Front tire question

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

I was talking with the service manager at the local dealer today to ask about rear tires. We got to talking about the front tires. He said he had a customer who bought a used Spyder that had car tires on the front. The guy was unhappy with the steering saying it sure was hard to steer. The dealer changed the tires to the OEM Kendas. The owner was much happier and said the steering was much easier and that he wouldn't wish his worst enemy car tires on the front. I don't understand why there would be so much difference, but apparently in this case there was.

Those of you who have put car tires on the front what has been your experience with handling differences? I know there isn't near the push here to dump the Kendas for the front like there is for the rear. I find it interesting that there may be something else to consider in tire choice other than mileage. We tend to focus on mileage here.

Talking about the rear tire the service manager said the challenge that BRP is dealing with is getting a tire that has good traction because the rear is so light. The situation is worse with the RS and ST as they are quite a bit lighter in the rear than the RT is. The lack of weight on the rear tire is one reason he discourages using car tires on the back as there isn't the weight to give good traction like you have on a car. He will mount a car tire for a customer but he doesn't approve of it! But in spite of that I just ordered a General Altimax for the rear! My Kenda is bald in the center at 8200 miles. I will say I was not 100% enamored with the wet road traction of the Michelin Hydroedge I put on my 2013 RT.

 

[Deanna777]

I am running the Continental Contiprocontact Size 165/60 R15on the front, the General Altimax RT 43 on the rear. I have a 2014RTS-SE6.

The Continental Contiprocontact tires what a difference, quiter, no hydroplaning, great road contact, hugs the road, the steering it great. I am running them @ 19psi. I have 1,293 miles on the Continental Contiprocontact. Total mileage on spyder is 14,100 miles. The Kenda's were changed @ 12,807 miles.

The General Altimax RT 43 is excellent tire, this is my second season with the General, I have a lot of tread left. I do not get any noise. I am running the General Altimax RT 43 on the rear.

Here is the Performance Evaluation on the General:
Wet: Hydroplaning Resistance 8.6

Traction 8.7

DRY: Cornering Stability 8.7

Dry Traction 9.0

Steering Response 8.6

Comfort:

Ride Quality 8.6

Noise 8.3

Tread wear 8.7

I am running the General @ 26psi.

Also I had my can-am dealership install my tires.

Deanna

 

[AeroPilot]

Hard to steer?

None of our RT's have been hard to steer, and I suspect the story was an embellishment. I have run car tires on the front and rear of the RT and noticed that the Kendas and Kumhos get "slippy" on wet roads. I guess I'm not sensitive enough to the grip characteristics and only feel it when things get wet, so both "Nanny" and common sense tell me to slow down for those conditions. If I was trying to keep up with the sport bikes, I might be looking for softer grippier tires.

I have run Michelin Defenders on the front and rear of our 2011 RT and would expect that they would grip less due to their harder, longer wearing rubber formulation. They did wear and roll well. My wifes 15 RT has Kumho Solus KH16s on front and the second Kumho Ecsta Ast just put on at 32,000 miles. The original Kendas wore well, with 23,000 out of the fronts and 12,500 from the rear and still some tread showing when I changed them out. I have another Kumho for the rear but we'll see how the fronts wear and go from there. The wife is very happy with how her new tires handle and ride. I know she would let me know if she wasn't happy. Happy Wife, Happy Life!
Others will have their own preferences and opinions.

 

[Bob Denman]

I'm seriously looking at the Kumho Solus, in a 155/60-15 size for up front, when the Kendas are done...
I've always had good luck with them up front, but the Kumho pricing is undeniably more affordable!

 

[scott16119]

I thought the Kenda tires were fine in the front until I replaced them with car tires. I never realized it but there is a considerable amount of sidewall flex with the Kenda tires. It truly does feel like it's "on rails" with car tires. I have Bridgestone Potenza's in front and a General Altimax tire in back.

 

[AeroPilot]

and being a non-directional tire you can flip or rotate them..

I'm seriously looking at the Kumho Solus, in a 155/60-15 size for up front, when the Kendas are done...
I've always had good luck with them up front, but the Kumho pricing is undeniably more affordable!

Just swapped wheels on the front to let the "low" or curb-side tire have a little rest on the middle or crown side of the road after 8,000 miles. Still wearing better than the OEM's with no "feathering" evident.

 

[Deer Slayer]

16 psi. nitrogen

I am at 25,000 and going on Kenda tyres. I ride the twisties quite a bit. Red light aligned at Honda Can Am of Winston-Salem, NC. I run 16 psi cold. Book reads 15 cold. RS-S is light and pressure appears spot on.
:riding:

 

[Highwayman2013]

I was talking with the service manager at the local dealer today to ask about rear tires. We got to talking about the front tires. He said he had a customer who bought a used Spyder that had car tires on the front. The guy was unhappy with the steering saying it sure was hard to steer. The dealer changed the tires to the OEM Kendas. The owner was much happier and said the steering was much easier and that he wouldn't wish his worst enemy car tires on the front. I don't understand why there would be so much difference, but apparently in this case there was.

Those of you who have put car tires on the front what has been your experience with handling differences? I know there isn't near the push here to dump the Kendas for the front like there is for the rear. I find it interesting that there may be something else to consider in tire choice other than mileage. We tend to focus on mileage here.

Talking about the rear tire the service manager said the challenge that BRP is dealing with is getting a tire that has good traction because the rear is so light. The situation is worse with the RS and ST as they are quite a bit lighter in the rear than the RT is. The lack of weight on the rear tire is one reason he discourages using car tires on the back as there isn't the weight to give good traction like you have on a car. He will mount a car tire for a customer but he doesn't approve of it! But in spite of that I just ordered a General Altimax for the rear! My Kenda is bald in the center at 8200 miles. I will say I was not 100% enamored with the wet road traction of the Michelin Hydroedge I put on my 2013 RT.

This guy is full of hot air. Michelin on rear and Generals on the front. Easy to steer with NO slipping.

 

[RudyB]

I am running the Continental Contiprocontact Size 165/60 R15on the front, the General Altimax RT 43 on the rear. I have a 2014RTS-SE6.

The Continental Contiprocontact tires what a difference, quiter, no hydroplaning, great road contact, hugs the road, the steering it great. I am running them @ 19psi. I have 1,293 miles on the Continental Contiprocontact. Total mileage on spyder is 14,100 miles. The Kenda's were changed @ 12,807 miles.

The General Altimax RT 43 is excellent tire, this is my second season with the General, I have a lot of tread left. I do not get any noise.

Here is the Performance Evaluation on the General:
Wet: Hydroplaning Resistance 8.6

Traction 8.7

DRY: Cornering Stability 8.7

Dry Traction 9.0

Steering Response 8.6

Comfort:

Ride Quality 8.6

Noise 8.3

Tread wear 8.7

I am running the General @ 26psi.

Also I had my can-am dealership install my tires.

Deanna

Hi Deanna how many hrs labor did dealership charge to change out back one also at this time did you have the bearings replaced Thanks Rudy B

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

TIRE QUESTIONS

I have a Michelin- Hydro Edge on the rear of my RT and am quite depressed they no longer sell it............I run mine at 22 psi cold and I think that makes a big difference in how it handles , especially in the wet................I wonder what PSI those KENDA tires were at to feel better than His car tire did ?????......................Mike :thumbup:

 

[C3517C]

I rode on the OEM Kendas on the front since 2008, on 2 different Spyders. I thought they were OK, nothing particularly great or terrible, but the handling was a bit off. Then I switched to Bridgestone Potenzas. Wow ! Far superior, no question about it. I will never go back. I didn't realize how bad the OEM's were until I got a high quality tire. Do yourself a favor and dump the OEM's.

 

[_..stiffler..]

I rode on the OEM Kendas on the front since 2008, on 2 different Spyders. I thought they were OK, nothing particularly great or terrible, but the handling was a bit off. Then I switched to Bridgestone Potenzas. Wow ! Far superior, no question about it. I will never go back. I didn't realize how bad the OEM's were until I got a high quality tire. Do yourself a favor and dump the OEM's.

In oem size??

Im having a hard time finding any tires in oem size other than the OEM ones in canada.

Sent on Note 5 in Taptalk

 

[Blue_VGR]

Hmmmm - Anybody Tried this?



http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Continental&tireModel=ContiWinterContact+TS800&partnum=56TR5TS800&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes


For the Front

ContiWinterContact TS800

Size: 155/60R15

 

[_..stiffler..]

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Continental&tireModel=ContiWinterContact+TS800&partnum=56TR5TS800&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes


For the Front

ContiWinterContact TS800

Size: 155/60R15

A winter tire lol. That will wear fast and not the mention be crazy loud on the highway. Lol

Sent on Note 5 in Taptalk

 

[Bob Denman]

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Continental&tireModel=ContiWinterContact+TS800&partnum=56TR5TS800&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes


For the Front

ContiWinterContact TS800

Size: 155/60R15

You could use it to pick up some extra cash in the Winter! :thumbup:

 

[AeroPilot]

Winter tires should be "sticky"

Sorry I haven't tried this or other winter tires, but they are recommended for being softer, stickier tires if that is what you're looking for. Hopefully someone has experience?

 

[SpyderAnn01]

A Spyder becomes hard to steer if you don't have enough air in your tires. I would bet that the people they were talking about had no air in their tires and when they got new tires properly inflated they were happy.

I've been running car tires on the front since my first set of Kendas wore out and I have not experienced hard steering unless I let the air pressure go to low.

 

[Bob Denman]

Hi Ann,
Which tires are you currently running up front?

 

[Jim&Teresa]

I agree!

I'm seriously looking at the Kumho Solus, in a 155/60-15 size for up front, when the Kendas are done...
I've always had good luck with them up front, but the Kumho pricing is undeniably more affordable!

I have the following tires on our 2014 RT Limited (which now has over 30,000 miles on it):
Fronts = Kumho Solus kh16 155/60R-15 (Aug 2015, 21,913)
Rear = General Altimax RT43 215/60R-15 (Aug 2015, 21,913)

Tires were replaced at around 22,000 miles....so have about 8000+ miles on both the fronts and back and they still look great! :thumbup: That was the 2nd change on back tire (OEM rear tire lasted to 8,000 miles, then replace the rear with a Kumho Ecsta AST (lasted 14,000 miles) and first change on the fronts at the 22,000 mile mark. Front Kendas did last and perform well for me, but I really like the Kumho Solus fronts. BTW, using Ride On in all tires and seems to working well.

And...I don't think the "hard to steer" comment has any merit...these "car" tires work fine.

 

[Bob Denman]

Thanks! :thumbup: