Tires... again - any feedback on Kumho Rear, Kenda Kanine Fronts?
It's time to change the original Kenda tires on my 2017 F3. They only have 8k miles but they are 7 years old and the rear tire is pretty much done: worn in the middle...
I'm going to get the Kuhmo Ecsta KU25 for the rear and Kenda Kanines for the front.
It seems the Kanine for the rear continues to wear out the center too quickly, just like my current one, so no to that.
I expect the front Kanines to wear as well as my current ones and I'm ok with that, since they still look good with even wear. I'm replacing them due to age.
I would like to hear from anyone who may have gone with this setup, chime in please and let know how it worked out, or not.
For the install I'm taking the wheels to a local repair shop, they will do the tire change and balance for a very reasonable sum.
Last edited by Peter Aawen; 03-28-2024 at 05:36 PM.
Reason: Expanded title to briefly ask the question... ;-)
Maybe or 13 k. You won’t get much more out of them either. Heavier the bike the faster they wear. I seem numbers all over the board.
That's disappointing, but that's how it goes. I plan to ride more frequently and was hoping for better numbers. I still think, and it's just my opinion, that the Kuhmo is probably a better tire overall.
I'll keep the tires at the proper pressure, bike aligned and see what happens.
It's time to change the original Kenda tires on my 2017 F3. They only have 8k miles but they are 7 years old and the rear tire is pretty much done: worn in the middle...
I'm going to get the Kuhmo Ecsta KU25 for the rear and Kenda Kanines for the front.
It seems the Kanine for the rear continues to wear out the center too quickly, just like my current one, so no to that.
I expect the front Kanines to wear as well as my current ones and I'm ok with that, since they still look good with even wear. I'm replacing them due to age.
I would like to hear from anyone who may have gone with this setup, chime in please and let know how it worked out, or not.
For the install I'm taking the wheels to a local repair shop, they will do the tire change and balance for a very reasonable sum.
If you have someone other than a dealer that can/will mount AUTO tires ( which are a way better choice ) then get a Riken Raptor HR in 215/60-15 @ Tire rack .... also get Vredestein " Quatrac " in 165/60-15 for the front .... DECLINE to tell what VEH> you are putting them on .... because they are auto tires, if you tell they are going a an MTC or Spyder they can't legally sell them to you .... Mike
Last edited by BLUEKNIGHT911; 03-28-2024 at 01:36 PM.
That's disappointing, but that's how it goes. I plan to ride more frequently and was hoping for better numbers. I still think, and it's just my opinion, that the Kuhmo is probably a better tire overall.
I'll keep the tires at the proper pressure, bike aligned and see what happens.
You may find out once they wear more they tend to slip more in turns. Believe others have mentioned this too
For those that want Kanine's people are reporting they have been backordered for many months. I don't use OEM Kenda or Kanine. Have currently Federal Formosa on fronts. I'm going with Vredestein on front next
If you have someone other than a dealer that can/will mount AUTO tires ( which are a way better choice ) then get a Riken Raptor HR in 215/60-15 @ Tire rack .... also get Vredestein " Quatrac " in 165/60-15 for the front .... DECLINE to tell what VEH> you are putting them on .... because they are auto tires, if you tell they are going a an MTC or Spyder they can't legally sell them to you .... Mike
The shop will mount them, no questions asked, I'm not buying the tires from them. I hadn't considered different tire sizes...the rear would be about 5% bigger in diameter and 5% narrower, good thing, bad thing? Something to think about but I'm more likely to stick with stock sizes, thank you just the same for the suggestion.
For those that want Kanine's people are reporting they have been backordered for many months. I don't use OEM Kenda or Kanine. Have currently Federal Formosa on fronts. I'm going with Vredestein on front next
I just bought two 175/55R15 Vredestein Quatracs for the front of my Champagne 2018 RTL, it had a set of these until I moved the PPA wheels and Vredesteins to the Asphalt Grey one. Also ordered another set of the PPA ORB wheels to mount these new Verdesteins on. The Asphalt Grey one will lose the Kenda for a General Altimax this fall when I comes out of storage. The General is wearing very little on the rear of Hooker, it has been on it for three years and 11 or 12K miles.
Last edited by Snoking1127; 03-28-2024 at 02:43 PM.
2018 RT Ltd - Asphalt Metallic - East Valley of Phoenix
2018 RT Ltd Chrome - Champagne Metallic - Lake Stevens, Wa
(Champagne/Hooker) Magic Mirrors, 360 LED head lights, BajaRon sway bar, H&R springs and shock adjusters, dash cam, foam grips, third brake light 4 LED strobe for 7 seconds and then on steady, rear LED turn signals/8 ohm 50W resistors, sequential turn signals on front fenders, Vredestein and PPA Orb wheels on front and General out back, and driver backrest.
Things that move between machines: Ikea sheep skins, Zumo XT GPS, and extra tools. Hooker is going to be my summer trike up North; and Hookie my winter trike down South.
(Asphalt/Hookie) Elka shocks on front - BajaRon sway bar, OEM driver's backrest, LED headlights, dual USB with voltmeter, dash cam, foam grips - Magic Mirrors - front tires Vredestein Quatrac SL on PPA ORB Chrome wheels.
The shop will mount them, no questions asked, I'm not buying the tires from them. I hadn't considered different tire sizes...the rear would be about 5% bigger in diameter and 5% narrower, good thing, bad thing? Something to think about but I'm more likely to stick with stock sizes, thank you just the same for the suggestion.
I ONLY recommend sizes and makes of tires that work on Spyders ..... AND are at the Top of performance, wear etc. .....Mike
Try 26# psi in the rear tire only. This is 2# less than the recommended maximum. I did this for years over seven different spyders. My rear mileage was a consistent 15K miles. One exception, 2014, BRP used a softer rubber compound in the Kenda's. Most wore out in about 5K miles. I got 8K out of mine.
The logic: As you ride, the temps on the tires heat up causing them to expand. The centers will expand the most.
Currently Owned: 2019 F3 Limited, 2020 F3 Limited: SOLD BOTH LIMITEDS in October of 2023.
about those Kumho's .... quite a few members here who have used them, have reported this .....Mike
Yup, that was me too. The Vredestein on the rear seems to be doing much better.
Last edited by Peter Aawen; 03-29-2024 at 01:49 AM.
Trent - 2017 asphalt grey RT Limited,
Ultimate Seat, Baha Ron’s sway bar, Vredestine rear tire, Federal Formoza fronts, SlingMod’s LED head and fog lights, Lamonster’s highway pegs
Kumhos will work well on a Spyder in any wheel position, and should even return similar or better milage to most other good quality a/mkt tires without abnormal wear or loss of traction if you set their pressures appropriately (lower ) for the lighter load of a Spyder vs that of most cars when they're new; but they will tend to 'harden up' & apparently 'lose traction' as they age/rack up the miles, developing that typical 'over-inflated' strip of wear down the centre of the tread, especially if you stick with that same pressure you worked out when new and stay with that from there on!!
This is because as their tread compound ages and hardens (their tread compound starts out a bit softer, then progressively gets a little harder as they wear/age, a bit more so than many other a/mkt tires) they will gradually need you to run a slightly lower pressure in order to get the tread compound up to its optimum operating temp as you ride and to avoid developing that centre wear strip and losing traction, especially in the wet!! However, the up-side of this 'hardening up' as they age thing can mean that for some users/in some applications, they get somewhat better milage/life than most!
All of which means that, if you're prepared to monitor your Kumho tires, their pressures, and their rate of wear a little more than you might with some other a/mkt tires, they should work/provide traction at least as well as most, and might even return similar or better milage to that of most other good quality a/mkt tires without any abnormal wear or loss of traction - but only if you are prepared to monitor and adjust their pressures appropriately as they age/harden up!
Kumhos will work well on a Spyder in any wheel position, and should even return similar or better milage to most other good quality a/mkt tires without abnormal wear or loss of traction if you set their pressures appropriately (lower ) for the lighter load of a Spyder vs that of most cars when they're new; but they will tend to 'harden up' & apparently 'lose traction' as they age/rack up the miles, developing that typical 'over-inflated' strip of wear down the centre of the tread, especially if you stick with that same pressure you worked out when new and stay with that from there on!!
This is because as their tread compound ages and hardens (their tread compound starts out a bit softer, then progressively gets a little harder as they wear/age, a bit more so than many other a/mkt tires) they will gradually need you to run a slightly lower pressure in order to get the tread compound up to its optimum operating temp as you ride and to avoid developing that centre wear strip and losing traction, especially in the wet!! However, the up-side of this 'hardening up' as they age thing can mean that for some users/in some applications, they get somewhat better milage/life than most!
All of which means that, if you're prepared to monitor your Kumho tires, their pressures, and their rate of wear a little more than you might with some other a/mkt tires, they should work/provide traction at least as well as most, and might even return similar or better milage to that of most other good quality a/mkt tires without any abnormal wear or loss of traction - but only if you are prepared to monitor and adjust their pressures appropriately as they age/harden up!
Just Sayin'
OK, I just put Kumhos on the rear and I need some good news after all of the comments I have seen. What pressure do you recommend? I am currently running 20 lbs.
Leon
The Kumho is a decent tire. But not a great tire. The one thing it has going for it, it's about the only tire other than the OEM Kenda that meets the original tire size. But for traction, especially in rain, and as it begins to wear (especially in colder weather), there are better options. A taller tire will get your speedo more accurate and other tires will provide better overall traction performance.
Yes, you give up a bit of width with the other options. But this is more a cosmetic effect than any reduction in performance on our Spyders.
Put a set of these on my '22 RT about 4K mi ago and am well pleased with them. They balanced with only one weight per wheel. Running 15lb front, 18rear Altimax45.
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OK, I just put Kumhos on the rear and I need some good news after all of the comments I have seen. What pressure do you recommend? I am currently running 20 lbs.
Leon
Unless you are REALLY HEAVY &/or you're always riding at or even beyond the Spyder's carrying capacity; or maybe riding in 100°F+ heat at Freeway Speeds all day; then I really doubt you'd ever need an a/mkt rear tire fitted to a Spyder to require as much as 20psi!
For most people running any a/mkt tire that meets or exceeds the OEM Kenda's Speed and Load specs on the rear of their Spyder, I'd expect 18psi is likely to be the top of the pressure range required, and with a std size Kumho Ecsta on the rear of your Spyder, I'd think that 18psi would work pretty well for most to start with. But as soon as you start to notice any centre tread wear developing or it starts losing traction in the wet & cold; and almost certainly by the time you reach about 10,000 miles on that rear tire, you should gradually start dropping your pressure in order to maintain the traction and keep the wear even across the tread face. Personally, I'd think you should've dropped 2 psi by or around the 10,000 mile mark, or whenever the tire starts losing traction in the wet & cold; and then I'd expect you to need to gradually drop another 1 or maybe 2 psi sometime after reaching about 15-20,000 miles, or when those same conditions mentioned above start becoming obvious again!
But I wouldn't ever drop your a/mkt rear tire below 14psi!!
IIRC, the last Kumho I ran on the rear of my RT still had good tread, traction, wet weather capabilities, and was still at 15 psi when I swapped it out at about the 40,000 mile mark, which I did only because I was just heading off on a fully loaded 10,000 mile tour with expectations of doing a lot of hot high speed miles and a fair bit of riding in monsoonal rain on less than the greatest road surfaces... So I changed brands & replaced all the tires before starting that trip; and I'm actually still running those tires now, with well over 10,000 miles on them now! Without checking, I think it's a 205/65R15 Michelin XMS on the rear now... can't recall what's on the fronts tho, but it is nearly 02:00 here where I am in Oz atm...
Over to you, and if you start to notice that your rear Kumho running at 18psi has started losing traction in the wet, then it's probably cos the tread compound has hardened up a little thru use/exposure to the elements and the tire's now over-inflated by maybe as much as 2psi!
Unless you are REALLY HEAVY &/or you're always riding at or even beyond the Spyder's carrying capacity; or maybe riding in 100°F+ heat at Freeway Speeds all day; then I really doubt you'd ever need an a/mkt rear tire fitted to a Spyder to require as much as 20psi!
For most people running any a/mkt tire that meets or exceeds the OEM Kenda's Speed and Load specs on the rear of their Spyder, I'd expect 18psi is likely to be the top of the pressure range required, and with a std size Kumho Ecsta on the rear of your Spyder, I'd think that 18psi would work pretty well for most to start with. But as soon as you start to notice any centre tread wear developing or it starts losing traction in the wet & cold; and almost certainly by the time you reach about 10,000 miles on that rear tire, you should gradually start dropping your pressure in order to maintain the traction and keep the wear even across the tread face. Personally, I'd think you should've dropped 2 psi by or around the 10,000 mile mark, or whenever the tire starts losing traction in the wet & cold; and then I'd expect you to need to gradually drop another 1 or maybe 2 psi sometime after reaching about 15-20,000 miles, or when those same conditions mentioned above start becoming obvious again!
But I wouldn't ever drop your a/mkt rear tire below 14psi!!
IIRC, the last Kumho I ran on the rear of my RT still had good tread, traction, wet weather capabilities, and was still at 15 psi when I swapped it out at about the 40,000 mile mark, which I did only because I was just heading off on a fully loaded 10,000 mile tour with expectations of doing a lot of hot high speed miles and a fair bit of riding in monsoonal rain on less than the greatest road surfaces... So I changed brands & replaced all the tires before starting that trip; and I'm actually still running those tires now, with well over 10,000 miles on them now! Without checking, I think it's a 205/65R15 Michelin XMS on the rear now... can't recall what's on the fronts tho, but it is nearly 02:00 here where I am in Oz atm...
Over to you, and if you start to notice that your rear Kumho running at 18psi has started losing traction in the wet, then it's probably cos the tread compound has hardened up a little thru use/exposure to the elements and the tire's now over-inflated by maybe as much as 2psi!
Enjoy!
Thanks for your informative reply. I feel a little bit better but if I get 20+ thousand on this rear tire I will not complain too bad.
Leon
Put a set of these on my '22 RT about 4K mi ago and am well pleased with them. They balanced with only one weight per wheel. Running 15lb front, 18rear Altimax45.
I would have thought the Kenda Kanine fronts would have been set to the same PSI as the OEM front Kenda's (20#) ?
2022 RT Sea To Sky
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15 psi in the front Kendas (either version) is ok. Low pressure may give you a cushier ride. But I don't like it because the sidewalls tend to roll under giving you less steering input and less traction on the outside tire which is your main source of both in a turn. I don't think 15 psi gives you any additional tire life. And the fronts last forever anyway if alignment is good.
I recommend between 18~20 psi, depending on loading. But 15 psi isn't a problem.
Tires... again - any feedback on Kumho Rear, Kenda Kanine Fronts?
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Originally Posted by trikermutha
about those Kumho's .... quite a few members here who have used them, have reported this .....Mike 
) for the lighter load of a Spyder vs that of most cars when they're new; but they will tend to 'harden up' & apparently 'lose traction' as they age/rack up the miles, developing that typical 'over-inflated' strip of wear down the centre of the tread, especially if you stick with that same pressure you worked out when new and stay with that from there on!! 
