Shinko 230 Torture Test

[bwringer]

Man, I remember those Barracudas... absolutely dreadful tires. Deadly. And fortunately long gone. Cheng Shin used to make some tires in these sizes that had a similar niche; they worked great for not much money.

There are some Kendas still sold... Challengers, I think, that are similarly pants-crappingly frightening.


And yeah, the Shinko 712 and 230 perform far better than those old design Spitfires. But they don't have the groovy raised white letters.

For me, the biggest indicator of good modern engineering are tires that don't turn evil as they wear. Both the Shinkos we've been discussing fill the bill -- they stick and handle great down past the wear indicators.

Those Bridgestone Spitfires are an ancient design that get positively nasty as they wear. Bridgestone's own BT45 Battlax is a far better, thoroughly modern tire.

Same for a few other old tire models that you might run across, such as the Dunlop 404 and Metzeler Lasertec. Ancient history, they don't last long, and they are downright evil when they get a little wear.

The street tires we can get now exceed anything the racebikes had back in the '80s; there's no reason not to take advantage of modern technology.

[Chuck78]

^^^^ YES to everything above in Brian's post...

[Gorminrider]

Boriqua, This also really helps me so keep it in mind if handling the job turns out to be awkward in the event... it really saves trying to hold the rim with your arms or knees while you shift irons and (slippery) rim protectors.

A car tire rim: to put the motorcycle rim on so you're not sitting on the brake disk while you wonk hard...split garden hose around the steel rim's edge or Gee! , maybe just use a rim with tire still on but I haven't tried this myself...anyways, you can bolt up through both rims from your solid bench with a long threaded rod or the like and a block of wood as a clamp with the nut and washer to hold it all down- that is, long enough to come up through the motorcycle rim from the bench. Handtight is all this homemade tire clamp needs .

[Boriqua]

Boriqua, This also really helps me so keep it in mind if handling the job turns out to be awkward in the event... it really saves trying to hold the rim with your arms or knees while you shift irons and (slippery) rim protectors.

A car tire rim: to put the motorcycle rim on so you're not sitting on the brake disk while you wonk hard...split garden hose around the steel rim's edge or Gee! , maybe just use a rim with tire still on but I haven't tried this myself...anyways, you can bolt up through both rims from your solid bench with a long threaded rod or the like and a block of wood as a clamp with the nut and washer to hold it all down- that is, long enough to come up through the motorcycle rim from the bench. Handtight is all this homemade tire clamp needs .

Oh man the hose is a perfect idea and not only sounds better than the slippery plastic things I ordered but I have a hose ready for sacrifice.

When I was seriously into bicycling .. I used to give a light coat of powder, whatever the wife had around, to the inside of the tire and to the outside of the tube so it wouldn't bind when inflating. My spare tube was actually coated with powder and then put in one of those air seal bags in my kit.

Any reason not to do this when installing the tube in the MC tire?

[Chuck78]

I have used talc powder in mounting them before, but now I just use Murphy's Oil Soap. In a spray bottle. It works amazing. Murphy's also makes a separate tire lube product as well.

Instead of a car tire rim, I used to use a 5 gallon bucket with a section of rubber automotive heater hose split lengthwise and wrapped around the rim. If not bolting it down, it works all the same, the bucket is a little bit taller so will be a little more wobbly.
The car wheel would work better if you are trying to bolt it down, for sure.

[Buffalo Bill]

Cruiser tires... Good for cruisin' & the look. Not high performance though. The 712 & 230 are awesome budget high performance street tires... Like the Bridgestone BT45 Battlax.

I agree, some Spitfires came on a couple Yamaha SECAs I bought, 550 & 750, no stick scary!
I started the Shinko 712 love club in 2010 after watching my rear BT45 square off flat in 4-5000 miles. Tried the 1/3 priced Shinko 712 and even took my GS1100G on the track-once!
Been buying them since, and am waiting to hear about something mo betta.

[bwringer]

I agree, some Spitfires came on a couple Yamaha SECAs I bought, 550 & 750, no stick scary!
I started the Shinko 712 love club in 2010 after watching my rear BT45 square off flat in 4-5000 miles. Tried the 1/3 priced Shinko 712 and even took my GS1100G on the track-once!
Been buying them since, and am waiting to hear about something mo betta.

So it sounds like you'd place the Shinkos above the BT45 in terms of performance, not just price.

Good to know!

[Gorminrider]

@ Boriqua- no no the hose goes' round the car rim a la what Chuck is saying

Oh man the hose is a perfect idea and not only sounds better than the slippery plastic things I ordered but I have a hose ready for sacrifice

use cut- up oil bottles or margarine containers for rim protectors when you give up on the motion-pro ones- BUT- I'm assuming the motion pro ones are these that I gotrimprotectors.jpg I had no luck with these-maybe I used 'em wrong -maybe intended for spoked rim dirtbikes? I can't say about others

[Chuck78]

I actually have been running a Bridgestone BT45V Battlax on the rear the past 2 seasons, and a Shinko 230 on the front, as my Shinko SR741 rear 140/70-18 would wear down to a very flat, squared-off pattern by 3700 miles, and putting on a fresh tire made me realize what I was missing in terms of smooth cornering transition!

It didn't really bother me before, riding on the squared-off flat top tire, but was significantly improved with a new Shinko or Bridgestone rear that was actually around, and felt awesome leaning into corners. I have about 45 minutes of straight road riding to get to the edge of the Appalachian hills here, so I do get quite a bit of upright riding time to wear them down before getting into the twisties. I do not commute on my bike, and I don't ride it in the city very much, as people don't know how to drive, especially in big cities! Especially with the advent of smartphones...


Perhaps Bridgestone has changed the rubber composition some since you have tried them, Buffalo Bill. I was able to get my Bridgestone Battlax BT45V to square off at the end of its tread life, but it was already past the tread wear indicators, and I had to enter a burnout competition @ the Saturday Night Corner Party via Kentucky Kick Down @ AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days weekend 2018 to get it to this point!!!!

So yes, the BT45V v-rated Battlax DEFINITELY stayed a fairly round profile significantly better than the Shinko tires which would definitely leave a more noticeable sharp transition edge from the flat to the radiused tread crown area. I have mounted the 230 on many friends' bikes, and the SR741 seems to be the same rubber compound. It grips awesome. Honestly I think the Shinko grips better than the Battlax's, but I can deal with that on the rear in order not to have it squaring off after 3700 miles or so. I like to do some long-distance rides, and if I am clocking in 600 or 1200 miles on a trip, that is some considerable treadwear for these types of tires, I like to keep it nice to the end if possible, and I don't always plan on just replacing tires with 2,800 or 3,000 miles on them if I am going on a road trip through mountains and Appalachian twisties...

[Chuck78]

The Avon AM26 Road Riders that I got with 100 miles on them on a nice set of aftermarket GS 3.50-18 & 2.50-18 alloy rims, 150/70-18 rear 110/90-18 front, I was honestly terrified of, when I would ride really aggressively. They were about 2.5 years old at the time, but I couldn't wait to get them off of my bike, they scared me several times. They never made me crash, but they were not confidence-inspiring. So many people swear by them and say they are amazing handling, one good buddy who rides at least as aggressively and fast cornering as I do, says he will never run shinkos again, and he is scared of them! So to each their own, but I will attest that the Shinko 230/712/SR741 rubber is definitely grippier, the only place I would be more scared of them is if you are out on a 90 degree day with the sun beating down late June thru August when sun is highest in the sky, making the blacktop incredibly hot. That is the only time that I really am concerned much about the grip on the Shinko, that and any tire in cold weather...


I suppose my Avon AM26 experience could be due to the fact that they were 2.5 years old at that point in time, but that could also be another argument against them, that if you don't rack up 5000 miles a year on your bike, that you may as well go with the Shinko anyway, because the rubber on the Avon tires does not age well!

I still advocate the Avon AM26 Road Rider tires to people that do a lot of city riding or want to do long road trips. They were a good tire, but they were not a high-performance tire that met my demands.

