TIRE TALK - when the rubber meets the road

You ride on those and question a new Shinko? :whistle: :laugh:
I run Shinko on several of my bikes and never had a problem. 712s are great. Wet, dry, twisty roads, whatever. 712s work great on twisites. They grip. They wear. They aren't unsafe. They are less expensive. And they are easy to mount. I mount all my own tires. Piece of cake.
I put over 1k on a 712 rear my first two rides. I've got 10s of thousands of miles on Shinkos. If this tire fails it will be the first for me.

Yup, they have an aggressive round shape, made for cornering. You won't be getting the mileage out of them that you got out of the Dunflop, but you rode that one for 1k more than you should have anyway.
6k on the rear would be a good run, I'm thinking more like 5k from what I can tell so far on my KZ.
Fronts normally last for two rears. YMMV.

Another member posted pics of 705s on his 1000. I run those on a KLR650. Great tire. Worth about 5k depending on how you ride. I ride aggressive. I'd think it would wear faster on a 1000. I've seen them done at 3.5k on large dual sport bikes.

Order a set of three tire irons and learn to spoon your own tires on. You already know how to take them off the bike now. Save that $54 and buy another tire :evil:

Discussing tyres is about as emotional as discussing engine oils; every person have their own opinions and preferences. So I cannot say I hold any answers that will suit you, but this is my findings:

1) I generally dislike current Bridgestones, but their track rubber is good
2) I generally like current Pirellis, but the old Phantoms etc. were utter crap IMO
3) I used to like Michelins when they ran their M48/A49 designs, but do not fancy Macadams
4) I find Metzelers vary in performance greatly from tyre to tyre, even when they say the same on the sidewall
5) I'm no fan of Dunlops, and the latest D253 radials fitted to the CB400SF didn't help as the rear will not last 2,000 miles
6) The KZ650 I just restored came with a brand new Heidenau K34 Racing 3.35-19 :whistle: up front and an equally new Cheng Shin C199 (I think) 4.25 rear. I were sceptical, but they seem to grip just fine and offer a decent ride and great stability. I haven't taxed them, there's still about 1/8 in. of chicken strips on the rear and a whole lot more up front (it has tread wrapped around almost to the rim), but so far so good.

In conclusions, I wouldn't mind trying a cheap tyre that gets decent reviews; if you like them you will save money every time you replace your rubber, if not you haven't lost a lot of money. OTOH, you can buy a tyre people rave about, like the BT-45, and end up with a costly tyre that you hate. For instance, I'd pay double for my current cheapo-set over a set of BT-45s because I simply think the current combination is working significantly better than the Bridgestones.

Agree 100% about the Michelins. The old M48 / A48 tires were really great, and if you special ordered them with the PZ2 compound the bike handled better than anyone could believe (although you only got 1,000 miles on the rear an 2,000 on the front tires before they were shot), but even with the normal longer wearing compound they worked very well. The Macadams were a big disappointment; they did not grip nearly as well and they became unstable causing wobble after a few thousand miles. I tried 4 different flavors of Dunlops but gave up on them years ago because they didn't grip very well so I don't know if they finally improved their grip, but I won't bother trying them again. The new Pirelli Sport Demons work great and hold up very well; I will stick with them as long as they are available. I haven't tried the Bridgestones on my bike, but I highly recommend them for anyone with a full size off-road 4x4 truck like my GMC Z71. Ed

650ed wrote: I haven't tried the Bridgestones on my bike, but I highly recommend them for anyone with a full size off-road 4x4 truck like my GMC Z71. Ed

:laugh: :whistle:

This is great you guys!

I went with the Shinkos primarily because of price. I've been doing a lot of highway riding, I'm 1,400 miles from home base right now, so I'll get a good feel for the actual wear rate on long-distance trips. I'm not trying to hoon the thing so we'll see how durable they really are. At any rate, I got both front and rears, mounted, for less than the cost of a replacement Dunlop so, yeah, even if I get half the mileage it's still a bargain.

As for the mounting, I looked into it, watched a few youtube vids, and decided I didn't have the patience to screw around with it ATM. I had to literally clean my buddies garage - I mean, it was 'packed' so full you couldn't see the floor, let alone find the sockets for his wrench set - before working on Grun Holle (my KZ1100A3), I was just, you know, get 'em done right this time around.

