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Well, I got my new Cheng Shin Hi-Max tires installed. I decided to try them based on a lot of good comments I had read on this site. I now have about 200 miles on them and am starting to push them a bit, and so far I am very impressed.
One complaint about them that I had heard was they had weak sidewalls. The are a 3 ply sidewall on the rear and 2 ply on the front. They are as stiff as the Dunlop 404's that I took off when installing them, and the dunlops are the same ply sidewalls. I am not sure where the weak sidewall info came from, but it doesn't appear valid.
They seem to be made well, nothing looks obviously cheap about them at all. The tread pattern is quite different on the front, and that is the only strange thing about them from a visual perspective.
First drive on them went well, gotta love the handling of new tires! I have noticed that turn in is much faster than the dunlop 404's, even when new they were not as quick as the HiMax's. The bike feels lighter and more flickable (if that's a word you can use on a 27 year old bike!). The difference in the tread profile is very noticable. They are much more rounded and seem to steeply drop off on the sides. The Dunlops were very consistent in their angle across the tread, and were much less steep. This difference in profile is likely why they are more responsive.
The other thing I noticed is that they don't seem to follow grooves in the road like the Dunlops did. Normally when hitting the filled in crack on the road I found the dunlops held to them like the bike was on rails. It could be very disturbing at times as the bike did not want to come out of the groove. The Cheng Shins do not seem to be anywhere near as bad. You do notice the groove, but you don't get stuck, it easily moves over the groove. That makes me very happy!
I have not pushed the grip to the limit as I have barely gotten them broken in, but I did push hard through a few turns this morning and they held their grip well. It feels like they will likely outperform the bike.
Needless to say, a trip in the rain and some miles will tell more about these tires, but so far I am happy with them. For $95.00 bucks delivered they are an exceptional price, and if they hold up well I will be very happy.
One complaint about them that I had heard was they had weak sidewalls. The are a 3 ply sidewall on the rear and 2 ply on the front. They are as stiff as the Dunlop 404's that I took off when installing them, and the dunlops are the same ply sidewalls. I am not sure where the weak sidewall info came from, but it doesn't appear valid.
They seem to be made well, nothing looks obviously cheap about them at all. The tread pattern is quite different on the front, and that is the only strange thing about them from a visual perspective.
First drive on them went well, gotta love the handling of new tires! I have noticed that turn in is much faster than the dunlop 404's, even when new they were not as quick as the HiMax's. The bike feels lighter and more flickable (if that's a word you can use on a 27 year old bike!). The difference in the tread profile is very noticable. They are much more rounded and seem to steeply drop off on the sides. The Dunlops were very consistent in their angle across the tread, and were much less steep. This difference in profile is likely why they are more responsive.
The other thing I noticed is that they don't seem to follow grooves in the road like the Dunlops did. Normally when hitting the filled in crack on the road I found the dunlops held to them like the bike was on rails. It could be very disturbing at times as the bike did not want to come out of the groove. The Cheng Shins do not seem to be anywhere near as bad. You do notice the groove, but you don't get stuck, it easily moves over the groove. That makes me very happy!
I have not pushed the grip to the limit as I have barely gotten them broken in, but I did push hard through a few turns this morning and they held their grip well. It feels like they will likely outperform the bike.
Needless to say, a trip in the rain and some miles will tell more about these tires, but so far I am happy with them. For $95.00 bucks delivered they are an exceptional price, and if they hold up well I will be very happy.
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