Best tires <$150 pair stock 80 gs 550

[IcyHotUrBeanBag]

My rim is 2.50. The Avons sound great but they run around 225 a pair right. i think thats what I saw on MSS

[ndbaker]

Im debating between the Shinko 712s and 230s myself. I mostly do casual riding for fun and am not a fan of hard leaning into curves. I currently have a 120/90-18 on the rear, is there any benefit to keeping this size or should I go back to the original 110/90-18? The 110 is slightly cheaper and the 120 comes close to the swingarm.

[tkent02]

Kenda Challengers are aptly named. It's really a challenge to not fall down.

[Chuck78]

Kenda Challengers are aptly named. It's really a challenge to not fall down.

YES!!!! I'm sooooooo looking forward to getting my new spokes in the mail asap so I can lace a 2.50 DID rim to the front to match my 3.50 DID rear, and mount a Shinko SR741 rear and 230 TourMaster front on! My original wheelset has Challenger's mounted. I slip and slide all over the road. any throttle in cornering instantly makes the rear start slipping, and I do not have a very confident feeling coming from the front wheel and am afraid to push it... The newer wider Shinko's and matching wider alloy rims will totally transform the way the bike corners. Challenger's SUCK unless you never push the bike at all, and then you still have better choices like the 712 Shinko on the cheap.

[Chuck78]

I just rode my buddy's new GS850GL that he bought from Rich (old_skool) today, and it has a Shinko 712 130/90/16 rear and a Duro 100/90-19 (18?) on the front. Despite being a 50 lb heavier bike than my GS750 with 110/90 and 100/90 Kenda Challengers, that GS850 with the nice profiled 712 rear handled A MILLION TIMES BETTER than my 750! Both bikes have the rear shock preload all the way up and fork springs chopped shorter (stiffer, big improvement also - taking 3 to 6" out of the springs and replacing the height with a 3/4 CPVC (35mm forks) or PVC (37mm forks) spacer and a flat washer against the spring).

I may get a 712 rear and 230 TourMaster for the front of the wife's bike, I was that impressed. Very very very glad that just yesterday I ordered a 230TourMaster 110/90/18 front and Shinko SR741 140/70/18 rear tire for my bike!