Rear tire. yes another thread

[Reacher68]

Before I start - Yes, I did a search. Yes, I read lots of threads. I ended up more confused than when I started.

I have a 2016 F3-T and I ride with a mix of 1 and 2 up.

I have heard bad things about the Kumho Ecsta AST. That people don't think they are very good, but my dealer has them in 225-50-15.
I have heard great things about the Yoko S-Drive, but we can't get it anymore.
I've read that lots of People like the Vredestein quatrac 5, but I can't seem to find them in a size I want. I did find them in 205-50-15, but that doesn't seem to be a good match.
I've read decent things about the General ALTIMAX RT43 and found them in 215-60-15.
I see the Yoko ADVAN FLEVA V701 is available in 205-55-15, but there are no reviews and I don't know if anyone has tried them.

My goal is to get something at least as sticky as the Kenda in dry weather if not more so for spirited riding around corners and I'd like it to have decent wet performance, but I don't ride in the wet if I can help it. If it could last longer than the Kenda, that would be great too. I got about 11.5k out of the stock rear. I plan to get Hankook Ventus V4 for the fronts when I replace them.

I need to get the new rear on before SITH so I'm in a scramble to get it done. Any help is appreciated!

Robert

 

[RudyB]

215/60/15 General Altimax RT43 you can’t go wrong try it

 

[Mikey]

opcorn:

 

[Peter Aawen]

Just about ANY good name brand car tire is going to be 'better' than the Kendas on your Spyder in any position, front or rear, altho the front ends are so light even a rag tire should do pretty well!! But it really comes down to what specific tire you choose in the way of tire size and performance/features as being most important to you! And since the Kendas are a 'pretty small' nominally sized 225/50R15, most other quality tires in anything from a 205/50R15 right thru to a 225/60R15 is still likely to have a similar if not larger rolling diameter (ie, more accurate speedo & probably physically closer to a true 225/50R15 size than the Kendas! But you should still check & compare their stated rolling diameter or revs per mile if you can...

However, the Kumho's aren't a 'bad tire' by any stretch of the imagination.... there's no denying that just about every definitive comparison test done to date shows that they too are better than the Kendas in pretty much ALL measurable respects, but they do tend to be more of a 'Sport/Touring' tire that tends to last longer than many of the outright 'Sport' tires and almost all of the outright 'hi performance' tires. They do that by running a compound that progressively gets harder over time as the tire wears & ages, so if you want to maintain or enhance their 'sport' nature as the tire ages, you'll probably need to progressively (& marginally) lower your cold start pressures so that the compound can get hotter & maintain the same level of grip as they age! If you started out running saayyy, 22psi & were reasonably happy with the grip & traction (on dry &/or wet roads) that provided for the first 5,000 miles, you might need to go to 21 psi for the next 5,000 miles to maintain that same level of grip & traction instead of letting the tire 'go off'; then drop the pressure to 20 psi for the next 5,000; 19 or maybe even 18 psi for the next 5,000; & so on - altho I don't think you should really go too much below 16psi & certainly not ever below 14 psi (unless you get stuck in soft sand or mud) even if you've got up to around 30,000 miles from them! That's generally considered a pretty reasonable sort of milage for a 'sport/touring' tire to achieve when it's the only drive tire on a Spyder, especially if you ride fully loaded all the time, or spiritedly, &/or in high ambient temps. If you want to go for more traction from the word go, you could pay a little more for your drive tire & just accept the lesser tire life from a pure 'sport' or even a 'hi performance' tire; or if you wanted longer wear/life you could choose a harder compound tire with better tread wear characteristics, but that'll probably come at the cost of some grip & traction, handling, etc - but there's a really very good chance that a tire like that will still be better in all respects and lasting longer than the OE Spec Kenda tires! :shocked:

I've got just over 35,000 kms from each of 2 Kumho Ecsta's in 225/60R15 run on the rear of my 2013 RT (with performance enhancements! hyea: ) and those tires worked admirably in all sorts of conditions, hot & dry, or wet & slippery (even toad drowning wet & light snow & ice!) right out to reaching the tread wear bars, but I do pay attention to the tire pressures every time I ryde!! I started out usually running 20-22psi solo/loaded, then gradually dropped down to 16/18 psi as they reached about 25,000 kms to retain the earlier grip & traction!

