Bad tires

[seuadr]

feel free to throw it my way!

 

[Nessism]

...I notice a lot of guys run a 100-90 front, the owners manual called for a 110{3.50} 19 front and stock rear was a 4.50-90-17.
Rod

3.50 front tire converts to a 90, not 110.

 

[Sandy]

There seems to be lot of confusion lately about tire sizes. Here's a handy chart I stole from KZRiders.com

 

[49er]

This is a fallacy that will lead you to waste a lot of money needlessly. The Cheng Shin HiMax is inexpensive, and the best, without a doubt, value for the money in street tire.

"Inexpensive" and "cheap" are not synonymous.

The quality of all tires made in the last ten years far exceeds the quality of tires built during the years GS bikes came out -- late 70's and early 80's.

Buying a tire because it's the most expensive is a "feel-good" attitude that results in the throwing out of perfectly good money.

Yet throwing away money is not against the law, so you're allowed to do so if you wish.

Cheap Grandpa

"Feel Good Crap"! Ask any race competitor who has made the wrong tyre choice on race day how they felt. In many instances they have compomised their safety because of being cheap minded or lacking the necessary budget, to be out front. Most of the road tyres that are now available have morphed from race bred compounds.

It's not about snobbery or feel good, it's about taking advantage of the latest technology, to improve your performance and safety.

I don't have any experience of Chen Shin HiMax tyres so I won't dispute your claims. It's true that price isn't always a reliable indicator of a products worth, but in my experience, cheap is often CHEAP!

I run the Pirelli's because I received positive feedback from this forum. I knew that they would stick well, with the trade off being faster wear. So be it. I value combining performance and safety in wet or dry!

Good luck with your crusade, you may be on to something!

 

[loosebruce]

Anybody tried these?
http://www.dunloptyres.com.au/TyreDetailAction.do?website=DUN&mtpcode=80116&from=nPerPage
New tread compounds sound interesting.

 

[DanTheMan]

I still prefer my Pirelli Scorpion S/T's. It's a high mileage tire (got 15k mi. on the rear last year, and 20k on the front), it's rated at 95% on road and 5% off road (great for our gravel roads around here), corners well, handles the occasional sleet, snow or hail as well as rain quite admirably, and I've ridden from coast to coast on them. One fellow rider said it looked like I was riding on snow tires because of the aggressive tread design. Oh well, they've done the job for me, I really don't like having to replace a rear tire every 4k miles.

 

[Nessism]

There seems to be lot of confusion lately about tire sizes. Here's a handy chart I stole from KZRiders.com

That chart seems about right but keep in mind, 1 inch = 25.4 mm so that is the REAL conversion.

In the real world of manufactured tires things are slightly different though; tires rarely measure the way the stated dimensions indicate they should.

I still say the stock Suzuki front tires are closer to a 90 width than a 110. Most GSR members run a 100 which is slightly wider and taller than stock - helps correct the optimistic speedometer calibration. Using a 110 front can cause fender clearance issues so this is a clear indication that the tire is not even close to the stock size.

 

[Grandpa]

"Feel Good Crap"! Ask any race competitor who has made the wrong tyre choice on race day how they felt. In many instances they have compomised their safety because of being cheap minded or lacking the necessary budget, to be out front. Most of the road tyres that are now available have morphed from race bred compounds.

It's not about snobbery or feel good, it's about taking advantage of the latest technology, to improve your performance and safety.

I don't have any experience of Chen Shin HiMax tyres so I won't dispute your claims. It's true that price isn't always a reliable indicator of a products worth, but in my experience, cheap is often CHEAP!

I run the Pirelli's because I received positive feedback from this forum. I knew that they would stick well, with the trade off being faster wear. So be it. I value combining performance and safety in wet or dry!

Good luck with your crusade, you may be on to something!

Thank you, 49er. I only had 23 years and 250,000 miles on GS bikes, so I'm just a novice at this. Feel free to waste your money as you wish.

