Rear tire mileage - How are you people getting 10,000 + miles on Kenda tires?

[Deanna777]

A General Altimax on the back will easily get 30-40 thousand miles, maybe more. Car tires like the Vredestein on the front will get similar mileage. And the trike will handle better.

HI Snoking117,

When I had my 2014 RTS-SE6 I ran the General Altimax tire on the rear and I got 24,176 miles on it. I changed the rear tire at 5,824 miles. At that time the OEM Kenda tire was not safe to be driven, and it had it worn in the middle. The spyder had 30,000.00 + miles on it when I trade it for my current Spyder.

My current Spyder, which is a 2023 F3 LTD SS, has 8,747.2 miles on it. I still have good tread on it. I can see the wear bars which are below the tire tread by a penny's thickness.

Deanna

 

[mrpeeps240]

@Leroy, please don't do this ^ to an OEM Kenda or any Kenda clone on the rear of your Spyder - it's DANGEROUSLY UNDER-INFLATED!!

The Kendas are tires manufactured with a lightweight construction that NEEDS the higher pressure specified for them simply to carry the load of your Spyder, and it's that construction that causes the centre of the tire to throw out during rotation and create the excessive wear, NOT over-inflation!!

Pretty much no matter how low you drop their pressure, your OEM Kendas/Kenda Clones will STILL wear out the centre of the tread. So by lowering your OEM KENDA's/KENDA Clone's tire pressures like that,

You are risking catastrophic tire failure due to under-inflation,

which is not something you do when you lower the pressure on a much stronger constructed 'normal' car tire, which is capable of carrying much greater loads at the pressures the Kenda's/Clone's need just to carry your Spyder, and so they remain still well capable of carrying your Spyder's loads at the lower pressures talked about here!

So please, for your own safety and that of the other road users around you,

DO NOT RUN LOW PRESSURES LIKE THAT IN AN OEM KENDA or KENDA CLONE FITTED TO THE REAR OF YOUR SPYDER!

In fact, if you've run those 'too low pressures' for anything much more than maybe 100 miles, you've possibly, if not probably, irreparably damaged the internals of your tire anyway, and you really should replace it immediately - this is NOT a joke, nor is the damage anything that can be easily seen until you remove the tire and cut it up to inspect its internals; but having a tire explode and completely disintegrate at any sort of speed due to the sort of damage which is quite likely caused by running those 'too low pressures' in the lightly constructed Kenda's/Clone's, is really not something you want to experience - many who do experience this sort of catastrophic tire failure at speed on a motor cycle or trike do not survive!

If you want good mileage out of a kenda never drive over 20mph

 

[Fvee3]

Don’t know about Kenda on a Spyder but I have a Ryker Rally with 19757 miles on my stock Kenda tires. I’ve done NJ to Nova Scotia and NJ to Louisiana and back. Also many burnouts. I agree they are not grippy and quite scary at times in the rain but I think I’ll get 22000 on the rear and maybe 26000 on the fronts.

 

[Jb74texan]

Car tires aren't recommended by BRP because they want to sell the crapola kendas! No more, no less!
Thousands of satisfied Spyder drivers run car tires!

BRP recommendation is likely based on contract language with the manufacturer, very common practice in these agreements.

From what I hear from my former colleagues, Kenda was/is well positioned for "mass" producing tires for the Spyder platform. I'm guessing the bid volume on this RFP was thin among the larger manufacturers.

Personally, I like the Kumho and Continentals for my ride. Just my $.02

 

[Snoking1127]

If you want good mileage out of a kenda never drive over 20mph

Or put just less than 6K on it in 8 years, like the 2018 I recently bought. I replaced those looking fine 8 year old tires with Vredesteins and a General.

 

[Deanna777]

Current mileage update on my 2023 F3 LTD SS: is 9,357.9 miles. I still have the OEM tires all around on it.

I'm hoping to get to the 10,000+ miles on them this season. I have the rest of this month, + 2 more months before the Spyder goes into hibernation (then I get ready for the snowmobile season).

Deanna

 

[mecsw500]

I know not everyone agrees, but I find the current XPS branded Kenda tires are an improvement over the originals I had on my 2021 bike.

Having had the opportunity to run a good few thousand miles on them they seem better on 100F days, not feeling so greasy on black top.

They are certainly much better in torrential rain both in the cold and the warm.

Mine are better balanced and their differing sidewall compressibility seems to suit the front suspension spring rates and damping for a more stable ride over rough surfaces.

They do appear to be wearing better than the originals too.

Now I’m not saying they are perfect, nor am I saying certain brands and specifications of car tires aren’t better. My sample set is one.

I’m not an aggressive rider who would benefit from slicks but I don’t hang about, even two up. I don’t feel my tires are the limiting factor in my cornering speed. I think my 80% limit probably limits my cornering speed, and likely considerably less in the mountains with thousand foot drops off roads with no guard rail.

However, I do think BRP has made Kenda step up its game a little. I’m going to see how it goes when it’s time to replace my tires but they aren’t the kind of fitment where I’m going to rush out and replace them before I wear them out.

I’m getting old, so I’m not unmounting wheels, especially the rear, to take them to an automotive tire shop for a tire change. My local dealer has declined to fit car tires as is their right to do. So unless something catastrophic happens, replacing these latest tires with the same again won’t trouble me as much as in the past.