OEM Rear Tire SHOT at 2,500 miles
Just in case anyone has experienced something similar, my OEM Kenda rear tire was really bald down the middle at only 2,500 miles on a brand new ST-S. I squeaked another 1,250 miles out of it, so it was completely bald in the center section, and I mean completely. Over the course of 65,000 miles on my 2008s I ran a couple sets of the OEM Kenda but then started using Kumhos and Maxxis tires, averaging 7,300 miles through the years. But to only get 2,500 (OK 3,750) out of the Kenda on the 2013?
My dealer told me BRP had changed the compound on the 2013s to a softer one, if true then it shows. I am familiar with the high speed centrifugal force causing the center to wear out first, don’t waste your time explaining that to me. And don’t bother with tire pressure being too high, it was always 26 psi, I ran it a tad low just to try to make it last longer.
So no more Kenda. This time I had a Toyo Proxes in the shop, this is what went on for now, but so far the Maxxis has been the most impressive. It is a MA-Z4S Victra 95V with 420 treadwear, AA traction and A temperature. Tough to find a better treadwear rating with AA traction in this size, and I won’t stoop down to a T speed rating (118 mph) when I run the thing at over 100 mph every chance I get. No wonder the Kenda didn’t last…….
So far I have stayed with the OEM 225/50R15 size, but might have to go to one of the other sizes to get some better tread wear. There are many more options when you go to a 215/60R15 (+5.4%) or even 205/60R15 (+3.5%). It is really tough to find anything in the 215/55r15 (+1.9%) or 205/55r15 (+0.1%) sizes, as they are closer in diameter than the 60s, but all of these will work as far as I have been able to determine by previous posts. There’s also 225/55R15 but also tough to find, that one is +3.7% in diameter. The 4-ply tires seem to be slightly heavier, but this is perfectly acceptable for the higher quality and durability. 2-ply is cheap junk.
So if your OEM Kenda is shot at a couple thousand miles, you are not alone. If it lasts for 10,000 miles, then you’d better burn the carbon out of the damn thing.
Was checking mine yesterday...
I looked at mine yesterday & was noticing i'm pretty much getting bald in the center of my rear tire on my ST-L. I have a bit more miles than you do (4500 approx) but still thought i'd get more miles out of the tire. I will make it through the riding season with this tire, but will need a replacement in the spring. I didn't expect to have to buy a tire each season...and I don't ride nearly as many miles as many do (although I do quite a few group rides). I purchased an '08 GS that has a car tire on it...but the new ST-L has the stock Kenda...and i'm feeling hard pressed to replace it with another Kenda. Although I have heard many out there run various car tires on the different Spyders, I don't recall seeing anyone put one on a '13 ST. If they have, let me know your thoughts as i'm considering switching from the factory tire.
We were trying to figure out the difference
My dealer and I were trying to figure out the difference. With the 65,000 miles on my 2008s we had a good sense of what was normal, we ran through four Kendas before switching to the Kumhos, ran through four of them and then went to the Maxxis which we really liked.
So when the Kenda went bad so fast on the ST-S we got real curious. He told me that BRP had indicated a compound change on the 2013s and he wasn't supposed to be using any of his pallet of pre-2013 Kenda, so he ordered the new part number for use on 2013s. Then it got weird, he said he got some of the new tires and then some of the old tires, so he wasn't sure what BRP was up to or if they knew what tire was for what year. We've been running the 4-ply car tires on my Spyders for so long with no issues that we instantly switched the ST-S to one.
But back to what the difference was, we figure several things. 1) possible compound change 2) no adjustable pre-load of the rear spring on the ST-S 3)I was riding the ST-S even harder faster than the 2008 GS spyders 4)ST-S is a heavier spyder than the 2008s 4)maybe got a bad tire?
I had done the 3750 miles in 63.5 hours so that is an average speed of 59 mph. I do not ride interstates or US highways, only ride state and county roads, all two lane, but I do live in an area where we ride open territory much of the time so it is almost 99% highways miles at good speeds. All of the Kendas had worn out in the middle like this, but never have I or my dealer saw one go bad this fast. He just couldn’t get his head around it, but nobody puts on miles like I do around here so we’re usually seeing things first out of his riders.
Four Different OEM Part Numbers
This is curious. I started checking rear tire part numbers to see if there was a new rear tire for 2013. Checked 2013 ST-S rear tire part number 705 501 604. Checked 2012 RS, showed 705 501 464 but it superseded to the 2013 number 705 501 604. Interesting. So I checked the 2008 GS, it showed 705 500 958, but the supersede chain went to 705 501 312, then to 705 501 464, then to 705 501 604. So this tells me there have been four different part numbers for rear tires since the Spyder introduction, but they all appear to supersede to the 2013 number 705 501 604. I even checked a 2014 RT Limited and a 2014 ST-S and they both show the #604. It appears there is in fact a different tire for 2013 than what was used in 2012, but they are all now specifying the same #604. Now to see if we can get more info on what changed....