Tire pressue

[BigD]

I recall seeing some threads that highly recommend running the front tires at 16 and the rear tire at 18. The manual calls for 20 in front, 28 in the rear.

I have basically new 2018 RT Limited bikes. Wife likes to have her own.

I have installed comfort seat heated, the backrest that goes with that, and Bajaron swaybars. I am still looking for a bit more stability out of it, and have the stock tires on it (Kenda I believe is the brand). Little less than 400 miles on each one at this point. From reading threads on this site, there are some much better tire alternatives when replacement time comes.

[Peter Aawen]

I recall seeing some threads that highly recommend running the front tires at 16 and the rear tire at 18. The manual calls for 20 in front, 28 in the rear.....
.

Those differing pressures are recommended ONLY if you are running 'real' tires, but NOT RECOMMENDED if you are still running the OE Spec Kendas! If you are still on the Kendas, then you should stick to the recommendation in the manual - varying from those pressures in the Kendas really isn't going to do much to improve things anyway!

[BigD]

Thanks, that clears up my confusion. Does the handling improve enough with a tire swap to bag the OEM tires and put on new ones? If so, what is the consensus of the best solution for better handling?

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Those differing pressures are recommended ONLY if you are running 'real' tires, but NOT RECOMMENDED if you are still running the OE Spec Kendas! If you are still on the Kendas, then you should stick to the recommendation in the manual - varying from those pressures in the Kendas really isn't going to do much to improve things anyway!

…..200% ….. The Kenda's ( more so the front if properly Aligned ie. Lazer ) won't hurt you, but they are a very weakly made product …. and they have the highest failure and defect rate of any tire I have ever heard of.... the rear wears much, much faster than the fronts ….. so when they wear out get Auto tires if you can get them mounted …..good luck …. Mike

[Peter Aawen]

Thanks, that clears up my confusion. Does the handling improve enough with a tire swap to bag the OEM tires and put on new ones? If so, what is the consensus of the best solution for better handling?

If you are lucky enough to get a good set of Kendas AND have a good wheel alignment done early in the piece, then the Kendas can be sorta orright if you don't know or haven't experienced better; especially up front, where the Spyder/Ryker's light loadings mean that just about anything black & rubbery that keeps the metal off the ground that's been aligned properly will return reasonable milage, & maybe even behave pretty well some if not most of the time! But, and this is the BIG issue here, the Kendas are, certainly IMO & that of quite a few others, basically a crappy tire made with little regard for quality or consistency!! I've found the Kendas 'good vs rat-sh!*' rate to be about one out of every thirty that I've looked at &/or cut apart to see why they were so bad!! I guess I might just be seeing the tires people have concerns about, but hey, the factory should have SOME degree of reasonable quality control and IMO such a significant number of crappy tires should NEVER EVEN LEAVE THE FACTORY! But they do, I guess they just pump out whatever rubbish buyers are prepared to accept, & it seems BRP will happily fit them to the Spyders & Rykers they are selling to us and then tell us we are imagining things, even when they make the machine behave like a half-full sack of potatoes riding a demented roller-skate on crack!!

So, I'd suggest that if you have ANY concerns about how your Spyder/Ryker is handling, then Firstly, get a good wheel alignment done & the front end in particular checked over carefully by a reputable & KNOWN to be GOOD Aligner - they are out there, Squared Away are one of the better Aligners, but there are others! That done, if you still have any concerns about ride & handling, or even just the dartiness of the beast on straight roads or in cross winds, then I'd suggest you TOSS THE KENDAs even if they are virtually brand new and fit a reputable brand quality car tire & run them at the (usually) lower pressures suitable for the load the Spyder imposes on them (see those earlier recommendations) - they'll very likely be somewhat cheaper than the Kendas, even if you hafta pay someone else to fit them to your machine; they'll almost always last a fair bit longer than the Kendas; and they'll almost certainly significantly improve the ride & handling of your Spyder/Ryker, not only but especially if you like to push on a bit!

Then you can look at doing those other things like fitting a better (BajaRon) Sway bar, changing out the shocks, etc, IF you feel the need. Many don't, but there are very few who don't immediately appreciate the improvement fitting quality tires makes to these machines! The most common reaction is "why the heck didn't I do this sooner?!" Try it, I'm pretty sure you'll like it!

[starrider60]

I re[laced the stock rear with the General Altimax and realized a tremendous difference. Have 23,000 miles on the front and will replace them with Federal Formosa soon

[bobbarb4546]

Just recently replaced the Kenda tires on my 2016 RT with the Vredstein Quatrac 5 tires with air pressures of 16 psi front and back. Huge difference in the comfort of our ride and we feel safer with these car tires as they are 4 ply and steel belted. We are headed to the Smokies soon to ride the mountain roads and in our minds we feel safer with this upgrade of tires which is the only safety item on any motor vehicle that touches the road. So to us we feel the need for the upgrade. We only had a little over 4000 miles on our Spyder when we made the change and we are very happy with the results of the performance of our ride. As far as your Kenda tires follow the psi recommendations of your manual. This forum has many super contributors who have a wealth of information to share with you to make your ride more comfortable and safer. You can also find information about your spyder on line in You Tube. Good info on tires! Good luck with your Spyders and doing your homework about the upgrade tires available will be well worth your time especially the recommendations of the Super Spyder Lover's of this forum!

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Just recently replaced the Kenda tires on my 2016 RT with the Vredstein Quatrac 5 tires with air pressures of 16 psi front and back. Huge difference in the comfort of our ride and we feel safer with these car tires as they are 4 ply and steel belted. We are headed to the Smokies soon to ride the mountain roads and in our minds we feel safer with this upgrade of tires which is the only safety item on any motor vehicle that touches the road. So to us we feel the need for the upgrade. We only had a little over 4000 miles on our Spyder when we made the change and we are very happy with the results of the performance of our ride. As far as your Kenda tires follow the psi recommendations of your manual. This forum has many super contributors who have a wealth of information to share with you to make your ride more comfortable and safer. You can also find information about your spyder on line in You Tube. Good info on tires! Good luck with your Spyders and doing your homework about the upgrade tires available will be well worth your time especially the recommendations of the Super Spyder Lover's of this forum!

Your quite welcome ……. ....ride safe , ride happy …. Mike