yes, tires

Okay, first of all, I used my friend "search" and read all the threads on this well worn topic. My main question has to do with how much I can vary from the spec tire sizes, i.e., front tire is supposed to be 110/90 - 16 and I've seen on other threads that some have used 100/90 - 16 and others 120/80 - 16.

How about the rear tire, which should be 130/90 - 15? Can we use 140/90 - 15? Which is the key variable to consider, the width or the radius? By the way, I have a local shop who quoted me a price of $116 to install and balance both tires (on the bike). It's a good price for around here, but I wondered if others around the country think it sounds high, low, etc.?

Thanks again,

Keith

[Badbob]

If the $116 includes the tires its a deal.

[Water Warrior 2]

How about new tubes while you are at it. They suffer from heat/cold cycles and will be a liability even with new tires. As for the price you got.............WOW, you don't want to know what we pay up here.

[Easy Rider]

If the $116 includes the tires its a deal.

If it includes the tires it is....well....too good to be true.
I certainly wouldn't ride on tires that cheap. :skull:

[Badbob]

If it includes the tires it is....well....too good to be true. I certainly wouldn't ride on tires that cheap. :skull:

You ride one of the cheapest motorcycles in the world. The only ones I know that are cheaper are the China Bikes. :)

[Easy Rider]

If it includes the tires it is....well....too good to be true. I certainly wouldn't ride on tires that cheap. :skull:

You ride one of the cheapest motorcycles in the world. The only ones I know that are cheaper are the China Bikes. :)

So? The point is.......what? :??:

Just because the bike is not expensive doesn't mean that it is "cheap". :poked:

AND......even if we were talking about a really cheap knock-off or a 30 year old rat bike, there is NO justification for riding on sub-standard tires, unless you have a death wish. :skull:

[Badbob]

So? The point is.......what? :??:

Just because the bike is not expensive doesn't mean that it is "cheap". :poked:

AND......even if we were talking about a really cheap knock-off or a 30 year old rat bike, there is NO justification for riding on sub-standard tires, unless you have a death wish. :skull:

The point is that your riding a cheap (inexpensive) motorcycle and your concerned about the tires being bad because the cost is low. The most I ever paid for a tire for one of our GZ250s is around $56 and the cheapest ones were better tires than the expensive Metzeler tires they came with.

The the last pair of tires I bought for a GZ250 cost $56.45 and $51.78 or $108.23 total.

There could be any number of reasons why kmkindred can get the tires for $116 that don't have anything to do with the quality of the tires. Perhaps the mounting and balancing are free or the tires are overstocks that they are clearing out.

Who is allowed to sell sub-standard tires in the US?

BTW: According to the Merriam-Webster Thesaurus cheap and inexpensive are synonyms.

[Easy Rider]

Who is allowed to sell sub-standard tires in the US?

BTW: According to the Merriam-Webster Thesaurus cheap and inexpensive are synonyms.

Who is "allowed" to sell kids toys with lead in the US ??

In common useage, cheap and inexpensive have different conotations.

Regardless of how the figures are manipulated, nobody gives their labor away for free.
At $116 for two tires, with tubes, mounted, the tires would have to be about $10 apiece.

Would you ride on $10 tires ??

Absent some strange overstock situation, there HAS to be a reason they are selling for such an inexpensive price.

I'm just saying BE CAREFUL of what you are getting.
We seem to be obsessed with price WAY more often than we are obsessed with safety.

P.S. I think you are probably one person who knows something about allowable size variations. How about telling him about THAT instead of wasting time jumping on my case ????? :neener:

Guess I should pipe in here as I started this thread. The $116 was not including the tires, tubes, etc. - just labor. And for up here, it's actually not a bad price. The "stealer" quoted me $180 for the same thing (labor only). I did find a young guy who works for shop near me who works on the side to make extra money - he wants $50.