Still, I really think that you are stressing over this tire choice too much & wasting too much time on it! :lecturef_smilie: ANY good brand name tire will almost certainly be better than the OE Spec Kendas, unless you happen to have been one of the extremely lucky people who scored 'the good set' of Kendas that came out of the factory in that particular year! Many who THINK the Kendas they have are 'good' just don't realise how much better almost anything else would be!! :shocked: There are very few people out there who have seriously tried running 'proper tires' & made the effort to get somewhere close to the correct pressure for that tire carrying the load their Spyder imposes who haven't been extremely pleased once they made the change; and there are just as few who haven't been able to find a suitable 'similar' sized tire that works for them, even if it may not have had exactly the same nominal size printed on the sidewall! :shocked: As I said above (at some length, sorry! pps: ) even the Kumho's will STILL be better than the Kendas in all aspects, especially those you are concerned about, & especially if you monitor & adjust your tire pressures as they age. The Altimax will be better too, and longer lasting, altho maybe not quite so 'sticky' as the Yoko or a Toyo, either of which which might wear a bit quicker than the General, but should still last better than most Kendas! And the Vredsteins are getting great reports all round, altho very few are getting an exact size match (but see the previous comments re nominal sizes!) hyea:

So don't sweat the small stuff; pick a quality tire brand that you like, with a size & a tread compound that suits whatever you most want from it, and to (mis?)quote a famous saying, just buy the damn tire! You know you want to! :thumbup:

 

[Highwayman2013]

I'm running a General Altimax 215/60/15 on our 2016 F3L for 19,000 miles and I have no complaints.

 

[bayoubill]

i went through the same thing agonizing over what brand, ended up with the kumho simply because its the right size, and i haven't thought about it since, it works fine for me, i'm not an aggressive rider and only ride in the rain if i get caught in it, and common sense and experience tells me that any tire that wide with that light a load will hydroplane under the right conditions.

 

[JayBros]

Throw another vote on the pile for the Altimax. I run mine at 24 psi and it's easily if not more sticky than the Crapenda.

 

[ARtraveler]

In most cases any tire other than the OEM is upline.

 

[jcthorne]

The Yoko Advan Fleva is essentially the same tire as the outgoing S-Drive with a few very minor construction improvements in the tread pattern. We will be using these when our stock of S-Drive tires is depleted.

 

[Chupaca]

choices, choices

Looks like you have done the walk through the maze and are now standing where so many others have before you. :shocked: So many choices now and many many views but in the end your choice based on your reasoning. When you chose you will find out and can add to the views. :thumbup: I have had good results with Kendas and still have them on the front and working an Arachnid on the rear which is faring well so far.

 

[AeroPilot]

Pick either the Kumho, Altimax, or the others mentioned and you will be happy. We have run Kumhos on our RTs and had good life and roll in the hotter SW temps, and any of the "stickier" tires will wear faster than the Kumho. We got 24-25,000 happy miles out of the Kumhos and on our second set of General Altimaxs we get a little less between 20-22,000 miles on our 16 F3T. I think the General has better groove pattern to channel water, and if you ride alot in the rain, change out your tires sooner.

Ready to put another set of Generals on the bikes this winter as they are almost down to the wear bars. My wifes rides 1-up on her F3T and is very happy with the Federal Formozas on front and Generals on the back-- 56,000 miles now and rollin'

The tread wear on this last General was even at 18,500 miles when I took the pic-- wife likes the easier low speed steering with 20 psi plus in the fronts... Your preference. Whoops.... the first tire pressure pic was hot tire temps.... heres where we are now cold ..