& about the previous Kenda Challenger comment, those tires don't even make sense, the rubber is so soft, but they don't grip AT ALL!

I would never recommend a tire like that, or the Bridgestone Spitfires, or any Harley-Davidson type cruiser tire to anyone unless they were just riding a big overweight morbidly obese cruiser down the highways, and still at that, your front tire rubber compound dictates how much braking you have available. It doesn't matter how good your brakes are, the tire is the limiting factor if it locks up and skids because it cannot grip the road good enough.

I would say to anyone that wants a white lettered tire, to get something that grips good, and get some tire paint like a hot rod guys do when they want raised white letter sidewalls. You already have the raised rubber letters, just highlight them with white tire paint and you are good to go, now you can run a Shinko 712 and benefit from having 8 times as much grip as a Bridgestone Spitfire, but then you will still have the white letters that you are looking for. it's so much safer, and so much more fun to ride a bike that gives you confidence when you are cornering on twisty roads. I would not be into motorcycles anywhere near as much as I am if it were not for the thrills that I get from riding twisty rural roads...

[Boriqua]

Just got my rear tire .. i dont know about you guys .. but seeing new rubber for the bike is quite the exciting event .. I even like that new rubber smell.Cant wait to get it on and go for a spin.

So I have tools, tire and limited knowledge. I will report back on how it went and how the tools worked tomorrow or sunday after install tomorrow.

[Chuck78]

Be very careful not to pinch the inner tube with the tire levers!!!!

Also, if you have wire spoke steel rims, plan on an extra day, as you will find that they are very rusted on the inside from soapy water used to install tires. I always wire brush them extensively (wire brush wheel mounted to drill or angle grinder), wash them down with dish detergent and/or acetone (or lacquer thinner), let them dry out really REALLY thoroughly (as in, use a hair dryer or heat gun even, in order to get all moisture out), usually will apply some phosphoric acid to the inside bare rusted areas for a half hour via a spray bottle application (Klean Strip Metal Etch & Prep or Behr Concrete Etch & Stain Remover, then wash off with soapy water), and then paint the inside of the rims to protect them from rusting for a while longer (a small can of silver POR-15 works GREAT here, but any paint is better than rust). Let that sit a day to cure, and then I put the rim strips in and mount the tires using Murphy's Oil soap, or using a proper tire lubricant.


FYI A lot of dish soaps will contain ammonia, and that is very bad on aluminum, if you have alloy rims or alloy mags, therefore do not use something like that as a tire install lubricant.

I made my buddy use talc powder as a lubricant on his shops tire machine when I was still having a shop do my tires, he said it worked, but it was noticeably harder than using a liquid soap base lubricant.

[Buffalo Bill]

So it sounds like you'd place the Shinkos above the BT45 in terms of performance, not just price.

Good to know!

Anecdotal experience: equal performance on street in moderate conditions. Not truly tested in all conditions, never road BT45s on the track.
To state clearly; I felt no slip front or rear on a very technical (scary) track with negative camber and hairpin corners and a 3000' straightaway. (Grattan Raceway, Michigan)
If I was gonna ride a GS1000-1100 on the track with OEM rims, I'd go with Avon DOT racing tires. If I updated the rims to 17 x 4" rear, 17 x 3" front, any brand is possible.

[Boriqua]

alright ran into a couple of issues but .. I am still in it to win it. So the bead breaker thing worked wonderfully. First shot and pop. WIth the spoon ends was able to get the front side of the tire off the rim fairly easily. The back was a bit more of a pain but done
but

The instructions on the sticker on the tire say to align the "red Dot" with the valve stem. I had seen something similar on a video. Of course .... THERE IS NO RED DOT!!

Could it be the little circle that I have pointed to in the pic below?

http://www.boriqualeather.com/Suzi%20tech/newtire.jpg

I ordered a tube but the rear doesnt have one and I bought a tubless tire. Is there any harm in putting in the tube?

[Chuck78]

no that is not it, flip the tire over and look on the other side, it is not molded into the tire, it is an ink dot that they put on after the tire is manufactured and they weigh it to see where the heaviest spot is vs lightest spot.