Rear Tire - What is the Best Option

[fatboy]

check whit your dealer to make sure they will install a tire that you carried in most wont there is a liability thing they dont want to get involed in

[STELLING MAN]

I also went with the Kumho on my RT-S, I've got over 5,000 mi. on It and still looks like new..

[Derk]

I took the advice from Deanna and put on a General Altimax and love it. It now has 9000 miles on it and still looks great. Thanks Deanna for your posts about tires and DESS codes.

[AeroPilot]

Had run a couple of the Kumho Ecsta's on the 2011 and liking the ride so far. Last July replaced the OEM Kenda on her RT at 12,000 miles and just turned 30,300 today with still good wear left for this summer. I have a couple more Kumhos waiting in the garage to put on sometime this fall when she and I get some more wear out of these. My RT only has 9,500 on the OEM so it too should need a replacement before this fall. Great hints for removing the wheel and letting the local tire shop do the remount. Lots of options on beads or Ride-On or the balance method of your choice!!

[Deanna777]

I took the advice from Deanna and put on a General Altimax and love it. It now has 9000 miles on it and still looks great. Thanks Deanna for your posts about tires and DESS codes.

Thanks for taking my advice on the General Altimax tire.

You are welcome for the posts that I have made about the tires, and the DESS codes. Ride Safe! Deanna

[Brian Kay]

check whit your dealer to make sure they will install a tire that you carried in most wont there is a liability thing they dont want to get involed in

Great advice...my dealer said he would, as I specifically asked him the question, "if I bring you a tire, will you mount and install it?" We'll see if he does???

[Deanna777]

check whit your dealer to make sure they will install a tire that you carried in most wont there is a liability thing they dont want to get involed in

I have had my dealership install 3 new tires, and I signed a wavier. ( the general Altimax Rt 43, Continental Contiprocontact) My dealership said "yes". they would install. Also, I had the tires with me. Deanna

[Ellcott]

My buddy and I just put the Vee Rubber Arachnid rear tire on our bikes. We got the stiffer one since we both are riding 2 up the majority of the time. You can tell its stiffer and I am running a lower setting on the air shock. I like the tire and time will tell the wear. It is also available from site sponsors and is shipped quickly for a reasonable price.

[finless]

Copy and paste from a Bob White video

https://video-mia1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/...cb&oe=578C74E9

Link doesn't work.... I will upload to YouTube later and post it here.

Bob

[GeorgiaBill]

Brian, I replaced the OEM rear tire at 5,392 miles. The Kumho has 7,929 miles on it and the remaining tread depth is 5/32. I got lots of great recommendations for the General Altimax but decided to use the Kumho since I had used 2 of them on a GL1800. Looks like I paid $84 for the tire from Discount Tires, and $139.66 to Mountain Motorsports in Marietta for mounting.

I'll try the Altimax next time.

-Bill

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

During my decision on what tireto go with, I was very cautious to when reading customer reviews or any ratings. The ratings and reviews are more specific to cars since that is what they are designed and tested on.

Paul here's the options : # 1. No review at all !!!!... # 2. Testing by people who may have no clue about tires ...... # 3. Testing done on cars , IMHO this at least is a uniform review of the current tires for sale.......and they are compared EQUALLY ....cars VS. cars VS. cars etc..................I would more likely give credence to a Highly rated CAR tire than one that had a CRAPPY rating.......................But maybe that's just totally screwed up logic .......But so far with my Spyders it has worked .....Mike ................................ PS, the tire RATINGS that I use are the ones from the THE TIRE RACK TEST DRIVERS

[Deanna777]

Brian, I replaced the OEM rear tire at 5,392 miles. The Kumho has 7,929 miles on it and the remaining tread depth is 5/32. I got lots of great recommendations for the General Altimax but decided to use the Kumho since I had used 2 of them on a GL1800. Looks like I paid $84 for the tire from Discount Tires, and $139.66 to Mountain Motorsports in Marietta for mounting.

I'll try the Altimax next time.

-Bill

Bill, I am also running the General Altimax RT 43 as a rear tire, this is my 2nd season with the General Altimax RT 43, and I still have a lot of tread left. Deanna

[AeroPilot]

Just noticed that they have them marked down to 111 a piece- We had very good wear and a good ride on the 2011 RT with the Michelin Defender and if I didn't have a couple of Kumhos in the garage...

[Motorcycledave]

MICHELIN

[SpyderAnn01]

I have a General Altimax on my 14 RT, it just hit the worn out point at 15,000 miles (I thought it was 17,000 but I checked my records)

[Web Runner]

I think I am the only one using a BF Goodrich Advantage T/A 215 60 15. Only have about 2k miles on it, but it seems to be holding up just fine. No fitment issues, no rubbing issues. Speedo is more accurate.

[SpyderAnn01]

Not many posts regrading the S.Drive Yokohama. Ironic since it is not a passenger car type tire, but sold as a performance tire. The size on the sidewall for the tire we tend to run is smaller than oem, however the design of the tire and tape measure prove it is equal to the oem but far exceeds oem performance.

