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Ryker front tires size is Proprietary! Thanks again BRP........

Triumphcycleman said:
here's my 2 cents on the tires. First, BRP claims 40% better wear than the Spyders. I am guessing that is due to the lightness of the Ryker. Second, I would be very, very concerned about putting car tires on a Ryker. Car tires are expected to bear approx 1,000 lbs of downforce per tire. The compound and stiffness are designed for it. On a Spyder RT, weighing 1200 lbs wet, with 400 lbs of rider/passenger and gear, you have 1600 lbs divided by 3 wheels = 534 lbs of force. That is why car tires last a long time on an rt, but also why they will never stop as quickly with car tires on it. Now look at a Ryker. At 630 lbs wet, add a single 250lb rider, and you have 880 lbs divided by 3 = 293 lbs of horizontal downforce on the tire. So you have a tire designed and rated for 1,000 lbs of down force getting only 1/3rd. It likely won't stop, and it might not turn. Bad idea, when you are saving $40 but you end up in the other lane or underneath the car stopped in front of you. What did you save?
One other comment. The lateral force on a tire is directly related to the tires durometer measured compound, contact patch area, and horizontal down force. All I see from a wider, harder compound front tire is increased steering effort from a larger frictional contact patch (rotational lateral force) but even less horizontal force as the tires weight will be further diluted by the larger contact patch. It is a lose - lose deal. The bike will be harder to steer, and it will slide quicker! The car tire idea is a terrible idea for a Ryker in my opinion.
Click to expand...

@Triumphcycleman,

With all due respect, I understand your point of view. This is not about saving money, in fact quality auto tires cost more than Kenda tires. Many Spyder riders, including myself replaced our Kendas when they worn out with auto tires for several reasons. Kenda tires are very sensitive to front end alignment. Kenda tires wear very poorly if the alignments is not perfect, so BRP's claim for such long service from Kenda tires will only be true if the alignment is perfect. Kenda tire are not great on wet roads. Kenda tires wear out down the center of the tire tread on the rear tire regardless of the operating tire pressure. Kenda tires do not in general handle well. Do a search for "Tires" on this Spyder forum and look at the hundreds of threads, you will not find many Spyder owners bragging about how great Kenda tires handle, some Spyder owner have fair luck with long tire tread life, but that is the minority of the respondents.

In general Kenda tire are not built to high standards. They represent a good revenue flow for BRP. It appear BRP has every intention of retaining Ryker owner tire purchases with BRP. If you choose to use Kenda tires that is wonderful and I'm sure you will have many followers, but for myself and many other Spyder owners that have a working background with Kenda tires it is very frustrating to learn the "No option other than Kendas." We have experience what quality tires can do for the Spyder.

Tire selection for the Ryker is an unknown, especially since the Ryder does not have power-steering. The power-steering is poorly understood by most BRP riders. It's main function is to isolate feedback into the riders arms. The "power" level of assist is regulated by the CPU that is watching the rate gyros, wheel speed sensors, and input torque on the steering handlebars. The power-steering varies it control of feedback to the rider arms based upon the PID, (proportion, integral, derivative) computations. If a Spyder is not in alignment and the tires are of poor quality (Kenda) then the handling is terrible! If new tires are installed but the alignment is still out the Spyder will feel much better, but not right until it is correctly aligned. I proved this to myself on my F3T. Tires make a huge difference on safety and handling for the Spyder. I suspect it would be more, if not the same for a Ryder since it does not have the power-steering to dampen the road feedback into the riders arms.

I'm sure you'll have a fine time with your new Ryker using Kendas, you have no other choice at this time.

Have fun with your new toy.

EDIT; @Triumphcycleman. On your first post to Spyder Riders you introduced yourself and said that you are now a "BRP Spyder dealer". I guess you will profit from the exclusivity of "Kenda's tires only on the Ryker". Does this explain your comment? I quote you here: "The car tire idea is a terrible idea for a Ryker in my opinion"
 
farmer54 said:
Hey guys I got to looking at mc tires on BikeBandit and found some 120-70-16 size tires. These are close to same size except 1" narrower and are rated "S" speed, I used the Shinko SR567 for size comparison. Frank farmer 54
Click to expand...

:agree: with I M S ….. A 16inch tire can be found …. but the one you found is a real Mtc. tire and the TREAD shape is ROUND …. also the tire BEAD is for a MTc. rim :banghead::banghead:...……..they simply won't work ……………………… Mike :thumbup:
 
pirelli.jpg

I use my Spyder (Ryker?) here in the Alps - possible for rain on each tour - the Kenda had no "Grip" specially when the roads are wet, so I changed to a good european standard tire - if I would take a ryker now, I hope my dealer keeps the new Kenda and install a Pirelli or so - in the moment only for the rear wheel if we cannot find one for the front..
the front wheels of my RT where not balanced when I got it - so I had to visit a tire-shop on my first tour (in Italy) ..
on the other side I always had to visit my BRP Dealer to adjust my drive-belt after the tire-shop insatalled a new rear tire
one of my Spyder-stories ;)
 
Leland, for your information, we actually make $8 MORE per wheel when mounting a customer supplied tire so...... there goes that theory. If you want to attack me personally for being a dealer, which I have never hid, then so be it. I can handle it.
My point, after a decade of selling and servicing Spyders is that car tires may work a little bit better on a model like an RT riding two up than this really, really light and minimal Ryker. I too wish we had choices beyond Kenda, but right now we do not.
 
