Refused to sell me a tire..........

[Buckeye Bleau]

Hello,

So for new tires then do you take the rim off yourself and take it in or bring the whole bike in. I figure when you pull in with a spyder wont they see it and not put it on anyways?

Jim

My dealer, to remain nameless, with mount tires that I bring in but there is a $20 up charge.

Joe

[IGETAROUND]

Hello,

So for new tires then do you take the rim off yourself and take it in or bring the whole bike in. I figure when you pull in with a spyder wont they see it and not put it on anyways?

Jim

Well, most of us take the rims and new tires we've ordered on line and had delivered to our homes. Another work around when ordering the tires is to tell them it's replacement for a Morgan Kit Car; has consistently worked for me for two fronts and four rear tires @ Discount on line and with the shops when I take them in to have them mounted.

Balancing is HIGHLY overrated... haven't balanced any of these tires and still have a nice smooth ride.

Kind of difficult to "hide" a Spyder on jack stands in the parking lot while you get new tires mounted...just saying!!!

Al in Kazoo

[youngers]

had a bounce in the front end , at 40 too 43 m.p.h. smooth up too , and after the 40 +43 mile range , but bounce like a tennis ball at that spot , took the front tires too the mentioned dealer , they said if the rims fit the machine no problem , took about 30 minutes too work them in , one tire was right on with wheel weights , the other had been missing 2 { not sure what weight } they balanced them for free . rides like a champ , charm , spyder ...

[Peteoz]

Well there you go, no 2817.........what a mine of information on this thread on how to source and get aftermarket tyres on your Spyder. If you can't find a solution here, you aren't trying

Definitely the most helpful bunch of owners that I have ever found.

Pete

[No 2817]

You can buy it on Amazon

That's what I did $11.00 more $118.00 shipped no hassles. Thanks for all the help. I just didn't know what to enter for the "car going on questions", no other options like Tire Rack has.

Chris

[No 2817]

Lots of folks have "Dark-Sided" their GoldWings and Valkyries: without having added a third wheel!

My 2003 Valkyrie rides on the Darkside!! Two wheels by the way.

Chris

[No 2817]

2817 was my serial number on the Premier Edition 2008 GS that I owned. That 990 engine was fast and 9500 rpm Red Line was the best part of it.

(was disappointed that the 2016 F3-T was only 7500, maybe the ECU remap will help)

Chris

[Maddoggie501]

Why would you even TRY to argue with them, Maddoggie? After years of looking for accidents caused directly because a rider was on car tires, I'm still looking. Some try them and don't like them because of the way they follow road grooves, or because they "feel funny", but that's about it.

Pete

Let me clarify my post. I didn't argue with anyone over their choice of tires. I was saying, based on some forum arguments I read, The Dark Siders are very sensitive about any negative reference to their tires. I could care less what tire someone chooses to use. I personally choose a tire for high speed, sticking like glue and excellent handling characteristics. I could care less about wear. Having ridden a BMW sport bike and changing expensive tires at 15 hundred miles, (1500) was the norm. Having a Goldwing and getting over 6000 miles was a bonus. I'll see what I get out of my stock Kendas and then will decide what replacements to use. If I can get a season of riding out of my tires, 6000 plus miles, I'm happy. Sorry I even brought up the Dark Siders.

[wd8ajj]

BigO Tire had no issues mounting my tires. And the local even stated they would order them for me. They will not replace the rear tire. Too complex. They mounted my tires X2 and balanced then for 10.00 each.

[WA5VHU]

I took the front rims with the supplied POS tires down to Pep Boys for new car tires. The service writer gave a somewhat funny look at the rims and asked "what do they go on"? I told him "a 1967 MGB replica kit". He rolled his eyes and shrugged his shoulders then put something in his computer and said "they should be ready in a few minutes".

I haven't had to change the rear POS tire yet.

[papanorm]

Interesting! My local store not only sells them to me, they order them and mount them for me… Of course I take in the rims to save the labor. They cannot however, balance the rear one. It doesn't fit on their machine.

thehawk

I live in Round Rock as well and I'm curious where you bring your tires? Thanks!

[WilderThomas]

Do you remember this TV program intro?. 'The Outer Limits' controlled 1 hour. The US government controls the other 23....

I remember, but my stepson calls me a dinosaur anyway. I'd like to ask, how one obtains the map, with the places visited for their posts?

[UtahPete]

With the Kenda's it's not so much a problem with weak sidewalls (though that is true). It's more a problem with a very weak tread area. The tread cords are not strong enough to hold the tread area of the tire flat. So it balloons out with centrifugal force and wears out in the middle. Also, at speed, you're only getting maybe 3" of tread contact with the road surface. Not great for traction but should help with fuel mileage.

