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]

Originally Posted by Badbob

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]

Originally Posted by 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.

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by Badbob

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]

Originally Posted by Easy Rider

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]

Originally Posted by Badbob

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.