Tires

[Chris]

I'm going to have to replace at least my rear tire before the year ends. Being a newbie, I've never purchased a motorcycle tire before. I've thought about it for a while now and I've decided that safety being my highest priority, I think I need something that sticks to the road and has adequate channels for dispersing water as I tend to get caught in the rain on my commute. I ride on asphalt mostly. I think I'd rather have a soft/sticky tire than a hard one that will last forever.

The one that came on my bike from the PO is a Kenda... 'Challenger' I believe. I haven't had any real issues with it except that the treads don't cross the center to help draw water away from it. Instead it only has(had) an abreviated groove down the centerline like (-- -- -- -- -- -) that has since worn away to leave the tire bald down the center. My mechanic assures me that there's plenty of wear left in it, but I don't like the idea of riding on a 'slick'... especially in the rain. The grooves are still plenty deep on each side of the center.

Does anyone have any preferences/suggestions?

Thanks.

[Volker_P]

If you do not consider going at high speeds in the rain, you do not need to many grooves at rear. In contrast to current motorcycles, the CB has quite narrow tires for its weigth and I guess you will have problems to get it "swimming" with slicks at all.
Besided the grooves the age of the tire plays a significant role in rain. As the tire temperature is lower at wet roads, the traction is reduced. I would guess about 7 years are a reasonable limit for motorcycle tires.
The CB rear brake tends to easy blocking (and you often realize blocking not until you release the brake again) so it is a good idea to concentrate on the front brake. In this sense the front tire is more important. If your rear tire is not almost ten years old and you can leave alone the rear brake you may just ride it down.

[Ibsen]

I have put on new tyres this spring. Dunlop GT501 both front and rear. Several people have recommended these tyres and I decided to try them. And what a difference!

[Volker_P]

Hi Ibsen,
what tires did you have before? And what is the major benefit?

[Ibsen]

I had Avon tyres. AM21 front and Venom X rear.

The Avon tyres was good when new, but when worn the handling suffered. I would have bought Avon again, but I got a good deal on the Dunlop tyres via a friend of mine. I paid $200 for both, installed and balanced. That is 1/2 price.

[Chris]

Maybe I should take some photos of what's on her right now. Also, the rear doesn't look narrow... I'll compare it to the stock specs in the manual tomorrow. Thanks for your input so far.

[Volker_P]

I paid $200 for both, installed and balanced. That is 1/2 price.

Yes, thats really a good reason to test a quite actual tire . Let's see how it develops. To my impression, the handling basically depends on the wear shape/contour of the rear tire. A suitable rubber composition may help to conserve it for longer.
To Chris: The Custom rear tire is in fact not that narrow like for the Z-models, but compared to actual bikes it still is. My rear tire is 130/90-16.

[Vatch]

I had Avon tyres. AM21 front and Venom X rear.

The Avon tyres was good when new, but when worn the handling suffered. I would have bought Avon again, but I got a good deal on the Dunlop tyres via a friend of mine. I paid $200 for both, installed and balanced. That is 1/2 price.

Ibsen,
How many km did the Avon tires last? How many km before the handling suffered? I have been considering Avon's for the next tires.

[Chris]

Yeah, ok. My rear is 130/90-16 and my front is 100/90-19. The sticker on my chain guard calls for 130/90-16 on the rear and 3.50S19-4 on the front. [note to nick: sticker also says 'this bike equipped with tubeless tires'] My current tires, as stated earlier, are Challenger by KENDA. I know Kenda makes decent bicycle tires, but is this a good motorcycle tire?

Here's the tread pattern:

That's minus the abreviated groove that used to be in the center. It was on there last Spring, but I must've lost it somewhere during the Summer

[Ibsen]

Vatch, I don't know for how long the front tyre had been on the bike. It was there when I bought it in 2004, and in good shape at the time. Since then I have put on it approx 12 000km/7500 miles. The rear was put on in 2005 and it lasted for approx 9 000km/5500 miles. Avon are good tyres, but I have heard that they wear down slightly faster than other brands. But not as fast as Pirelli though.
I also have Avon tyres on my Kawasaki, and they are great on that bike.

[Volker_P]

Hi Chris,

That's minus the abreviated groove that used to be in the center. It was on there last Spring, but I must've lost it somewhere during the Summer

I recommend to ride there again this year, maybe you can find and collect it.

It is not really new but I would not think this tire is already that worn to be dangerous in rain. If age is still allright (DOT Nr: place 1+2 is week and 3+4 is year of manufacturing) you may keep it.

[Chris]

Roger that. Thank you all. I definately don't want to replace it before I really need to ($$$). Maybe I can make it last through this season and have the snowy months to shop for a replacement.

[Vatch]

Chris,
Looks fine for the rain to me, you have plenty of water channeling tread on the sides. Maybe you need to spend more time in the corners to even the wear

[cb650]

Chris,
Looks fine for the rain to me, you have plenty of water channeling tread on the sides. Maybe you need to spend more time in the corners to even the wear

That was my thought but i need to spend more time in corners also.



Terry

[Chris]

I figured somebody was gonna say that. I don't do alot of heavy braking/accelerating in the turns just yet. C'mon guys, how many times do I have to tell you I'm a newbie? This will be my second full season of riding. At least the stripes and nobbies are worn off.