That would explain why I'm getting fantastic gas mileage on my 2014RT, but starting to noticeably wear the center tread of the rear tire at only 8k. I'll lower the pressure and see how it does for the rest of its life.

[jcthorne]

Not Hardly. There are hundreds of Goldwings if not thousands running car tires on the rear and have been for years and thousands of miles with no reported incidents.

Lots of reported incidents. Flat profile car tires on a leaning bike are a recipe for very poor cornering ability and a bike that will get all kinds of squirrely when the tire rides up on its edge. We have had 2 such incidents in our riding club alone causing not insignificant incidents.

[Bob Denman]

I've always wondered just how well an automotive tire will seat on a "True" motorcycle tire?
After all: the differences in the rims are pretty obvious!

[jcthorne]

I've always wondered just how well an automotive tire will seat on a "True" motorcycle tire?
After all: the differences in the rims are pretty obvious!

They can be installed and will hold air. The bead does not seat well at all.

[classicvw]

Late to this discussion I know. But back about 3 or 4 years I was interested in getting whitewall M/C tires for my BMW bagger. I knew Dunlop made them and there was a joint Harley/BMW motorcycle dealer near me so I inquired there. Now, the H-D baggers and my BMW were the same weight and had the same specs for tires. There was a WW listed for the front of my bike, but not for the rear.

The parts manager at the dealership looked it up in a thick tire bible he had on the counter and shook his head and said he would neither install the tire on the rear nor would he sell one to me to have installed somewhere else. Even though the bikes were equals, and the tire specs were the same, those Dunlops were listed in his tire book as OK for Harley and no mention of a BMW rear application.

So I guess they're not allowed to use deductive reasoning, if it's not listed in their book as a suitable tire for that model bike, they say no go.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

That would explain why I'm getting fantastic gas mileage on my 2014RT, but starting to noticeably wear the center tread of the rear tire at only 8k. I'll lower the pressure and see how it does for the rest of its life.

Pete sorry but I haven't memorized what tires you now have .... nor pretty much anyone else's .... I believe you have the Kenda rear tire but that is a guess ...and I hate guessing .... However if it is ...NOTHING will correct the poor construction .... folks here have tried every psi possible with the same result ...It just wears in the center first ...... The only possible way to lessen this , is to never drive more than 30 mph ( maybe that's even to high ) ..... Please EVERYONE be specific about what you are discussing , it will save a lot of time and wrong answers .....jmho ... Mike

[Peteoz]

Let me clarify my post. I didn't argue with anyone over their choice of tires. I was saying, based on some forum arguments I read, The Dark Siders are very sensitive about any negative reference to their tires. I could care less what tire someone chooses to use. I personally choose a tire for high speed, sticking like glue and excellent handling characteristics. I could care less about wear. Having ridden a BMW sport bike and changing expensive tires at 15 hundred miles, (1500) was the norm. Having a Goldwing and getting over 6000 miles was a bonus. I'll see what I get out of my stock Kendas and then will decide what replacements to use. If I can get a season of riding out of my tires, 6000 plus miles, I'm happy. Sorry I even brought up the Dark Siders.

Maddoggie......my apologies....it was not the intention of my post to intimate that you, personally, had argued with anyone. It was just a response to your generalisation that "you" ( being "anyone") shouldn't argue with them as they are very passionate about their car tyres . I agree completely, and was trying to convey that most of the arguments used against darksiding are unproven, so arguing with them was of little use. It's so hard to convey facial expressions in the written language

Pete

[Joerolwing]

Hello,

So for new tires then do you take the rim off yourself and take it in or bring the whole bike in. I figure when you pull in with a spyder wont they see it and not put it on anyways?

Jim

yes, you have to take it off yourself in most cases. It is straightforward enough, but not easy. You also need a 36mm wrench and socket, a torque wrench capable of 150 pounds, and a 15 mm socket with a long power handle. I just did my first, and after a 3,324 3week trip on a car tire, would definitely do it again. With the OE Kenda, it was a struggle to keep the Spyder from wanting to make tighter turns than was necessary. The Michelin I installed tracks the corner exactly as needed.

[Bob Denman]

They can be installed and will hold air. The bead does not seat well at all.

Would YOU ride a "Dark-sided" Touring bike?

[Poseidon]

This is all you need...



Or this...



and some of these...

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

(was disappointed that the 2016 F3-T was only 7500, maybe the ECU remap will help)

The 1330 is designed to turn slower than the 990. That's why the redline difference.

[Bob Denman]

Why spin them any faster than you need to?

2014-Spyder-RT-dyno-chart.jpg

[Easy Rider]

The 1330 is designed to turn slower than the 990. That's why the redline difference.

Kind of but not really.

The additional rotating mass of three cylinders is probably the determining factor in the lower max. RPM limit.

The additional HP/torque allows higher gearing and lower engine speeds at a given speed.....but the engine itself is not "designed to turn slower".