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Front tire question

Opinion.....

I have had Kendas on the front with over 30,000 miles on them and have been very happy with them. On my second set now and the handling is great. My rear (2) did well and now trying the Arachnid (Vee Rubber). But to each his own and there are many options when you go for the car tires. :thumbup:
 
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
Hi Rudy B, The dealership only charged me for was 1 hour to change the rear, and I did not have the bearings replaced. I have a 2014RTS- SE6.

Deanna
 
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!

bob that's the tires I have on my 09 rs

changed the original tires at 10k won out

72k on the bike now that's 62k and they still look good
 
Just be aware everyone, yeah, sure, running tire pressures that are too low can make for a spongy ride & hard steering, increase your fuel use due to the greater rolling resistance, increase tread wear because they get too hot & you just melt tread off, & increasing the risk of tire sidewall damage because they are soft & ballooning out where stones etc can damage them!

Buuut, running tire pressures that are too high can massively reduce traction by never letting the tires get warm enough to let the rubber 'grip' the road, massively increase wear on the little strip in the middle of the tread (cos that's the only bit touching the road & carrying the load) as well as 'feathering' or 'cupping' the tread on the inside &/or outside of the steer tires, will make for a harsh ride cos they have no give & so are like running on train wheels, likely make the steering 'dart' all over the place & react badly to bumps or imperfections in the road surface cos there's no flex to absorb them, significantly increase the risk of punctures cos a 'too tight' tire can't flex & 'wrap over' potentially damaging obstructions etc, & understeer like buggry when you try to steer thru corners, especially at speed cos the tread just can't grip enough to get the turn started! And car tires carrying a light load like the Spyders are generally need a little LESS pressure in them than they would under a car, just cos the Spyder is about 1/3 (or less) the weight they expected to carry, especially if you've also increased the size of the tire you are running too!! It's the air held inside the 'balloon' the tire is that actually carries the load, & because you still only need the same amount of air if the weight of the load hasn't changed, then bigger tires need less pressure to carry that same weight!

So if you are running car tires in the OE size, unless you are always carrying a really heavy load (ie over the max recommended) on your Spyder, the pressure on the tire placard should be the Max you ever run your tires at; and for those who aren't always loading up their Spyders, you could well be far better off running maybe a pound or two LOWER psi in your tires than recommended on the placard!! If you've selected a bigger/stronger car tire for your Spyder, chances are you'll really want to be running that couple of psi lower, & possibly even a pound or two lower again!

So don't push your tire pressure UP above that placard level unless you've got higher loads than those specified as the max for the Spyder; and if you are running car tires &/or bigger tires, you should probably be running them a pound or two less than you did in the OE Kenda's! Check the Max Load at Max Pressure info for your tires, & work out what fraction of that load you are carrying - that can provide a good insight as to what fraction of the max pressure your tires should be running to carry the Spyder & you, your load, etc! :thumbup:
 
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I'm just guessing, but I suspect that a lot of the 'hydro-planing' issues that some have when running specific brands of car tires on their Spyders is simply that they are still running the placard pressure in a much more robust tire, or at least running a pressure that's too high for that particular tire/compound/tread pattern under the relatively light load of their Spyder - most robust car tires probably only need something like that 24psi you are running in yours, Bob, in order to carry the light load of the Spyder & yet still flex enough to get warm enough to provide good traction & pump the water out of the tread when necessary!! I too run Kumho Solus tires, but I've gone a little taller in profile & as a result I get the best ride, grip, & wear at a slightly lower pressure again - usually 20-22psi up the back & 14-16psi up front!! I haven't got 60+K outta them yet (only 20 odd K so far) but the fronts are looking pretty good atm & look like they stand a fair chance of getting up there in the mileage. :thumbup:

For those who work better with graphics, this Les Schwab website https://www.lesschwab.com/tires/performance-siping has some good graphics explaining all this stuff, even tho they are really talking particularly about the aftermarket performance siping they provide; but the info & graphics still applies & should make it clearer.

And after reading/looking at all that, you should be able to see why that really soft compound winter-tread Continental tire that Blue_Vgr posted about might be a good winter tire option & stick like ****e to a blanket on wet &/or icy surfaces!! But as someone else mentioned, come summertime it's likely to be noisy & wear out fairly quickly!! :opps:

Your choice of Tires, tire tread patterns, & even tire pressures are almost always going to be somewhat of a compromise; you might need to drop your pressures & compromise a small amount on potential tire life to get better traction, or you could prefer to raise the pressure a bit for better life but accept the cost in terms of traction, but somewhere in there will be the right balance of tire tread, brand, pressure etc for you in terms of ride, handling, tire life, traction, & cost! But remember, don't go too far in either direction with your pressures or you'll loose out on too much; & also that because of all the variables that can have an impact on all these things, what's right for you might not be right for anyone else, even if they are riding on the same roads in the same weather on a similar Spyder!! ;)
 
While we're on a thread on front tires, how much variability do we have on tire size? The stock size on my 2014 RT-S is 165/55 R15, but in this thread I notice folks are running slightly different sizes. The front fenders certainly constrain the options a bit, as close as they are to the tires.

There isn't much available if you stick to the stock size, but I'd be interested to find out what the boundaries are for different sizes.

FWIW, I followed the advice of others and replaced my rear tire with a General Altimax RT43 in a slightly different (and easier to find) size.

Maybe a future aftermarket would be larger fenders to accommodate a wider range of tire sizes. Niche market, I know.
 
:agree: Your choices are limited, due to the positioning of the front fender.
There are some folks running 175s with the new-style fenders.
But I'm looking at the 155/60-15 size. I figure that a bit more sidewall might help the ride on a rough road; I can even accept the fact that it might impact the preciseness of the handling a little bit!
 
GENERAL INFO

While we're on a thread on front tires, how much variability do we have on tire size? The stock size on my 2014 RT-S is 165/55 R15, but in this thread I notice folks are running slightly different sizes. The front fenders certainly constrain the options a bit, as close as they are to the tires.

There isn't much available if you stick to the stock size, but I'd be interested to find out what the boundaries are for different sizes.

FWIW, I followed the advice of others and replaced my rear tire with a General Altimax RT43 in a slightly different (and easier to find) size.

Maybe a future aftermarket would be larger fenders to accommodate a wider range of tire sizes. Niche market, I know.
It's not the fenders ( the plastic ) that's the problem it's the brackets that attach them to the HUBS that cause the problem. There are two possible FIXES #1. alter the shape of the brackets .....or #2 add spacers to the LUGS on the HUB ...... Remember the relationship between the fender and the tire is STATIC ( it doesn't change by itself ) if you change your tire size and it has clearance, it should always have clearance. I know someone is going to say - because of the weight of the Spyder the tire is going to deform ( bulge ) Yes it will - AT THE ROAD SURFACE ....... Hope this helps someone's understanding ............Mike ......AnnnnnnnnnnnnD .....I plan to mount General Altimax RT43's in 175/65-15's on the front of my 2014 basic fender RT soon. I'll let everyone know how that works out ..............
 
...I plan to mount General Altimax RT43's in 175/65-15's on the front of my 2014 basic fender RT soon. I'll let everyone know how that works out ..............


I already have that Altimax on my rear wheel. I'd be interested to know how a Spyder would handle with matching tires all around.
 
Ooooh....another tire thread!!

OK! Just to hark back to the rear tire for a moment....is this available in the US as a couple of the Aussies
are considering it as an alternative......I can get it in the UK for a price. :yikes:
Yokohama.jpg
 
THIS TIRE

OK! Just to hark back to the rear tire for a moment....is this available in the US as a couple of the Aussies
are considering it as an alternative......I can get it in the UK for a price. :yikes:
View attachment 135697
.OMG - OJ, I just read the specs.....a UTQG of .....60....it should last at least 1000 miles !!!! .....But not much more..........This tire is a DOT street legal " Track & Competition Tire " it's WET road ability is marginal...............Personally I would not put that on my Spyder if it was given to me for FREE ..................Mike :thumbup:
 
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.OMG - OJ, I just read the specs.....a UTQG of .....60....it should last at least 1000 miles !!!! .....But not much more..........This tire is a DOT street legal " Track & Competition Tire " it's WET road ability is marginal...............Personally I would not put that on my Spyder if it was given to me for FREE ..................Mike :thumbup:

Thanks for explaining that to me, Mike. Some of the Aussies must be "well heeled", plus they don't seem to get much rain over there!
Whatever.....it's way too expensive for me anyway but I brought it to the boards attention as it's nice to know just what is available out there.
I do like the look and if it was a harder mix and had a few rain sipes I might be interested at half the retail price! I may be going with a Toyo Proxes if I can find one........
 
TOYO PROXES T 1 R

Thanks for explaining that to me, Mike. Some of the Aussies must be "well heeled", plus they don't seem to get much rain over there!
Whatever.....it's way too expensive for me anyway but I brought it to the boards attention as it's nice to know just what is available out there.
I do like the look and if it was a harder mix and had a few rain sipes I might be interested at half the retail price! I may be going with a Toyo Proxes if I can find one........
. Now this ( above ) is a sticky like GLUE tire, I have them on the front of my 2014 RT and they create such high " G " forces my " nanny " kicks in a lot...........It is also good in the wet and I now have 22,000 + miles on them ( will re-place in about 3000 )........ Mike :thumbup:
 
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