 

[Nessism]

"Feel Good Crap"! Ask any race competitor who has made the wrong tyre choice on race day how they felt. In many instances they have compomised their safety because of being cheap minded or lacking the necessary budget, to be out front. Most of the road tyres that are now available have morphed from race bred compounds.

It's not about snobbery or feel good, it's about taking advantage of the latest technology, to improve your performance and safety.

I don't have any experience of Chen Shin HiMax tyres so I won't dispute your claims. It's true that price isn't always a reliable indicator of a products worth, but in my experience, cheap is often CHEAP!

I run the Pirelli's because I received positive feedback from this forum. I knew that they would stick well, with the trade off being faster wear. So be it. I value combining performance and safety in wet or dry!

Good luck with your crusade, you may be on to something!

Word of mouth support for the Hi Max line of tires is almost universally positive; there have been LOTS of positive comments among the GSR faithful and elsewhere as well.

Pirelli?s also have positive word of mouth in regards to their grip, but their durability is less than stellar.

For the majority of GSR users, I think the Hi Max tires are perfectly adequate. Using references to racers cheaping out is irrelevant.

To me the big criticism against the Hi Max tires is not the performance, it?s the fact that they are clearly a knock-off design, stolen from Metzler. At least they did a good copy job, something that can be said of all Cheng Shin's tires.

 

[49er]

Thank you, 49er. I only had 23 years and 250,000 miles on GS bikes, so I'm just a novice at this. Feel free to waste your money as you wish.

Grandpa, so I'm trying to teach my grandmother "how to suck eggs"!
Yes, you should know a good performing tyre by now. How many times did you drop your GS's over that 250,000 miles?

Nessism, thanks for the history on the Hi Max line. If there is credible support for these tyres, they certainly would be worth a try.

 

[argonsagas]

Grandpa prefers being upright, loves his GS, and has even had a "deerly beloved" moment with them....

 

[Grandpa]

Grandpa, so I'm trying to teach my grandmother "how to suck eggs"!
Yes, you should know a good performing tyre by now. How many times did you drop your GS's over that 250,000 miles?

49er, you're unteachable, so I won't bother with you any longer. I'm out of this thread. Go waste your money.

 

[Griffin]

"Feel Good Crap"! Ask any race competitor who has made the wrong tyre choice on race day how they felt. In many instances they have compomised their safety because of being cheap minded or lacking the necessary budget, to be out front. Most of the road tyres that are now available have morphed from race bred compounds.

Comparing racing conditions to street conditions is like comparing street conditions to off road conditions. Racers also use tire warmers and take several slower laps to warm and scruff up their tires before starting the race. Do you do that on your street bike before commuting to work every morning?

I have a set of Hi-Maxes on my GS750, and they're ok. I prefer the feel of Pirellis, but the Hi-Maxes have never induced any kind of dangerous sliding or wobbles or anything of that nature.

They last a lot longer than most higher priced tires too, so they really cost about 1/4-1/3 as much per mile as the more "elite" brands.

 

[Sandy]

Comparing racing conditions to street conditions is like comparing street conditions to off road conditions. Racers also use tire warmers and take several slower laps to warm and scruff up their tires before starting the race. Do you do that on your street bike before commuting to work every morning?

Exactly, any race compound tires I've run on the street have been downright the most evil, nasty, slippery and unpredictable things I've ever driven on. Until they get hot of course, which unfortunately doesn't happen when your just puttering around town. Get them hot then you can ride with wild abandon.

 

[49er]

Comparing racing conditions to street conditions is like comparing street conditions to off road conditions. Racers also use tire warmers and take several slower laps to warm and scruff up their tires before starting the race. Do you do that on your street bike before commuting to work every morning?

I have a set of Hi-Maxes on my GS750, and they're ok. I prefer the feel of Pirellis, but the Hi-Maxes have never induced any kind of dangerous sliding or wobbles or anything of that nature.

They last a lot longer than most higher priced tires too, so they really cost about 1/4-1/3 as much per mile as the more "elite" brands.

Grandpa's right! What's the point? I'm out of here too.

