Are people throwing better shocks at their trike first, instead of better tires?

[Snoking1127]

So a lot of posts about installing better shocks got me thinking. My first 2018 Asphalt Grey RTL came to me with stage 1 Elka shocks. I installed Vredestein's and a General out back right away. The newest 2018 RTL got Vredestein's before I took it out on the road, and will get a General out back in a couple weeks. Both handle quite well, and I know that the General out back is going to help the newest one a bit more.

SO, are people throwing shocks at their trike first instead of tires? I ride a bit aggressively when by myself, and like how both trikes handle, and also how the now gone Champaign 2018 RTL with the same tires handled. They all have/had wider PPA wheels and Vredestein 175/55R15 tires.

On edit: I forgot to say I put the HD sway bar on all my trikes, and on a few friends trikes also.

 

[EdMat]

My experience was doing the sway bar first, big improvement. Vredestein tires front and rear, much more improvement. Stage 1 Elka's last, improvement but not as drastic as the others. Where it did absolutely shine is during hard braking it reduced the amount of nosedive making braking have a better feel.
If I had reversed that order and done the shocks first I don't think I would have noticed the sway bar improvement as much, I think they complement each other well.
If I could only do one option, it would be the tires.

 

[mecsw500]

Just did a trip to Southern Utah. It was a mixture of heavy rain and sunny days.

I have a 2026 S2S. The new XPS branded Kendas I think are a big improvement. I doubt the changes were anything but subtle, but they make a big difference in the real world for me at least. Ultimately I will go to a BajaRon sway bar and better shocks. Tires, I’ll see how these wear as I was not unimpressed by them. I don’t think they were the limiting factor to on road feel or performance to my riding.

They seem much better in the wet than the Kendas on my 2021 RT LTD. They suit the nature of the bike better now I think. They have the same predictable manners as before but do seem to be a better compound and a bit stiffer in the sidewalls. They prefer to run at the advised 20 psi, whereas the old ones were much happier at 18 psi.

Obviously these things are highly personal and there’s not a particular setup that suits everyone. I’m not an overly aggressive rider, but I don’t hang about.

For me the stock setup is OK for the moment, but after I’ve done a few miles I’ll probably look to do upgrades over the winter starting with the BR sway bar. Shocks, I’ll look around as to what kind of shocks I’ll buy and I’ll probably do all three together. My wife likes comfort, so I’ll be making decisions that preserves that aspect of the bike.

She sure likes the new S2S seat and she’ll be well upset if I ruin the touring feel of the bike. So like all things, upgrades will be a compromise for me and won’t focus on absolute performance.

 

[BajaRon]

Suspension improvements increase traction (among other things). But increased traction benefits only to the point where the tires can translate the improvements to the road surface.

Suspension upgrades will give you the greatest amount of improvement. But the right tires will definitely be required to completely cash in on the potential provided by the suspension improvements.

 

[mecsw500]

I’ve ridden an RT with car tires. It was definitely an improvement over the original Kendas I must admit. Now with the latest design, and without back to back comparisons to make, I’m not so unhappy with the XPS branded ones to make me want to rush out and buy new car tires to replace them.

A sway bar I could see the benefits to that, but I think it can wait to be a winter project. Shocks, especially ones with preload adjustment on the front, I’m sure will be a good idea too.

For some reason the S2S seems to suit our weight two up, as well as my “Dave Moss” riding style, out of the crate, so I’m probably luckier than some.

However, winter projects are always fun, but for now I’m not going to take it off the road over the summer riding season.

My guess is I’m lucky too and the thing seems to have reasonably good alignment upon delivery.

I appreciate you publishing your observations over many vehicles as opposed to my experience of two units. My observations are purely my own and probably not that of the average owner.

 

[Snoking1127]

I’ve ridden an RT with car tires. It was definitely an improvement over the original Kendas I must admit. Now with the latest design, and without back to back comparisons to make, I’m not so unhappy with the XPS branded ones to make me want to rush out and buy new car tires to replace them.

A sway bar I could see the benefits to that, but I think it can wait to be a winter project. Shocks, especially ones with preload adjustment on the front, I’m sure will be a good idea too.

For some reason the S2S seems to suit our weight two up, as well as my “Dave Moss” riding style, out of the crate, so I’m probably luckier than some.

However, winter projects are always fun, but for now I’m not going to take it off the road over the summer riding season.

My guess is I’m lucky too and the thing seems to have reasonably good alignment upon delivery.

I appreciate you publishing your observations over many vehicles as opposed to my experience of two units. My observations are purely my own and probably not that of the average owner.

I edited my original post with a note that I have install the HD sway bar on all my trikes and on a few friends.

 

[mecsw500]

I think I'm going to go that way and add an BajaRon sway bar, but I'm going to do it as a winter project. It's fine enough as it is until then, I'm quite happy with it overall. Everything can be improved of course but nothing is an urgent must do item over stock. I'll probably do shocks too, but I don't want anything too aggressive. My wife likes the touring nature of the bike and I don't want to get too far away from that with cornering performance at the expense of ride. As Captain Slow says on Top Gear, the Nuremberg Ring testing ruins a vehicles ride.

 

[CloverHillCrawler]

I did Tires, Sway bar, then saved up for some Wilbers shocks.

 

[mecsw500]

For a 2026 Sea to Sky, I must admit I'm not unhappy with the XPS branded Kenda tires they are shipping with now. I'll wait until they wear out before deciding what to fit next. I've ridden them in the heat, the cold, in very twisty mountain roads in both the dry and torrential rain and they seem to be decent enough to keep until the wear out.

The sway bar is probably first. The shocks I'll have to research as to what suits the bike best in terms of ride quality as part of the performance envelope.

Now your F3S probably has a different use case than my Sea to Sky, and I understand why you would want to improve the absolute performance side of things. It's lower, lighter, hence faster, and probably inherently handles better being more of a sports orientated tourer than the S2S.

 

[troop]

1.) Sway bar
2.) Tires
3.) Shocks

 

[BajaRon]

I think I'm going to go that way and add an BajaRon sway bar, but I'm going to do it as a winter project. It's fine enough as it is until then, I'm quite happy with it overall. Everything can be improved of course but nothing is an urgent must do item over stock. I'll probably do shocks too, but I don't want anything too aggressive. My wife likes the touring nature of the bike and I don't want to get too far away from that with cornering performance at the expense of ride. As Captain Slow says on Top Gear, the Nuremberg Ring testing ruins a vehicles ride.

The more miles you put on before upgrading the sway bar, the happier you'll be with the improvement.

 

[RayBJ]

500 miles - sway bar
1000 miles - Kendas in dumpster
3000 miles - Elka fronts
30000 miles Elka rear (air bag died)

 

[mecsw500]

Current XPS brand Kendas seem fine, wet or dry. I'm sure car tires are better, but for now I'll spend the money on gas and hotels, not tires.

Stock sway bar and shocks are much better with the new tires than they were with the old tires on my 2021 LTD. The newer tires are less of a suspension component than the old ones, where I used to have to run less air and the sidewalls were softer. It used to have to overcome the bounce in the tire before the suspension got to work properly. Now it seems more controlled and will be fine for the summer riding season.

So, I'm just going to enjoy it as it is, which is OK as I really enjoy it, and it'll give me projects to do over the winter. I'm still not quite sure what shocks to get. Obviously they need to be preload adjustable but these Sachs units aren't the worst I've had on a stock bike. I used to have Koni Dial-A-Rides on my old BMWs, Moto Guzzis and Laverdas, which are now the Ikon brand. I'll have to do more research on which brand suits the touring package which my wife likes so much. Got to keep my wife happy on the comfort side of things.

 

[Little Blue]

First for me would be... Better Tires.
Second, the... Sway Bar.
Third... maybe... Shocks.
Fourth would be... .Just Ryde.
Fifth... Enjoy your Time!

 

[mecsw500]

First for me would be... Better Tires.
Second, the... Sway Bar.
Third... maybe... Shocks.
Fourth would be... .Just Ryde.
Fifth... Enjoy your Time!

I'd go for that, except for the tires bit. These new XPS branded Kendas I'm finding day by day how much better they perform and feel than the original Kenda OEM tires.

I went for a ride up the canyons yesterday and hit a couple of small rocks around blind curves which I'm sure would have punctured the originals. These newer versions just shrugged it off.

My experience on them in torrential rain is that they are night and day better, whether through tread or compound, or both both I don't know, but they were very planted and confidence inspiring. They performed far better than I expected.

I know they are probably not perfect and that some car tires are no doubt superior, but I don't feel the need to rush out and replace them in order to ride with confidence.

OK, my sample is one set and others may have a different experience, or their use case may be different, but I'm going to come to the defense of them a little bit.

 

[Little Blue]

That's a fair and reasonable request. But if and when you do decide to go with a better tire, I believe that you will feel the difference right away. I couldn't believe it myself. But now I know.
Have yourself a Blessed Day My Friend.

 

[mecsw500]

That's a fair and reasonable request. But if and when you do decide to go with a better tire. I believe that you will fill the difference right away. I couldn't believe it myself. But now I know.
Have yourself a Blessed Day My Friend.

Yes, I've tried a Spyder with car tires, but I was comparing it to the original OEM Kendas I had on my previous Spyder at the time. They were clearly superior without a doubt.

How much superior to these new XPS branded ones, I wouldn't like to say without a more back to back comparison. I think the Kendas have a well earned poor reputation that it will be difficult for them to shake off, no matter what they do, for many years.

It will be interesting to see how Baja Ron finds them after he's seen more than a few through his doors, and what he thinks of them.

What tires have you tried, and which fitments do you recommend? I'm open to suggestions.

 

[Mikey]

For me, I would not take a bike out of the box and start ripping it down and changing parts before the old ones are worn out, but that's just me! Unless I know for sure that the parts I am taking off will make it better!!!

I know from past experience that the sway bar replacement will help with the handling and body roll! I know that a set of adjustable shocks will get the bike up off the ground, up to the ride height it's supposed to be at, and give me a better ride and handling! And if the tires should wear out, I know that MOST likely, a set of car tires will outlast and perform better than a set stock tires. That I am testing out right now with my 2025, when I wear them out, then I'll decide if there worth trying again, I know that they were junk with my 2012, and what a difference the Altimax and Vredesteins made in handling, ride, and wear!

So, if I had to vote from my experience, it would be Bar, shocks, alignment, tires! My 2 cents!!!

 

[2dogs]

1.) Sway bar
2.) Tires
3.) Shocks

Yep, me too in the same order. I don't think anything came stock with all the right bells and whistles to work perfectly, with no add-ons needed, unless it was the F-15.

 

[Dasmoetorhead]

Just tires and aluminum end links. Basically stock, but you aint gonna catch me.