Help me decide on Directional vs Regular Tread Tires?

[Knizar]

It will be interesting to see how these asymmetrics go……just installed yesterday…… 165/60

https://www.goodyear.com.au/tyres/go...agrip-529521-p

Pete

Pete, I believe you made a good choice with the 165/60R15. I've got the 175/55R15 on my RTL and they have a very close tolerance of tire to fender. With your slightly poorer road conditions down under you need a little more clearance for
road debris. Good Year Tires have always been a top seller in our area. I would not hesitate to put them on my ride.

Good Luck Bill

[Peteoz]

Ha. How about a non directional tyre to add to the mix?

These are available here in NZ and I popped them on my Spyder and they fit without problems with clearance.

Preform exceedingly well in my opinion.

Yeah, I had them on my F3-L, Isopedella. They were fantastic. But they only appear to be bringing the 175/60 into Aus these days

Pete

[Isopedella]

Yeah, I had them on my F3-L, Isopedella. They were fantastic. But they only appear to be bringing the 175/60 into Aus these days

Pete

Music to my ears. I guess I just got lucky there as I really just took a punt.

I have ridden in every type of surface here locally here cept snow and I am very happy.

[Peteoz]

Music to my ears. I guess I just got lucky there as I really just took a punt.

I have ridden in every type of surface here locally here cept snow and I am very happy.

You’ll hear some Americans claim the Kuhmo are ordinary in the wet, but Peter A (who runs Kuhmo on his) and I, along with quite a few others, have not had an issue out here. We must have a different road compound perhaps. I imagine UnZud would probably use a similar compound to us.

Pete

[BajaRon]

Here is an interesting, non-scientific, customer rating of a good number of tires. When you priortitize what you're looking for and discount things like snow traction. A few tires in our sizes do rise near the top.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/surve...&type=GTAS&VT=

Going back to this link I see it was not rendering the way I wanted it to. You will need to click on the 'Select Tire Size' option, then select 'Shop by Size' in the next screen. Sounds complicated. But it's very easy and will give you some good information.

Possible tire sizes for the Spyder are;

Front.
165/60R15 - OEM Size
175/55R15 - Slightly wider and slightly shorter than OEM

Rear.
225/50R15 - OEM Size
215/60R15 - Slightly narrower and taller than OEM.
205/60R15 - Slightly narrower than the 215/60R15. Taller than OEM, but less than the 215/60R15
205/65R15 - Same width as the 205/60R15. Slightly taller than the 215/60R15

[fredgal]

Here is an interesting, non-scientific, customer rating of a good number of tires. When you priortitize what you're looking for and discount things like snow traction. A few tires in our sizes do rise near the top.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/surve....jsp?type=GTAS

thanks for all info,, everyone says these will fit with no issues, so i am going with these,,

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...R5QT&tab=Sizes

[BajaRon]

thanks for all info,, everyone says these will fit with no issues, so i am going with these,,

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...R5QT&tab=Sizes

We have installed quite a few of these on customers Spyders. So far, they are all very impressed. Be sure your alignment is good. But this is true of any vehicle you're putting new tires on.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Here is an interesting, non-scientific, customer rating of a good number of tires. When you priortitize what you're looking for and discount things like snow traction. A few tires in our sizes do rise near the top.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/surve....jsp?type=GTAS

The issue with this chart is ..... not many of these tires will fit any Spyders...... I did notice that the Vredestein brand are near the top of that list and I think all of them will fit ...... I checked the bottom also I noticed how many tires made by Hankook are there ...... Mike

[TerryTheSpyderRyder]

We have the fronts..what's a good rear tire? Approaching 20k on my tryke and I'm thinking of a tire change..

Thanks

[TerryTheSpyderRyder]

There is nothing wrong with the tread pattern or rubber compound on the OEM tires. If the tire is round (which they often are not) they will run fine. At highway speeds, you only have about 3" of contact patch at the rear wheel because the OEM tire is built too weak to hold shape and balloons out in the middle. Harder to hydroplane on that narrow a surface. With a car tire, you're going to get 100% tire width contact all the time. So, more important to get a wet capable tire.

Just curious, who do you get to install the new tires on the rim, with balancing?

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Just curious, who do you get to install the new tires on the rim, with balancing?

