Most economical tires for my gs850

[fastpakr]

Ouch... I have to admit, when I bought a bike I had no idea that tire life was quite that bad.

[Anonymous]

I use to only buy Dunlop 491s for the 4 GSs I've owned but the last 2 or 3 fronts have developed premature cracks in the sidewalls. The last set I bought were Bridgestone Spitfires and I've been very happy with them. I just ordered a new front Spitfire S11 for my 1100 from MAW (http://www.mawonline.com/) for $55 plus $9 shipping. I can usually take the wheel in and get a mount and balance for $20.

[bwringer]

If you're buying from eBay or a local shop, you have to be very, very careful about getting old tires. One or two years really makes a huge difference in traction -- the rubber ages and hardens even if it's just sitting on a rack.

I'd much rather have a nice fresh set of Cheng Shins than a two year old set of Dunlops or Metzelers or whatever.

Other than gas, tires are by far the most expensive part of owning any motorcycle. (er, I should say riding a motorcycle, not just owning) It's just a fact of life.

I've gotten 7,000 miles out of a set of Cheng Shins used for commuting, and as little as 3,000 out of a set of Bridgestones mostly used on a couple of fast, long-distance sport-touring trips. Since you're also on an 850, that's the sort of range you might expect. If you're a fairly new and/or nonagressive rider, you could expect to be in the upper end of that range.

As I've gotten my bike more mechanically sorted in the last few years, I've started using up two sets of tires a season. I buy them at a local high-volume shop, so I don't really encounter problems with aging these days.

For me, the strategy of cheaper tires replaced a little more frequently seems to work quite well. Cheng Shins are cheap enough ($130 a set mounted) that I can replace them before they get too square. If they were Dunlop$ or Met$eler$ ($300 a set mounted), I would have more trouble coughing up the money, and would be more tempted to let it go another few weeks. And another few weeks. And another few weeks...

[themess]

old, unused tires

I was a chemist for Firestone. Tires do not age appreciably when properly stored for up to ten years or so. The synthetic SBR rubber used in the treads is naturally resistant to oxygen and ozone, but the natural rubber in the sidewalls isn't. Both rubber compounds contain antioxidants and antiozonants to retard deterioration.
If a tire company is too dumb or too cheap to formulate the rubber to last ten+ years, they're too dumb or too cheap to do the complicated things right and you shouldn't buy their tires for anything faster than a riding lawn mower.

Tom

[JHawkins]

I am using Dunlop 404's. The price up here in canada is about $100 for the rear, I have seen them online for 50 bucks. They seem to handle the wet pretty good although I don't push it hard in the rain. Got 7000 miles out of the rear, the front is still on and is doing just fine.

[BigMattyD]

I put a set of Cheng Shin Himax on my bike, and have had success with them. I got them at Tires Unlimited.com, and had a local shop mount them both for 30 bucks total. (I had to take the wheels off and bring them to the shop.)

They seem to be working very well, I have only had them a few months, but they seem to have good traction and wear characteristics. On my bike there is no chance of smoking the tire or putting any real strain on them, trust me.

Matt

[Macmatic]

I recommend Cheng Shins from JC Whitney. I just put a front tire on my 750 and it only cost $40. My dad and I mounted it ourselves to save money. After about an hour of wrestling with tire irons, we finally got it. And it only cost me a pulled forearm muscle.

I'd go to www.traxmotorsports.com for Cheng Shins over JC Whiteny. Cheaper and great service. When I bought a pair of HiMax's a few weeks ago they were here in three days.

On the downside the warehouse screwed up the order and sent me a 100/90 front instead of a 110/90 but a quick call had the right tire on the way and a call tag for the wrong tire. Fast The error was with whoever picked the parts, not the billing.

/\/\ac

[flyingace]

Dunlop K491 is a great tire. I put one on the rear of my 850 and with 2300 miles, I see almost no wear. I will probably get another just like it.

[SqDancerLynn1]

On My 850 I got 10K miles on my last set of Metzlers

[Anonymous]

Bought from Dennis Kirk

www.denniskirk.com sold me a set of tires for my gs750 for $145 delivered, which i thought was a bargain. I forget the brand name...Kenda? Kornholio? Something like that. They were cheap, I didn't care at the time.

Also, the bike when I got it had a 180 rear tire on it; which is apparently awfully wide for this bike (too wide?) according to other posts I read. The tire I bought for it was a 190 8O and fits with about 1/4" of chain clearance.

I mounted these myself. Cut the old ones off with a cutoff wheel. Stuck the new ones on with soapy water and irons/spoons purchased from ebay for around 15 bucks delivered. Didn't worry about balance since there were no weights on the rims to begin with; and havn't noticed any vibration.

Byron

[Anonymous]

Re: Most economical tires for my gs850

I have just bought a 1979 GS850 and it needs new tires. However I have no idea of which ones to get.. I traded my KAW S3 Tripple for it, and I do not ride alot ( I plan on riding alot more). Any suggestions of a good economical tire would be great. I need both front and back.

I was thinking about puting several coatings of goop on my 850's tires to cover up the cords that surface once the tread worn off. This would extend the life of the tire and save on mounting costs.

[rustybronco]

Dude,
have you thought about getting some industrial strength rubber bands and imbedding them into the goop, then you can have new rubber and treads too!. HUMMMMMMMMMMMMMM i'm going to have to try it myself...

[Anonymous]

Wow good idea!

Just put the bike up on its stand, go down to Home Depot and buy a can of SnowCoat or Roofing Tar, put it in a nice shallow tray under the back tire, rotate, and let it build up. I figure a good 1/4" layer of that is as good as a new tire right? For winter driving, you could add a bunch of bb's to the mix and make studded ice tires; wow, now I'm thinking.

[Anonymous]

tires

dont go cheap on tires specially on a motorcycle, you get what you pay for.

[Anonymous]

Note, there are dates on the tires (required by law) when the tire was made, get the latest date you possibly can, tires have a shelf life. cracking of the side walls is ususally ozone caused, hotter the area the worse it is. I know, i live in NM tires that arent kepted inside get it bad.