Rear tire for rain

[avlee1]

I have a 2016 RT Limited, finally convinced myself to switch to car tire on rear. Biggest concern is which is best for riding in the rain. You don't plan on riding in the rain, but it happens. Sounds like most are pretty good on dry roads. I have been reading a lot about tires recently, still not sure what will be best in the rain. I am leaning towards the Altimax RT43. Anything will probably be better than the stock Kenda. Just looking for feedback on any rear tire for rain. Thanks in advance.

 

[tehrlich]

I'm sure that is a great tire.

I have a Yokohama S Drive, recently installed. On my ride home from installation, I went through a major rain storm, and I could feel it cut right through the water. (Maybe it always did, but knowing it was new, I probably felt like it was working better!:roflblack

Seriously, the tire rips through water well. We've had a lot of rain in our area lately and it's been great.

 

[PW2013STL]

I run the Michelin Premeir A/S in the 205/60R15 size and it's been the best wet tire that I have tried. Even at 24,000 miles it handled heavy rains with out an issue, but running it at 24# I hit the wear bars in the center. I how have a new one on and running it at 20# pressure. This tire was developed to be the best wet road tire, and you should go to Tire Rack and read about what they have to say about it.

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

WET ROAD

IMHO these ( right now ) are the best tire in the WET ...#1.... Pirelli P4 Four Seasons Plus ( yes it's a long name )____ #2 Michelin Premier ___ #3.... General Altimax RT43 ...... Any of these will be at their BEST in you use a PSI of 18 -19 ....... they are available in 215 or 205 it doesn't make a difference.......They all will give very good tire life ..... #2 is the most expensive ...#3 the least ( at least on E-bay ) ( that's where I buy all mine now ....remember to get the FREE shipping version ...........:welcome:..... Mike :thumbup:

 

[Warlock]

I have a 2016 RT Limited, finally convinced myself to switch to car tire on rear. Biggest concern is which is best for riding in the rain. You don't plan on riding in the rain, but it happens. Sounds like most are pretty good on dry roads. I have been reading a lot about tires recently, still not sure what will be best in the rain. I am leaning towards the Altimax RT43. Anything will probably be better than the stock Kenda. Just looking for feedback on any rear tire for rain. Thanks in advance.

We had 9 of us going to Spyderfest. Rode all day in the rain. All of the bikes hydro plain except my wife's bike. I had just put the Yokohama S drive on hers. Three bikes had the ultimax tires, 1 had stock, 3 had falken tires and mine had one I had got from Walmart. Can't remember the name at present, but I did a review on it. Mine was the worst tire to turn loose. Will never run it again. Yokohama gets my vote and will be my next tire.
David

 

[SPYD3R]

IF

IF you can find one, the Michelin Hydro-edge....

Dan P
SPYD3R

 

[Bob Denman]

Actually; ANY rear tire with a decent amount of tread left on it, will do the job! :thumbup:
But you STILL need to slow down in the rain; NO tire will give you the same amount of traction that you had on dry roads! nojoke

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

HYDRO-EDGE

IF you can find one, the Michelin Hydro-edge....

Dan P
SPYD3R

I love mine also ........... However these might be very OLD now ... check the date of manufacture !!!!!.... Mike

 

[Navydad]

Are you sensing a pattern here? Several good tires out there and just about anything is better than stock. I am happy with my Altimax rear and Federal front combo. I hit heavy rain in Tennessee with the stock tires and it wasn't pleasant. A few weeks ago when the panhandle of W.V. experienced flash floods we were in that mess on our Spyder with the new tire combo and it was a night and day difference as far as handling and hydroplaning was concerned.

 

[SpyderAnn01]

You will hydroplane with any tire if you are going too fast

 

[Fatcycledaddy]

We had 9 of us going to Spyderfest. Rode all day in the rain. All of the bikes hydro plain except my wife's bike. I had just put the Yokohama S drive on hers. Three bikes had the ultimax tires, 1 had stock, 3 had falken tires and mine had one I had got from Walmart. Can't remember the name at present, but I did a review on it. Mine was the worst tire to turn loose. Will never run it again. Yokohama gets my vote and will be my next tire.
David

Any idea what air pressure they were running in the ultimax tires?
I installed that on my spyder and got caught in a couple of those Black Hills downpours and never had any hydroplaning at all.
I did take Mike's and Peter's advice and while towing the trailer 2 up, ran it at 20 PSI. I now am back to 18 PSI running 2 up no trailer. I considered the wet traction to be VERY good.

 

[Bob Denman]

You will hydroplane with any tire if you are going too fast

:agree: Remembering this one simple fact, will make your life MUCH easier! :thumbup:

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

LOWER PSI

Any idea what air pressure they were running in the ultimax tires?
I installed that on my spyder and got caught in a couple of those Black Hills downpours and never had any hydroplaning at all.
I did take Mike's and Peter's advice and while towing the trailer 2 up, ran it at 20 PSI. I now am back to 18 PSI running 2 up no trailer. I considered the wet traction to be VERY good.

Amen Brother - to a convert :clap::clap::clap: you have seen the Light ....:yes::yes::yes:..... From Mike and I'm sure Peter will agree .:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

 

[IGETAROUND]

rear tire for rain

Any idea what air pressure they were running in the ultimax tires?
I installed that on my spyder and got caught in a couple of those Black Hills downpours and never had any hydroplaning at all.
I did take Mike's and Peter's advice and while towing the trailer 2 up, ran it at 20 PSI. I now am back to 18 PSI running 2 up no trailer. I considered the wet traction to be VERY good.

Can't go too far wrong running 18-20 psi for wet or dry traction on the rear. The fronts you can run less and still have outstanding cornering and wet traction!!!!:clap::clap::clap::thumbup::thumbup::yes::yes:

 

[Warlock]

Any idea what air pressure they were running in the ultimax tires?
I installed that on my spyder and got caught in a couple of those Black Hills downpours and never had any hydroplaning at all.
I did take Mike's and Peter's advice and while towing the trailer 2 up, ran it at 20 PSI. I now am back to 18 PSI running 2 up no trailer. I considered the wet traction to be VERY good.

I believe around 24 to 28 lbs. I do know it was more than 20 lbs. My wife's was at 24 lbs and no problem at all.
David

 

[avlee1]

Thanks everyone for your feedback. I appreciate it. Now that I have some proven choices, I just need to decide which to go with. Thanks again

 

[Maddoggie501]

Thanks everyone for your feedback. I appreciate it. Now that I have some proven choices, I just need to decide which to go with. Thanks again

Hey maybe you guys and gals can help me out. I have a 2016 Rt with only 2000 miles on it. Since I'm new to the Spyder world, what is wrong with the stock tires. Is it wear, handling, etc. Just looking ahead at my future tire purchase.

 

[Deanna777]

I have a 2016 RT Limited, finally convinced myself to switch to car tire on rear. Biggest concern is which is best for riding in the rain. You don't plan on riding in the rain, but it happens. Sounds like most are pretty good on dry roads. I have been reading a lot about tires recently, still not sure what will be best in the rain. I am leaning towards the Altimax RT43. Anything will probably be better than the stock Kenda. Just looking for feedback on any rear tire for rain. Thanks in advance.

I am running the General Altimax RT 43 on the rear ( of a 2014 RTS-SE6) Size: 215/60 R15.

I have 13,976 miles on the Altimax, no problems. This is my 2nd motorcycle season with the Altimax RT 43 . I have a lot of thread left. Total miles on spyder 19,800 miles.

Here is a performance evaluation :

Wet: Hydroplaning Performance 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 it @ 26 psi, it has a "Tire monitoring system" in the tread. It will read " Replace Tire" in the middle of the tread when to replace tire.

Deanna

 

[ricford]

Several forum members have said to run the pressure in the rear tires at 18 - 20 PSI. The book calls for 26. I run General Altimax 43 T 215/60 R 15 on the rear at 26 PSI. So, I'm wondering what the performance and tire mileage longevity is at the lower pressure.

I run 19 - 20 front on Continental Contipro Contact 175/55 R 15. They have a special highway glue which exudes a sticky substance that hangs on tight in the curves. Well.. you'd think so. I have 28K miles on all three tires.

However, next change gets narrower tires. Those 175's almost overfill the wheel well. A tire dealership installed the front and Can Am dealer installed the rear, no issue but lightened my wallet by $200 or so.. After my trip to Valcourt, I'm looking to replace the rear with Pirelli P4 or whatever the suggestion above was. There may be something to say for 20- PSI in the rear. I parked my Spyder facing into the garage as opposed to always backing in (for a quick get away) and noted in the bright sunlight that the wear on the tire was more than I had expected. Time to change soon.

On that overly long Canada ride, the tires performed well. As those who went know, it was rainy rainy rainy, for me 13 of 16 days in the rain.

So, a definitive answer. 26 or 20 in the rear tire.

 

[Peter Aawen]

ricford, the book calls for 26 psi in the lightly constructed poor quality OE Spec Kendas, the lower pressure recommendation is for if you run a much stronger construction better quality tire, ie, just about any car tire!! :thumbup:

With 26 psi in them, car tires are capable of carrying a couple of thousand pounds or more of car, the Kendas are barely capable of carrying a couple of hundred pounds of Spyder even with 26 or 28 psi in them - and it's the flex in the sidewall that allows the tire tread compound to heat up sufficiently to provide the optimum traction, ride, & handling, etc from the tire. Run a car tire at 26 psi under a Spyder and you WON'T be getting the best ride, traction (neither in the dry & especially not in the wet!) or handling that you could from that tire, certainly not the much higher level you'd get by running it a tad lower, at a pressure more suitable for the fairly lightweight load your Spyder imposes upon the much stronger & 'capable of carrying much more' car tire!

Re that Definitive Answer.... 16-22psi in a 'normal' car tire capable of carrying so much more, adjust to suit your load/ambient temps etc; but when it comes to the Kendas BRP specs for our Spyders, they NEED the 26+psi just to keep the metal bits off the ground, & even so, they might not do that too well anyway! :shocked: