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Cheng Shin - Hi Max

  • Thread starter Thread starter JHawkins
  • Start date Start date
J

JHawkins

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Well, I got my new Cheng Shin Hi-Max tires installed. I decided to try them based on a lot of good comments I had read on this site. I now have about 200 miles on them and am starting to push them a bit, and so far I am very impressed.

One complaint about them that I had heard was they had weak sidewalls. The are a 3 ply sidewall on the rear and 2 ply on the front. They are as stiff as the Dunlop 404's that I took off when installing them, and the dunlops are the same ply sidewalls. I am not sure where the weak sidewall info came from, but it doesn't appear valid.

They seem to be made well, nothing looks obviously cheap about them at all. The tread pattern is quite different on the front, and that is the only strange thing about them from a visual perspective.

First drive on them went well, gotta love the handling of new tires! I have noticed that turn in is much faster than the dunlop 404's, even when new they were not as quick as the HiMax's. The bike feels lighter and more flickable (if that's a word you can use on a 27 year old bike!). The difference in the tread profile is very noticable. They are much more rounded and seem to steeply drop off on the sides. The Dunlops were very consistent in their angle across the tread, and were much less steep. This difference in profile is likely why they are more responsive.

The other thing I noticed is that they don't seem to follow grooves in the road like the Dunlops did. Normally when hitting the filled in crack on the road I found the dunlops held to them like the bike was on rails. It could be very disturbing at times as the bike did not want to come out of the groove. The Cheng Shins do not seem to be anywhere near as bad. You do notice the groove, but you don't get stuck, it easily moves over the groove. That makes me very happy!

I have not pushed the grip to the limit as I have barely gotten them broken in, but I did push hard through a few turns this morning and they held their grip well. It feels like they will likely outperform the bike.

Needless to say, a trip in the rain and some miles will tell more about these tires, but so far I am happy with them. For $95.00 bucks delivered they are an exceptional price, and if they hold up well I will be very happy.
 
That is pretty much what I found with them too. And they did very well in the rain on the Asheville Rally last year. We rode a whole day straight in the rain. Not one slip. The best part about them is the part you wont be able to write about until next year or depending on how much you ride. That is the part about how long they last. I never had a rear tire on any of my bikes that would go 8k+ miles and still actually not be 100% bald!

Very good tire for the money. I just put a brand new set on the 1000 I'm selling and I feel good about giving it to the new owner that way.
 
I put a set of CS Himax on my bike last year, and have had excellent results as well. I purchased them from tiresunlimited.com, and they had excellent prices and very fast shipping.

matt
 
I ran a Hi-Max back from Roaring river last year. I picked it up in Bentonville, Arkansas. I had no complaints with the tire except that is was worn out in 5500 miles.

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JHawkins said:
The other thing I noticed is that they don't seem to follow grooves in the road like the Dunlops did. Normally when hitting the filled in crack on the road I found the dunlops held to them like the bike was on rails. It could be very disturbing at times as the bike did not want to come out of the groove.
Click to expand...

That's my only beef with the 404's on my 550. Disturbing indeed.
 
mdole said:
I ran a Hi-Max back from Roaring river last year. I picked it up in Bentonville, Arkansas. I had no complaints with the tire except that is was worn out in 5500 miles.

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Mike, that is a classic alignment flag! Take your hands off the bars sometime and see if you need to lean to keep the bike straight. I'll bet your alignment was way off on the scoot in question because that is the strongest point above all others of these tires, the life you get from them. I beat the livin snot out of my rear tire for a full year and 8k+ miles on a GS1000 (heavy and powerful) and even after several goodbye burnouts the tire still had tread lines on it! I'd be willing to bet tall dollars your alignment was off on that scoot. The front tires will be replaced for tire rot before the tread wears out on these things! Again, given proper alignment.
 
Just putting in another positive review of these tires. I've got them on my GS750EF (110F/130R) and I've had zero problems with them. Got around 2,500 miles on so far and they show next to no tread wear.
After putting about 250miles on them I set out on a 1,000 mile ride to GA from NY. Well the first 350 miles or so was in the rain and at night on i81. All good! Not tracking, no squirming, just solid.

