replace or not to replace, that is the question

[BigD]

From what I can glean from this wonderful forum, the OEM tires on Spyders leave a lot to be desired. I only found evidence of one rider who liked them. I am of the opinion they are the major cause of the bike "tracking" way too much of our refined and smooth road surfaces here in central CA. Could be I am all wet, but am leaning toward replacing the tires on the first service. I also found a place that will laser align the front end, which can't hurt anything.

We have a pair of 2018 Spyder RT Limited machines. Each has about 500 miles on it now, having done a few short trips getting the feel for the machine.

I can't find the exact size, but did find 165-60x15 in the popular vredistein quadratrac 5. Is that size OK, or can someone point me to the OEM size? No matching rear tire, but other brands in OEM original size. Recommendations?

So in a perfect world, would you ditch the original tires in favor of the auto tires? Which brand/size for front and back?

Also leaning toward M2 or Elka shock replacements front and rear since half the unit will be apart for tires. Any feedback on that? I already installed Bajaron swaybars and comfort seats on both units, but believe the tires, alignment and suspension change will greatly help the "dartiness" of the units tracking some poorly maintained roads we travel. The rare smooth, flat, contoured properly road is an endangered species in my area.

Thanks in advance for any advice and insight. Loving the machines so far, just trying to get them smoothed out a bit. Not much has changed in 40 years, I had goldwings, and everything had to be switched out and added on those brand new as well.

[h0gr1der]

My admittedly short experience with my 2018 RTL. If I had it to do over again, and found the bike wandering or darting, I would do this, in this order.

1. Laser Alignment by a competent person. Dealers are often listed, but some are not competent because they don't do many. I went all the way to Hot Springs Arkansas to visit Spyderpops to get this done. THe Spyders are often delivered with too little toe in, which makes the steering vague and tend to dart.
2. Baja Ron swaybar. This keeps the bike from wallowing when 2 up or heavily laden, without sacrificing ride quality. The stiffer swaybar also helps with the wandering by making the front end slightly less susceptible to the inputs (ruts) from the rear.
3. Auto tires. I'm running Vredestein 175/55R15 fronts (Tire Rack) and a Vredestein 205/60R15 rear (Vulcan Tire). It's harder to get the rear size, and Vulcan ships singles out 1 month after ordering.

The reason I say do it in that order is that you may find you can run the Kendas until they wear out by correcting the other items.

Just my $.02

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

…. I have been recommending the " Quatrac 5 " since I discovered it about 5 mo. ago …… except for one member here ( and I don't think His complaint that it didn't fit was valid - everyone ell's fit ??? ) All the others ( 30 + ) are loving it...… The Kenda's are weakly made, with a terrible track record for Defective tires …. if yours are at least ROUND - I would use them until they are worn out …. then switch to the Vredestein's, but get them before you plan to put them on. They can be difficult to get in a hurry …… Mike

[2dogs]

All the above is excellent advice. Rolo Laser alignment was my 1st choice. Don't know where you are in central Calif. but I believe from a search on this site there may be a dealer in Lodi that does Rolo Laser alignment. If not, Squared Away in Vegas is a good bet. Baja Ron's sway bar was my 2nd choice and a very good one also, and I love it! 3rd, I experimented with Mr. Gasket's rubber donut spring spacers on my front shocks and I've never taken them out since I installed them. 4th, I ran my OEM tires out and replaced the with Federal Formoza 165/R55 75V on the front, and General Altimax RT43 215/60R 15 on the rear. That size rear tire brought my speedometer to within one mph of my GPS, otherwise the OEM rear tire was about 3/4 mph off. My spyder now is very stable in the turns and in the draft of big rigs on the freeways. It flies solid and straight wherever I point it. By the way, PSI is 17 on the fronts and 20 on the rear. Good luck in what ever you choose.

[BigD]

Thanks for the info. Sadly the dealer in Lodi is long gone and the web site is several years behind in an update. I will investigate other options in the general area and get the alignment soon.

[h0gr1der]

Thanks for the info. Sadly the dealer in Lodi is long gone and the web site is several years behind in an update. I will investigate other options in the general area and get the alignment soon.

The one problem I have with choosing a Can Am dealer doing the alignment is due to the other issue almost everyone has with belt tension. It's been known since 2015 that excessive tension causes vibration, yet the dealers are "Stuck on Stupid" and always seem to set the belt tension at ± 1050 Newtons (for the RTL). This is too much, and causes the vibration.

Fast forward to the alignment. The OEM specs for toe in are 0° ± 0.2°. So they slap it on the ROLO alignment and it's toed out 0.2°, and their super tech comes out and says "it's in spec" and charges you too much. You leave and your bike still wanders all over the place. The ROLO alignment system uses inches of measurement at 72" (I think I remember correctly), and my Spyder had 3/8" from the factory, and Spyderpops increased the toe in to something like.75" to 1" or so based on my weight and riding style. The bike tracks much truer with the additional toe in and sway bar.

Long story short, find someone who knows how to use the ROLO tools. I rode almost 400 miles to do that.

[Fat Baxter]

I'd replace all the tires now -- don't wait for them to wear out. The handling will improve immediately, your confidence will go up, thus your learning curve will be shorter. Why wait 10,000 miles or so experiencing a crappy ride?

[starrider60]

I was greatly surprised at the improved handling and ride with the General Altimax. GPS shows a 1 mph difference. Plan to put Federal Formosas on the front. My 2017 RTS now has 24,000+ miles. This machine is adding years to my riding life.

[ARtraveler]

A little different take here. If you are experiencing a bad ride from the tires...I would replace them and be done with it.

If all is well at this point I would run the OEM's until they are done. And yes, this is coming from a person that had no issues with the Kenda's. I always got around 20K on them.

I am thinking about $800 for two sets plus installation.

[bobbarb4546]

THERE IS NO QUESTION!!! REPLACE, REPLACE, REPLACE. OEM TIRES ARE CRAPOLLA AS STATED BY THE MANY EXPERT CONTRIBUTORS OF THIS FORUM.

We (Wife & I) did not purchase our 2016 RT limited until after over 2 years of reading this forum and evaluating every expert contributors comments about the new 1330 engine and over all performance of Spyder Cycles. We made the plunge in 2016 and soon after replaced the Sway Bar as it felt weird going around curves and turns like the Spyder was drifting and not holding to the road. The sway bar replacement made a huge difference in the handling of our Spyder but still the ride with the OEM tires was disappointing as even on a smooth road vibrated and you felt every little bump or obstacle on the road. With a little over 4000 miles on our Spyder and based on the recommendations of our great expert contributors of this forum, we purchased the Vredstein car tires both front and rear (psi 16 Front and rear) and we have experienced a night and day difference in the handling and comfort of our ride. All we can say to all the reader's of our Forum is you will love the performance of your Spyder with these upgrades. We again would like to thank the expert contributors to this forum for your recommendations and advice.

ENJOY YOUR RIDE SPYDER LOVERS'

[deer30084]

I vote for not to replace. When I bought my truck, I didn't immediately seek to replace the tires, get a laser alignment, replace the front end sway bar or replace the shocks. But what do I know?

[Mazo EMS2]

We lucked out with our '16 RT. The front tires really seem to be pretty good. No darting, no vibes, track straight, etc......so far so good. The back tire was crap and was replaced at 8500 miles, but I expected that after replacing the rear on our 2010 RT early too. The next money spent will likely be new fronts, just to see if it truly is the magic problem solver that some claim. (Though I really have no obvious problem) ...with the tires anyway....Not sure what brand, nor do I wanna go down that debate road.