Triumphcycleman said:
Leland, for your information, we actually make $8 MORE per wheel when mounting a customer supplied tire so...... there goes that theory. If you want to attack me personally for being a dealer, which I have never hid, then so be it. I can handle it.
My point, after a decade of selling and servicing Spyders is that car tires may work a little bit better on a model like an RT riding two up than this really, really light and minimal Ryker. I too wish we had choices beyond Kenda, but right now we do not.
Click to expand...

I prefer that my BRP-dealer installs for me the new tires !! (if he can balance the wheels after that) - but it would be really
intresting to make a Panic-brake test with Kendas against Pirellis or so !!

https://www.whichcar.com.au/features/wheels-tyre-test-2015-nine-brands-compared
 
Like I said, I do not know anything about Spyders or Kenda tires. Just thought that no one has posted yet with some actual first hand experience and mileage on a Ryker to know how the tires perform. Maybe they got it right and they work great on the Ryker. Of course they could be just as bad as everyone agrees they are on the Spyder. Waiting to hear some first hand reports.
 
gskinner said:
Like I said, I do not know anything about Spyders or Kenda tires. Just thought that no one has posted yet with some actual first hand experience and mileage on a Ryker to know how the tires perform. Maybe they got it right and they work great on the Ryker. Of course they could be just as bad as everyone agrees they are on the Spyder. Waiting to hear some first hand reports.
Click to expand...
:agree: with regard to the front tires as I posted earlier. There is always hope, but the BRP/Kenda track record doesn't encourage such hope! :dontknow:
 
@gskinner

I'm seeing a few reports on Facebook about Rykers dancing around at highway speeds. Discussions regarding possible alignments issues with Ryker are becoming more common. Today Lamont posted photos on the RykerLovers Facebook page showing a Ryker that was out of alignment from the factory. Many of us received our Spydes out of alignment when purchased new. This seems to standard practice for BRP. The upshot of all of this will be increased tire wear.

Kenda is not going to put some sort of magical fairy dust into the mix for Rykers. Kendas are made in a 3 world country very cheaply. BRP built the Ryker with cost savings as the primary object, it has to be cheap thus you will not see anything other that Kendas for sale from BRP. Kenda tires are built specially for their bikes. These tires are built to work with automotive wheels, not motorcycles wheel, but they have Kenda mold MC into the side wall to convince you they are for motorcycles. They are very light duty and have terrible wet weather performance. As you have read on this thread they represent a hazard in some Spyder rider minds.

Okay, now let us give up on the wishful thinking postings and go find a tire that will fit the Ryker front wheels...... Starting looking
 
Leland said:
Kenda tires are built specially for their bikes. These tires are built to work with automotive wheels, not motorcycles wheel, but they have Kenda mold MC into the side wall to convince you they are for motorcycles.
Click to expand...
It's not to convince anyone. It's the law. NHTSA regulations require tire manufacturers to mark on the sidewall the application of the tire if it is not intended for automotive use. And we all agree the BRP/Kendas are not intended to be used on cars. The marking actually is "For Special Motorcycle Use Only". That's to make clear they are not intended for general motorcycle use.
 
For the fronts, it looks like Yokohama do an S-Drive in 175/50R16 77T SL that's almost identical in size in all respects except the width, but I haven't been able to get the ACTUAL physical dimensions of the OE Kendas to confirm any physical size differences yet.... and I believe Kumho do an Ecsta SPT KU31 in 165R45/16 74V which is a 'similar in all but width' size too. Both of those are basically Dry Weather Perfomance tires, altho both manufacturers claim that their particular tires have "superb wet weather performance, grip, and hydroplaning resistance".... Yeah, riiight! :rolleyes: And without trying very hard I found a whole heap of alternatives for the 205R45/16 or the 205R55/15 rear tires in just about any spec or tread type you might want; 48 popped up on the very first search I tried!! So I don't think it'll be too hard to find a replacement tire for the rear! :clap:

So it seems that there are some 'reasonably close in rolling dia but wider' alternative front tires out there; tires that look like they should fit under the std fenders without much effort/modification, but we really need those people with Rykers to get out there & start putting miles on the OEM Kendas to see if BRP's claim of improved tire life & exceptional ride & handling is anything more than marketting hype! Yeah riiight! :rolleyes: And I really want to get hold of a couple of these 'new' Kendas to dissect them & see how they are REALLY made.... I suspect that they aren't 'real' motorcycle M/C tires, but just like the Kendas fitted by BRP to our Spyders, they are basically just poorly made lightweight versions of automotive Passenger 'P' tires, the proof will be in the dissection! However, right now we don't have too many Rykers on the ground here in Aus, so it might be a little while before I can convince someone to donate their Kendas to the cause!! :opps:

That means it's up to you lot over there - get out there & start racking up the miles on those Rykers! You can't let a little snow or cold weather stop you, that's irrelevent & unimportant in the burning drive to answer these important questions for the edification of all Spyder/Ryker Lovers! Just get on your trikes & ryde, you hear me?! :mad: I'd do it myself but no Aussie Rykers have been delivered yet, aand besides, it's over 40° C here again today, so it's just too hot for me to ryde... :cheers:
 
We don't yet know anything about these particular Kendas on the new Ryker. These tires are different than the ones on the Spyders (same brand - different models), and the Ryker weighs 300 - 400lbs. less than the RT's & F3's. The handling and wear of these new Kendas on the new Ryker could be completely different than our Spyders! Maybe BRP & Kenda got it right this time.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
C'mon guys, if you have a problem with a post or poster, don't start a posting war, just report the post & let the mods handle it!
 
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