I had the Kumho and was not impressed. It was fine when it was brand new, but as Peter said, it got pretty scary when the tread started wearing down. I tow a trailer on most of our vacation rides, and I stopped in OH for the night just a few hours from home, because the tire had gotton so bad in the rain. Dry traction was still good.
I have been a big proponent of mounting car tires to Spyders from early on. Frankly, the OEM Kendas are atrocious. But I have found the same thing you mention to be true with some of the car tires I've tried. The Toyo Proxes TR1 was my 1st, and the best car tire I've used. It wore evenly across the full tread area, ran smooth and gave me good traction, wet or dry, all the way to the end. But this tire doesn't come in sizes that we can use anymore. The Falken 912 that I am running now came highly recommend. And it does fine in the dry. But gets very greasy in the rain. In my opinion, probably just about any car tire will work well in good weather. But not necessarily in the rain, or as they wear. Still, worlds better than the OEM Kendas and a worthwhile compromise for just about everyone.
Enter the Kenda Kanine. Kenda builds the OEM Spyder tires for BRP based upon BRP specs. Not
NECESSARILY a Kenda issue. There was a 12 year patent or Non-Compete (not sure which) on them which has now expired. Kenda
CAN build a decent tire. Now I know why they didn't for the Spyder. From the feedback I'm getting, which is admittedly somewhat scarce, these new Kenda Kanines may be the answer I've been looking for.
I am always looking for a better product or way to do things. Though car tires are a big improvement over the OEM Kendas. They, for me at least, have not been ideal. I really want to stay with the OEM tire sizes, which have become harder and harder to find in a car tire.
With a car tire you're always going to be trading traction for longer life. A car tire is always going to have a lot more pounds per square inch on the tread area built into the equation. So, for other than race tires, rubber compounds are harder. Traction, for a car, is still good because of the weight/pressure on the tread surface. Not so with a Spyder application. Especially in the rain where the rear tire on the Spyder is prone to hydroplane because it is very light with a wide tire.
For many, car tires are a great trade-off. As it was for me with the Toyo. But for me, I'd be willing to sacrifice some longevity for improved traction. Especially in wet conditions.
So, I am swapping all 3 tires out for the new Kenda Kanines. The Falkens I am running now are almost new. But I don't like them, so it isn't a big sacrifice and I want to know if the feedback I'm getting on the Kenda Kanines is accurate. It appears that Kenda has addressed the things I hate about the OEM tires.
#1, the weak tread area with just 2 plies on the OEM Kendas. This causes the rear tire to balloon out at speed, reducing the contact patch to about 2.5 inches. This is why they wear out so quickly in the middle. The Kanines have a 3 ply tread construction (car tires typically have 4 ply. But again, this is a weight carrying component). Will 3 plies be enough to resolve the ballooning, reduced contact patch, uneven wear issue? From feedback I've gotten, the answer seems to be yes. We'll see.
#2, many of the OEM Kendas are not round, (which you can't fix). And even if they are round, it takes a lot of weight to balance the wheel. From feedback I've gotten, this has also been addressed in the Kanine. Again, we'll see. I will know the answer to this soon as I plan to have them mounted this week.
#3, then we could talk about the cord failures with the OEM tires. Design or production flaw? We'll see.
The rubber compound on the Kanines (as with the OEM tires) should be better suited to the weight and traction needs of the Spyder. I am hoping that the Kanines are a good option for people, like me, who are willing to trade some tire mileage for better traction. I have not promoted or listed the Kanines yet. I want to run them first. But I do have a source for them. I've already sent a few sets out. It's early. But so far, customers have been happy.
I am hoping it doesn't take 12 years to get a decent tire for the Ryker!
I will keep you posted.
20210410_181957 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/182341401@N05/
tire by https://www.flickr.com/photos/182341401@N05/
) the Kumho's tend to gradually wear into layers of compound that are a little harder than the brand new compound, so you might find you need to drop your tire pressure a little more (1 or 2 psi maybe?! :dontknow: ) in order to maintain the high degree of wet road traction they are capable of (if they aren't providing fantastic wet weather traction from the start, then check/lower your tire pressure a touch! 
) 
) then that'll be a 'great improvement' or possibly even better! :thumbup:
20210416_150700 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/182341401@N05/
