Shinko 230 Torture Test

[bwringer]

Very strange to see this thread dug up from the grave four years later!

And it's also great to see another data point from Steve -- as I've seen many times, "normal" riders usually get about twice the mileage I usually do. I am willfully aberrant.

I ride the GS much less these days, and I'm seriously considering spooning on a set of the Shinko 230s next just so I can change them every year or so and keep the rubber fresh.

Or, maybe I can just invest in some black shoe polish and shave the corners off with a butcher knife like Burt Munro in "World's Fastest Indian"...



Here's another example, but not from a GS. This is the rear tire on my V-Strom after perpetrating various curvaceous antics in Missouri. Crispy!


Aaaaaaaand here it is dead at just under 4,000 miles. This is a new adventure tire from Avon, the TrailRider, and there are reliable reports of normal people getting nearly 15,000 miles on a set. Oh well. Kinda neat how you can see the division between the rubber compounds. Not neat how there's less than 0.5mm of tread left in the center.

[posplayr]

You can go thru the first two layers of canvas before they blow..




Tracton gets a bit iffy around the first layer...

Usally once you wear thru the tread compond the very thin soft rubber will blister n bubble over the first layer of canvas, you can feel this when riding. Also once your wearing the canvas the wheel will spin up more and more easily, wearing even faster.
your demise follows soon after...

(pic is sidecar touring, not burn out..)

What I do to extend the mileage is to let the air out before a road hazard does it and put a strap around the entire circumference of the tire pulling the center to the rim. Now you can run on the rim but protected by the outer edges where there is still rubber.








NOT

They are a dual compound but still very soft. Will wear longer than a pirelli or Shinko but still have the ultra sift side profiles for cornering.

I started with Bridgestone BT45s, sure great grip, but the rear wore out in 5000 miles with the final 2000 squared off.

I had BT45's on my 1100E before the 230's I have now. The rear made it ~6000km and had a major flat spot in the center well before the 6000km mark. They stuck OK but certainly didn't wear well for me and I'm usually pretty easy on tire wear. The 230's offer enough grip (so far) and look to be wearing much better. I did over 400km yesterday putting me up around 2100km on this set and the back looks new still, just scuffed but not worn.


Mark

[Buffalo Bill]

I started with Bridgestone BT45s, sure great grip, but the rear wore out in 5000 miles with the final 2000 squared off.
I was disgusted with that so I tried the unknown Shinko's for half the price. I think I'm on my 3rd Shinko rear. Getting the same mileage.
Glad you mentioned your slick experience with the Avons, just seems to make sense, you give up grip for long life. I want grip.
I ride with lower tire pressures too, so they warm up fast for me.

[GS1150Pilot]

I mounted Metzler Roadtecs on the GSX-R wheels I'm installing on the 1150. Haven't run Metzlers in years, but they were the right size, the right price, and get generally solid reviews.

[Chuck78]

I got about 6000mi out of the front Shinko 230 and it still has a few thousand left, but I swapped to a different wheel set.
The rear sr741 (same compound as 230) lasted about 3700mi or so before the tread was notably flat and had not the best lean in transitions. By 4300mi or so, I threw in the towel and bought a brand new exact replacement, because the price point is so good and the first 2800mi of cornering performance was AMAZING.
Pirelli Sport Demons are very similar but grip slightly better and also wear slightly better. They are proven to get the fastest lap times in the early wear stages, but also proven to need replacing the soonest of the street& track tires tested. The treadwear caused the amazing grip to go away after they started to get really worn in.

Avon AM26 RoadRider's give great grip for an excellent wearing/mileage performance tire, but I have had numerous slips in turns on those (an almost new 100mi-only used set came on a nice set of Sun Rims laced on gs1000 hubs that I bought from a member so I figured I'd wear them out). Havin th ed tires momentarily break loose when not even scraping hard parts or dragging your knee us quite unnerving.

I can do long burnouts with the Avons from throttle roll-ons from a stop in 1st gear, and they rarely leave black rubber marks on the road. I skid the rear brake some, & same. Spinning the rear 150/70-18 Avon occasionally gets it warmed up enough to really hook and turn a throttle roll-on burnout into a power wheelie when the tire hooks. With the 140/70-18 Shinko, the front end would be sky high much sooner (better hook up off the line) after a short bit of tire spin
The Avon is the best tire however if you want good rear tire treadwear mileage.
I am going to start trying Bridgestone Battlax BT45V rears (bt45 comes in our standard sizes, the BT45V is same but wider/lower profile).
They are a dual compound but still very soft. Will wear longer than a pirelli or Shinko but still have the ultra sift side profiles for cornering.

For the gs425 racer build, it's going to be Pirelli all the way (substantially lighter bike = much better treadwear, & stickier tire needed to plant it) Although I have considered running a BT45V rear on all of the 4cyl bikes and Pirelli Sport Demon in the front.
I may consider the Shinko SR741 130/70-18 on a 3.5 rim on the rear of the gs400/425/450 bikes with a Sport Demon 110/80-18 front on 2.5x18 rims.
I don't believe there will be much harm in mixing and matching those different model tires front and rear, as they are fairly similar. Real world tests will see.

