Kendas that are the limiting factor to better ride, handling, traction, et al!! Even those tires that look like they'd be best suited to grandma's shopping hack perform a fair bit better in all measurable respects to the OE spec Kendas. :shocked: And pretty much all the 'good name brand, better quality tires' that I've tested so far (& quite a few of the 'cheapies' too) perform significantly better than the OE spec Kendas, even if they might not look all that speccy!! :lecturef_smilie: But even without going to the speccy looking road/track &/or semi-slick tires, there are a few that look pretty good without being quite so wild.... Yokohama, Toyo, & Bridgestone immediately jump to mind, and some of the Hankook offerings too. But there are more.... besides, once they're turning rapidly & the only thing on-lookers can see is the smokey blur of the rear tire disappearing into the distance/thru the twisties, who really gives a rats about what they look like :dontknow: just so long as they WORK - well!! :ohyea: :2thumbs:

Thanks for that Peter, in the excitement of something new for the Spyder I completely overlooked the fronts :banghead: . Now that you've explained it I see the error of my ways and will start the search for some cool looking steer tyres (incorrigible I know) with grip.
Actually there probably aren't any semi slicks in the front size so that may end my dream of being a 100% road magnet with killer looks:shemademe_smilie:.Oh well smokey blur of rear tyre in the distance it is then.

Sort of raises the question though if the actual ready for battle dia is not known till its all fitted up, how the hell does one make the decision. I can't imagine the dealer will want to muck about and let me try tyres like shoes and can you picture the poor guy when I try to explain I have a nanny who's ok'ing the whole deal!:duh:
Someone might have a recently fitted combo they can recommend hopefully. Otherwise I might have to start making those painted lawn swans out of my rejects,about time they made a comeback anyway:).

[Peter Aawen]

You should be able to get either a 'rolling radius', 'rolling diameter', or a 'revs per mile' figure from each tire manufacturer's spec sheets for that particular tire so that you don't have to rely on the 'nominal size' printed on the sidewall; and while there may be some minor variations in those specs once the tire is mounted & inflated to your chosen operating pressure, those differences should be small enough to make doing the comparison worthwhile! :ohyea: It's just that the wide range of variations in the way tire manufacturers assign their 'nominal sizes' to print on the tire's sidewalls that makes that particular size comparison so problematic!! :gaah:

I've seen differences of almost 50mm/2 inches in the 'actual' size of a tire to that shown as the tire's 'nominal size' as printed on the sidewall.... so you REALLY don't want to try and fit one of those tires onto your Spyder!! :yikes:

If you don't really like the looks of the Vredsteins or Federals or any of those I mentioned above, check out the tires & tread patterns that Cooper, Hankook, &/or Falken offer, maybe even Maxxis.... :dontknow: Some of their offerings can look pretty good on a Spyder, and between them they do have some sizes that are close enough to work well, even some that do that without making the speedo any LESS accurate! :thumbup:

Good Luck! :cheers:

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

:agree: .... and because Spyders are quite prone to lose traction in the RAIN at the rear tire first , that type of tire will DO IT probably 2 or 3 times as fast ... I've been in heavy rain with with a very, very worn touring tire and the RT was limited to 30 MPH. Anything faster and the rear tire would spin. I didn't have to do any heavy braking, so I won't comment on that ..... I believe the type of tire you are referring to, are listed as TRACK DAY tires. ..... They are NEVER used in wet conditions ....- PERIOD .......................good luck ..... Mike :thumbup:

[PMK]

In regards to what you are asking about, maybe have a look at Federal Tire and the ultra high performance 595 tire. I know people that have used these on their Spyders

[Grandpot]

I'm with Mike on this one for sure. My biggest concern is traction in the rain or hitting a wet patch in the road.

