Rear Tire Options

[BajaRon]

It's time to change the rear tire. 13k+ is about average. I wish I could scoot some of the nearly new side tread over into the nearly gone center tread area.

I did a thread search on other tires tried by Spyder Riders here, but there is very little follow-up as to how they are actually working.

Lamont has the Kumho Ecsta AST, a nice looking tire for a great price and he likes it fine.

What I am looking for is a good wet weather tire. Unfortanately, the better wet tires are not available in our size 225/50/15. The choices are limited.

Here are some other reasonably priced options I've found. Some are better than others in the wet but none are outstanding. I think just about any tire will do the Spyder well in dry with the huge footprint we have.

The manufacturer's write ups all say these tires work well in wet conditions. But the road test reviews I've been looking at do not necessarily paint the same picture. All got good to great reviews on dry pavement so that is not an issue.

Yokohama AVS ES100 - Yokohama AVID T4 - Nexen tires N2000 - Nitto NT 450 - Proxes 4 - Proxes T1-R - Maxxis MA-Z4S Victra - Sumitomo HTR 200. There are others but they get pretty spendy.

Right now I am leaning towards the Toyo Proxes T1R. Mostly because I like the tread pattern and the wet reviews are not as bad as some others. Anyone tried this one yet?

 

[chris56]

i also have to change the next weeks ..
didn`t find out if this one are drive-able in the rain - and we do have a lot of rain here in austria.. but they look wonderful
so keep me informed what you decided..
chris
http://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12045

 

[BajaRon]

i also have to change the next weeks ..
didn`t find out if this one are drive-able in the rain - and we do have a lot of rain here in austria.. but they look wonderful
so keep me informed what you decided..
chris
http://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12045

Yes, I saw this post about the Yokohama ADVAN A048 on a Spyder. Great looking tire but I don't think it will work for me. Here is what the manufacturer states about this tire.

Caution: ADVAN A048 tires are not recommended for high-speed driving on extremely wet roads/tracks with standing water where there is the risk of hydroplaning. Drivers should drive cautiously at reduced speeds in these conditions.

I am not expecting to find a tire that will never hydroplane under any conditions. I realize that I need to use some caution no matter what tire I get. Still, some tires work much better in wet than others and that is where I'm trying to go.

I've already experienced hydroplaning with my Spyder in conditions that frankly surprised me. BRP must be aware of this tendency for the rear tire to let go in wet conditions as I beleive they have redesigned it with more water relief groves.

 

[bjt]

Both dltang and I have the same Kumho tire the lamonster has and we have not had any hydroplaning issues in close to 10,000 miles. On our way to meet you guys in Oklahoma, we went through a torrential downpour in Indiana (at 70 MPH on the expressway and 25 MPH on city streets) and the Kumhos worked fine.

 

[BajaRon]

Both dltang and I have the same Kumho tire the lamonster has and we have not had any hydroplaning issues in close to 10,000 miles. On our way to meet you guys in Oklahoma, we went through a torrential downpour in Indiana (at 70 MPH on the expressway and 25 MPH on city streets) and the Kumhos worked fine.

I'm always trying to find something better than what Lamont has. Most of the time it is a futile waste of time. Still, I enjoy the challange. Even if it's not better I can always pretend that it is.

Lamont expects this of me

 

[Firefly]

What's wrong with the OEM recommended tire?

 

[BajaRon]

What's wrong with the OEM recommended tire?

Price is the biggest issue. The tire Lamont is running is a little more than 1/3 the cost of the OEM tire. Other than that I'd say the OEM tire is fine. But if you can get as good (or maybe better) for 1/2 or even 2/3 the price why not experiment?

 

[Firefly]

Price is the biggest issue. The tire Lamont is running is a little more than 1/3 the cost of the OEM tire. Other than that I'd say the OEM tire is fine. But if you can get as good (or maybe better) for 1/2 or even 2/3 the price why not experiment?

$140 every 10,000 miles or so doesn't seem too bad to me - it's the install that will kill your wallet!

 

[BajaRon]

$140 every 10,000 miles or so doesn't seem too bad to me - it's the install that will kill your wallet!

I think it's $155 plus shipping for the OEM tire, but I have not checked for sure. Install costs us $5. I guess not everyone can get it done for that price.

And if a person can save $70 or more to spend on something else that appeals to me.

But to each his own. I get a kick out of finding better stuff for less money. Doesn't always work out that way but more often than not it does if you do your homework.

 

[Firefly]

I think it's $155 plus shipping for the OEM tire, but I have not checked for sure. Install costs us $5. I guess not everyone can get it done for that price.

