New Front Tires Installed

[MarkLawson]

Bought a pair of 175/65R14 Michelin Defenders tires today for the front wheels. A pain to get inside the fenders, but seem to fit fine once I got them on. I now have Michelins all around with the HydroEdge on the rear. All are highly rated in traction & braking (dry/wet) & rated for 90,000 miles. Have no idea how they'll last on the Spyder, but very well could reach their age limit before I wear them out. I guess we'll see...

[StriperKing]

You will love car tires on the front!

[larryd]

Bought a pair of 175/65R14 Michelin Defenders tires today for the front wheels. A pain to get inside the fenders, but seem to fit fine once I got them on. I now have Michelins all around with the HydroEdge on the rear. All are highly rated in traction & braking (dry/wet) & rated for 90,000 miles. Have no idea how they'll last on the Spyder, but very well could reach their age limit before I wear them out. I guess we'll see...

Do you have the 215/60R15 Hydroedge on the rear??? or do they make the 225/50R15 in the hydroedge??

Also, are the Defenders a directional tire?? It sure would be nice to be able to rotate left to righ and right to left without demounting, remounting & rebalancing...

I need to gets tires on my 08 GS before this riding starts in PA...

thanks, larryd

[ulflyer]

The Hydroedge is being discontinued. I thing Defender is the replacement now. I've been shopping for another rear before Spyderfest and have about settled on a Cooper CS4, 780AA, US made, 205-60-15, which is the size I have on it now. That tire is a General Altimax and at 10K looks to have maybe 5K left, but since I want to have new rear bearings and belt adj before the trip, figured I might as well cough up another $90 for the Cooper. Its a so-called 80K compared to the Defender which is 90K/820AB for $123. The Hydroedge had a better looking tread pattern than the Defender, but must be a reason they've discontinued.

[CyncySpyder]

We did similar on Teds Red Sled and went with a slighly wider than stock on the front tires and are very happy with the change. Just double check to make sure that your Fender-Tip light wiring that runs along the fender bracket has enough clearance from your tire. I think it was Coz that noticed this issue on ours, when he had stopped by a few weeks back. There's a small clip mount that holds the wiring alongside the fender bracket and I was able to just move it more to the back of the bracket, so that the wire doesn't have chance to rub against the tire. Glad he noticed that csuse I didn't. Just thought I'd share this & hope it helps.

Dav n Ted~

[Bob Denman]

So what are the acceptable alternates to the standar 165/65-R14?

[ARtraveler]

I also wish I could try the darkside when it comes to tires. Since I drive pretty much over 15,000 miles each season, I am always having to replace at least the back tire. I did get about 25,000 out of the original fronts on my 2010, but we will see what happens this summer.

My dealer will not install non OEM tires and I am kind of held hostage there. The fronts would not be a problem--but I don't want a non-dealer screwing with taking the back end of my apart.

[MarkLawson]

Do you have the 215/60R15 Hydroedge on the rear??? or do they make the 225/50R15 in the hydroedge??

Also, are the Defenders a directional tire?? It sure would be nice to be able to rotate left to righ and right to left without demounting, remounting & rebalancing...

I need to gets tires on my 08 GS before this riding starts in PA...

thanks, larryd

The HydroEdge is 215/60R15. They don't make them anymore. The Defender is the replacement. There is no direction of rotation arrow on them, but there is an inner & outer sidewall. One tire is running the reverse tread pattern. I'll have to check if that is intentional or if there is supposed to be a left and right tire.

[Bob Denman]

So how close are you to the dealers up there? If there are others within a "reasonable" distance; it might be worth calling to see if they'd mount a tire that doesn't have "Kenda" tatooed on the sidewall...
After all, EBaying a tire seems pretty easy... If you can roll your own up to the shop doors; it might save enough to make it all a worthwhile adventure!

[ARtraveler]

There is only one "alternative" dealer, and I would not go there.

[MarkLawson]

Take your wheels off and take them to a car tire store. They can do them.

[Bob Denman]

Not everybody has the skillsets to remove that rear wheel...

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Take your wheels off and take them to a car tire store. They can do them.

Only the fronts ...to the best of my knowledge .........MTC shops can do the rear....Mike

[3up]

I just replaced my orginal rear tire with the hydroedge last week. The tire looks great. The Tire Depot had 3 of these tires in stock. The manager did not say anything about these tire being discontinued. I hope not, later I would like to replace the front with the same tire.