[Cobwebs]

:agree: .... and because Spyders are quite prone to lose traction in the RAIN at the rear tire first , that type of tire will DO IT probably 2 or 3 times as fast ... I've been in heavy rain with with a very, very worn touring tire and the RT was limited to 30 MPH. Anything faster and the rear tire would spin. I didn't have to do any heavy braking, so I won't comment on that ..... I believe the type of tire you are referring to, are listed as TRACK DAY tires. ..... They are NEVER used in wet conditions ....- PERIOD .......................good luck ..... Mike :thumbup:


Should have said I don't ride wet roads any more so wasn't concerned with that aspect Mike.
These guys claim good wet performance anyhow and was the sort of tyre I was looking for.They have a 225 45 15 available out here but without a similar front set it all gets a bit hard.
Hell if the law allowed I'd mount full slicks if they made a set that could stand road treatment.
https://nexentirecanada.com/tire-lineup/summer/specialtysemi-slick/nfera-sur4g/

[Cobwebs]

In regards to what you are asking about, maybe have a look at Federal Tire and the ultra high performance 595 tire. I know people that have used these on their Spyders

Yeah they are available here:thumbup:
Which fronts to compliment them and what size would suit to keep nanny happy is the question?

[PMK]

Yeah they are available here:thumbup:
Which fronts to compliment them and what size would suit to keep nanny happy is the question?

595 on front.

As for sizes, that will be your own call.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Should have said I don't ride wet roads any more so wasn't concerned with that aspect Mike.
These guys claim good wet performance anyhow and was the sort of tyre I was looking for.They have a 225 45 15 available out here but without a similar front set it all gets a bit hard.
Hell if the law allowed I'd mount full slicks if they made a set that could stand road treatment.
https://nexentirecanada.com/tire-lineup/summer/specialtysemi-slick/nfera-sur4g/

That link shows that tire ..... But it's not even close to a " semi-slick tire " .... I try to answer questions based on What was asked. I don't pick Rainey days to go riding either, but it does happen. I adjust and continue ..... Do you stop get off the road and just wait till it stops ????? ..... Mike :thumbup:

[blacklightning]

Should have said I don't ride wet roads any more so wasn't concerned with that aspect Mike.
These guys claim good wet performance anyhow and was the sort of tyre I was looking for.They have a 225 45 15 available out here but without a similar front set it all gets a bit hard.
Hell if the law allowed I'd mount full slicks if they made a set that could stand road treatment.
https://nexentirecanada.com/tire-lineup/summer/specialtysemi-slick/nfera-sur4g/
That is a nice looking tire! Looks like something that would be on one of those first fast and ferious import cars. I think that would be nice with the federal fusions that I had on my 2014 RT (I loved those tires, Doc Humphreys turned me on to them). I will be looking for something sporty for my next set on the F3T. Definitely going with the federals up front (current stock tire has 19k). I have the Hancock in the rear and love them. I am thinking about picking up another RSS for some really sporty riding. If I do, I am definitely going with a sporty tire all the way around.

[Cobwebs]

That link shows that tire ..... But it's not even close to a " semi-slick tire " .... I try to answer questions based on What was asked. I don't pick Rainey days to go riding either, but it does happen. I adjust and continue ..... Do you stop get off the road and just wait till it stops ????? ..... Mike :thumbup:

I live on a Targa stage so a quick look at the radar picture gives me a two hour window of carving twisties at minimum.In ten years I've had my Harley it's never been wet. I plan to keep the Spyder looking the same, 8000klm's and spotless so far.
Interesting your take on what determines what but I based my description on the manufacturers words you just read.If there's a street legal semi slick you know of that betters it don't hold back that's why I asked.

[blacklightning]

.... Interesting your take on what determines what but I based my description on the manufacturers words you just read.If there's a street legal semi slick you know of that betters it don't hold back that's why I asked.
I would seriously take a look at some of the tire sizes that some of the import racers use (i'm thinking the guys with the honda civic and such). I am sure they have access to a street legal type of racing tire that might come in our size. Good luck with your search, and let us know what you are able to find.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

I live on a Targa stage so a quick look at the radar picture gives me a two hour window of carving twisties at minimum.In ten years I've had my Harley it's never been wet. I plan to keep the Spyder looking the same, 8000klm's and spotless so far.
Interesting your take on what determines what but I based my description on the manufacturers words you just read.If there's a street legal semi slick you know of that betters it don't hold back that's why I asked.

Toyo Proxes R888R 225/50-15, Note : I DO NOT recommend this tire for any use Other than Track or Autocross ...... good luck ..... Mike :thumbup: