New tires for my Spyder

[Partzman23]

After reading all about the car tires members are putting on their Spyders I decided to take the
plunge and put car tires on my Spyder. I ordered them and hope to get them put on this week.
I have 9200 miles on my Spyder and the back tire needs replaced. Decided to go ahead and replace
the front ones too because it is a 2017 and the tires are dated 2016. Safety first.
Decided on the General Altimax Rt43 for the back and Federal Formosa AZ01 for the front.
I will post later my thoughts on how they feel after I get to ryde with them awhile.
Hope to get more miles out of these tires.

 

[RICZ]

You chose well and you will be amazed at the vast improvement when you hit the road.

 

[Michaelscs]

:agree: You’re going to be happy!

 

[Peter Aawen]

...... Decided on the General Altimax Rt43 for the back and Federal Formosa AZ01 for the front.
......
Hope to get more miles out of these tires.

You chose well and you will be amazed at the vast improvement when you hit the road.

:agree: You’re going to be happy!

:agree: Me Three! :thumbup:

Run your new tires at something close to the right pressure for the (lighter than most autos) load your Spyder puts on them (soo... probably about 16-18 psi ) and I've no doubt you'll not only enjoy the improved traction, ride, & handling they'll provide, but you'll also very likely get a bunch better mileage out of them too! hyea:

Looking forward to hearing your experience with them, & in the meantime, Enjoy! :cheers:

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

:agree: .... 16 front and 18 rear .... these amounts have been studied and agreed upon by myself and Peter based on Science .... Auto tires are way stronger than the OEM Kenda's .... and the PSI needs to be lowered to these levels so the tires will perform at their highest level ..... enjoy the ride .... Mike :thumbup:

 

[Snoking1127]

Please post the difference the 215/60 does to your speedo. Mine is 2-3 MPH off at 65. That is at 65 on the trike's speedo my GPS and phone both say I am only doing 62-63. Thanks

 

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

Please post the difference the 215/60 does to your speedo. Mine is 2-3 MPH off at 65. That is at 65 on the trike's speedo my GPS and phone both say I am only doing 62-63. Thanks

My experience is the difference is reduced to about 1 mph. All Spyder speedo show 2-3 mph above actual. That's to avoid having the speedo ever show less than actual. International vehicle regulations prohibit having a speedo show less than actual.

 

[ARtraveler]

Same dilemma for me. One year in the 2019 F3. 13K miles. Rear tire is showing the worn center already. Going to replace the rear tire only. The fronts are still like new. I usually get 20K from front OEM's.

Going to Lamonster Garage in about a month for annual service and farkles for the new 2020 F3. I put Federals on last time...will see what Lamonster has this go around. :bbq:

 

[Partzman23]

Update

Got the front tires installed today and DW and I went for a ryde about 100 miles.
Backroads and interstate. These new tires are awesome! I could tell the difference right away
and I believe the small vibration in the handlebars is gone. They do grip the rode in the curves.
I have the rear tire off now to get the new tire installed tomorrow. I believe the Spyder
will ryde great with the addition of the car tire in the rear also.
I have been told this taller tire will correct the speedometer also. I will let
you know after it is installed and get to test it out.

 

[Partzman23]

New rear tire installed today

Well I got the new rear tire installed today and put back together on the Spyder.
Also installed the missing belt guard while I had it apart.
DW and I went for ryde afterwards and she said she could tell a difference. Smoother.
Did not balance the rear tire when installed and it seems fine so far. Had the Spyder
Up to 75 and no vibration. Woohoo. Didn’t know how it was going to act.
Blueknight911 said he had run car tires with out balancing before so I was hopeful.
I think I am going to be happy with the car tires. Glad I made the switch.
The speedometer is still off by 2mph. Bike said 60 mph and GPS said 58 mph
This stays consistent throughout different speeds.
See picture below of new front tires and new rear tire.
16 psi in front. 18 psi in rear

 

[Possible]

"The speedometer is still off by 2mph. Bike said 60 mph and GPS said 58 mph. This stays consistent throughout different speeds."

That seems kind of odd. Usually they're off by a percentage, and consequently the difference increases as speed increases. Odd
that yours stays at 2 MPH difference.

 

[Partzman23]

That is what I am seeing. The GPS speed did jump up 1mph occasionally then go back I though that was odd!

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Well I got the new rear tire installed today and put back together on the Spyder.
Also installed the missing belt guard while I had it apart.
DW and I went for ryde afterwards and she said she could tell a difference. Smoother.
Did not balance the rear tire when installed and it seems fine so far. Had the Spyder
Up to 75 and no vibration. Woohoo. Didn’t know how it was going to act.
Blueknight911 said he had run car tires with out balancing before so I was hopeful.
I think I am going to be happy with the car tires. Glad I made the switch.
The speedometer is still off by 2mph. Bike said 60 mph and GPS said 58 mph
This stays consistent throughout different speeds.
See picture below of new front tires and new rear tire.
16 psi in front. 18 psi in rear

Regarding "balancing car tires " ..... Yes I have had some success with not balancing by placing the DOT in line with the Valve stem .... but this was on a truck ...... I have also stated on a Spyder , a car tire Doesn't need balancing on the REAR. For the front this might or might not work..... Mike :thumbup:

 

[Little Blue]

New Tires

Just curious about your new tires. Where did you get them? Did you remove the front wheels or did you have the tire shop help? Enjoy your Ryde Time. ......:thumbup:

 

[Snoking1127]

Discount Tire did not have the correct cone to balance my front Federals. Tech said he aligned the colored dot to the valve stem. I put them back on and no vibrations at all.

Pictures are of the weights on the OEM Kenda's.

 

[Partzman23]

Just curious about your new tires. Where did you get them? Did you remove the front wheels or did you have the tire shop help? Enjoy your Ryde Time. ......:thumbup:

I ordered the rear tire (General )from local Walmart store and had to order the Federal from Walmart online and had them delivered to my house. I took the front and back wheels off myself and took them too a local tire shop I trust. They were able to balance the front tires but not the rear.

 

[Snoking1127]

I had a dealer(Nash in Mesa, AZ) install my rear and they where able to balance it. I brought the wheel with bearings in it to them along with the General Altimax RT43. They only charge me 27 bucks and change, plus they keep the old Kenda OEM tire, which was down to wear bars in the center. I did a longer test ride yesterday and am going to lower the pressure from 20 to 18 for the next ride. Rear felt very planted on the twisties to Canyon Lake. DW can not ride anymore because of ALS, so could maybe go a little lower yet on rear inflation. My speedo corrected a lot less that I had hoped for. I wish there was an easy way to fix it. At 65 is was off 3 MPH and now 2 MPH.

 

[JayBros]

I'm on my second Altimax RT 43 215/60 R15 rear tire running 20 psi and my Spyder speedometer reads 2 mph faster than my Zumo 590 between 55 and 70 on the GPS, more like 1 mph in the 35-40 range.

 

[Steve W.]

Hopefully by now you have had the tires long enough and put enough miles (and smiles) on them that you realize that you used an incorrect word in your original post.

... I decided to take the plunge and put car tires on my Spyder.

By now, you should realize that should read "put REAL tires on my Spyder". :thumbup:

.

 

[Deanna777]

I'm on my second Altimax RT 43 215/60 R15 rear tire running 20 psi and my Spyder speedometer reads 2 mph faster than my Zumo 590 between 55 and 70 on the GPS, more like 1 mph in the 35-40 range.

I am also on my 2nd General Altimax RT 43 Tire size 215/60 R 15 This was done @ can am dealership. Miles on spyder when 2nd General Altimax RT 43 was installed was 24,553. Running it at 19 PSI. No issues with the above tire. Current mileage on spyder is 28,143. ( off topic: I also installed the General Altimax RT 43 on my car). Back on topic.

The front tires I am running : Continental Contiprocontacts Size 165/60 R 15. These were installed in June 2016 with the mileage at the time( 12,807) Current mileage on front tires is: 15,336.



Deanna