My experience so far with Verdestein frt and rear

[teninospyder]

Being very happy with the performance of these tires,
Just thought some would like to know how the wear on these tires is going.
I now have 8654 miles on the 2 fronts, and 8280 on the rear of our 2014 RTL. 35,330 miles total on Spyder.
The original tread depth of these new tires was 10MM at all measured locations.
Readings of the tread depth currently are:
Fronts (both same) 8/9/8 for the 3 main grooves. PSI is 15 and tires are 175/55R15
Rear is 7/6/7 for the 3 main grooves. PSI is 17 and tire is 205/60R15
I have not had any problems in handling, or tires holding pressures, at any time.

As I said.....Just info for those interested.
If you do ride now (And we do, in an isolated fashion and "masked") please do all you can to stay safe for yourself and your loved ones, and avoid the virus issues and...…... the fearless people who "just don't get it !!"

[Lew L]

Thanks T,

I have them on the front and they are great. A stiffer sidewall does seem to lead to a faster and more responsive tire.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Being very happy with the performance of these tires,
Just thought some would like to know how the wear on these tires is going.
I now have 8654 miles on the 2 fronts, and 8280 on the rear of our 2014 RTL. 35,330 miles total on Spyder.
The original tread depth of these new tires was 10MM at all measured locations.
Readings of the tread depth currently are:
Fronts (both same) 8/9/8 for the 3 main grooves. PSI is 15 and tires are 175/55R15
Rear is 7/6/7 for the 3 main grooves. PSI is 17 and tire is 205/60R15
I have not had any problems in handling, or tires holding pressures, at any time.

As I said.....Just info for those interested.
If you do ride now (And we do, in an isolated fashion and "masked") please do all you can to stay safe for yourself and your loved ones, and avoid the virus issues and...…... the fearless people who "just don't get it !!"

Sorry Ray & Marci , but I am going to OUT you ..... The weight of this driver and passenger total over 400 lbs., and this will make a difference .... not a lot but certainly a factor ....... You know I love you Ray ..... Mke

[UtahPete]

Sorry Ray & Marci , but I am going to OUT you ..... The weight of this driver and passenger total over 400 lbs., and this will make a difference .... not a lot but certainly a factor ....... You know I love you Ray ..... Mke

Mike, can you explain a little bit more what 'difference' the passenger weight makes?

[troop]

I'm just guessing it's in regards to total load on the tires, not any direct implications to passenger weight ?

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Mike, can you explain a little bit more what 'difference' the passenger weight makes?

Pete here's an analogy, which would you prefer .... getting hit in the head with a ping pong ball or a golf ball ???? .... load usually effect wear ....... Mike

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

I'm just guessing it's in regards to total load on the tires, not any direct implications to passenger weight ?

The people weight was what I was referring to. The load would be separate. Any amount of weight is going to effect tire wear, this is Physics. .... the less the additional weight - the less the change will be. .... and the amount of mileage ( with the weight ) is also going to determine the wear ...... Mike

[BoilerAnimal]

Being a little more explicit in your meaning could prevent a lot of misunderstanding.

[teninospyder]

Sorry Ray & Marci , but I am going to OUT you ..... The weight of this driver and passenger total over 400 lbs., and this will make a difference .... not a lot but certainly a factor ....... You know I love you Ray ..... Mke

OK for you

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

OK for you

Thanks I knew you'd understand, just don't let Marci read it ................. Mike

[teninospyder]

Thanks I knew you'd understand, just don't let Marci read it ................. Mike

She already did....but it's OK:
She noted I'm the "heavy one" at 210 and SHE is only 180

[Mazo EMS2]

I put the Quatracs on the front this spring too. Only about 500 miles so far, but it is a nice improvement over the Kenda stock tires

[h0gr1der]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nA8ipXtzHrY

My experience (simulated) switching from Kenda to Vredesteins all the way around!

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nA8ipXtzHrY

My experience (simulated) switching from Kenda to Vredesteins all the way around!

