Shinko 705s
 

Just ordered some Shinko 705s. $325 Aus fitted and balanced for both. Me old mate Brian aka Exile730 also getting some for his GS1150. Same price I believe. Pretty good price. Looking forward to testing them out and hoping they are better than my current stock trailwings. They have to be better than Brian's baldy Annakees! Will keep you all updated as to how they handle the West Australian conditions as we go. Judging by reviews they should be good!

Radial or bias ply? There seems to be some concern that the radial 705 tire has tread separation issues. It does not seem to be a problem with the bias ply tire.

I thought it was the opposite. That tread separation was fairly common on the bias ply..?

installed a set on WR250R
 

Usually I run Kenda 270 and get aroun 3000 miles out of a set so about 1500 miles ago I installed a set of 705's. I always balance my tires and I must say that these Shinko are the smoothest tire I have run on the street - must be round. After 1500 miles I feel sure that I will get at least 4000 miles from this set. Only ridden 50 miles or so of gravel roads and all the rest are paved miles back and forth to work.
The Kendas always scalloped the front tire and the rear tire wore unevenly - bald on one side and acceptable tread on the other.

You are right, it's the opposite, the old bias ones had some chunking issues, the radials had no issues. I wanted some Anakee's for a big trip out west but when I couldn't find the KLR rear size anywhere I started looking at other brands. Read up on the 705's and thought they sounded good. I put mine on in July at 600 miles. My bike now has 7,600 on it and honestly I could push it another 1,000 or so. That was over 4,000 miles of nothing but slab for that trip. maybe 100 miles of gravel / FS raods and another 3,000 ish of normal riding in Western NC so a fair amount of twisties. I just ordered another rear from motorcyclesuperstore.com and as far as I'm concerned I will never run anything else on this bike. I put 38 psi in them when I got them and haven't checked them since. The front tire still looks very new, I'll get 12,000 or more out of it easily. Great tires, and for the price...does a better tire even exist?

Please let us know how you find them. I liked them but I never was able to wear them out.... I had two rears that developed cracks down to the cords. The strange thing is that the cracks developed on easier rides. They'd performed fine on trips in high temps and heavily loaded where I would have expected them to show their limitations. MotorCycle Superstore and Shinko were quick to refund my money. I would still cnsider buying more but am hoping they can do something to stop the cracks developing. I'm running Battle Wings now but might give Shinkos another chance next time. The price can't be beaten.

I had a set of the radials on my Wee Strom for a few thousand miles and I thought they were great, regardless of price. Low price made it even better of course.

Sold the bike with them on it, so no final wear report.

I read somewhere that Shinko sorted out the issues they had with the earlier tyres. I'm hoping they have. I'm getting the standards fitted, not the radials, due to the big price difference I was quoted and the fact I'm Scottish therefore I have a genetic issue whereby I don't readily part with my cash. If they don't last I'll get the radials next time for sure!

Do not fit the bias-ply tires to your GS. The issues that Shinko had were related to the heavier weights of bikes like the GS, V-Stroms, etc. Those bikes were designed for radials and came from the factories equipped as such. You're setting yourself up for disappointment, and perhaps even a big-time problem on the road. The radial version of the 705 isn't really that much more expensive, and the peace of mind that comes with putting on the right tire is priceless.

I ran 3 sets of bias plies on my DL1000, often ridden two-up and with luggage. Only one front started to separate and that was after 13,000 miles.

I think the issue was more tire pressure + weight, myself. I always ran 40-42psi in mine.

I have also run 4 or so sets of the Radials with no issues whatsoever, other than the rears didn't last very long but for the price I can't complain. They are good performing tires.

Not trying to be a smartass, but I'm guessing there's about 22 psi in it now.

A great tire. I had a front on a KL600 that went 4000 miles before I sold it. I'd say it had about another 1,000 to go at least.

Any ideas as to tyre pressure for them? I've got a WeeStrom and don't often have a pillion. I have read that 35psi in both should be about right.

I'd run the 705 higher, myself. More like 38-40psi unless if you're on the gravel a lot. It's a soft tire, it'll grip.

Ran the 705's on my klr650... Good tire for the price but I didn't get but 3500 miles out of the rear... Ran around 36psi... I just never have gotten the great mileage other claim for some reason...