Can Am Spyder Forum banner

Question about OEM Tires & Alignment ??

24K views 21 replies 12 participants last post by  Stealth11 
#1 ·
This is the first time I have to look at replacing my OEM original tires on my '08 model and we need some information. I was of the opinion that we have to purchase OEM tires, but hubby says we should be able to find other manufacturers that would be suitable and more affordable. Do any of you buy your replacement tires from other manufacturers and have good results and can you recommend sources?

Second question - Hubby and I wondered if the Front End needs to be balanced / aligned after replacing the front tires? My Right tire is wearing very obviously on the inside and we wondered if the Spyders need to be aligned like standard vehicles do?

Thanks in advance for any help and information.
 
#2 ·
Yes, you can put other tire mfg's tires on. Personally, I use Yokohamas but there are other choices as well. If you do a search, you will probably find several brand options others have used. I got my tires from Discount Tire btw. The Tire Rack is a good on line place. In fact, I got a price from them and had Discount Tire match it. In most cases, you can use Ride-On to balance the tires. Discount Tire should be able to balance the tires. They cannot align the tires. I would have the alignment done first as I mentioned in the previous thread.
 
#4 ·
+Switch your front tires to Bridgestone Potenzas (P165/65R14 78S for a Honda Fit) for far better wear and longevity, and like feel. I've only rotated mine once since installed 3/21/10 and they're still going strong with over 26,000 miles, without any of the unusual wear patterns that existed on the previous sets of OEM tires. Alignment is not the problem, the stock rubber is, IMHO. I already have a Potenza-shoed pair of spare wheels for when these eventually wear out, but they've still got lots of miles left.

Ride on.
Roadkill
 
#7 ·
Ok........ SO TIRERACK.COM refused to process my transaction because I was only purchasing TWO instead of THREE tires because it is a "LIABILITY ISSUE" because the front 2 tires would not match the BACK TIRE !!!!!!!! THEY JUST CALLED AND CANCELLED MY ORDER AND REFUNDED MY MONEY AND REFUSED TO PROCESS MY ORDER !!!!!!!

* SERIOUSLY * ??????????!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
#8 ·
Nevermind....... I found the same ones at Discount Tire, but didn't bother asking for the price-match because shipping is free and it still came out cheaper than Tire Rack. Except THIS time, I learned my lesson. I happen to drive a "2011 Honda Insight." *wink wink wink*
 
#9 ·
The uneven tire wear is mostly due to wheel alignment.

I have a friend in Edgewater Florida that has a patented laser system that takes 30 minutes to an hour to correct this issue and your Spyder will feel like an all new machine!

I have a complete laser kit and I am introducing it to dealers all over America.

So far I have ridden two RS models that have been corrected.

Both machines stayed in line and handled perfect!

The added benifit is longer tire life.

I will add some photos later.

The charge is $ 99.00 and well worth it.

Stormin
 
#10 ·
Hello Stormin....I am the inventor of True Laser Track http://www.truelasertrack.com/ and my wife is a proud owner of a 2010 Spyder RS.

The True Laser Track was invented for race cars but since then I have tweaked it into http://www.microalignment.com/ which is the same technology as the race cars but we have applied it to passenger vehicles. We have seen TREMENDOUS gains on tire life and fuel mileage.

Once my wife Kristal bought her 2010 Spyder RS I thought WHY not…so I made custom adapters to fit the Spyder wheels and invented the True Laser Track for Spyders

Stormin has been riding Spyders for years and is an EXPERT at how the Spyder rides. After aligning Kristal's Spyder I let Stormin do some runs up and down US 1 , he came back and said WOW….No more " wandering" or darting…

So we are proud to offer True Laser Track for Spyders…and it WORKS
 
#11 ·
To all,

Just replaced my rear wheel with an OEM tire, I got 25.000 KM (15534.28 Miles) out of it and was told that this was realy good because usualy they are replaced at arround 20.000km. Several freinds who ride two wheelers said the same and usualy get 20.000km. I do not know what the price is for the OEM in the US but here in Canada they go for $199.00. Also was told from the dealer that the inner right hand side wear is normal and this is due to road conditions dependeing on where you ride, here the roads have a crown in the middle that is quite pronounced and this causes the inner right tire to wear because the bike is leaning slightly towards the shoulder so you are always trying to steer to the left a little to keep it straight.

I have the same wear on my tire and when I am riding on a flat level serface I can take my hads of the stering and it goea straight as an arrow.
 
