Do we owe Kenda an apology?

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

On the recent new to me 2018 RTL which had 8240 miles on the clock when I bought it, I found that it had a vibration at highway speed, so I moved the my Centramatic balancers from the front of my other Spyder to the new one. Out of the highway I could see the left front Kenda not running true and still causing a vibration in the trike. The rim appeared to be running true, so the issue was the tire. So I put the PPA wheels and Vredestein Quatrac SL on it and it VERY smooth on the road now. The Champagne one got it's original wheels with Federal Formoza tires re-installed.

AT 1,249 miles the Elka shocks and 2013 RS blade style wheels were installed(moving the OEM Kendas to the new wheels, and I have the OEM wheels without tires) with 2 oz counteract balance beads in each wheel/tire. And this Spyder got a new set of Kenda tires because of issues at 1,383 miles, as I have all the service records on it. So it appears that Kenda tires have been an issue with this one right off the dealers showroom floor. I probably should call the seller and tell him the vibrations have been solved.

Thanks .... I've said this and so has Peter ..... Kenda tires that can NOT be balanced is not UNUSUAL and the ratio of defective tires produced by Kenda is quite large ..... JMHO ....Mike :thumbup:

 

[Cobwebs]

Bit of an update on the apology I sent to Kenda. Pretty much I've managed to smooth things over with them and all is forgiven (phew! ray. Here's the reply................

Deer missa Clackplot, thanking ewe much of the edumucasion eferts to Spy Duh oners. Ewe won of de millyon :firstplace: Owr now cumpeny wif bigggnus. Wee sent ewe tim of lieff suplie Kendas sew ewe now spin biggly dem bernowts :bbq: If ewer hart kined an ounce munthlee speshall too uther burn boise flee ere inn everly tier. nojoke Later dude.


So there you go, I think I got away with it................just, :shocked: so we probably should back off the negative reports for a while (well at least till I get my tyre bundle). :cheers:

 

[ARtraveler]

Bit of an update on the apology I sent to Kenda. Pretty much I've managed to smooth things over with them and all is forgiven (phew! ray. Here's the reply................

Deer missa Clackplot, thanking ewe much of the edumucasion eferts to Spy Duh oners. Ewe won of de millyon :firstplace: Owr now cumpeny wif bigggnus. Wee sent ewe tim of lieff suplie Kendas sew ewe now spin biggly dem bernowts :bbq: If ewer hart kined an ounce munthlee speshall too uther burn boise flee ere inn everly tier. nojoke Later dude.


So there you go, I think I got away with it................just, :shocked: so we probably should back off the negative reports for a while (well at least till I get my tyre bundle). :cheers:

Thanks for the headache. :bowdown: That translation of Japenese to Aussie puts quite a twist and it took a while for it to come through. One word at a time, no plobrum. Many words. :gaah: :roflblack:

 

[Cobwebs]

Thanks for the headache. :bowdown: That translation of Japenese to Aussie puts quite a twist and it took a while for it to come through. One word at a time, no plobrum. Many words. :gaah: :roflblack:

Quite a skill to speak fluent Kendran isn't it.:congrats::clap:

 

[Snoking1127]

Quite a skill to speak fluent Kendran isn't it.:congrats::clap:

Maybe you could explain your reason to start this worthless thread? At least in America we know Kenda tires are subpar. Maybe driving on the left side of the road compensates for the short comings of the Kenda tires.

 

[Cobwebs]

Maybe you could explain your reason to start this worthless thread? At least in America we know Kenda tires are subpar. Maybe driving on the left side of the road compensates for the short comings of the Kenda tires.

Just a small correction there if I may... We also drive on the right-hand side of the road, but only when we're heading home. :yes:

 

[Snoking1127]

Just a small correction there if I may... We also drive on the right-hand side of the road, but only when we're heading home. :yes:

I drove of the other "right" side of the road for 11 months in Thailand summer of 1966 to summer of 1967. We had this US Coast Guard 5 ton truck, a Int Travelall, and a Int 6 pack pickup all with right hand drive, at a Loran C radio navigation station where I was a construction crew member/first year crew member. Second picture is one I took from the top on the 625' tower. I climbed the tower "hot" during the turn up period. Transmitter was taken down for a couple minutes to mount and again to dismount the tower.

 

[Cobwebs]

I drove of the other "right" side of the road for 11 months in Thailand summer of 1966 to summer of 1967. We had this US Coast Guard 5 ton truck, a Int Travelall, and a Int 6 pack pickup all with right hand drive, at a Loran C radio navigation station where I was a construction crew member/first year crew member. Second picture is one I took from the top on the 625' tower. I climbed the tower "hot" during the turn up period. Transmitter was taken down for a couple minutes to mount and again to dismount the tower.

How the hell do you do that, if I look through binoculars backwards I get dizzy!
We get a lot of Yankee tourists here that just can't adapt so they reverse everywhere. You hear em valve bouncing from miles away.:roflblack:

 

[old Timer]

Bro Snoking1127, Huevos Grande. :thumbup:

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

This thread has gone totally off the rails :gaah: ..... maybe it should be Closed .... JMHO ....Mike :banghead:

 

[BajaRon]

This thread has gone totally off the rails :gaah: ..... maybe it should be Closed .... JMHO ....Mike :banghead:

I'm not sure it was ever on the rails!

 

[Cobwebs]

I'm still waiting for answers to the detrimental effects of heavier tyres.

 

[BajaRon]

I'm still waiting for answers to the detrimental effects of heavier tyres.

You assume that car tires are heavier because they are better made. But using stronger material does not necessarily mean a heavier tire.

I just weighed the tires in our shop. Here is what I got.

OEM Kenda 255/50/15 - 21.5 lbs.
General Altimax 215/60/15 - 20.0 lbs.

OEM Kenda 165/55/15 - 16.0 lbs.
Vredestein 165/60/15 - 13.5 lbs.

 

[vito1943]

I bought my first Spyder RT new in the summer of 2021. Right now I have just under 12,000 miles on the OEM Kenda tires. The front tires look like new. The rear tire does not look like new, but the tire looks fine and has a reasonable amount of tread. I can't say that I am unhappy with the Kendas at all. I need to schedule the RT for an oil change, so I might consider new tires at that time.

 

[Cobwebs]

You assume that car tires are heavier because they are better made. But using stronger material does not necessarily mean a heavier tire.

I just weighed the tires in our shop. Here is what I got.

Kenda 255/50/15 - 21.5 lbs.
General Altimax 215/60/15 - 20.0 lbs.

Kenda 165/55/15 - 16.0 lbs.
Vredestein 165/60/15 - 13.5 lbs.

All new I presume?
So the lower pressures needed to get car tyres up to temp are purely from the overly stiff sidewalls?
The longer wear times are from harder compound rubber at the expence of traction?
The tread patterns don't matter in the wet if it's a heavier car v Spyder?

 

[BajaRon]

All new I presume?
So the lower pressures needed to get car tyres up to temp are purely from the overly stiff sidewalls?
The longer wear times are from harder compound rubber at the expence of traction?
The tread patterns don't matter in the wet if it's a heavier car v Spyder?

Actually, the OEM Kenda's had some wear, but not much. The others were brand new. Just got them in yesterday.

Longer wearing tread compound can translate into less traction. Especially in the wet. But we've found that some tires will give as good or better wet traction than the Kenda's. Tread pattern and rubber compound can definitely make a difference. And, as you point out, this is exaggerated with the lighter Spyder. This is why we don't recommend just throwing any tire that meets the size requirement on a Spyder. That can definitely be less than ideal.

 

[Snoking1127]

All new I presume?
So the lower pressures needed to get car tyres up to temp are purely from the overly stiff sidewalls?
The longer wear times are from harder compound rubber at the expence of traction?
The tread patterns don't matter in the wet if it's a heavier car v Spyder?

Go bury your dog bone and have a beer.

 

[Knizar]

Go bury your dog bone and have a beer.

Snoking, "Please, DON'T POKE the Bear!":lecturef_smilie:

 

[Snoking1127]

Snoking, "Please, DON'T POKE the Bear!":lecturef_smilie:

Looks and sounds like a bulldog to me!

 

[Cobwebs]

Actually, the OEM Kenda's had some wear, but not much. The others were brand new. Just got them in yesterday.

Longer wearing tread compound can translate into less traction. Especially in the wet. But we've found that some tires will give as good or better wet traction than the Kenda's. Tread pattern and rubber compound can definitely make a difference. And, as you point out, this is exaggerated with the lighter Spyder. This is why we don't recommend just throwing any tire that meets the size requirement on a Spyder. That can definitely be less than ideal.

Just weighed a new set of Kanines I have waiting to be fitted to wife's bike for everyone's info. Fronts are 13.9lb each rear 21.6lb. So same amount of material as a car tyre. No skimping there then.
Reason I'm sticking to my guns on this is yeah, sure, we get a few complaints here about the Kendas, I get that, but for every complaint there must be thousands of happy campers with no gripes. I get the quality control might have been hit and miss and may still be, but if you get a bad one take it back and ask for another, same as with anything.
But I'll die if I use them.... Compare the odds to eating bacon. :dontknow:
My experience with the stock Kendas has been nothing but positive with dry grip and braking (my favorite part about them) awesome - Something I found that was severely lacking with a rear car tyre that was recommended by Australian riders and I put that down to the overly hard compound that simply doesn't suit Spyders. Don't believe everything you read is the lesson there.
I don't know what the UTQG rating is for Kendas but it would be an interesting comparison to car tyres that are being used.
As for the actual materials used in the Kendas v car tyres show me the side by side comparison or it's just guessing it's different.
Finally, I would still rather those deep unused strips of rubber on the rear when I'm down to the wear bars than a shallower tread depth car tyre that's seen too many seasons cause it won't wear out, has hardened up even further, and is only serving the purpose of saving money v providing grip, real grip!