Best tires <$150 pair stock 80 gs 550

[IcyHotUrBeanBag]

I am going to sell this bike soon but looking to put some decent tires on for me and for the new owner that will keep the bike upright for another few thousand miles. Any suggestions?

 

[kdo58]

Shinkos 712

 

[Chuck78]

I was looking at about $150 for a really great set of super sticky Shinko's in a 110/90-188 "230 Tourmaster" up front and since the tourmaster isn't available in anything bigger than 130/90 in the rear, I am going for a Shinko SR741 rear in a 140/70-18. This was competitive online shopping for the best price via Google search's shopping results.

The 712's are an ok "cheap" tire, but not worth the compromise on grip for more sporty cornering. If you want to lean into turns in the twisties a bit, the 712's will lose their grip pretty quick, where the 230 TourMaster's you have really great grip at more serious lean angles. Not much more money to upgrade 712 to a set of 230 TourMasters.

 

[Chuck78]

don't go bigger than 100/90-19 on the front and 120/90-18 on the back as you will get worse handling than if you had skinnies. I'm assuming your rims are 19" front 18" rear, but some of the rears were 16" with drum and later models dropped down to 17" rear I think. Regardless, stick to those widths or the stock sizes 3.25 (90/90-19) and 4.00 (110/90-18).

 

[IcyHotUrBeanBag]

the 230 TourMaster's you have really great grip at more serious lean angles. Not much more money to upgrade 712 to a set of 230 TourMasters.

Thanks Chuck, after taking my girl out today for a ride I think I'll check out the 230's. I fell in love, again, might marry her if she has the right grip

 

[Steel Toed Tank]

I am a big fan of the Kenda Challenger K657
They have a 4.2 out of 5 rating on MSS

I have a matching set and got almost 12,000kms out of the rear.
They are pretty awesome in the rain, although I don't have much to compare them to.
Their only weakness I found was loose sand.

 

[Chuck78]

I have Kenda Challengers on my GS750 for now, & am nit too fond of them for wet weather & definitely not for aggressive cornering. My bike may be a little overpowering for them in stock rim sizes, but I'll be sticking with Shinko's with my new wheels that I'm building to accept 110 front & 140 rears

 

[Chuck78]

The Shinkos are VERY soft & the rear will only last 5000 miles max, but the grip of the 230's will be pretyy phenomenal for the money.

 

[Steve]

I am a big fan of the Kenda Challenger K657
They have a 4.2 out of 5 rating on MSS

We have installed a few sets of Challengers, but no more.

They don't seem to grip all that well, and they certainly don't last very long.

I am sure that our illustrious bwringer might be able to go through them in less than 2000 miles.

.

 

[Steel Toed Tank]

Well I'm glad I posted.
As these were the only street motorcycle tires I've used from new to worn, I don't have experience with anything else.
I rode in a lot of rain, lots of wet road and over a thousand kms of gravel roads and I 'thought' they held up great.
But if you guys, who's riding experience I very much respect, say these are actually not that great then I'm going to order a set of something else.
Dunno about shinko's though.
I've punctured or flattened every shinko atv tire I've ever used, and the two kenda atv tires I bought seemed to last forever.
In fact they are still on my three wheeler.

Apples to oranges however.

What would be the next step up from the shinkos?

Thanks for the info guys!

 

[IcyHotUrBeanBag]

don't go bigger than 100/90-19 on the front and 120/90-18 on the back as you will get worse handling than if you had skinnies. I'm assuming your rims are 19" front 18" rear, but some of the rears were 16" with drum and later models dropped down to 17" rear I think. Regardless, stick to those widths or the stock sizes 3.25 (90/90-19) and 4.00 (110/90-18).

So I have a 19" front and a 17" rear. The tourmaster 230's and Kenda k657's only offer a 130/90 for 17's. I currently have on 110/90-19 57H on the front and 130/90-17 68H on the rear. The tires can be slippy but i attributed that to them being manufactured in 96 or even maybe 86! Is it bad the rear is 130/90? I don't want to have to buy a new rim to get max traction.

 

[Steel Toed Tank]

I have the same sizes on my bike, 100/90 19 and 130/90 17.
The kendas come in a set of that size from Sirius Consolidated Inc.
Pretty cheap too, 162.50 shipped anywhere in North America.

 

[Guest]

next step from shinko's probly be avon am26. not the cheapest, but a search will show you they are well regarded here (despite some intermittent problems with cracking). just spooned a new front on my es yesterday.

 

[Chuck78]

next step from shinko's probly be avon am26. not the cheapest, but a search will show you they are well regarded here (despite some intermittent problems with cracking). just spooned a new front on my es yesterday.

YES, Avon AM26 Roadriders are the best tire within reason to put on our bikes. http://www.rockymountainatvmc.com has awesome prices on them with free shipping if you're shopping. More size availability than the Shinko 230's. Expect $220 for Avon's instead of $150 for Shinko's

 

[Chuck78]

If you're going 130, you can get a Shinko SR741 in a 17", but that's going to require a MINIMUM of a 2.50" rear rim. What's on your bike? Should always be stamped into the outside of the rim somewhere. AM26 Roadriders by Avon are the best for certain, one of the most grippy and still decent treadwear, decent white line/grooved pavement handling, decent wet weather, awesome dry pavement traction to the deepest of lean angles for a street tire!

 

[IcyHotUrBeanBag]

My rim is 2.50. The Avons sound great but they run around 225 a pair right. i think thats what I saw on MSS

 

[ndbaker]

Im debating between the Shinko 712s and 230s myself. I mostly do casual riding for fun and am not a fan of hard leaning into curves. I currently have a 120/90-18 on the rear, is there any benefit to keeping this size or should I go back to the original 110/90-18? The 110 is slightly cheaper and the 120 comes close to the swingarm.:-s​

 

[tkent02]

Kenda Challengers are aptly named. It's really a challenge to not fall down.

 

[Chuck78]

Kenda Challengers are aptly named. It's really a challenge to not fall down.

YES!!!! I'm sooooooo looking forward to getting my new spokes in the mail asap so I can lace a 2.50 DID rim to the front to match my 3.50 DID rear, and mount a Shinko SR741 rear and 230 TourMaster front on! My original wheelset has Challenger's mounted. I slip and slide all over the road. any throttle in cornering instantly makes the rear start slipping, and I do not have a very confident feeling coming from the front wheel and am afraid to push it... The newer wider Shinko's and matching wider alloy rims will totally transform the way the bike corners. Challenger's SUCK unless you never push the bike at all, and then you still have better choices like the 712 Shinko on the cheap.

 

[Chuck78]

I just rode my buddy's new GS850GL that he bought from Rich (old_skool) today, and it has a Shinko 712 130/90/16 rear and a Duro 100/90-19 (18?) on the front. Despite being a 50 lb heavier bike than my GS750 with 110/90 and 100/90 Kenda Challengers, that GS850 with the nice profiled 712 rear handled A MILLION TIMES BETTER than my 750! Both bikes have the rear shock preload all the way up and fork springs chopped shorter (stiffer, big improvement also - taking 3 to 6" out of the springs and replacing the height with a 3/4 CPVC (35mm forks) or PVC (37mm forks) spacer and a flat washer against the spring).

I may get a 712 rear and 230 TourMaster for the front of the wife's bike, I was that impressed. Very very very glad that just yesterday I ordered a 230TourMaster 110/90/18 front and Shinko SR741 140/70/18 rear tire for my bike!