Michelin Cross- Climate tyres front

[Piratezz]

Mounted new front tyres, Michelin 175/60-15, weather is rather cold now, but when I have driven a few miles/ km's, I will share a reviewIMG_20210507_130555.jpgIMG_20210507_130619.jpg

[BajaRon]

Here is Tire Racks assessment of this tire. I've found Tire Rack to be a good, independent source for tire information. The only caveat being that they, of course, are using cars to test. Not necessarily and Apples to Apples comparison with our much lighter Can-Am Spyders. But does give you accurate comparisons to other tires in the same class.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...es#testResults

[Piratezz]

I've read several reviews, and imho, the michelin should be above average, time will tell, as I am also curious bout the new kanine (Kenda) tyre.
I understood that you (Bajaron), was testing these. This season I will drive the o.e.m. kenda to the last thread, and then I will decide if it's going to be a Michelin, or a kanine, I think the treadpattern of the Kenda is more apealling.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

I've read several reviews, and imho, the michelin should be above average, time will tell, as I am also curious bout the new kanine (Kenda) tyre.
I understood that you (Bajaron), was testing these. This season I will drive the o.e.m. kenda to the last thread, and then I will decide if it's going to be a Michelin, or a kanine, I think the treadpattern of the Kenda is more apealling.

Tires are designed by " tire " engineers. I seriously doubt " appearance " plays ANY part in that design .... The construction of the Michelin is Far superior to that of the Kanine ..... After they brought out the Kanine I investigated it's construction ... it is very similar to every other Kenda Spyder tire. I couldn't find out if the compounds used are different ( that's proprietary info and not available ) ..... I would go with the Michelins.... Mike

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Here is Tire Racks assessment of this tire. I've found Tire Rack to be a good, independent source for tire information. The only caveat being that they, of course, are using cars to test. Not necessarily and Apples to Apples comparison with our much lighter Can-Am Spyders. But does give you accurate comparisons to other tires in the same class.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...es#testResults

.... Peter and I have discussed this on many, many posts on this forum. We take the Weight of the Spyders into consideration and have come up with PSI's that take this into account. Example: if you take the highest rated tire ( traction wet/dry ) and over-inflate it for the weight of the vehicle it's being tested on. It WON'T achieve it's high rating - period. ..... Mike

[Piratezz]

Hello Mike, I know you said this many times, but what is the recommended psi, for front tires/tyres... seems to matter what the loadbearing is...
currently I have 1.5 bar both sides, but I haven't driven the spyder yet, with these tires/tyres, have to wait till Sunday for weather to approve..ghegheghe

[ARtraveler]

I've read several reviews, and imho, the michelin should be above average, time will tell, as I am also curious bout the new kanine (Kenda) tyre.
I understood that you (Bajaron), was testing these. This season I will drive the o.e.m. kenda to the last thread, and then I will decide if it's going to be a Michelin, or a kanine, I think the treadpattern of the Kenda is more apealling.

I am also "testing" K9 from Kenda. I had one installed at 14K miles on my 2019 a couple months ago. I wanted something else, but it was K9 or nothing. I decided to give them a one time try. The jury is out until next season.

[AZCanAm]

I have a Kanine in the rear. Got a couple of hundred miles on it. A definite improvement in handling and stability over the OEM. But, my guess is there are even more superior car tires out there for the Spyder. The biggest issue especially for the rear, is sizing. I refuse to go skinnier (love the meat).

[Rattlebars]

Be sure to let us know, but that tread design looks as if it will be noisy.

[YPILOT]

Mounted new front tyres, Michelin 175/60-15, weather is rather cold now, but when I have driven a few miles/ km's, I will share a reviewIMG_20210507_130555.jpgIMG_20210507_130619.jpg

I put this tire on my wife's Honda Pilot. We have about 15000 on them and they still look great and handling is superb. Wet handling especially good.
The noise is no more noticeable than most tires I’ve had before.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Hello Mike, I know you said this many times, but what is the recommended psi, for front tires/tyres... seems to matter what the loadbearing is...
currently I have 1.5 bar both sides, but I haven't driven the spyder yet, with these tires/tyres, have to wait till Sunday for weather to approve..ghegheghe

Peter and I recommend ( using auto tires ) at 15-16 PSI front .... and 18 PSI rear .... this doesn't change if towing or with a AVG weight passenger .... IF you ride aggressively ( in the twistie's ) add a pound or two .... same if you carry heavy passengers ..... because the Spyders are much lighter than Cars even one PSI more makes a big difference .... it's all about % of change involved .... Mike

[BajaRon]

I've read several reviews, and imho, the michelin should be above average, time will tell, as I am also curious bout the new kanine (Kenda) tyre.
I understood that you (Bajaron), was testing these. This season I will drive the o.e.m. kenda to the last thread, and then I will decide if it's going to be a Michelin, or a kanine, I think the treadpattern of the Kenda is more apealling.

I have not had the chance to mount the Kanines yet. But I've got customers who have been very happy with them, especially in the rain. The OEM Kenda's are too weak in both the sidewall and the tread area. The sidewall rolls under too easily and there isn't enough strength in the tread area to keep the tire flat at speed. Centrifugal force overcomes the ply strength and balloons the tire out. That is why they wear in the middle so quickly. The tire would last longer if it wore evenly across the tread.