I've been here since 2010 (2011 as a member) ..... IF you are using Auto tires don't bother balancing the REAR tire, they don't need it to work properly.... the fronts should be able to be spin balanced to correct any issues ..... Mike

[Isopedella]

Just curious, who do you get to install the new tires on the rim, with balancing?

I got mine fitted and balanced when I took the rims into a tyre shop. Where naturally they used a spin machine.

For my "normal motorcycle tyres. I fit them at home and use a Static Balancer.

tyre frame y20.jpg

[Isopedella]

I've been here since 2010 (2011 as a member) ..... IF you are using Auto tires don't bother balancing the REAR tire, they don't need it to work properly.... the fronts should be able to be spin balanced to correct any issues ..... Mike

Cant agree with that advice at all. All the tyres are " car tyres" aren't they ?????????????.

In my opinion a balanced wheel assembly preforms best. Compared to one that has a tyre just biffed on. Vibration is at a minimum. Also if there is a problem with a rim not straight or true its picked up on the balance. Smoother spinning results in more consistent contact path available contact with the tyre and road surface.

Like many I too am a qualified vehicle crash investigator.

Gotta be preferable for a balanced wheel assembly I reckon. Front / rear dosnt matter.

Please enlighten me as why not to bother.

[troop]

If you're in a shop getting your rear tire changed, why not spend the few $ to have the tire balanced? Peace of mind? Maybe, but it certainly won't hurt, and it might just help..

[pegasus1300]

Because many tire shops are not equiped to handle a Spyder rear rim.

[HanklovesJesus]

Having run many miles on both the Quatrac and Quatrac 5 on the back and Quatrac 5's on the front I can say without a doubt they work well in the rain. And we get plenty of opportunities to try them out here in Mississippi.

Hy Edmat, I think your trailer is one Hip deal


Hank

[Peteoz]

Cant agree with that advice at all. All the tyres are " car tyres" aren't they ?????????????.

In my opinion a balanced wheel assembly preforms best. Compared to one that has a tyre just biffed on. Vibration is at a minimum. Also if there is a problem with a rim not straight or true its picked up on the balance. Smoother spinning results in more consistent contact path available contact with the tyre and road surface.

Like many I too am a qualified vehicle crash investigator.

Gotta be preferable for a balanced wheel assembly I reckon. Front / rear dosnt matter.

Please enlighten me as why not to bother.

I’ll let Mike answer formally, but just as an aside, the Kenda “Special Motorcycle Use Only” tyre is quite poorly made and usually requires a fair amount of balancing, Iso. On the other hand, the quality aftermarket car tyres that we put on Spyders not so much. I believe Mike is saying that “yes, get your rear tyre balanced if possible, but don’t fret if your tyre shop can’t do it, as it will be very close as long long as they have oriented the dot and valve stem correctly”.

I had zero issues with the two rear aftermarkets I have used, which my tyre shop could not balance at the time…….and they can now, as they invested in the cones etc that allow them to fit the front and rear Spyder wheels with no damage. So I will indeed be having future front and rear assemblies balanced at the shop, just for piece of mind.

Pete

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Cant agree with that advice at all. All the tyres are " car tyres" aren't they ?????????????.

In my opinion a balanced wheel assembly preforms best. Compared to one that has a tyre just biffed on. Vibration is at a minimum. Also if there is a problem with a rim not straight or true its picked up on the balance. Smoother spinning results in more consistent contact path available contact with the tyre and road surface.

Like many I too am a qualified vehicle crash investigator.

Gotta be preferable for a balanced wheel assembly I reckon. Front / rear dosnt matter.

Please enlighten me as why not to bother.

For all intents & purposes, OEM Kenda's are car/auto tires..... However, can you name what car/auto they can be used on ????? .... "ENLIGHTEN Me" - I'll try; the physical design and construction of the Spyder's rear suspension (not Ryker) is such that it would take a HUGE amount of "out of balance" to be felt by you or anyone else. ...... If you rode 10 identical Spyders and only one had the Rear wheel balanced I'd bet a lot of $ that you couldn't pick it out ...... Mike

[Isopedella]

.....
Fitted and balanced is good advice.
........
Waste of time the rest of it. Better things to do.