Vredestein 175/55R15 Fit.

[h0gr1der]

I had the bike up on the jack and stands installing the new front fender progressive turn signals. I remember a lot of discussion about the fit of the Vredestein 175/55R15 tire in the front fender as to clearance. So I looked and to my surprise I saw this;

Note this is at the rear of the left fender and there is absolutely no damage to the tire. As shown there is about 1/2" clearance from the part and the tire, and the wear on the plastic is on the left front only. My only explanation is that I have twice had the Spyder on 2 wheels while turning to the right. Don't do that!

[Navydad]

How far do the fenders flex on a rough patch of road? Not a lot of rubbing going on there and that makes me wonder if there is enough flex in the fenders/mounts to let them touch the tire when the going gets rough.

[h0gr1der]

How far do the fenders flex on a rough patch of road? Not a lot of rubbing going on there and that makes me wonder if there is enough flex in the fenders/mounts to let them touch the tire when the going gets rough.

I know that there is absolutely no damage to the tire. The fenders are a little flexible, but I honestly think that the wear on the fender came from my "Testing the Envelope" and maybe running low air pressure while trying to determine what was correct.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

I know that there is absolutely no damage to the tire. The fenders are a little flexible, but I honestly think that the wear on the fender came from my "Testing the Envelope" and maybe running low air pressure while trying to determine what was correct.

I hit a low curb at about 20 mph and both front fenders slapped the top of the both tires ..... ( and my mirror magnets didn't fail )either ) ..... I bought the Q-5 tires but mine are 165/60-15 ..... I'll let you know if that size has an issue ..... Mike

[Lew L]

I also use the Q-5 tire in the 165 size with no issues. At 17PSI it's a good ryde. These tires do have a stiffer side wall and react faster than the stock crapenda donuts.
Lew L

[Peter Aawen]

I know that there is absolutely no damage to the tire. The fenders are a little flexible, but I honestly think that the wear on the fender came from my "Testing the Envelope" and maybe running low air pressure while trying to determine what was correct.

Oddly enough, it's often running HIGHER tire pressures that makes tires &/or sidewalls rub on fenders etc a bit higher up in the wheel well.

Not only will higher pressures (marginally) maximise the size of your tire (just like blowing a balloon up - more air = bigger balloon! ) but when you're running lower pressures, the tread sticks to the road at the contact patch and as you drive & turn the sidewalls tend to flex and twist/deform most very near where the contact patch leaves the ground, rather than extending that twist/deformation up into the wheel well where it could rub on the fenders. Increase the tire pressure and that deformation tends to take in more of the tire carcass (because there's actually less flex in the sidewalls to absorb the torque!) so that as the tread lifts off the ground while you turn, the more rigid carcass skews a little and that twist extends further up the tire/wheel into the wheel well and fender area, where it can rub!!

Just look at some pics/vids of drag car tires (generally run at quite low pressures to enable the greatest traction!) torquing up & growing taller as the revs increase, but for the first few moments you should be able to see how the whole tire carcass 'bags' and grows fatter in front of the contact patch (well clear of the fenders & wheel well) then once the tread leaves the ground after the contact patch, those ripples very rapidly decrease as the sidewalls throw out & the rolling circumference of the tire grows markedly - all the 'fat' bits, twist, and flex etc occurs pretty low down near the contact patch and usually well clear of the fenders & wheel well! It's generally only when you start increasing your tire pressures that the increased rigidity in the 'balloon' that is the tire's carcass will allow that twist/deformation to extend far enough up from the contact patch for anything to touch the fender or wheel well!!

All that said, when I first fitted 175/60R15's to the front of my RT, I noticed that the heads of the hex head screws holding the fender together & in my case, protruding further into the wheel well than anything else, would just touch the tire during hard cornering. I swapped out those hex head screws that had heads protruding about 10mm for pan head screws that only protruded about 3mm & dropped my tire pressures another 2 psi (down to 14/16psi) - problem solvered!

[ChevyBuickDealer]

Thanks for the post! I just ordered a set of these Vredestein 175/55R15's today. I will take a look when I mount them.

[h0gr1der]

Thanks for the post! I just ordered a set of these Vredestein 175/55R15's today. I will take a look when I mount them.

I still have no problem running them, the slight rubbing on the plastic didn't even make a mark on the tire. I believe that the rubbing which happened on the left side only was from some very extreme antics while I was trying the bike out, which caused the tire to flex as wall as the fender.