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Venting about Tire wear and alignment...

Tires are a special hot spot discussion topic here. I have a different take on the OEM Kendas, and have spoken about them many times. Since I have now sold both my Spyders, I will keep out of the discussion. Both the spyders I sold will have good tires for the next 10K miles is all I am saying.

The wear shown here, indicates a deeper problem than just the tires. Some of the blame has to do with the person performing the alignment. I have been through seven Spyders, and almost 205,500 accumulated miles, and have NEVER encountered a wear situation such as shown here. In, my humble opinion, there is more to this situation than just a particular tire brand. :bowdown:

You are correct. There simply is no other logical conclusion. Tire brand, tread design or rubber compound had no bearing here. With this alignment issue any tire used would have worn like this.

You just can't blame this result on the tire.
 
All of this leads me to guard my present alignment settings carefully. With over 13k miles on the OEM Kenda fronts, they still look less than half-worn and very even. The rear has already been replaced. Very similar tire mileage to my GL1800, it seems. Either Can-AM built it right, or iMotorsports assembled it particularly well.
 
All of this leads me to guard my present alignment settings carefully. With over 13k miles on the OEM Kenda fronts, they still look less than half-worn and very even. The rear has already been replaced. Very similar tire mileage to my GL1800, it seems. Either Can-AM built it right, or iMotorsports assembled it particularly well.

From my experience the tire alignment is hit or miss ....I bought three - two were bad and one was good .....Mike :thumbup:
 