I know the Kuhmo gets many praises here, however there are also discussions of the Kuhmo being less than stellar in the wet.

I ran a Yokohama S Drive and only got 8,700 miles on it. And I agree that the Kumho is less than stellar on wet roads.

[Brian Kay]

Brian, I replaced the OEM rear tire at 5,392 miles. The Kumho has 7,929 miles on it and the remaining tread depth is 5/32. I got lots of great recommendations for the General Altimax but decided to use the Kumho since I had used 2 of them on a GL1800. Looks like I paid $84 for the tire from Discount Tires, and $139.66 to Mountain Motorsports in Marietta for mounting.

I'll try the Altimax next time.

-Bill

I'm going to try the Kumho and see how it goes. I'm also going to see if extreme propulsion in Cartersville will mount it for me...MMM Kennesaw said $128, but I don't like them as much as EP.

[_..stiffler..]

I couldnt get a general altimax unless I ordered it off the net. but I didnt have time since we are going away on a trip here at the end of the week. and being in canada shipping tends to take longer than usual.

but I did how ever get a 215/60/15 uniroyal tiger paw for the back. costed about $90 cnd so thats like $5 usd haha.

I will give a review after this weekend to see how it worked for me.

the wife and I are doing this trip friday to monday.

gaspe trip.jpg

[finless]

Bob

[SpyderAnn01]

Yes, your less than long life tire has been talked about many times in regards to the S.Drive. Ironically, for no good reason we have never understood why you are the sole person that got such low miles from the tire. So far those posting about actually using an S.Drive have constantly made remarks about how it is superior to the Kuhmo in regards to grip and Bob White posted a video of his at something like 12k miles and barely worn.

I am reporting my experience. Most people don't put 8,000 miles on their Spyders in a year let alone in a month so my experience is different than most. Finless uses his Spyder for a daily commuter not for long distance riding. That may explain why his tire is lasting longer than the Yokohama I had. I was riding 400 to 500 miles per day every day for those 8,000 miles

If you will reread my remarks I said that the Kumho is less than stellar in the rain. The Yokohama has the closest tread pattern to the Kenda and that is a good thing. The Yokohama handled pretty well in the rain, although on a road that was pretty much covered with water it did hydroplane.

.

[Mazo EMS2]

Another vote for the General Altimax....opinion of course, but so far I certainly feel a difference in the 2500 miles I have on it.

[Deanna777]

Another vote for the General Altimax....opinion of course, but so far I certainly feel a difference in the 2500 miles I have on it.

What differences do you feel with the General Altimax tire?

What psi are you running?

I am running the same tire on the rear of my spyder. I am running 26psi.
Deanna

[Pampurrs]

I am not going to praise nor condemn the General Altimax RT43, but people should be aware it is not a performance tire, it is a passenger car tire as described by General Tire. With that comes compromises in performance and grip. Your tire mileage life should be very high considering it has a 75,000 mile rated tread life. Sticky performance tires often run a softer compound to increase grip, where long life tires run a firmer compound and have less grip.

Tire Rack rates the General Altimax RT43 as a Grand Touring All Season tire, even capable in the snow.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/types/....jsp?perf=GTAS

I'm getting good performance from my General Altimax RT43, and I ride very aggressively. I've even ridden in the rain and taken some snappy turns without losing any grip.

Pam

[SpyderAnn01]

Relax, there is no attack on you for getting less miles per tire than others. Yes, you agreed with my mentioning the Kuhmo is known to be less grip in the wet and my mentioning it is based on face to face discussions with people that rode them and other posts here. We have never had a Kuhmo installed on our machine simply because it does rain often here.

As I mentioned, your name often comes up in regards to tires wearing quickly. It is no lie that many times your mileage is less than what others get, however, as you mentioned you are certainly not a typical Spyder user.

I would be curious though to see, if you track or log the miles that are pulling the trailer vs no trailer. I never posted my opinion that possibly pulling the trailer has an impact on your lower tire life. Also, when you pull the trailer, if that is a factor to the tire life, any idea of how much payload weight you place in the trailer?

In regards to what tire is best, each owner leans towards what parameters that use to decide. Myself, I insisted the tire had a directional tread that was symmetric left and right of the tires centerline. I wanted a performance tire with more grip and good ability to shed water, I preferred a 4 ply sidewall for less sidewall flex when cornering. Many tires had this possibility, some of the tires I considered are no longer readily available. The S.Drive was reasonably priced, a high quality tire, and based on others should see reasonable miles before worn out.

I don't get worked up over a person running any tire they prefer, it's all good if they are happy with it. I share honestly what I have learned or experienced and let others decide.

You certainly have a lot to say on this subject! I have gotten similar tread life as others have on Kumho and Kenda tires even while pulling my trailer. My point is that the S Drive, being a high performance summer tire, may not be the choice for people looking for longer tread life.