 

[JKMSPYDER]

I am running the General Altimax and it has been a good tire so far. I have 13,000 miles on it and should get 20,000 or more. The best tire I ever had was the Michelin Hydro Edge, but, alas, it is no longer made.

 

[PinkRosePetal]

I'm gonna be contentious because I don't believe this low pressure for the rear tyre thing. The run them soft to heat them up because they're age hardening is daft...why?

Because tyre rubbers harden every time they go through a heat cycle, that's a heat up cool down cycle.

The more frequent the cycles the harder the rubber will get. The bigger the range of heat the more hardening there will be in each cycle.

So running them soft heats them up and hardens them, running them softer to compensate heats them up even more so hardens them more. It's dopey thinking.

Also, although car tyres are generally rated higher for maximum load than the OEM Kenda, they are rated for the same load at the same pressure as the Kenda - it's just that the Kenda has a max pressure of 30psi so, therefore, a limited maximum rated load.

Just to put another spanner in the works, and there is plenty more I could put in!, there's a phenomena which occurs relating tyre pressure to aquaplaning.

When travelling through water, a wedge of water builds up in front of the tyre. When the total pressure within that water equals the inflation pressure of the tyre, aquaplaning will occur. It stands to reason that the lower the inflation pressure, the lower the speed at which aquaplaning will occur.

To the OP, apologies if I've just confused the issue even more.

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

I'm gonna be contentious because I don't believe this low pressure for the rear tyre thing. The run them soft to heat them up because they're age hardening is daft...why?

Because tyre rubbers harden every time they go through a heat cycle, that's a heat up cool down cycle.

The more frequent the cycles the harder the rubber will get. The bigger the range of heat the more hardening there will be in each cycle.

So running them soft heats them up and hardens them, running them softer to compensate heats them up even more so hardens them more. It's dopey thinking.

Also, although car tyres are generally rated higher for maximum load than the OEM Kenda, they are rated for the same load at the same pressure as the Kenda - it's just that the Kenda has a max pressure of 30psi so, therefore, a limited maximum rated load.

Just to put another spanner in the works, and there is plenty more I could put in!, there's a phenomena which occurs relating tyre pressure to aquaplaning.

When travelling through water, a wedge of water builds up in front of the tyre. When the total pressure within that water equals the inflation pressure of the tyre, aquaplaning will occur. It stands to reason that the lower the inflation pressure, the lower the speed at which aquaplaning will occur.

To the OP, apologies if I've just confused the issue even more.

:roflblack: Dear P.R.P. , I think you may have missed your true calling ….. have you considered becoming a Tire Engineer …. possibly working for a Major Race team ?????? ….. Your tire heat cycle = emanate tire destruction, is possibly the most incredible thing You have posted..... How is it possible that folks here are getting 40 - 50,000 mi out of a tire, do you think they just happened to buy a Perfectly made tire …. I'm stating my view on your post - for the newbie's who might actually believe what your telling us / them ……. Mike hyea:

 

[Deanna777]

I am running General Altimax RT 43 size: 215/60/15 ( I am on my second General Altimax RT 43 ) and my spyder has 26,000+ ,miles on. And NO complaints here!

Deanna

 

[stebrock]

Since we're talking tires any new recommendations for the front?

 

[SpyderAnn01]

Since we're talking tires any new recommendations for the front?

The Federal Formoza AZ01 in the stock size is an awesome tire. Great handling in all conditions and long lasting-50,000 on my last set.

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Since we're talking tires any new recommendations for the front?

To date I believe the Vredestein Quatrac 5 in 175/55-15 has the highest rating for the 15 inch tires ( not Ryker ) …… Mike hyea:

 

[Reacher68]

After talking to a couple friends, I'm gonna get the Yokohama ADVAN FLEVA V701 in 205-55-15. If I don't like it, I'll just get something else.

 

[Peter Aawen]

After talking to a couple friends, I'm gonna get the Yokohama ADVAN FLEVA V701 in 205-55-15. If I don't like it, I'll just get something else.

Sounds like a good start! :thumbup:

I doubt you'll be disappointed. :2thumbs: