Am I overthinking doing a 2022 RTL Front Tire Change?

[FRALEYW]

I just received my new tires Continental ContiProContact 165/60R15 77T and I placed them up against my OEM tires and felt under the front fender and now I'm starting to get worried that they are not going to fit. I know that a lot of people are running these on the front. Should I worry myself to death all weekend until I can get them put on or am I just overthinking this?

General AltiMAX RT45 225/60R15 96H comes in tomorrow for the back tire.

 

[Peter Aawen]

You're overthinking this!

There are Spyder Owners out there running 185 wide front tires in various low profile sizes under the stock fenders with no issues; others running 175/65R15 front tires with no issues; and very few who've had any problems fitting the same size & brand/model of the same tires you're planning on fitting! But do remember to check their pressures after they've been fitted - they AREN'T motorcycle tires, and despite needing about 40 psi for a moment or two in order to properly seat the bead, you'll only need about 18 psi in them to comfortably carry the weight of a fully (over)loaded Spyder.

Back to fitting them - the front fenders are flexible enough to allow even a 175/65R15 to be slipped in there, and the only things 'inside' the wheel well that have any likely possibility of impeding that tire fitting are the screw heads holding the fenders on (which project into the wheel well about 10mm - if necessary, swap them for readily available pan-head screws); the struts supporting the fenders (which can easily be spaced out with a few washers IF that's necessary, or gently pressured/bent a tiny touch so they clear everything); and possibly the wiring for the lights in the fenders (wiring which is sometimes run along the inside of the struts by a lazy assembler rather than tucked behind the struts where they should fit it!) There's nothing there that is insurmountable, and nothing that really causes any issues with fitting such a similarly sized tire to the OEM size!

So relax, and don't sweat the small stuff. Those tires will fit, even if there's some minor tweaking required - hey, as many Spyder Owners have found, some front tires with even BIGGER 'nominal size labels' will fit in there too, often without any minor tweaking, so you really don't need to stress about it.

Enjoy, and please tell us what you think of the new tires after you've done a couple of hundred miles on them. We really do like to hear how things went.

 

[FRALEYW]

You're overthinking this!

There are Spyder Owners out there running 185 wide front tires in various low profile sizes under the stock fenders with no issues; others running 175/65R15 front tires with no issues; and very few who've had any problems fitting the same size & brand/model of the same tires you're planning on fitting! But do remember to check their pressures after they've been fitted - they AREN'T motorcycle tires, and despite needing about 40 psi for a moment or two in order to properly seat the bead, you'll only need about 18 psi in them to comfortably carry the weight of a fully (over)loaded Spyder.

Back to fitting them - the front fenders are flexible enough to allow even a 175/65R15 to be slipped in there, and the only things 'inside' the wheel well that have any likely possibility of impeding that tire fitting are the screw heads holding the fenders on (which project into the wheel well about 10mm - if necessary, swap them for readily available pan-head screws); the struts supporting the fenders (which can easily be spaced out with a few washers IF that's necessary, or gently pressured/bent a tiny touch so they clear everything); and possibly the wiring for the lights in the fenders (wiring which is sometimes run along the inside of the struts by a lazy assembler rather than tucked behind the struts where they should fit it!) There's nothing there that is insurmountable, and nothing that really causes any issues with fitting such a similarly sized tire to the OEM size!

So relax, and don't sweat the small stuff. Those tires will fit, even if there's some minor tweaking required - hey, as many Spyder Owners have found, some front tires with even BIGGER 'nominal size labels' will fit in there too, often without any minor tweaking, so you really don't need to stress about it.

Enjoy, and please tell us what you think of the new tires after you've done a couple of hundred miles on them. We really do like to hear how things went.

Thank you. I'm really looking forward to the new tires; I've heard such great things about changing them. I will definitely come back and update this thread. Thank you again.

 

[Knizar]

You will have no problem with the continentals on the front.
The rear tire of 225/60R15 may cause problems rubbing the back flap on your rear fender, and bottom out when hitting potholes as it is about .43" taller diameter than the 215/60R15.

Bill

 

[rjinaz86323]

2018 F3Limited - no issues at all
up front Vredstein Quatrac tires 175/55R-15
in back General Altimax RT43 SL 225/60R-15

 

[FRALEYW]

You're overthinking this!

There are Spyder Owners out there running 185 wide front tires in various low profile sizes under the stock fenders with no issues; others running 175/65R15 front tires with no issues; and very few who've had any problems fitting the same size & brand/model of the same tires you're planning on fitting! But do remember to check their pressures after they've been fitted - they AREN'T motorcycle tires, and despite needing about 40 psi for a moment or two in order to properly seat the bead, you'll only need about 18 psi in them to comfortably carry the weight of a fully (over)loaded Spyder.

Back to fitting them - the front fenders are flexible enough to allow even a 175/65R15 to be slipped in there, and the only things 'inside' the wheel well that have any likely possibility of impeding that tire fitting are the screw heads holding the fenders on (which project into the wheel well about 10mm - if necessary, swap them for readily available pan-head screws); the struts supporting the fenders (which can easily be spaced out with a few washers IF that's necessary, or gently pressured/bent a tiny touch so they clear everything); and possibly the wiring for the lights in the fenders (wiring which is sometimes run along the inside of the struts by a lazy assembler rather than tucked behind the struts where they should fit it!) There's nothing there that is insurmountable, and nothing that really causes any issues with fitting such a similarly sized tire to the OEM size!

So relax, and don't sweat the small stuff. Those tires will fit, even if there's some minor tweaking required - hey, as many Spyder Owners have found, some front tires with even BIGGER 'nominal size labels' will fit in there too, often without any minor tweaking, so you really don't need to stress about it.

Enjoy, and please tell us what you think of the new tires after you've done a couple of hundred miles on them. We really do like to hear how things went.

Just picked up the bike with the new tires on it. Continental ContiProContact 165/60R15 77T on the front and General AltiMAX RT45 215/60R15 96H on the back. There is a slight rub on the right front fender if I make a hard left turn but other than that there is no rubbing or problems with the front or back tires. The initial tech that was supposed to change the tires refused to put them on the bike because they weren't Kendra and he is a can am tech. The second tech said he would do it with no problems. The ride so far is great but I only put about 25 miles on it today after I picked it up. I will ride it tomorrow to work and then we have about a 600 mile roundtrip ride this weekend here in AZ. I currently have the tires set at 18.5 in the front and 22 in the back.

 

[Peter Aawen]

Check to make sure that 'rub' on the right front fender isn't the wiring or a screw head touching the side of the tire, but I'd think it's more likely that you're running juuust a tad too much air in the tire - 18 psi in ANY Spyder tire, front &/or rear, is more than enough to carry a well overloaded Spyder with a heavy rider, and while a half a psi isn't usually all that much in the overall scheme of things, that could be the half a psi that's causing your tire to rub when you're turning. And while I'm talking pressures, you really don't need (or likely even want) 22 psi in the rear - 20 psi, maybe, if you're running for hours at a time, fully loaded (or over-loaded!) at high speed, on hot roads, & in hot conditions, but that sort of pressure is not really ideal or necessary for anything much less, and so it will be compromising your rear tire's wear, traction, performance, & wet weather capability!

It might take you a bit of a while to get used to running lower pressures than you're used to in these tires, but they are car radials running on car rims under a lightweight vehicle, so they will feel a little different to driving your car &/or riding on motorcycle tires, they are MEANT to feel different!! And they work differently to motorcycle tires too, the contact patch on a motorcycle tire changes shape as you lean, that's a big part of how they work - for a motorcycle, but you really don't want that to happen on your Spyder!! So the sidewalls on your Spyder tires (whether they are the lighter construction OEM tires that need more air to do the same job, or these stronger built more capable car tires that don't need that much air pressure due to their heavier construction) need to be able to flex somewhat more than a motorcycle tire in order to keep the whole tread face/contact patch in contact with the road surface as you drive/corner etc; to allow the tread in that contact patch to flex and mould over/conform with any irregularities on that surface, all in order to maximise your tire's grip and let them work their best for you, especially in the wet; and to work with the suspension to give you a controlled and smooth ride - and over-inflating them, even just a little, starts to degrade all of that so that they won't be quite up to doing their best for you - and when running a 'proper' car tire instead of the lightweight Kendas, over-inflating them by just one psi or so WILL cause them to wear quickly in the centre, as well as compromising their overall wear, traction, performance, & wet weather capability!

Just Sayin'

 

[FRALEYW]

Alright just got home from an over 650 mile 3 day trip that took us down Devils Highway (191) from Alpine, AZ to Morenci, AZ. It all started with me setting my tire pressure to 18 in the front and 19 in the back then the wife and I loaded up just outside of Phoenix and went and met the crew, 11 spyders and slingshots enjoyed a 3 day trip. The bike handled great, especially once I let me guard down and stopped worrying about the tires and if they were going to be okay. They did great handling over 420 curves of Devils Highway and the wife and I felt safe the whole time. Thanks for all the advice and I look forward to many more miles on these tires.

 

[Snoking1127]

We have been thinking about doing Devils Highway the other direction. Could you share where you stayed the two nights? I have been looking at the Hannagan Meadow Lodge South of Alpine. You must have done a large loop, as from Gold Canyon to Clifton, Show Low, Globe and back to Gold Canyon is 474 miles.
.

 

[Little Blue]

Good to know about the tires. So glad you got to enjoy your Spyder Ryde Times.

Any chance you have pictures of your trip? I love seeing pics of people's travels on their Spyders.

Thanks for your time.