cheap tires

[lberkhei]

Cheng Shin

Don't know if 20+ year old information helps much, other than to show that the company's been around awhile. I put a Cheng Shin on my Honda CB500 back in the late 70's. Had some concerns at the time, because I'd never heard of the brand/company, put price drove my decision. I had no problems with it, rain or shine. Like Earl, I also had a set of Dunlop K-81s on it at one point; had no problems with them, either. If I remember correctly, I had the CS on the rear. But that was 20+ years ago... :?

[Anonymous]

Talk through your tyre selection with someone who knows both the tyre and the bike. The weight difference between bikes makes a lot of difference to what tyre to use.

The big GS models are much heavier than current bikes, and their frames are more flexible. On a heavy steel frame bike like my GS1000G the tyre needs to compensate for the flex in the frame by having a stiffer sidewall. On a modern bike of similar power the weight is lower and the aloy box frame is stiffer, so the tyre can flex a bit more without the bike wandering.

When the GS bikes were made there was not the range of tyre choice that there is these days. But make sure the modern tyre suits the old bike's characteristics.

This is the wisdom of my local race prep mechanic who knows how to get the best out of old bikes. My bike went in this morning for tyres and he is changing to a different brand. In a few weeks I'm off for a 3,000 km trip so I will be able to check how they compare on a range of roads.

Kim

[lberkhei]

cheap tires

kkmiller said:

This is the wisdom of my local race prep mechanic who knows how to get the best out of old bikes. My bike went in this morning for tyres and he is changing to a different brand

Kim,

Let us know what tire he puts on for you. Would be of interest to a lot of us.....

Thanks,

[Jethro]

For what it's worth, I was a bicycle sales rep for years and both Cheng Shin and Maxxis were considered bottom of the barrel tires. Heavy, cheap, out of round- they were generally a company spec'd tire, and an easy way to save the manufacturer big money (a good mtn bike tire can cost $50, these things could be had for $12). I imagine there was an entirely different division for MC tires though.

[chuckycheese]

Cheng Shin

I travel often to S.E. Asia and have noticed that CS tires are the stock tires on a number of Chinese motorcycles....most of these bikes are quite small and would never exceed 60MPH. Since they are on so many new bikes, they must be at least OK. Also, the extraordinarily difficult consumer laws and incredibly "picky" import laws would indicate to me that they are probably safe tires....maybe not the best...but I bet they're at least alright.

I agree with the other posters that think "alright" isn't good enough....I want a tire that's damn good!!!!!

[wizard]

Cheng Shin tires

I've been running CS for about 10 years. For the $, the wear is great as long as you're not an xtreme rider. I get about 3 seasons out of front tires and 2 out of the rear. JCWhitney has them for he cheapest, but you need to be able to recognize the tread pattern. They don't list manufacturers.

[Billy Ricks]

Running Gixxer rims I'm able to use radials so CS and such are not an option for me. That said, I'm able to get Dunlop radials for the same or less than most of the premium bias ply tires. A 120/70 front only runs about $88 mail order. A 160/60 rear about $25 more. Radials do a good job of helping soak up bumps which is why most modern bikes get by with less and firmer suspension travel. They grip better and roll easier than bias plies.

[Anonymous]

Re: cheap tires

kkmiller said:

This is the wisdom of my local race prep mechanic who knows how to get the best out of old bikes. My bike went in this morning for tyres and he is changing to a different brand

Kim,

Let us know what tire he puts on for you. Would be of interest to a lot of us.....

Thanks,

He put on Metzelers. ME 33 Laser on the front and ME 55a Metronic on the rear. You can see them here in the "Alround" section.

http://www.metzelermoto.com/product_info/catalogo/supersport.asp?id=15

I haven't got it on the road yet, he's still setting up a bank of carbies for me - took in a spare set as the ones on the bike have seen some damage from previous owners.

His comments about the Bridgestone BT45 Battlax was that they were OK for lighter bikes but flexed too much for something as heavy as the GS1000G.

I got 12,000 kms out of the BT rear and he reckons the Metz will outlast that easily, as well as outhandle them wet or dry. The front lasted longer but was very feathered.

The BT45 rear cost me $165 fitted plus "disposal fee", the Metz $180 rear and $120 front all up. Australian dollar is presently about US .60 cents.

Kim

[mdole]

I've run Chen Shin on various bikes I have owned along with Dunlops, Metzlers, Bridgestones, Avons, and others.

I have had pretty good luck with all of them the CS Hi Max handled better than the Marquis. The best handling tires I think I tried were either the Avon super Venoms or the 591 Dunlops but both were toast in 5000 or so miles. The longest wear was a Dunlop F-11 front (21k) with a Dunlop 491 Elite II rear (16k). The CS Hi Max would go about (7k) on V-65 Sabre.

More recently I have tried Kings on both a Sabre and a GS and so far them seem to be a good middle of the line tire. Better traction than the CS and less than half the cost of the Bridgestones so far 3500 on the GS750L and still have plenty of tread.

Mike

[oldschoolGS]

Billy, running low profile radials is ground clearance a problem? I know with a 140/70 Dunlop 591R rear on my 750, I had to be cafeful not to dig the sidestand mount into the road on fast left hand corners. Small problem but loved the to-the-edge grip this rear gave. BTW, thanks again for the master cylinder. If it is not too much trouble, email me a pic of your bike. Mine is listed in the gallery 1983-fairly old photos and not fully modified. Thanks, Ed (mustang4@swbell.net)

[Billy Ricks]

Billy, running low profile radials is ground clearance a problem?

Every once in a while I hear the collector scrape slightly. Other than that it isn't a problem. Everything is mounted pretty high on my bike. I've got the GSX-R front end which I can run stiffer with the radials than I could with bias ply. The radials do a good job of soaking up much of the bumps.

No problem on the master cylinder, it wasn't doing me any good just lying around. I don't have any recent pics, but after the Hill Country Ride maybe some will pop up here or on someone's web page.

[Anonymous]

cheap tires

I have the marquis series on my 750 and have had no problems I think they handle quite well in fact I am getting a new one mounted on the rear this week for 50.00. I would reccomend them as long as you are a conservative rider and nothing to crazy.