Nope that Video was Not simulated !!!! ... I had a friend do stop action with Ultra Extreme close-up, and those tires were Vredestein Quatrac 5's ... it shows how important real life testing is ....... I had not seen that video before I began recommending the Q-5 .....Thanks for posting .......... Mike

[kpmbrthn]

I too recently put the Vredesteins on the front and absolutely love the way they grip the road!! No more wander on straights as they Kenda's used to "slide" into any groove or surface imperfections. Now it rides smooth and true with excellent response in corners!

[teninospyder]

So...………..in an effort to improve front tire wear pattern (currently showing more tread depth in center groove than outer grooves) Yesterday I increased the fronts to 17 PSI - confirmed accurate by my new "digital" air line supply gage
I'll keep it there for a while and see if anything shows differently from my last report.
I did notice one thing in our 100 miles of riding yesterday though. I felt that the handling in corners and on straights, and just plain feeling of overall agility, was better at 17 PSI.
Just IMHO

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

So...………..in an effort to improve front tire wear pattern (currently showing more tread depth in center groove than outer grooves) Yesterday I increased the fronts to 17 PSI - confirmed accurate by my new "digital" air line supply gage
I'll keep it there for a while and see if anything shows differently from my last report.
I did notice one thing in our 100 miles of riding yesterday though. I felt that the handling in corners and on straights, and just plain feeling of overall agility, was better at 17 PSI.
Just IMHO

As I stated many times before .... the tires are part of the suspension system , if they are Over-inflated for the normal load they support, you wil get a Harsher ride ..... I'm 175 and keep my RT at 17 psi, ( I get a better ride at 15psi ) because I ride at the limit in the " twistie's " and that puts a lot more stress on the sidewall..... your weight load changes the equation .... 17 psi should give you nice compliance because of the difference in load vs. mine ..... you may want to use 19-20 psi in the rear, annnnnnnnnnd what I said in my PM to you , the material they use in your primary riding area can make some difference in the mileage that can be achieved ( for any tire brand or model ) ...... good luck ... Mike

[Peter Aawen]

And another thing to bear in mind is that no matter WHAT you do with your tire pressures, you front steer tires are very likely to wear a little faster on the edges vs the middle! The trick here is to recognise that and relate the increased wear pattern to the roads & surfaces you are ryding on. Here on Oz, many of our road surfaces are cambered to drain off to the left, so the left hand tire can become a little more worn on it's outer edge than the right hand tire; and from what I've experienced of them, I hafta believe that many of your North American roads do the same sort of thing too, only the other way, cos you drive on the right hand (or wrong!) side of the road!

But also remember that the wear on either edge of the tires can also reflect how often/fast/loaded you turn that way!! The slip angle of your tires during cornering WILL mean that you'll wear the outer/load bearing sections of tread on your steer tires more so than you will the centre section of tread, so unless you never drive much faster than about 25 mph, your steer tires WILL tend to wear the outer edges more!! And if THAT's the predominant reason for how your tires are wearing the way they are, increasing their pressures may well make that wear pattern WORSE, not better, because the stiffer sidewalls can force more of the 'slip' into the contact patch! And that can actually become more likely to occur if you've fitted 'wider than OE spec tires' (as you have done!) so you really need to keep a close eye on your tread wear & be careful that you don't increase their pressure too much & exacerbate a wear issue that you were hoping to fix!

[teninospyder]

As I stated many times before .... the tires are part of the suspension system , if they are Over-inflated for the normal load they support, you wil get a Harsher ride ..... I'm 175 and keep my RT at 17 psi, ( I get a better ride at 15psi ) because I ride at the limit in the " twistie's " and that puts a lot more stress on the sidewall..... your weight load changes the equation .... 17 psi should give you nice compliance because of the difference in load vs. mine ..... you may want to use 19-20 psi in the rear, annnnnnnnnnd what I said in my PM to you , the material they use in your primary riding area can make some difference in the mileage that can be achieved ( for any tire brand or model ) ...... good luck ... Mike

All true All good All appreciated

[teninospyder]

And another thing to bear in mind is that no matter WHAT you do with your tire pressures, you front steer tires are very likely to wear a little faster on the edges vs the middle! The trick here is to recognise that and relate the increased wear pattern to the roads & surfaces you are ryding on. Here on Oz, many of our road surfaces are cambered to drain off to the left, so the left hand tire can become a little more worn on it's outer edge than the right hand tire; and from what I've experienced of them, I hafta believe that many of your North American roads do the same sort of thing too, only the other way, cos you drive on the right hand (or wrong!) side of the road!

But also remember that the wear on either edge of the tires can also reflect how often/fast/loaded you turn that way!! The slip angle of your tires during cornering WILL mean that you'll wear the outer/load bearing sections of tread on your steer tires more so than you will the centre section of tread, so unless you never drive much faster than about 25 mph, your steer tires WILL tend to wear the outer edges more!! And if THAT's the predominant reason for how your tires are wearing the way they are, increasing their pressures may well make that wear pattern WORSE, not better, because the stiffer sidewalls can force more of the 'slip' into the contact patch! And that can actually become more likely to occur if you've fitted 'wider than OE spec tires' (as you have done!) so you really need to keep a close eye on your tread wear & be careful that you don't increase their pressure too much & exacerbate a wear issue that you were hoping to fix!

Wow !! As I said in my post......Just reporting my data findings and my choice of what to do about it for now. thought others might be interested.
end of discussion.

[bikerbillone]

Being a newbie, I'm interested in these tire posts. Back in my GoldWing days, I ran the 'dark side' on two wheels for several years, so I'm not adverse to change. I was taking a look at the Vredestein Quadtrac 5, on Tire Rack, it only comes in 165/60-15, the Kenda OEMs on 20 RTL is 165/55-15, so is that a problem? Apologize if this is a question that i should already know as a Spyder owner, but I'm new this game.

[Peter Aawen]

Being a newbie, I'm interested in these tire posts. Back in my GoldWing days, I ran the 'dark side' on two wheels for several years, so I'm not adverse to change. I was taking a look at the Vredestein Quadtrac 5, on Tire Rack, it only comes in 165/60-15, the Kenda OEMs on 20 RTL is 165/55-15, so is that a problem? Apologize if this is a question that i should already know as a Spyder owner, but I'm new this game.

Nope! I really don't think it'll be a problem - it's a difference in rolling radius of about 8 or 9mm, or saay, 1/4 of an inch.... which is pretty close to the difference you'd get by running the 165/55R15 Kenda tire at, saaay, 18 psi instead of the Vredestein 165/60R15 at saaay, 16 psi.

[Steve W.]

I was taking a look at the Vredestein Quadtrac 5, on Tire Rack, it only comes in 165/60-15, the Kenda OEMs on 20 RTL is 165/55-15, so is that a problem?

Look again at the tire charts. I just put Q5s on our '17 RT-S, and they were 175/55-15.
Might have to look someplace other than Tire Rack. I found them at Vulcan Tire.

They fit just fine and work VERY well.

.

[troop]

A lot of us here are running the Vredestein Q5 in size 165/60R15 with zero issues. I don't think I've even heard of any issues with the 165/60R15 ?? Some folks running the 175 width have had to shim their fenders a touch. Comparing a car tire on a two wheeled motorcycle and 3 wheeled Spyder is apples/oranges. Motorcycles lean and Spyders don't. The change in ride/handling is incredible..

[bikerbillone]

Look again at the tire charts. I just put Q5s on our '17 RT-S, and they were 175/55-15.
Might have to look someplace other than Tire Rack. I found them at Vulcan Tire.

They fit just fine and work VERY well.

.

Thanks, it's good to know the OEM size does exist in the Vredestein, wandering off size can present a minor problem in odometer reading.