A note on tire compounds.

[jcthorne]

Rear tires on my GT are about bald and just over 8000 miles. And they are top line Bridgestones that cost a bit more than Kendas. Suppose I should complain to Bridgestone?

They are what they are, BRP told us why and that they changed back based on consumer input. At least they are listening. Hopefully one day when thier contract with Kenda plays out, there will be other options as well. Maybe not. No other viable options for my GT either. Thank you mister Bridgestone, may I have another?

 

[valkraider]

​Thank you Steve for this information......and if you have any influence at BRP please ask them to inquire with a real tire manufacturer about having one of their products certified for use on a Motorcycle ........Thank you......Mike :thumbup:

Hey Mike - just an FYI, your blue text is near impossible to read on some mobile themes...




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Posted from my iPhone using the "Tapatalk" app.

 

[Bob Denman]

Wow! That's not "near impossible"... :shocked:

 

[Bumble_B]

I have been reading this site for many months before buying a 2014 RT-S. I do not recall seeing any posts from owners complaining about rear tire traction prior to BRP changing their specs to a softer compound. So, my question is, why cost me and almost every other 2014 owner more money on tire replacement intervals when their was no basis for the change?

The equivalent scenario would be putting Goodyear F1's on my passenger car. Twice the grip and half the tread life is useless on my 4 door sedan, which is what the RT series is equivalent to in the motorcycle world. Asking if BRP would be willing to assist in defraying the cost of a replacement tire that got 7, 8, or 9,000 miles less wear than other "motorcycle" tires seems reasonable to me.

A touring bike should be marketed with a touring tire. Even my 2011 Road Glide got 21,000 miles on the OEM rear tire with no complaints about traction (except for the last couple hundred miles in the rain which was a whole new experience.)

 

[valkraider]

Tires. Oil. Politics....

My Triumph Rocket III Touring pretty much eats tires.


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Posted from my iPhone using the "Tapatalk" app.

 

[Bob Denman]

I have been reading this site for many months before buying a 2014 RT-S. I do not recall seeing any posts from owners complaining about rear tire traction prior to BRP changing their specs to a softer compound. So, my question is, why cost me and almost every other 2014 owner more money on tire replacement intervals when their was no basis for the change?

Perhaps BRP went to the stickier tire for better traction, and felt that the increased safety was worth it? :dontknow:

 

[Flanker]

We can be a tough crowd sometimes. :roflblack:

I am happy that BRP came on and told it like it is.

It appears that longevity was given up for better handling. Apparently, it was one or the other. I cannot fault them for that.

I am glad the issue has been "solved" in less than a year. IMO--they don't owe a refund, and I would not go there. It would be nice though, if we had more than one tire brand choice.

opcorn:opcorn:opcorn:

Well said!

To those claiming the soft compound was "defective"...........................I usually get about 2500-3000 miles out of a R tire on my ZX 14 (no burn outs or hard starts). Soft isn't defective...................it just sticks better.

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Hey Mike - just an FYI, your blue text is near impossible to read on some mobile themes...View attachment 97450




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Posted from my iPhone using the "Tapatalk" app.

:hun:....I enlarged your PIC and my question is .....Since I'm typing this in BLACK can you read it at all ???????, since your background is Black then I need to be typing in WHITE !!!!!!........But then only everyone else will be able to read it .......Mike :thumbup:

 

[PMK]

When we get about 1K miles on the rear tire of our tandem road bicycle, which is about 3 months of riding, and spend close to the price of a car tire I get concerned.

Then I consider the consequences of crashing an expensive tandem bike while basically riding with no real safety gear except a helmet, plus any injuries to myself or wife, money spent on tires, is normally never a complaint in this household.

Granted a tandem bicycle is not a Spyder. The Spyder may be faster, but 50 mph on a bicycle is pretty quick (she refused to pedal downhill to go faster). Even at 20 mph plus on flat roads is no fun to crash from a bad tire.

Spend what you want, can afford and works as you believe it should. You can't write the check as you lose control, but it is easy to replace a worn tire.

Car tire or Kenda, but complaining about tire wear just seems slightly insignificant in the big picture.

Have fun and all the best with it.

PK

 

[Orange Spyder Man]

Who said no one can build a better tire? And I don't think anyone expected you to go out and buy another Kenda. There ARE better choices. And what does your Goldwing have to do with anything?

BRP pretty much straightforwardly said that they thought people would want a tire that had better grip but didn't last as long. They were wrong (which they admitted) so they went back to a tire that lasted longer but didn't have as much grip. Just like most riders wanted.

What more do you want them to do?

I was just making a point that tires can last longer... a GoldWing weighs in at 650lbs... and only has 2 - TWO tires... and I got over 30,000 miles on Bridgestone tires on more than one set.. my point in case you don't comprehend... someone can make better tires that last and still provide good traction..

what I want them to do... ??? you ask.. ? ... I think BRP should make some sort of adjustment for on a tire that does not last 10,000 miles... they chose a 2 ply $180 tire .. gee whiz... other tires that are 4 ply cost less than half the cost of what BRP chose to install on these machines.. they knew full well how much these Spyders weigh and how much torque these machines make.. so they dropped the ball.. and its costing the buyers for their mistakes..
they screwed up ... and we get to foot the bill...

 

[valkraider]

:hun:....I enlarged your PIC and my question is .....Since I'm typing this in BLACK can you read it at all ???????, since your background is Black then I need to be typing in WHITE !!!!!!........But then only everyone else will be able to read it .......Mike :thumbup:

If you don't specify any specific color - then it works with any app or theme.

If you specify a color, then your color may conflict with a given theme. Your original post had the tag COLOR=#0000ff which forced the blue text.

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Posted from my iPhone using the "Tapatalk" app.

 

[MRH]

Just a bit of irony.

I service my 2014 RT every 5K miles. It is just too far and too much time to go in "in another 1500 miles" to change a tire - the cost in time isn't worth it. Lou in Riverside does my service, and the rear tire he put on (not a Kendra, but I don't recall the brand) at 5K miles still has about 1.5K to go now that my Spyder is at 10K miles. Given the less than $200 to change the tire (he's always very fair), that gives me the choice of bringing it back in for about $50 in tire wear. $50 isn't worth the time involved, so in the end a 5K tire and a tire with less than 10K end up being about the same for me.

This service, at 10K, I did my second oil change (he suggests 5K miles, even on the 2014's and I trust him), had the alignment checked (no need to do it again!), replaced the rear tire for the second time, and the front two tires for the first time (again, I could have waited a bit, but not long enough to justify the cost in time and effort), and replaced the rear brakes. Compared to a car, the cost of maintenance is outrageous, but this isn't a car.

Here's the great thing. Aside from one bad component that was leading oil (which BRP not only fixed, but approved taking off a unit on my dealer's floor), this has been a very solid Spyder, and very much appears to also be for many others. There are some real issues to complain about if you happen to have a 2013, and my 2010 was also problem prone, but this is a very solid machine - and one that appears to the result of a lot of learned lessons and response to what we've put on our wish lists. So, the back tire wears out a bit quickly. Big F------ Deal.

 

[Ronbo]

SOFTER REAR TIRE

As some here have already noticed, BRP has brought back the rear tire compound for the Spyder RT from 2012 and prior. Since this June, any rear tire ordered will last longer (at the expense of some high-speed performance) than the pre-May '14 tire that generated certain longevity concerns.

Note that the pre-May '14 2014 tire is not defective - the compound used was softer so it was considered a higher-performing tire, but it did not achieve the same mileage as previous (and the previous and now current) tire compound.

A production change took place in June. All Spyders produced from that date ship have a rear tire with the longer lasting compound. Although we saw many benefits from the newer, softer tire compound, we heard the concerns folks about longevity and decided to revert back to the previous one.

Thank you Steve,

For the great information. The increased performance was quite noticeable in the softer tire, I really like'd it! I replaced it with a Kumho (which I also like), but can tell the difference in the twisties. Thank you for taking time to give us the info.

There must be some of the softer tires still out at dealers or somewhere. Anybody know where I can get a couple?

Ron

 

[Bumble_B]

Don't use Kendra tires, I never go back to using the stock tires, the mileage is terrible on both compounds, I just use the Kumho Ecsta AST and for $81 with free shipping, it's a much better tire and the handling is a lot better than anything Kendra makes, don't believe all the hype about it not being a motorcycle tire. I currently only have 3,600 miles on my Kendra and it's already down to the rain wear bars, never got better than 5,000 miles out of one and I don't use my bike as a touring model

But it is a "higher performance Kenda" tire on the '14's. Those three words look odd together.

 

[Art Mann]

I expect that the soft rubber formulation sticks to the road much better than the one they have gone back to. Hardly anyone will notice the difference because hardly anyone rides that close to the edge. I used to ride close to the edge on two wheels and I would gladly accept 2500 miles on a set of tires rather than risk the poor traction of a car or even cruiser tire. I didn't buy a Spyder for that kind of riding. BRP just made a bad judgement call using a formulation that is way overkill for the intended use. I just appreciate that they were man enough to admit it and tell everybody. In the automotive world, mid year design changes like this one happen all the time but the public never hears about it.

 

[2dogs]

WOW Steve

Look what you caused with just a little good information. Three pages and growing..................:gaah::banghead: :dontknow::bdh:

 

[DrewNJ]

But it is a "higher performance Kenda" tire on the '14's. Those three words look odd together.

Even more odd would be "High Performance, Kenda, Spyder RT"....haha

 

[BajaRon]

Look what you caused with just a little good information. Three pages and growing..................:gaah::banghead: :dontknow::bdh:

This thread may have more TRACTION than either of the Kenda rubber compounds!

 

[flaggerphil]

I was just making a point that tires can last longer... a GoldWing weighs in at 650lbs... and only has 2 - TWO tires... and I got over 30,000 miles on Bridgestone tires on more than one set.. my point in case you don't comprehend... someone can make better tires that last and still provide good traction..

what I want them to do... ??? you ask.. ? ... I think BRP should make some sort of adjustment for on a tire that does not last 10,000 miles... they chose a 2 ply $180 tire .. gee whiz... other tires that are 4 ply cost less than half the cost of what BRP chose to install on these machines.. they knew full well how much these Spyders weigh and how much torque these machines make.. so they dropped the ball.. and its costing the buyers for their mistakes..
they screwed up ... and we get to foot the bill...

I think you're making a lot of suppositions here.

 

[DrewNJ]

I had to look it up....[emoji23]
http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/supposition