And if a person can save $70 or more to spend on something else that appeals to me.

But to each his own. I get a kick out of finding better stuff for less money. Doesn't always work out that way but more often than not it does if you do your homework.

My dealer charged $204.00 for the install. I will do the next one myself. Not sure how much rear bearings cost (which I would replace at every tire change), but I'm pretty sure they are not $204.00. I didn't feel like messing with the belt tension and alignment - so I went to the dealer for the change.

I paid $140 for a tire from my dealer. I got another from Robs for $150 delivered.

 

[bjt]

I'm always trying to find something better than what Lamont has. Most of the time it is a futile waste of time. Still, I enjoy the challange. Even if it's not better I can always pretend that it is.

Lamont expects this of me

:thumbup:

 

[chris56]

i think i`m the hydroplane-spyder-tester .. most of my last kms where maid in rain and storm .. (austria is "under" water..)
so my idea of spydering in the rain is ..always have a passenger or fill up
your givi`s with stones? or so ..because the backwheel always looses the grip.. ( wrong tire?) on the front -it sometimes begin to "swim" but if you get used to it - not dangerous..
but in comarison to my bike (bmw) ..i drive faster - feel more secure..
so i hope to find the right tires..
chris

 

[SethO]

I have that kumdo on right now and it is great, did not hydroplane it the wet and I ran it hard, I had a hankook on before and it was down to the rainlines and it DID hydro out on me on a 45mph posted that I was into at 85, closest I have been to eating sh(t. the bf g force I had was great but I had it at 50psi so it did not last long, For the price on tirerack.com you can not beat the kumdo.

I need a new set of fronts and was wondering want people have replaced them with?

 

[bone crusher]

With the Kumho,

On tirerack, they say that wet traction is not that good...although dry pavement looks great (A,A rating for temp and traction).

The overall rating is in the 6s..I didn't see other options there so there's nothing really to compare it to.

How would the stock tire compare to the Kumho?

I'm not too worried about dry road traction as this should be fine for any higher speed rated tire...the issue for me would be wet/damp/slick conditions...

I know many here know a ton more than me about tires, but is this a viable option?

http://www.vulcantire.com/cgi-bin/tiresearch.cgi?stock=804&f=ze912_t.htm&refad=Froogle804

 

[bjt]

I don't know about that Falken tire. At the very least, it would look a little funny on the back of the Spyder as it doesn't have a symmetrical tread design. I don't really know if not having a symmetrical tread pattern would affect the handling at all, probably not with this tire as its close to symmetrical. Not radically different like http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Yokohama&tireModel=Parada%20Spec-2 or this http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Kumho&tireModel=Ecsta%20XS.

 

[Lamonster]

I have a little over 10K on my Kumho tire now and it looks a lot better than my OEM tire did at 10K. My reasoning for going with this tire was not price all though it is a great price, I wanted a good rain tire that was going to give me more than 13K like the stock "China" tire. If I'm going to buy a China tire I want to pay China prices.

The rain rating was "Excellent" on this tire and the only issue I had was on the trip out to Hollywood doing 70mph+ in heavy rain and trucker ruts towing a loaded trailer. I got a little sideways but even then I was still under control. If I get at least 13K out of this tire I'l be replacing it again with the same tire.

You keep looking Ron, that's what you do.

 

[COOLMACHINE]

how is the tread after 10 grand

Both dltang and I have the same Kumho tire the lamonster has and we have not had any hydroplaning issues in close to 10,000 miles. On our way to meet you guys in Oklahoma, we went through a torrential downpour in Indiana (at 70 MPH on the expressway and 25 MPH on city streets) and the Kumhos worked fine.

Please tell me, how much tread left on that tire after 10 grand?

 

[Lamonster]

 

[bjt]

I'll tell you and show you. Here are two pics I just took of the Kumho tire tread with about 11,000 miles on them now. I don't have a tread depth gauge but it looks like I have about ¹⁄₈" of rubber left before I hit the wear bar. I have ran this tire at 40 - 50 psi ever since I put it on.

 

[Firefly]

I was hard-pressed to get 8,000 out of my first rear tire. Can't imagine getting over 10K. I believe almost all tires are made in China or Korea right now (including the Kumho). Gotta love that name though. :roflblack:

I don't want to mess with guessing on pressures as many have had to do with non-OEM tires - so I'll be running OEM tires unless someone comes out with another tire specifically made for the Spyder. As many have found - changes in tire pressure make quite a difference on the Spyder.

Let us know what you find. Hopefully the Kenda that is on the Spyder will be available from non-BRP places in the future as I'm sure it would be close to 1/2 the price.