I like the positive reviews on the Kenda!  That’s good to hear for a really affordable tire.  And the votes that 130/90 gets the job done on the Savage is good to know.  For $150 for a pair of tires, the Kenda are hard to pass up and give a shot!

Want to revive this short lived thread for a moment, while I'm budgeting for new parts for other issues.

I've been seriously unhappy with the metzler 888's I've been running. I find them to be hard, unreliable in wet especially.

Is the general consensus that the kendas mentioned previously are the best, current, sticky tire options for us?

Let's assume cost is not a constraint, what would the community say is the best grip tire on the market today?

I like Dave’s recommendation.  He’s tried way more tires than most people from all those burnouts and scraping his knees in the twisties!

My tire guy whines about Shinko being difficult to bead, but no one else seems to have this problem.  I think he just had a bad experience so now he shuns the tires and won’t install them.

I can only compare the Michelin Commander II, Dunlop D404, and original IRC.  As Dave noted, the Michelin aren’t great for traction.  The Dunlop seem heavy but better traction.  The IRC seemed good all around.

Since my installer guy refuses to do Shinko installation, I’m actually considering going with the OEM IRC tires in the exact OEM size match for $225/set.

I’ve narrowed my shopping down to the Shinko, IRC, and Kenda based on other people’s input and my own experience.

https://www.motosport.com/product/?code=SS-M-G-P-NA-PLA-CRUISER&key=IRC-GS18-...

I agree Dave!  I think my installer’s Shinko experience is limited to a specific difficult Shinko tire and if I remember the story correctly it was on a big Harley.  But he’s a stubborn old fart and seems to have his mind set.  I may poke the bear again about him trying it for me on the TourMaster 230s.

Yeah, we have no problem baking the tires in the sun on 140° blacktop down here in Texas!  They become like fresh baked brownies straight out of the oven!

Michael Moore wrote on 05/09/24 at 18:03:19:


Old Norton, Ducati, BMW and Triumph motorcycles had 4.00" or 100mm wide tires on the back and had more weight and double the HP of the Savage.  Even when raced the bikes had that narrow of a tire - I have a friend that used to race a Norton and he currently has a couple of nice restored bikes - he can ride faster on those narrow tires than a lot of the sport bike fellows he rides with.

The current use of wider tires on Cruisers is more of a fashion statement than it is a need......folks like the looks of a wide tire.  Motorcycles will accelerate faster and stick just fine with a lighter and narrower tire.  With my Cafe' bike I was experimenting with different size rims and I originally had a 2.50" wide rear rim and a 110/90-18 rear tire - it handled great and I never had a need for a wider tire.....but it looked a bit weird as we are used to seeing much wider tires on modern motorcycles.  My final choice is a 130/70-18 on a 3.50" wide rim.

Modern sport bikes have really wide tires - mostly because they have very soft compound tires and they need a lot of rubber to get any reasonable amount of tire life.  Some of those sport bike tires can wear out in 3,000 miles!

For the stock sized Savage:  The stock 140/80-15 tire is a weird size, and IRC is about the only company that makes that size.....it is an "OK" tire - but not anything special.  A 130/90-15 tire is within a few millimeters of the original size and works very well on the Savage and it provides you with far more choices in brands and styles of tire.  Some folks go to a larger 140/90-15 tire - that bigger tire is heavier and does slow the handling down a bit...it does provide for a bit taller gearing that can help correct a speedometer that reads too slow and if you spend a lot of time going in straight lines down the highway that heavier/wider/taller tire can help provide a bit more straight line stability.

Blue's new shoes arrived today.  Decided to go with the Shinko Tour Master 230s based on Dave's recommendations and DBM's plug for the tire.  And my installer is willing to give installation a shot since they have tubes.

At MotoSport for $189+tax = $204.  Free shipping via Fed-Ex Ground took 4 days.  IRC tubes were another $20-25 each on Amazon.

https://www.motosport.com/shinko-230-tour-master-tire-combo?variant[SHT000W]=...

I'm actiing like I might keep this project for a while.

I think I like them.  They will do fine for me.  I’m not an aggressive rider (usually), and I don’t ride in the rain.  And all tires are hot and sticky in Houston after about 3 miles (lol).

I’m just now coming up on 100 miles, so I’ll get a better feel going forward.  The noticeable change for me is going from a rear 140/90 to a 130/90.  The smaller tire feels more nimble and agile.  I did hit 85mph yesterday and they felt good. It was only for a few seconds and I rolled off the throttle.

I’ve had the Dunlop D404s front are rear on 2 different LS650s.  I had no real complaints about those either.  I saved a few bucks and went with the Shinko.

PS - did you get your muffler reinstalled?

Surviving Philly wrote on 07/20/24 at 11:15:46:


Awesome!  They are nice!  I’ve taken a few 60-80 mile rides on them now on the HOT Houston pavement and they perform very well.  They haven’t touched any water except for maybe a sprinkler runoff puddle.  Lol.

I’ve been running 32psi up front and 36psi in the rear.  She might be a little free and loose (high and fast), but I like the feel.  The recommend 29psi for the front feels “sluggish” to me.