Are Car Tires Too Stiff?

[bhfromme]

Hey sorry if this is redundant but I'm looking at a rear tire for my 08 GS.

Kumho Ecsta AST KU25 All-Season Tire - 225/50R15 91H

The sizes are right but does anyone know how a tire rated for 1350 lbs will perform on a 700 lb Spyder? Dealer is saying car tires are too stiff for a Spyder and won't hold the road as well as a tire designed specifically for a Spyder. But it's only $83 on Amazon so it seems to be my first choice.

Second choice is the Vee Rubber VTR-350 Arachnid Tire from BikeBandit. These guys claim this tire is designed for Spyders but I've read here people liking Kumho. I'm leaning toward the Kumho. Any advice will be appreciated.

[Lew L]

I have ( as do many,many others ) an automotive tire on my RT. Get the pressure right and a car tire in SOOOO much better than the POS that CanAm put on the .

Good luck and dont buy that Aricnid tire------ it is no better than the stock tire.

Lew L

[Warlock]

Hey sorry if this is redundant but I'm looking at a rear tire for my 08 GS.

Kumho Ecsta AST KU25 All-Season Tire - 225/50R15 91H

The sizes are right but does anyone know how a tire rated for 1350 lbs will perform on a 700 lb Spyder? Dealer is saying car tires are too stiff for a Spyder and won't hold the road as well as a tire designed specifically for a Spyder. But it's only $83 on Amazon so it seems to be my first choice.

Second choice is the Vee Rubber VTR-350 Arachnid Tire from BikeBandit. These guys claim this tire is designed for Spyders but I've read here people liking Kumho. I'm leaning toward the Kumho. Any advice will be appreciated.

I have run several different car tires on Spyders. To date the best one to me is the Yokohama S drive 205/55/15. Just a tad narrower but at the same height. Several runs the General Ultimate 215/60/15 which is a good tire also. The tire you have in mind is also a very good tire and I think you would be well pleased with it.
David

[canamjhb]

CanAm dealers/sales people are not tire experts. Neither am I. Having said that, adjust the tire pressure to correctly accommodate the load you are exposing it to and it is not too stiff.

[JS3535]

Hey sorry if this is redundant but I'm looking at a rear tire for my 08 GS.

Kumho Ecsta AST KU25 All-Season Tire - 225/50R15 91H

The sizes are right but does anyone know how a tire rated for 1350 lbs will perform on a 700 lb Spyder? Dealer is saying car tires are too stiff for a Spyder and won't hold the road as well as a tire designed specifically for a Spyder. But it's only $83 on Amazon so it seems to be my first choice.

Second choice is the Vee Rubber VTR-350 Arachnid Tire from BikeBandit. These guys claim this tire is designed for Spyders but I've read here people liking Kumho. I'm leaning toward the Kumho. Any advice will be appreciated.

Just installed the Kumho on the rear of my F3S & I toatlly regret it. Total loss of traction even at 15 psi & it does seem to ride a bit stiffer. I will be going back to the kenda on the rear as soon as I smoke this one off. I would rather have to change out the tire every year than have no traction and a crappier ride. I know everyone think they are smarter than the engineers that designed the bike or that BRP has a conspiracy theory on that size tire, but my belief now is that they choose that tire for a reason. With all that being said, I did just change my fronts to federal Formosa’s and I love those things...go figure

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Just installed the Kumho on the rear of my F3S & I toatlly regret it. Total loss of traction even at 15 psi & it does seem to ride a bit stiffer. I will be going back to the kenda on the rear as soon as I smoke this one off. I would rather have to change out the tire every year than have no traction and a crappier ride. I know everyone think they are smarter than the engineers that designed the bike or that BRP has a conspiracy theory on that size tire, but my belief now is that they choose that tire for a reason. With all that being said, I did just change my fronts to federal Formosa’s and I love those things...go figure

All car tires are not the same ..... but they are all better constructed than the Kenda or it's clone the Arachnid..... I wouldn't give up on the rear tire thing ....consider the General AltimaxRT43 or Michelin Defender " T & H " model or if you have the money the Michelin Premier....... my first rear car tire (in 09 )was the Kumho and I wasn't impressed with the traction either, but then the Altimax was twice the tire that the Kumho was...... good luck ..... Mike

[SPYD3R]

i had 2 KUMHO's on the back of my RS, and 1 on my F3, and i never had any problems....
yes, the 'car' tires are a bit stiffer, but you'll also triple the mileage you get from them....
Dan P
SPYD3R

[ThreeWheels]

Hey sorry if this is redundant but I'm looking at a rear tire for my 08 GS.