Here's another question...do you guys usually find your local dealers/shops have comparable prices when you get the tires through them, and do they cut you deals when you get 'em mounted? I'm willing to get dirty and do the legwork, but what if you are comfortable on the financial front and aren't looking to go cheap? I know the H-D dealership I worked at wasn't a place to go for the empty-wallet crowd (pretty sure I watched a few guys have minor heart attacks when they got the bill for their soft tail tires... store-bought and installed Harley branded Dunlops and all. You pay a premium for anything with an H-D logo on it).

I have always mounted my own motorcycle tires. I've had plenty of practice because shortly after I got the bike I was using tires with PZ2 racing compound so I was going through 6 rear and 3 front tires per year. Since the inception of the internet I have bought my tires online from motorcycle tire or accessories dealers (not private parties or eBay). Prior to that I bought them from a Commercial Tire center (they would order them in for me at a good price) - never from a motorcycle dealer because of their crazy markup. Also, I always use new, high quality tubes.

Mounting the tires yourself saves $$$ and enables you to be sure the tube isn't pinched if mounted by some 17 year old kid who knows he will not get hurt if there's a blowout. However, it does take a high level of care and patience to do properly and must not be attempted if you are in a hurry. Ed

Regarding tubes, you will hear people say they have used the same tube for a decade and 10 tyre changes and never had any issues. And most likely, you will do OK. However - a blow-out can be terminal. For you. I once bought a used bike with a new rear tyre. After 1000 miles the valve separated from the tube, causing total and instant loss of pressure. The tyre fell from the rim shoulders and offered no support ot control. I do not know how I saved it, but I'm glad I cornered gently when it happened. The bike went full dirt-track lock-to lock 6 times (3 to each side) inside less than two seconds. With a passenger, rather pale.

So I always fit new tubes. They are far cheaper than my health. Not to mention my life. What's the price on your head?

faffi wrote: Regarding tubes, you will hear people say they have used the same tube for a decade and 10 tyre changes and never had any issues. And most likely, you will do OK. However - a blow-out can be terminal. For you. I once bought a used bike with a new rear tyre. After 1000 miles the valve separated from the tube, causing total and instant loss of pressure. The tyre fell from the rim shoulders and offered no support ot control. I do not know how I saved it, but I'm glad I cornered gently when it happened. The bike went full dirt-track lock-to lock 6 times (3 to each side) inside less than two seconds. With a passenger, rather pale.

So I always fit new tubes. They are far cheaper than my health. Not to mention my life. What's the price on your head?

I bet it was the rear tire. That happened to me, including the lock-to-lock horror in rush hour traffic on my BSA long ago. That bike had no rim locks so the rim could slip ever-so-slightly inside the tire upon heavy acceleration or hard shifts. Even slipping at a movement of 1,000th of an inch or less each time it did not take long for those little movements to add up to an inch or so and pull the valve stem off the tube and Whooosh - no air! That really is a heart stopping experience! The KZ650 has rim locks in the rear wheel that prevent such slippage. Lots of folks don't bother to put them back in when changing a tire, but I for one am a great believer in them since that BSA experience. Of course for modern bikes that do not use tubes rim locks are unnecessary. Ed

So, again, I get this question...

My rims (83 KZ1100A3) and the tires I bought say, explicitly, 'TUBELESS'.

so, I mean, what...should I be running tubes, or what? The rims are in great shape, I watched the tech clean them out pretty good, got a seal on the first try...popped right up to pressure, hasn't lost any PSI (checked twice). ?

I looked on Kawasaki.com at the diagram showing tires for the KZ1100A3. It does not show tubes for that model. You may want to closely examine the wheels as they may have the word "tubeless" or "TL" cast into them. Ed

gravit8 wrote: So, again, I get this question...

My rims (83 KZ1100A3) and the tires I bought say, explicitly, 'TUBELESS'.

so, I mean, what...should I be running tubes, or what? The rims are in great shape, I watched the tech clean them out pretty good, got a seal on the first try...popped right up to pressure, hasn't lost any PSI (checked twice). ?

If the rim clearly says "Tubeless" and has the ridges common to tubeless rims, then it's okay to run a tubeless tire.



Good Fortune!

Okay, I just kept reading about tubes and I'm thinking in the back of my head 'did I miss something?' cause yes it says 'tubeless' on the rims, lol. Seems like a stupid question but it's be stupid not to ask. You guys are great!