The Kanines have both a stiffer sidewall and tread area construction compared to the OEM. How much? Well, I am hoping they are stiff enough. Obviously, we don't need the stiffness of a car tire. Nor is it ideal to have the typical, harder tread a car tire will have. Don't get me wrong. I have always been an advocate of car tires over the OEM Kenda's, for several reasons. I've been running various car tires almost from the beginning. But tire longevity has never been my primary criteria. I am more than willing to give up some mileage for better traction. Again, especially in wet conditions. Car tires, necessarily, are designed to perform with a good deal more weight factored in. In the vein of always looking for a better mouse trap. I'm willing to give the Kanines a whirl. If they are better, I want to know. If not, I want to know that as well.

The Kanines most assuredly use a softer rubber compound. So, an increase in traction, and decrease in mileage is to be expected. How much of each? That's what I want to know. From all the feedback I've gotten. The Kanines are round (a feature which many OEM Kendas do not possess) and need much less weight to balance. This speaks to a higher quality control factor than the OEM Kenda's. And a good sign that Kenda is going in the right direction. Remember, Kenda is building the OEM tires to BRP specs. So, you can't necessarily blame Kenda for the end result. If they were not building them to spec. I am sure BRP would be saying something to them. After producing virtually the same, poor quality tire for over 12 years. It's obvious that BRP is satisfied. If not with the quality, they must love the price!

I've had a few customers purchase Kanines from me since I started talking about them. It is too soon to say what the long term results will be. And I am not yet personally endorsing the Kanine beyond the accumulation of information I've gotten so far because I have not had a chance to run them myself yet. But to this point. All of my customers, and several of those who have had the Kanines for some time, have been quite positive. To me, at least, this is encouraging. We may have another good alternative. You can never have too many options.

[Piratezz]

Regarding to noise, in all the tests and reviews, soundlevel is 68Db, it's in the middle range in what other brands produce.

[larryd]

Mounted new front tyres, Michelin 175/60-15, weather is rather cold now, but when I have driven a few miles/ km's, I will share a reviewIMG_20210507_130555.jpgIMG_20210507_130619.jpg

I like these...But I cannot find them in the USA in the 175/60-15??? Michelin does not show them available???

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

I like these...But I cannot find them in the USA in the 175/60-15??? Michelin does not show them available???

I found these tires and posted about them on 2/16/21 ...... enter " Michelin cross climate " in the search box, it's the second post listed ..... Lots of size info in the various posts ..... too bad they are only available in Europe and the Scandinavian countries .....they tested better than the Q-5's, which is amazing .... Mike

[Piratezz]

I am from the Netherlands, overhere we have smaller cars, as you, this size is quite common overhere. Me thinks a good tyre vendor should be able to order them for you, The size is correct, and they fit nicely (fender wise)
On the pictures, they where inflated to 2.3 Bar, so they look a little ackward, when I deflated them to 1.5 Bar, they look better (more tread on the road)
Still didn't drive a km with em, just chose them on reviewbase, but my earlier experience with michelin's were good.

[BajaRon]

I have a Kanine in the rear. Got a couple of hundred miles on it. A definite improvement in handling and stability over the OEM. But, my guess is there are even more superior car tires out there for the Spyder. The biggest issue especially for the rear, is sizing. I refuse to go skinnier (love the meat).

I have to agree. A skinnier tire seems to work fine. But I really like the look of the wider tire. I usually go for function over form. In this case, I'm trying to get both!

[Rattlebars]

You need to experiment within the parameters. Most recommend (notably Baja Ron) recommend starting out at @ 16 PSI and I always ran my Krappy Kendas within the range 15 - 17. When I got the Toyos, I found I needed to run them @ 19 - 20. Less and they were too compliant and I got the Kenda hunt for holes and ruts. More and I could feel every pebble on the roadway. You don't need to travel far from home. You will pretty much know right away if it's good to go or you need to try something else. I got this 12v pump on eBay for under $20. I love these Toyos! (thanks Mike).

tirepump.jpgftires.jpg

[Piratezz]

As promised, a short review on the michelin's, Drove 300km's yesterday, and they are a vast improvement, I know that a tyre needs to be "ridden in",but after 50 km's I felt a difference in grip, also in the wet, we drove 2up,Handling is way better, Noise isn't noticeble louder as the kenda's.
Will post more info, after more km's.

Normally the spyder, runs wide in the corners, but now it seems to be more direct, don't know how to describe it correctly, but it's more grabby, both in and out the corners, not agressive grabby, but more in control.
I hope you get my drift....

[Piratezz]

Looking for a rear tyre for the f3s, found one in aproxx. the right size, please share your thoughts on this one.
https://tiresize.com/tires/Toyo/Prox...-225-45R15.htm

Reviews seems to look great, I never ride in wintery conditions, storage is not an issue, I like the look, but my only concern is really the 225/45 R15
seems to me not a big difference, but would it possible to mount to the original rim?
anticipating your thought, kind regards, Toine

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Looking for a rear tyre for the f3s, found one in aproxx. the right size, please share your thoughts on this one.
https://tiresize.com/tires/Toyo/Prox...-225-45R15.htm

Reviews seems to look great, I never ride in wintery conditions, storage is not an issue, I like the look, but my only concern is really the 225/45 R15
seems to me not a big difference, but would it possible to mount to the original rim?
anticipating your thought, kind regards, Toine

Well there is a slight difference in the ASPECT ratio, but not enough to cause any issues. .... I had the prior model T1r and it was the stickiest tire I ever put on a Spyder. ... It did wear out sooner than I liked though, and suspect the R1R will also. ... I would use it .... Mike

[Piratezz]

Thanks Mike, for replying, I regard you and peter as the experts on this forum, regarding tyres/tires, and I think this forum, is the bomb for anyone who has questions bout their Spyder.

As for the toyo, it will be mounted in the next few weeks, as for me this coming month is a very busy one at the store, I will put on a honest review bout this parrticular tire.