 

[ChrisLaw]

My bike had some dry-rotted, cupped, and god knows how old Kendas on it when I bought it. It now has a brand new set of Kenda Challengers, (110/90/19 on the front (No fender, no issues) and 120/90/18 on the rear.) They have been throughly scrubbed in and feel absolutely fantastic! I have about 4 months of riding experience though so my opinion means almost nothing. Even so, wet and dry these Kendas are performing admirably enough for me and my riding style, and thats what is important.

 

[80GS750]

the only tires i have tried so far are the dunlop 404's

i have been extremely happy with them. great grip in the dry and no issues with them in the rain.

they seem to be wearing just fine also...

im also one of those "you get what you pay for" guys

 

[bwringer]

Get them hot then you can ride with wild abandon.

Er, I think the correct phrase is "reckless abandon".

(Sorry, that will be funny to about 6 people...)




Anyhooooooo... I rode the snot out of a set of those Kendas several years ago on my KZ650. Never a problem, other than my wife was extremely upset when I dragged the passenger pegs with her on the back through a nice little set of curves. Your problem wasn't the tires.

I've also ridden the snot out of several sets of Cheng Shin HiMaxes. Great tires, long lasting, excellent grip wet or dry. I have witnesses. Anyone remember the Brown County SCUBA Ride in 2004 or 2005? :twistedevil:

I do prefer and recommend the Pirelli Sport Demons (if cost is absolutely no object) or the Avon AM26 RoadRiders (if cost is something of an object) nowadays. The reason for this is that these tires offer a bit more feel than the CS out at the hairy ragged edge. They also have slightly pointier profiles for a lighter feel everywhere else.

For cost per mile, you can't beat the Cheng Shins, and they are an excellent handling tire wet or dry. If you can't keep up, it ain't the tires.

I don't know how long the Kendas last (sold the KZ), so I'll stay out of that one. But I can vouch that they stick and handle very well wet and dry.

When I tried the Dunlop 404s mentioned earlier, they stuck to the road well enough when new, but they wore out very early, and developed a lot of bad habits as they wore. I won't buy another set, and I do not recommend them personally. YMMV -- if you don't ride with the same, um, reckless abandon as me, maybe you'll love them and they'll last forever. Dunno.

 

[goatboy]

Tire choices opinions are like Ford/Chevy or Yam/Suz

Tire choices opinions are like Ford/Chevy or Yam/Suz

I've enjoyed reading all the posts here, and I haven't done the math to discern a clear "winner" of one brand over another.

But, I do agree that our lives depend upon our choice of tires.

Let's take heed to the negative posts about certain brands, and vice versa.

IMHO, I've ridden street bikes for 30 years (and dirt/MX bikes for 34.)
In the distant past (late 70s to early 90s), I swore by Dunlop Sport Elites or Pirellis for extreme use, or Continentals for sport touring. I had several near crashes from cheap Chinese tires during that time (on customers bikes at the m/c shop at which I worked.) But times and tires have changed.

I'm very happy with my new Bridgestone Spitfire S11's (dual compound) for now - although cannot give longevity stats. A new set from DK cost $126! Many tires cost more than that PER TIRE.

My riding style is not nearly as aggressive at 46 y.o. as it was when I was 18, but lately I have worked hard to scare myself in the North Georgia mountains (20 minutes away from where I live) several times since the tires were mounted, and I'm impressed. Most of my miles now are commuter miles. Wet performance is also great (have been caught twice now in heavy rainfall when I wasn't expecting it.) Longest ride in heavy rain was 25 mile expressway commute at 70 mph, with LOTS of puddling, and had zero issues.

Just my 2 cents, but shop around, and try to buy a tire you trust (that others have recommended.) Not trying to push DK, but as a 20+ year customer, their prices are still great, free shipping, & generous return policy.

 

[duaneage]

FWIW I use IRC Duotour RS-310 tires on my bike. Tire wear is acceptable and they are good in wet and dry conditions. Plus they have lots of sizes and are reasonably priced.