By the way, I decided to stay with the spec sizes and went with different brands. As most of you knew before me, it's nearly impossible to find a match for our spec sizes in tires (affordable). So it was either same brand/not spec size on one tire or different brands/spec sizes on both tires. Not an ideal situation in either case, I know. I have Bridgestone on the front and Dunlop on the back, but the treads are very similar ( I would not have chosen Bridgestone myself, but the previous owner of my bike threw in the tire with the deal we made).

I"m still curious about how much we might vary from the spec sizes, if anybody cares to comment.

Keith

[music man]

Well I personally have a 100/90/16 on the front of mine, and I really can't tell any difference from the stock size to that, functionally speaking. And you can barely look at it and tell that it is a skinnier tire.

[Orpheus]

Wow, this is convenient; I was planning to start my own thread about tires and here's this one...

I just bought the Kenda tires mentioned in this thread: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1058 (http://www.gz250bike.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1058) and I was hoping that someone here might have some review/rating information on them. I remember reading that somebody bought them and is riding them right now, but i don't have the patience to search for the thread at the moment. I really wanted the Pirellis, but I needed to consider the cost. They seem like pretty decent tires, and I really like the "low profile" idea on this bike. Any problems mounting them or anything, since they're not the specified size?
Thanks y'all.

Edit: the front is the 100/90-16 and the rear is the 130/90-15: $105 from bikebandit.com

[mrlmd1]

I have the Cheng Shin 120/80-16 on the front and it hasn't changed a thing that I can notice in the ride or handling.
Theoretically a narrower or wider tire, especially the front, will change the steering and handling characteristics of the bike - ie. very slight difference in turning radius going around turns or corners with a given amount of lean, but these offsize tires from what came with the GZ, the 110s or 120s, are only 1% different in width (10 mm, or 3/8" total width difference), so the rolling radius of the tire leaned over is not significantly different from stock and should make no difference at all in any riding characteristics. You must keep the 16" diameter, that's more important than changing 10 mm of total tire width, so go with anything, any good tire you can find in this range, and don't be too obsessive in finding only a very expensive and not necessarily better brand that's 110/90-16.

[Orpheus]

Update on the Kenda tires.

I just took the bike out for the first long ride (around 300 miles round trip) on them and I don't really notice a big difference in the way they handle from the stock ones. I think they look pretty cool, too.

I did have a little "holy $#!t" moment when I first got them; I took a turn a little too fast as I was coming home from the shop and felt a little slippage on the back tire. The rear brake was also adjusted as part of the tune-up, which might have had something to do with it.

[JWR]

I also went with the Kendra tires.
First ride was about 80 miles and they did fine.

My GZ is a 2002 and had 7250 miles on the factory tires.
The back had been worn out since about 6000 miles.
The front was very hard and weather checked.

Now if the weather will get better I will put them to the test.

Jerry

[alanmcorcoran]

I did have a little "holy $#!t" moment when I first got them; I took a turn a little too fast as I was coming home from the shop and felt a little slippage on the back tire. The rear brake was also adjusted as part of the tune-up, which might have had something to do with it.

Not sure if it's folklore or not, but my understanding is you are supposed to take it easy on tires for the first 100 miles or so, especially around tight corners, untile the tires are sufficiently "scuffed." Not sure if this was your problem, but tires are a little slippery when they are brand new.

[Water Warrior 2]

I did have a little "holy $#!t" moment when I first got them; I took a turn a little too fast as I was coming home from the shop and felt a little slippage on the back tire. The rear brake was also adjusted as part of the tune-up, which might have had something to do with it.

Not sure if it's folklore or not, but my understanding is you are supposed to take it easy on tires for the first 100 miles or so, especially around tight corners, untile the tires are sufficiently "scuffed." Not sure if this was your problem, but tires are a little slippery when they are brand new.

Folklore and fact actually. Also a couple heat cycles made a difference to the tires on the VStrom near the end of last riding season.