#12 · (Edited by Moderator)
Trebor,

Rear tire wear in the middle is very normal and we're seeing about 15k miles on the rear tire. The rear tires are not that thick and balloon up at higher speeds. Also, make sure when your looking at the wear on the rear tires your looking at the right spot on the tire for the wear bars. The wear bars are lower in the tread. They have little triangles along the outside edge of the tire for indication. The bars that are not as deep in the tread are to help shed water. They have nothing to do with the wear bars for tire wear. Sometimes people see the tread get down to the first set of water shed bars and think the tire is worn out. It's not.

Front tires are more known to wear on the inside edge, but generally the wear is pretty consistent from left to right. Some people rotate the tires from side to side to get more wear out of the tires. However, to do this you have to remove the tires from the rims as the tires are directional. Many times the inside wear on the tires can be due to having the front springs set to soft allowing the suspension to sag a bit.

To me, something seems odd if your wearing one tire. However, personally, If it's going straight and handles well and your not getting to bad of wear, I'd leave it alone. Maybe bump up your preload adjusters on the front one notch each.

Doug
 
#13 · (Edited by Moderator)
Inside wear is a good sign that you need to add a slight toe in adjustment. Normaly about 1/8" to 1/4" will cure this problem. A good place to buy tires is www.tires-easy.com

They never question or cancel like tire rack does and they are much cheaper in most cases.

I run standard federal tires 165x55x15 on mine normally set to 17psi. 1/4" toe even though the camber is zero. Last set went 56k and this set should be better.

This is not on a spyder but an endeavor kit but the geometry is the same as it is with all front steer vehicles.
 
#14 ·
Being something of an authority regarding RT steering geometry here are some tips and related info the may help.

First one tire wearing more than the other is a non-correctable condition. Caster on the spyders is non-adjustable, Camber is non-adjustable, in fact the only adjustment possible is toe.

The spyders run zero camber so toe is specified at zero however there are two factors that dictate some toe (1/4") is required. First you have a slight amount of "bump" to compensate for. Bump is caused by the differing arcs formed by the A-arms vs tie rods when the suspension is loaded. Typically the toe is being set with the bikes unloaded so when weight is added the wheels will tend to toe out just a bit. Also on a rear wheel drive unit the "push" tends to cause the tire rolling resistance to deform the tire slightly equating to a slight out squirming of the fire itself further accenting the toe out scenerio.

If your tires are wearing on the inside edges then simply toe in 1/4" and all will be fine. It is best to do both tie rods so the handle bars stay straight - adjust one only will not have any negitive affect on handling but will cause the handle bars to be cocked instead of straight.

Rear tire wear should be flat across the tread and if it's wearing in the center the tire is overinflated - typically front should be no more than 20psi and rear no more than 26psi. Holding to these simple rules will lend at min 50K to tire life in general.

Easy way to aline the front is to simply lay a 24" long 1x4 up against the wheel on each side making sure it's up against the rim (lean something against the board to keep it in contact with the rim) measure the distance board to board front and back and just toe it in 1/4".

I have used this and laser alignment and the results are the same, plus cost is nothing. Other than that there is nothing else adjustable to fiddle with.
 
#15 ·
Lets see ...a $30,000 Spyder and we are going to use 2 pieces of wood that are probably not level and a rock to hold it against the UNEVEN wheel rims...LOL

Have you been to Home Depo lately and seen the UNEVEN wood for sale?

Fred Flinestone would be so proud of this method listed above

What it fails to achieve is squaring the front wheels to the rear wheel....and that is what alignment is all about

All this method does is put 1/4 " of toe in the front and that is NOT enough...when the driver steps on the bike it is now toed OUT

Use this method and I will see you at the tire store OFTEN

Why would you do this when a proper and complete laser alignment is only $120? And it is good for life...it is like putting the cart before the horse
 
#16 ·
Lets see ...a $30,000 Spyder and we are going to use 2 pieces of wood that are probably not level and a rock to hold it against the UNEVEN wheel rims...LOL

Have you been to Home Depo lately and seen the UNEVEN wood for sale?

Fred Flinestone would be so proud of this method listed above

What it fails to achieve is squaring the front wheels to the rear wheel....and that is what alignment is all about

All this method does is put 1/4 " of toe in the front and that is NOT enough...when the driver steps on the bike it is now toed OUT

Use this method and I will see you at the tire store OFTEN

Why would you do this when a proper and complete laser alignment is only $120? And it is good for life...it is like putting the cart before the horse
:dittto: I completely agree. The first time I got my 08 aligned the dealer told me 2 hours. It was 2 days. It did cure my front tire wear problems. Even now it's a 3 hours job and they use straight wood. I've had the laser alignment and it's well worth the money.
 