Kumho Ecsta AST KU25 All-Season Tire - 225/50R15 91H

The Kumho is an excellent tire for the rear. I have one on my Spyder RT. In fact, I had it moved from my 2010 Spyder and put on my 2014 Spyder.
It has about 22,000 miles on it. Still looks good.

Never be sorry about asking a question.
There is no such thing as a stupid question. There are only stupid answers.

Having said that, I see you've been a site member since 2011.
Redundant question about tires ?
That's like going on a Hershey's forum and asking if they know anything about chocolate......................

[Bob Denman]

Because it's got stiffer sidewalls: you can run lower pressures.
They ride comfortably, last MUCH longer, and (I think) give better traction.

[Dennis in Lodi]

God I love a good tire thread to pass time until my riding season starts up north here.

https://monsterfuelinjection.com/spyder/

The second video in this dash shot sound clip was shot with the Pirelli P4 rear tire. Pay close attention to the hole shot as this tire delivers enough traction to float the front end through most of the 1st gear hole shot. You'll see the front tires are off the ground on an RT as the gauges float left and right.

With the stock Kenda there was zero grip and the tire would free spin with little forward movement. Kind of as sideways, barley moving the bike forward on an RT. The Kenda gave the Nanny fits because of the ratio of spin difference between the front and rear. Simply put, the attached video could not have been shot with a stock Kenda!

As for the never ending problem with getting a tire balanced, I found this to be the most cost effective solution. Absolutely precise balancing every time. Put in balancing beads just before you mount the tire. I have used these beads for years with zero issues.

https://www.ebay.com/i/292069946009?chn=ps

Dennis

[billybovine]

I had a Kuhmo on my ST for about 10,000 miles until I could not stand it any more. The traction on cold grey pavement was bad, but wet pavement was often a butt clenching experience. Tried air pressure as low as 20 psi trying to get get some traction. But at that level it did not feel right setting into a curve. Next tire was a Yokohama S Drive. It was much better. I would consider it again.

[Easy Rider]

Opinions are like.......well, you know.

I like the tread pattern on that tire.

If you put one on, please let us know if you can be counted in the "love" or "hate" camp.

For those of us who don't do much or any "spirited" riding and who stop when it rains much.......I don't think that a slight difference in traction would be much of a factor.

[Bob Denman]

True... The differences in available traction only affect the aggressive top 10% of riders.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

True... The differences in available traction only affect the aggressive top 10% of riders.

..... However 100 % of Spyder riders must Stop . It's like the trailer pulling thing .... pulling is not the issue Stopping is ........ Mike

[asp125]

On a related note, what do you all think of putting sticky race rubber on? I see the Kumho Ecsta AST has a UTQG of 400 but there are some like the Toyo Proxes RA1 with a UTQG of 100 and even the Yoko Advan A048 with UTQG of 60!

Would a 700lb Spyder and only 100Hp wear out those softer tires before 6000 miles? I think they'd stick like glue

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireS...earDiameter=17

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

On a related note, what do you all think of putting sticky race rubber on? I see the Kumho Ecsta AST has a UTQG of 400 but there are some like the Toyo Proxes RA1 with a UTQG of 100 and even the Yoko Advan A048 with UTQG of 60!

Would a 700lb Spyder and only 100Hp wear out those softer tires before 6000 miles? I think they'd stick like glue

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireS...earDiameter=17

Using tires that have little or NO traction on wet pavement is not something I would do. If you try them, up your Life insurance first ............Mike

[Road-Kill]

Yes they are too stiff and why you will never see any citations from anyone proving they are soft enough for a lighter weight vehicle.
Making matter worse......the Spyder only has 3 vs the 4 tires of a car making traction even worse.
Choose wisely and choose before you slide into that telephone pole.

Hey sorry if this is redundant but I'm looking at a rear tire for my 08 GS.

Kumho Ecsta AST KU25 All-Season Tire - 225/50R15 91H

The sizes are right but does anyone know how a tire rated for 1350 lbs will perform on a 700 lb Spyder? Dealer is saying car tires are too stiff for a Spyder and won't hold the road as well as a tire designed specifically for a Spyder. But it's only $83 on Amazon so it seems to be my first choice.

Second choice is the Vee Rubber VTR-350 Arachnid Tire from BikeBandit. These guys claim this tire is designed for Spyders but I've read here people liking Kumho. I'm leaning toward the Kumho. Any advice will be appreciated.