I'm clearly running up against my suspension and my own sphincter long before I get anyplace near the limit of these tires.

I got mine from www.traxmotorsports.com last year, quick and cheap shipping and the lowest price I found at the time. Just checked the prices there and as of today they are $37.41 for a 110/90/16 front and $41.35 for a 130/90/17 rear. $97.07 total with shipping.

/\/\ac
 
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Macmatic said:
Just putting in another positive review of these tires. I've got them on my GS750EF (110F/130R) and I've had zero problems with them. Got around 2,500 miles on so far and they show next to no tread wear.
After putting about 250miles on them I set out on a 1,000 mile ride to GA from NY. Well the first 350 miles or so was in the rain and at night on i81. All good! Not tracking, no squirming, just solid.

I'm clearly running up against my suspension and my own sphincter long before I get anyplace near the limit of these tires.

I got mine from www.traxmotorsports.com last year, quick and cheap shipping and the lowest price I found at the time.

/\/\ac
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Thats the place I got mine too, they were great!
 
I had a CS Hi-Max on the rear (it's hard to find 120 90/16's) when I bought my bike and was pretty impressed with the handling and dry grip (haven't been in the rain yet) I just bought a Hi-Max for the front but haven't mounted it yet. I figured for $39 I would give it a shot and keep a matched pair. I got mine from Parts411. A lot of people complain about that site, but I have bought from them 4 times now and have not had any problems.
 
Well, just an update on the Cheng Shins, I have about 600 miles on them so far and they are feeling great. No rain time on they yet, but dry traction is great, They grip at least as well as the dunlop 404's, and are definately quicker in handling due to the different tread profile.. I have had them over well into the edge of the tread now and they seem to hang on really well, I am definately impressed.

One thing I have noticed is that they are wider than the 404's in the same size. There is just a tiny bit of room between the side of the tire and the caliper arm thingy (can't remember name right now). No rubbing though, so it is all good.
 
JHawkins said:
One thing I have noticed is that they are wider than the 404's in the same size.
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That is another one of the things I like about them. They make my GT501s look skinny in the front.
 
Looks like I'm going to get 6000 miles out of the rear Cheng Shin on the 550, it has 5400 on it now. It's a Marquis not a Hi-Max though. The bike does have a Hi-Max on the front, they just don't make an H-M that fits the rear of this bike. So it has the much maligned Marquis on the back. This tire made it thru the Brown County Rally and 2 E/SE Rallies. It was installed last year at this time. Handling and wet weather properties never a problem. It'll be replaced with another Marquis.

One comment on the Hi-Max front (Metzeler copy...or Synthetic Metzeler if you prefer :-D ) This is a good handling and wearing tire, but it is a noisey, and rough riding tire IMHO.
 
Just put new shoes on the 80 750E, Cheng-Shin Barracuda's. Have only had a chance for about 15 miles so far, but seems to ride great. 110/19 front 120/18 rear, $93.00 to the door from JC Whitney. I'm really curious about how they will be in the rain, but I'm not hoping for any soon!!!:-D

ghwrenchit
 
Got cheng shin Barracuda's on my 1100ez. Rides nice and grips well in the twisty stuff. Even pretty good in the wet. Done about 1000 miles and wearing well so far.

Got Hi-Max on my Kwaker GT550 Hack - fine in the dry, somewhat more 'interesting' in the wet. Think the bike it too light and top heavy for 'em really, but it is a hack...
 
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No trouble with Hi Maxx from my point of view,..but..

No trouble with Hi Maxx from my point of view,..but..

I ran Cheng Shin Hi Maxx tires front and rear on my GS550 for about 8 years. I think that they are good tires for the money. They stick very good, and were always inexpensive. Seemed well constructed and I experienced no defects. I found them to be fine indeed. My only criticism is durability, they didn't last very long for me. I don't ride hard and only use the bike to commute to and from work. In 8 years I went through 3 sets of tires. I typically put only 1500 miles on mike bike a year so It seems like they only lasted me about 3500 miles. Still, when I factor the price I paid for them even with installation costs they were pretty economical. I recently switched to Dunlop 404's just to try out something different. I like those too.
 
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