[Buffalo Bill]

Thanks Brian and Steve, long term thinkers and members.
I've been riding Shinko 217 and had them on the track when new. I don't ride more than 2000 miles per year, but search for every corner in my area.
I was considering replacing the 217s with 230s for the V rating, and looks like I will.
I had my 1100G up at 115mph recently and a blowout at that speed would result in a long slide. Having read about (Mr Unlucky) Barry Sheene's 1975 tire blowout on the banks of Daytona during practice, a long enough slide will probably grind through any leather suit made.

[Paul Harvey voice] The mile count on my tires last night was right around 7650, still had just over 4/32" on the rear tire and just under 4/32" on the front tire. At that rate, I will probably get 9-10,000 miles on my set.

Wow, that is great mileage. I got used to sport bike rubber and am really happy if I get 8000km out of a rear on my GSXR1000. That explains why my 230's are showing no visible wear after 1700km, they are hardly getting worked in...


Mark

[Steve]

[Paul Harvey voice] And now for the rest of the story. [/Paul Harvey voice]

From Brian's original post, about 4 years ago:

Earlier this summer, I spooned an unsuspecting set of Shinko 230 Tourmaster tires onto my GS850G in the name of Science.

Bear in mind I am a large galoot and I ride like a flaming bat out of hell. Normal people get a LOT more miles out of their tires. The numbers below represent extreme abuse -- your mileage will probably be a lot better.

<snip>

- They didn't last long at all. The rear was at the TWIs in about 3,000 miles, and WAY past worn out at about 3,500. The center tread is completely smooth.

- The front shows pretty normal wear (fronts don't flat spot like rears, so you have to look closer), but it is visibly very worn and also needs to be replaced at about 4,500 miles -- not sure if you could get away with running two rears for each front with these.

I changed the oil on my 850 last night. When entering that into my service log, I noted the mileage on the bike when I installed my Shinko 230s. Keep in mind that my gravitational attraction is not quite the same as Brian's and my riding style is not quite as "batty". I do ride in a somewhat "spirited" manner, so am not vertical all the time.

The mile count on my tires last night was right around 7650, still had just over 4/32" on the rear tire and just under 4/32" on the front tire. At that rate, I will probably get 9-10,000 miles on my set.

Using his cost of $136.35 for the tires (I got mine about the same time from the same store), and assuming replacement at 9,000 miles, that is a cost per mile of just 1.5 cents, compared to his 4.5.

Just wanted to show that your cost per mile will depend a LOT on how you ride.

I still thank Brian for his objective torture test several years ago, just wanted to show them in another light.

.

Please let us know how that combination handles.

Please let us know about the $60000 tire change...

[tkent02]

I think next time I am probably going to start running an Avon AM26 rear but keep the Shinko 230 front.

Please let us know how that combination handles.

[Chuck78]

Ever seen a edged pebble in the road?
You take your chances?
A non noticeable pebble could deflate that tire in under a second.
This is from experience, and yes I was lucky.

Aaahhhhhhhh.... Yes, thank you for instilling some common sense in me! Not only would I not want to get a flat so far from home, but at speed in a turn could be very detrimental. Time for one last hurrah tomorrow before I yank the rear wheel off. Thanks, Crank.

I think next time I am probably going to start running an Avon AM26 rear but keep the Shinko 230 front. Nice to not have to worry about wearing through your tire on a 700-1500 mile vacation if you already have a few thousand miles on it. Money is tight, and so I bought another Shinko SR741 rear 140/70-18 for this time around.

How many miles can one get between the tread being bald to the point of the rubber blistering and exposing the inner canvas carcass of the tire? I've been spinning the cold tire a lot on cold pavement lately and I still can see slight marks of the tread on my SR741 140/70-18. I realized cold tires on cold weather pavement wear a lot longer but grip lees - rolling on hard to WOT@ 15mph in 1st gear lights up the tires quite a bit, but aftera vety short fishtail, tye now warmed up tire hooks hard and pops the front end up when launching/hooking.

Anyway I want to get in two more 300&200 mile rides the next two weekends in the hills of SE Ohio, not sure if my tire will make it but it's seeming to last much longer in cold weather.

I have ridden some tires past the point of common sense.
Ever seen a edged pebble in the road?
You take your chances?
When a tire is already real thin (almost canvas) put your finger in the middle and push down.
It will push real easy.
A non noticeable pebble could deflate that tire in under a second.
This is from experience, and yes I was lucky.

[Chuck78]

I should .mention that the sr741 uses the same compound as my front 230 TourMaster, and comes in the size I was looking for that the 230 does not.

[Chuck78]

You can go thru the first two layers of canvas before they blow..




Tracton gets a bit iffy around the first layer...

Usally once you wear thru the tread compond the very thin soft rubber will blister n bubble over the first layer of canvas, you can feel this when riding. Also once your wearing the canvas the wheel will spin up more and more easily, wearing even faster.
your demise follows soon after...

(pic is sidecar touring, not burn out..)

How many miles can one get between the tread being bald to the point of the rubber blistering and exposing the inner canvas carcass of the tire? I've been spinning the cold tire a lot on cold pavement lately and I still can see slight marks of the tread on my SR741 140/70-18. I realized cold tires on cold weather pavement wear a lot longer but grip less.
Anyway I want to get in two more 300&200 mile rides the next two weekends in the hills of SE Ohio, not sure if my tire will make it but it's seeming to last much longer in cold weather.