[bhfromme]

Well it's too cold to ride so we might as well talk about tires I guess. Of all the 15" car tires out there I see 225/60 and 215/60 but can't find any that are 225/50 15. So unless we change tire size we seem to be limited to the Kenda, Kumho or the Arachnid.

So I did some quick math and here are the size differences:

225 50 15
8.858" wide, 4.429" high
225 60 15
8.858" wide, 5.318" high
215 60 15
8.465" wide, 5.079" high

225/60 has the width I want but is almost an entire inch taller than the stock size. Then if we drop half an inch in width the 215/60 is still more than half an inch taller than the stock 225/50. Still with me?

I don't really want to sacrifice the width just to get a "car" tire so here's the million dollar question. Will the extra height of the 225/60 cause problems with the onboard computer?

[Bob Denman]

The 215/60 tire actually corrects the speedometer error...

[Mad Mac]

I run the Yokohoma S-drive 205/55/15 on our RT. I ride 90% of the time, 2-up and 30% of that, with a 350lb.(loaded) trailer at 24PSI. In my travels I have not experienced any loss of traction, even in my "Oh crap" moments the rear tire has held and never locked-up and put me into a skid situation. I have about 10,000 miles on that tire at the present time and have about 6/32's left from 10/32's from new. I guess if you're hard on the fun grip and rail hard out of corners, then you might experience some loss of traction, but I have not experienced any under "normal" riding and am really satisfied with the performance of a car tire on the rear of my Spyder. Good luck! Mac

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Yes they are too stiff and why you will never see any citations from anyone proving they are soft enough for a lighter weight vehicle.
Making matter worse......the Spyder only has 3 vs the 4 tires of a car making traction even worse.
Choose wisely and choose before you slide into that telephone pole.

Too funny ...... if you believe this then you might also think if you need an operation ask your Dentist to do it , after all He's a Doctor and will charge way less ................ Sorry Road Kill, but I feel obligated to correct tire Hooey whenever I see it ........ ............Mike

[PistonBlown]

I get my tyres done by a local tyre guy that a number of the local Spyder riders go to.

When I first went there he asked me about my riding style, did I ride in the rain, how bothered I was about wear, what I didn't like about the way the Kenda performed etc. By the way, he had a very low opinion of the Kenda's fitted on rear of RS's.

After this chat he recommended a couple of tires but said one in particular matched my requirements (Toyo Proxie T1R). After having it a fitted I found he was right, they were perfect for me and stuck with them since.

Same thing happened when I replaced my fronts. According to him this is where the tire walls and weight rating is important because theres very little weight on the front of a Spyder in comparison to a car and you do need a bit of wall flex. Again I followed his advice (Kingstars) and have been very happy with them.

So my advice is chat with your tyre guy about what your after, your concerns etc. because they are the experts even if this is the first time they have done a Spyder.

[Road-Kill]

Too funny ...... if you believe this then you might also think if you need an operation ask your Dentist to do it , after all He's a Doctor and will charge way less ................ Sorry Road Kill, but I feel obligated to correct tire Hooey whenever I see it ........ ............Mike

I cant even respond to this because it makes no sense. Do drugs much?

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

I get my tyres done by a local tyre guy that a number of the local Spyder riders go to.

When I first went there he asked me about my riding style, did I ride in the rain, how bothered I was about wear, what I didn't like about the way the Kenda performed etc. By the way, he had a very low opinion of the Kenda's fitted on rear of RS's.

After this chat he recommended a couple of tires but said one in particular matched my requirements (Toyo Proxie T1R). After having it a fitted I found he was right, they were perfect for me and stuck with them since.

Same thing happened when I replaced my fronts. According to him this is where the tire walls and weight rating is important because theres very little weight on the front of a Spyder in comparison to a car and you do need a bit of wall flex. Again I followed his advice (Kingstars) and have been very happy with them.

So my advice is chat with your tyre guy about what your after, your concerns etc. because they are the experts even if this is the first time they have done a Spyder.

.... and that the " T1r " is the stickiest tire I have ever used ( and have said so many times here ) ..... But as to the tyre Guy's expertise, just because He sells them, doesn't give Him Expert status ..... and His opinion after working with His FIRST Spyder is even more suspect........ Here's an Absolute Fact ..... tire flex has more to do with tire PSI ....than wall strength ........ and If you think this might be Hooey PM Peter Aawen .....Now, He REALLY is an Expert ....... Mike

[Peteoz]

I cant even respond to this because it makes no sense. Do drugs much?

Gee Roadkill, you say that if someone puts these car tyres on, they will slide into a telegraph pole, and then you reckon BLUEKNIGHT is on drugs ???

Pete