New Tires...Brand and Size

[Gigi2]

I just bought my first Spyder, 2014 RT-S and I need new tires. I've already seen posts that say don't buy the Kenda's. So what brand and size do I buy?

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

I just bought my first Spyder, 2014 RT-S and I need new tires. I've already seen posts that say don't buy the Kenda's. So what brand and size do I buy?

Currently the best all-around tire sold today is the Vredestein Quatrac - 5 ..... 165/60-15 for the front ( on your year Spyder ) and 205/60 or 215/60-15 for the rear ..... look for them on-line at Tirerack.com or Vulcan tire or Simple tire .... other REAR tires are General Altimax RT43 & Michelin Defender " T&H " model in a similar size ...... another FRONT tire is the Conti- Pro Contact similar size ...... good luck ..... if you use AUTO tires 17-18 psi front and 18-19 psi rear works really well ...... Mike

[BearX16]

Thanks BLUEKNIGHT, glad this was a recent post so I didn't have to wear my eyes out.

[RNBOB]

Currently the best all-around tire sold today is the Vredestein Quatrac - 5 ..... 165/60-15 for the front ( on your year Spyder ) and 205/60 or 215/60-15 for the rear ..... look for them on-line at Tirerack.com or Vulcan tire or Simple tire .... other REAR tires are General Altimax RT43 & Michelin Defender " T&H " model in a similar size ...... another FRONT tire is the Conti- Pro Contact similar size ...... good luck ..... if you use AUTO tires 17-18 psi front and 18-19 psi rear works really well ...... Mike

Mike, Some have used the 175/55-15 Vredestein Quatrac 5. Would that fit as well as the 165/60-15, is it taller?
Bob

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Mike, Some have used the 175/55-15 Vredestein Quatrac 5. Would that fit as well as the 165/60-15, is it taller?
Bob

I have read a couple of posts that said they found a couple of very, very slight contact points ..... for many technical reasons the larger size has no performance differences from the 165/60-15 size...... The " Nanny " prevents Ultimate Lateral traction ..... so why spend more money to achieve something that's NOT achievable ..... Mike

[RNBOB]

I have read a couple of posts that said they found a couple of very, very slight contact points ..... for many technical reasons the larger size has no performance differences from the 165/60-15 size...... The " Nanny " prevents Ultimate Lateral traction ..... so why spend more money to achieve something that's NOT achievable ..... Mike

Thanks Mike,
Bob

[Steve W.]

Mike, Some have used the 175/55-15 Vredestein Quatrac 5. Would that fit as well as the 165/60-15, is it taller?
Bob

Just installed 175/55-15s on the front of our (HER) '17 RT-S a couple of weeks ago.

They fit. Quite well. I did not check every possible contact point, but there is apparently no problem.

Are they taller than any other tire? No idea. Took off the Kendas (please pardon the foul word) without measuring them, I only knew they were going to leave, and not soon enough.

.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Just installed 175/55-15s on the front of our (HER) '17 RT-S a couple of weeks ago.

They fit. Quite well. I did not check every possible contact point, but there is apparently no problem.

Are they taller than any other tire? No idea. Took off the Kendas (please pardon the foul word) without measuring them, I only knew they were going to leave, and not soon enough.

.

Taller ??? ... The manufacturers state the nominal or mathematical sizes, however over many years of checking tire sizes I have learned those listed sizes don't always actually measure the physical size of each nominal size ..... and this applies to each specific Model of the same manufacturer ... to get an idea of what I'm saying go to the TireRack site ... pick a tire ... go to the spec sheet for that tire .... look at the REVS per mile column ( most give this info, but not all ) ..... the revs will tell you the EXACT rolling circumference, if you look at many different tirers of the same ( nominal ) size, it becomes apparent that there can be quite a range of Actual physical sizing .... for a Q-5 in 165/60-15 one Rev = 6 ft. +/- a few mm. ..... hope this helps to understand REAL tire size ..... Mike

[RudyB]

I have continental pro contact 175/55/15 on my Spyder 38000miles so far 15to16 psi (as per Mike)��

[joekeys]

Currently the best all-around tire sold today is the Vredestein Quatrac - 5 ..... 165/60-15 for the front ( on your year Spyder ) and 205/60 or 215/60-15 for the rear ..... look for them on-line at Tirerack.com or Vulcan tire or Simple tire .... other REAR tires are General Altimax RT43 & Michelin Defender " T&H " model in a similar size ...... another FRONT tire is the Conti- Pro Contact similar size ...... good luck ..... if you use AUTO tires 17-18 psi front and 18-19 psi rear works really well ...... Mike

I have the Contiinental Pro-contact on mine. Oversize corrects the speedo with GPS and seem to be long wearing. Also quieter.

[trikermutha]

Kanine kendas are a new tire to add to the mix. Haven't heard any complaints yet on them but they are relatively new.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Kanine kendas are a new tire to add to the mix. Haven't heard any complaints yet on them but they are relatively new.

Well the Kanine's construction specs are the same as the old ones ..... I'll let you decide ...... Mike

[trikermutha]

Well the Kanine's construction specs are the same as the old ones ..... I'll let you decide ...... Mike

Please plain Lucy!

https://youtu.be/OLF5uuszcpY

[nightcruiser]

so just the tread pattern is different?

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

so just the tread pattern is different?

The CASING specs are the same, so yes it appears they have Only changed the tread pattern ..... Mike

[olddad64]

I'm new to the forum so you will have to overlook me on this first post. Price and tire mileage on the tire aren't important to me. Not that I have a lot of money because I'm retired and don't have a lot of money. As with all my motorcycles I want a tire that will stick to the road period. So what brand is the one that will stick to the road ? I ride the twisties a lot. Up and down the mountains here.

[justride]

I bought a pair of the new kenda tires for my 2016 rts spyder and had them installed and they feel
crappy at the vehicle specs of 18 to 22 psi. now the max psi on these tires is 44 vice the oem kenda which was 33 i believe. would that make a difference ? the new ones feel sluggish at 22 psi the oem didn't. i got them at 30 now but can feel all the bumps. any help would be appreciated.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

I bought a pair of the new kenda tires for my 2016 rts spyder and had them installed and they feel
crappy at the vehicle specs of 18 to 22 psi. now the max psi on these tires is 44 vice the oem kenda which was 33 i believe. would that make a difference ? the new ones feel sluggish at 22 psi the oem didn't. i got them at 30 now but can feel all the bumps. any help would be appreciated.

They just plain ....*UCK .... they have the worst record for " defective tires, that I have ever heard of ..... your new pair could be defective .... I see your new to the board ..... check out what Peter Aawen and myself have written about tires .... Mike

[Deanna777]

I just bought my first Spyder, 2014 RT-S and I need new tires. I've already seen posts that say don't buy the Kenda's. So what brand and size do I buy?

Hi,

I have a 2014 RT-SE 6 and I am running on the front Size:165/60 R 15 ,Contiprocontact These were installed on 6/20/2016 the bike had 12,807 miles, when these tires were installed and running @ 19 PSI.

On the rear I am running General Altimax RT 43 size: 215/60 R 15, and running @ 26 PSI. The first General was installed @ 5,824 miles.

I am now on my 2nd General Altimax RT 43 tire. The 2nd General Altimax was installed @ 24,553 miles on 4/11/2019.

Total miles on spyder is 27, 809 miles.

The General has/says " Replace Tire "built into tire.

I have not had any problems with the General Altimax RT 43 tire.



Deanna

[glennm]

About to pull the trigger for new front tires on the ST-S, options are Nankang AS1 in 165x55x15, Hankook Kinergy eco K425 175x50x15 or as mentioned above the Continental Pro Contact 175x55x15. The tire place asked me if they would fit and I have read good reports about them in the wet especially their resistance to aquaplaning.
Unfortunately can't source Vredestein. Askitee has the Nankangs and is happy with them but no stock around here.
Of course the sensible thing was to do a search here and low and behold the 175x15x15 Continental is mentioned.
Question time now though - are the front guards the same on RudyB's RT and my ST? The Contis sound like a great tire but only if I they fit without scrubbing.
I know tyres of the same branded size can differ by some mms but very few of the manufacturers give the overall diameter so the only way to know for sure is to ask those that either have them or know about them.
Thanks

[Peter Aawen]

Glenm, do your fenders have the smooth top outside, or the raised rib down the middle that has reflectors on it? Regardless, if your Spyder has 15" rims, then it'll almost certainly have fenders/guards that will fit the same size tires as Rudy's 2014 RT!

And for what it's worth, when it comes to comparing tire circumferences/rolling dia, if you can't get an 'actual' rolling dia/radius, you can always look at the 'revs per mile' number (or for those of us living in the 'ciivilized' world, revs per km! ) However, that can still be a trap - if the numbers are identical, there's a pretty good chance that the manufacturers have taken the easy/lazy way out & provided specs based upon the 'nominal' tire size rather than the 'actual' tire size!

All that said, I've run Continental ContiproContact tires up front, and Kumho KH17's, Ecstas, & Ecowings et al, all in 175/55R15 without any issues, altho I did remove the hex head fixing screws from the inside of the mudguard & replace them with pan head fixing screws waaay back over 100,000 km ago, cos the hex heads projected 10mm into the wheel space & under extreme cornering loads/tire flexion they'd sometimes juuuuust skim polish the screw tops!! Swapped the hex head screws to pan heads that were lower/flatter; problem solvered and I'm still running 175/55R15's up front without any concerns!

Over to you! Enjoy your new tires.

[glennm]

Glenm, do your fenders have the smooth top outside, or the raised rib down the middle that has reflectors on it? Regardless, if your Spyder has 15" rims, then it'll almost certainly have fenders/guards that will fit the same size tires as Rudy's 2014 RT!

And for what it's worth, when it comes to comparing tire circumferences/rolling dia, if you can't get an 'actual' rolling dia/radius, you can always look at the 'revs per mile' number (or for those of us living in the 'ciivilized' world, revs per km! ) However, that can still be a trap - if the numbers are identical, there's a pretty good chance that the manufacturers have taken the easy/lazy way out & provided specs based upon the 'nominal' tire size rather than the 'actual' tire size!

All that said, I've run Continental ContiproContact tires up front, and Kumho KH17's, Ecstas, & Ecowings et al, all in 175/55R15 without any issues, altho I did remove the hex head fixing screws from the inside of the mudguard & replace them with pan head fixing screws waaay back over 100,000 km ago, cos the hex heads projected 10mm into the wheel space & under extreme cornering loads/tire flexion they'd sometimes juuuuust skim polish the screw tops!! Swapped the hex head screws to pan heads that were lower/flatter; problem solvered and I'm still running 175/55R15's up front without any concerns!

Over to you! Enjoy your new tires.

Not just civilised we are also awake! I was hoping you (and Mike) would chime in Peter. Mine has the raised middle. See picture if I have got your comments correct. Absolutely 15s on it as it is a 2014. Excellent info so it looks like Contis then. Are you able to say why and what you are running now? or is it a state secret, after all your borders and ours for that matter are closed with the state who shall not be named.
Thanks for all the info.
STS2.jpg

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Not just civilised we are also awake! I was hoping you (and Mike) would chime in Peter. Mine has the raised middle. See picture if I have got your comments correct. Absolutely 15s on it as it is a 2014. Excellent info so it looks like Contis then. Are you able to say why and what you are running now? or is it a state secret, after all your borders and ours for that matter are closed with the state who shall not be named.
Thanks for all the info.
STS2.jpg

I discovered the Vredestein Quatrac 5 and still recommend them .... IF YOU CAN GET THEM .... you folks apparently can't ..... In the past I wasn't satisfied with what Continental offered in sizes that would fit our Spyders, but your reaching out caused me to go back and try and find something that you can probably get .... after an hour or so of searching Continental tires I found the Conti- True Contact TOUR model, I was very, very surprised to learn it has rating in W - D & Wear in the 9.2 = excellent category ..... but I only found it in 175/65-15 for the front ..... I matched it up with my General Altimax RT 43 ( also excellent ) and this Conti is slightly smaller then my RT43, which ids good because for my 14 RT I had the shim ( washers ) under the fender brackets to move them a bit further from the tire sidewall ..... folks think the Height of the tire is the critical issue ... I dis-agree .... it's the sidewall Section width that matters most. Do what Peter did and get the Pan Head bolts. If you want to see what the Tire Rack testing said go to their web site and enter the Conti tire above in 175/65-15 size. I think it's a winner ...... Mike

[glennm]

Mike

Really good reviews but the Conti- True Contact TOUR model not available here. Bummer!

Thanks again

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Mike

Really good reviews but the Conti- True Contact TOUR model not available here. Bummer!

Thanks again

" not available " ... interesting, I would think a tire seller could have THAT specific tire added to their normal order for Continentals. Too bad, the True Contact Tour model was one of the few that I recommend over other Conti models..... Mike