A Tire or a Tired Topic

[ChicagoSpyder]

Well if there is anything I have learned since joining the forum last year is nothing gets traction on these pages like a tire topic....

Anyhoo, after much reading here and 4,000 miles on the Kenda's I've decided to go with Vredestein Quatrac 5 in 165/60R15 up front, and the Kumho Ecsta AST in 225/50R15 out back, my only questions are is how does the extra .7" height and .3" of sidewall of the Q5 effect the handling of the machine?
And how is the ride quality and traction of both the Vredestein and Kumho compare to the Kenda?

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Well if there is anything I have learned since joining the forum last year is nothing gets traction on these pages like a tire topic....

Anyhoo, after much reading here and 4,000 miles on the Kenda's I've decided to go with Vredestein Quatrac 5 in 165/60R15 up front, and the Kumho Ecsta AST in 225/50R15 out back, my only questions are is how does the extra .7" height and .3" of sidewall of the Q5 effect the handling of the machine?
And how is the ride quality and traction of both the Vredestein and Kumho compare to the Kenda?

answer - It won't, ..... and I have a suggestion - if you haven't bought the Kumho spend a couple bucks more and buy a General Altimax 43 in 215/60-15 size .... it will have much better WET & dry road traction than the Kumho ..... I have many, many posts here from members who say " the tire got slippery at around 15,000 mi...... ( not a good sign, because that's about it's Half -life ) .... The Vredestein Q-5 is even better than the RT43 but it's a bit more expensive .... Q-5 in 2015/60 or 2015/65 -15 will work fine ..... as far as ride quality & traction I use 17 psi front and 18 psi rear for any AUTO tire .... the tire is actually an important part of your SUSPENSION system , Auto tires work best at the psi's I mentioned ..... good luck .... Maybe Peter Aawen will chime in ....Mike

[trikermutha]

The Kuhmo was a good tire but as mentioned it does seem to get slippy towards the end of it life spam. Over all it a good tire. I went with a Kanine on the rear this time. Will see how that pans out. I have no experience with the V tires.

[ChicagoSpyder]

answer - It won't, ..... and I have a suggestion - if you haven't bought the Kumho spend a couple bucks more and buy a General Altimax 43 in 215/60-15 size .... it will have much better WET & dry road traction than the Kumho ..... I have many, many posts here from members who say " the tire got slippery at around 15,000 mi...... ( not a good sign, because that's about it's Half -life ) .... The Vredestein Q-5 is even better than the RT43 but it's a bit more expensive .... Q-5 in 2015/60 or 2015/65 -15 will work fine ..... as far as ride quality & traction I use 17 psi front and 18 psi rear for any AUTO tire .... the tire is actually an important part of your SUSPENSION system , Auto tires work best at the psi's I mentioned ..... good luck .... Maybe Peter Aawen will chime in ....Mike

I chose the Kumho because it was the OEM size, but I like idea of the the maching Vredesteins all the way around. I'm beginning to think BRP chose the queer OEM size just so they can dominate the tire replacement market for Spyders.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

I chose the Kumho because it was the OEM size, but I like idea of the the maching Vredesteins all the way around. I'm beginning to think BRP chose the queer OEM size just so they can dominate the tire replacement market for Spyders.

Something I forgot to mention was with a 215/ 60 or the 205/65 the speedo & odo will be more accurate than the 225/50 size ..... as far as matching goes .... the truth is Tires MUST match on the same axel, but front to rear isn't an issue ..... good luck .... Mike

[bikerbillone]

It will be a while before I'm ready, but I'm keeping up the the Kanine, the price is right. When I'm ready my concern is the install, guess I'm stuck with the dealer, too 'senior' to be pulling wheels.

[troop]

I can't answer about handling with front tires alone, as I went the the Q5's front (165/60R15), Cooper CS5 Ultra 215/60R15 rear, upgrade swaybar and laser alignment all at the same time. Obviously the handling improved greatly, but ride quality was also a huge improvement. I think you'll be happy. On a side note, the 215/60R15 tire made the speedo just about dead nuts equal to my Garmin GPS