There are those who say they've been able to get an accurate alignment with a tape measure, etc. While I can't say for sure this is not possible.


~~~~Ron, I’m going to guess getting a good alignment w/o ROLO comes with practice. Here’s what I know or shouldI say, has been my experience with two new BRP three wheelers and the boys (service techs) that set up the alignment on both machines were spot on. First was the 2020 Ryker Rally I bought new in 2020. The service department unbeknownst to me at the time, performed the alignment using string, tape measure. I dont remember the exact mileage but, it was under 10 K miles that I rode that Ryker Rally and there were no issues with steering, alignment. Second machine is the 2021 Spyder RT Limited I’m piloting now, with about 8 K miles the two years I’ve ridden this machine. Yeah, I know…I need to ride more but hey!, I don’t worry at all. When I purchased this RT I asked the sales manager who handled both of the sales how they did their alignment, & if they used the ROLO. His answer? They do all of their alignments using string & tape measure. The proof is in the pudding, I have ridden my RT Limited at 90 MPH with the cruise control set and I can and have on more than one occasion, take both hands off the handlebars and this machine tracks perfectly straight, going 90 MPH, and to top it off, this is with OEM Kenda front tires, you know the tire brand a few members here claim are worthless. That said, I don’t doubt fora minute there’s been some horribly builtKenda tires. I believe the naysayers but, that has not been my experience, with either BRP 3 wheeler. The front tires on both machines have been phenomenal. BTW, the BRP dealer I bought both machines new from is the dealer in Topeka Kansas. I’ll reiterate in that I’m guessing them Kansan boys know how to hand align a BRP three wheeler. I wouldn’t want to try but on that point, referring to using string for alignment, my carpenters that have built my barn, and have addded on to that barn 3for times over the years (built on 12 foot centers), they’ve always used string to set their lines for setting Timbers, concrete slabs, and they’re spot on. I’ll readily admit, I’m not a carpenter but i know and employ a few and they don’t use lasers. Speaking of lasers, my Brother who works for an Indiana company that site builds grain silos, they use lasers. Tony (me brudder) has shown me the laser he uses, keeps it in the trunk of his car. He’s come down to Georgia to do the initial site work for them so he’s stopped off here fora visit a time or three when he’s in this neck of the woods

I’ll say right now, the next time I need an alignment on my RT, whoever does the work, wether they use string or laser, as long as they feel comfortable and produce good results using the system of their choice, wether it’s string or a laser, I’ll let them align my machine


Best,


Jake
Reddick Fla.
Even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while
 
This kind of my experience with my 2021 RT LTD.

The OEM Kendas I have on mine have seemed just fine. They are not the best I'm sure, like any OEM tire supplied on a new machine they are partly chosen by the vendor due to cost, but they seem to do the job OK.

I actually like the way they feel, they seem to have a very predictable feel up to their adhesion limit. They stay nice and neutral through even tight corners in the canyons without suddenly switching to oversteer or understeer or kicking in the nanny because of sudden front or rear giving way. They are also reasonably good in the wet or dry and roll nice and quietly on the freeway.

I guess by my experience they are fitting better versions to later machines as I have no real complaints.

I did a rough alignment check on my machine when new using bore sight lasers from my rifles with markings on the garage wall. From what I can tell my bike came set up with a touch of toe in, which it is probably what it is designed for. Obviously this was a really rough test and not the most accurate but I'm sure it would have shown up a large degree of toe. I did also check the tie rod ends and rear axle assembly for tightness just in case, but it was fine from the factory.

I don't know how people do a proper professional laser alignment but I suspect it must comprise of getting the front wheels set correctly and the rear wheel squared to the fronts, a three wheel alignment in other words. I can easily imagine aligning the fronts and if not aligned with the rear it would still be off. Plus centering the steering using BUDS2 afterwards.

I wouldn't say a laser alignment is the essential way to do things, I'm sure somebody who really, really knows what they are doing can do it with tape measures and string. I can remember in my younger days walking through the pits at Brands Hatch for a Grand Prix and seeing a front running Formula 1 team aligning things with a metal jig and strings and rulers. I'm sure even the slightest error even back then would have had a major effect on driver feel and lap times. I rather suspect doing it with lasers has the potential to do it more accurately and quicker for sure and i suspect Formula 1 teams have long given up using jigs and string. Of course the Spyder's adjustments are much more unidirectional than a race car's camber and other adjustments as well.

I think when this set of tires is done for, I'll replace them with a set of the Kanine KR20s. I'll do all three at the same time to ensure the alignment holds for as long as possible - it's bound to change a bit as the fronts wear, I'm sure.

So I'm sorry if this was not everyones' experience with their Spyder but I just wanted to say that I have no complaints with mine in this area.
 
This kind of my experience with my 2021 RT LTD.

The OEM Kendas I have on mine have seemed just fine. They are not the best I'm sure, like any OEM tire supplied on a new machine they are partly chosen by the vendor due to cost, but they seem to do the job OK.

I actually like the way they feel, they seem to have a very predictable feel up to their adhesion limit. They stay nice and neutral through even tight corners in the canyons without suddenly switching to oversteer or understeer or kicking in the nanny because of sudden front or rear giving way. They are also reasonably good in the wet or dry and roll nice and quietly on the freeway.

I guess by my experience they are fitting better versions to later machines as I have no real complaints.

I did a rough alignment check on my machine when new using bore sight lasers from my rifles with markings on the garage wall. From what I can tell my bike came set up with a touch of toe in, which it is probably what it is designed for. Obviously this was a really rough test and not the most accurate but I'm sure it would have shown up a large degree of toe. I did also check the tie rod ends and rear axle assembly for tightness just in case, but it was fine from the factory.

I don't know how people do a proper professional laser alignment but I suspect it must comprise of getting the front wheels set correctly and the rear wheel squared to the fronts, a three wheel alignment in other words. I can easily imagine aligning the fronts and if not aligned with the rear it would still be off. Plus centering the steering using BUDS2 afterwards.

I wouldn't say a laser alignment is the essential way to do things, I'm sure somebody who really, really knows what they are doing can do it with tape measures and string. I can remember in my younger days walking through the pits at Brands Hatch for a Grand Prix and seeing a front running Formula 1 team aligning things with a metal jig and strings and rulers. I'm sure even the slightest error even back then would have had a major effect on driver feel and lap times. I rather suspect doing it with lasers has the potential to do it more accurately and quicker for sure and i suspect Formula 1 teams have long given up using jigs and string. Of course the Spyder's adjustments are much more unidirectional than a race car's camber and other adjustments as well.

I think when this set of tires is done for, I'll replace them with a set of the Kanine KR20s. I'll do all three at the same time to ensure the alignment holds for as long as possible - it's bound to change a bit as the fronts wear, I'm sure.

So I'm sorry if this was not everyones' experience with their Spyder but I just wanted to say that I have no complaints with mine in this area.

Nice write-up ......
 
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I suspect my more modern Kendas are' better than 2008 versions. I tried a Spyder RT on car tires and and honestly liked my Kendas enough
 
We all ride differently and the stresses we put on the piece-parts vary widely. If a rider is happy with the equipment and doesn't push the limits, there's little reason to spend money for upgrades that have no noticeable benefits.

Run what you like and respect the choices of others. There's a reason we have chocolate & vanilla - to offer options!
 
The front Kendas on my 2013 RT still had a couple thousand miles left on them I sold it at about 23,000 miles. But the front OEM Kendas on my 2014 RTS were defective and constantly pulled to the right. An alignment didn't correct the problem. I replaced them at 13,000 miles with Continental Conti Pro Contacts and they're still looking good at over 30,000 miles of use.
 
RE: 2014 RTS. BRP was experimenting with Kenda tires that year. The early 2014 (1330-3 cylinders) had rear tires with a "softer" rubber compound. That was the ONLY Kenda rear tire that I found was ready for a replacement at about 8,500 miles. Many on site at that time said they were lucky to get 6,000 miles on the rear tires. Other Kenda rear tires have always given me about 15,000 miles of use. I did get my usual 20K out of the front tires.
 
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