#17 ·
Lets see ...a $30,000 Spyder and we are going to use 2 pieces of wood that are probably not level and a rock to hold it against the UNEVEN wheel rims...LOL

Have you been to Home Depo lately and seen the UNEVEN wood for sale?

Fred Flinestone would be so proud of this method listed above

What it fails to achieve is squaring the front wheels to the rear wheel....and that is what alignment is all about

All this method does is put 1/4 " of toe in the front and that is NOT enough...when the driver steps on the bike it is now toed OUT

Use this method and I will see you at the tire store OFTEN

Why would you do this when a proper and complete laser alignment is only $120? And it is good for life...it is like putting the cart before the horse
The post was intended to be honest and helpful and the techic is proven. As stated in my attempt at helpfullness the toe does change when the bike is loaded so toe must be done to achieve that end.

I just returned from INPEX with a Gold Medal in engineering for my design along with 3 metals at the MIC including Best invention of 2014 so when advice is given it is done with honest intentions.
 
#18 ·
Rear tire wear should be flat across the tread and if it's wearing in the center the tire is overinflated - typically front should be no more than 20psi and rear no more than 26psi. Holding to these simple rules will lend at min 50K to tire life in general.
If you really believe this with the OEM Kenda tires, you are very out of touch with reality. The OEM Kenda rear tire wears in the center due to ballooning at speed because of very flimsy construction. 8000 miles is considered GOOD wear on an OEM Kenda rear. Your pressures suggested are correct though. Higher inflation pressures will result in even worse center wear. Dropping rear tire pressure below 25 will result in squirmy handling and still wear the tire in the center. Center wear on the OEM Kenda is NOT an indication of over inflation. Its an indication of poor Chinese tire design.
 
#19 ·
This seems odd as I have used several Kenda tires during R&;D and found them to be par with other brands. Currently I am using Federal tires and find they are a bit stiffer so the ride is not as smooth as the Kenda tires I used previously. The last set of Kenda tires showed no apprieciable wear even after 23,000 miles of variable caster,camber and toe adjustments.

I find it hard to believe a company would call for specially engineered tires rather than use off the shelf tires as all the other RT build companies do. But I guess they just may have.

All front end designs regardless of brand, use the same geometric formulas so the general principles apply to all. Some minor adjustments may be made which will produce varying preformance and stability profiles though.

On the spyder the only end user adjustmet is toe and tire choice. Tires do not directly affect toe as this is a geometry fuction related to camber. However tires do perform differently dependant on sidewall and belt construction. All tires will exibit a very slight deformation at speed and will artificially induce a camber. It is for this reason some positive toe is desirable.

What I have found during my R&;D trials is toe out will cause some minor wander and drift while toe in tends to cause greater straight-line stability to a point. To much positive toe will lead to tire scrub and tread feathering.

To much negative toe can in some vehicles can lead to bump which is defiantly detrimental especially on a direct linkage steer like a MC RT vehicle.

In the case of alignment the method is not critical, laser or measure by tape if done logically understanding the geometrics, the results will be the same and tire wear patterns will be as revealing as spark plug color is an indication of fuel delivery ratios.
 
#20 ·
Ordered a Kumho Ecsta AST, and my order was refused. They won't sell it for the Can-Am. Maybe I should order one new tire for MY 2011 Honda Civic *wink*.

The Kenda's don't get anything more than 6000 miles on them, center wear. I would ove to know how you get more than that, as the inflation has been dead on the entire time.
 
#22 ·
This is the first time I have to look at replacing my OEM original tires on my '08 model and we need some information. I was of the opinion that we have to purchase OEM tires, but hubby says we should be able to find other manufacturers that would be suitable and more affordable. Do any of you buy your replacement tires from other manufacturers and have good results and can you recommend sources?

Second question - Hubby and I wondered if the Front End needs to be balanced / aligned after replacing the front tires? My Right tire is wearing very obviously on the inside and we wondered if the Spyders need to be aligned like standard vehicles do?

Thanks in advance for any help and information.
yes you can use other mfg tires with great results (actually better) - as far as alignment you can do this at any time as you are not aligning the tires you are aligning the wheels as most alignment fixtures mount to the rim not the tires. You can actually do the alignment part with no tires installed so if anyone says you have to replace the tires first - go elsewhere as they do not understand the physics behind the process.

Also be careful regarding tire pressure as too much will cause issues in tire wear and handing. In general most people tend to run in the excessively high range. This will cause premature wear, cupping, and rough ride.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top