I have an '03 DL1000 VStrom with a Ural sidecar (built by Dauntless) with a flat bike rear tire. I bought the bike used before I added the hack, and I am guessing that it still has the stock tires on it (I bought it with only 4500 miles on it). Anyways, I have been told to use the cheapest tires you can find since they tend to be stiffer and more suitable for hacked bikes. Any tire recommendations? Thanks, Mike
Since an outfit doesn't need to lean, a tyre with a flat-tread section is more suitable than the original motorcycle tyre -- more so on the rear. The front tyre still leans (somewhat) when turned to full lock! http://www.avonracing.com/sidecar_page.asp These are Avon Tyres Motorsport for Motorcycle Sidecar F1 + F2. This is the Avon MK111 Sidecar Tire, but I don't know what sizes are available. Metzeler Block K Vintage Sidecar Tire. High quality Bridgestone 06/07 Tyres, for speedway or dirt racing motorbike sidecars. Can also be used as wet weather motorcycle tyres. Compound: ME01 rain Size: 120/600 R17 But are YOU retaining the original rim, or intending to change to a car-type rim?
Thanks, I will check those tires out. I plan to keep the original rim, which is a 150/70. I'm sure that will limit my options somewhat. I also seen some references to the use of Kenda tires - K270 I think. But the Kendas appear to be oriented more towards off-road. The vast majority of my riding is on pavement, much of it on the expressway. So I'm not sure these are good choices.
To the best of my knowledge the Avon triple duty is only oiffered in 19" and The Metzler Block K is only ofgfered in 18".
I like the Kenda K270, on or off pavement. They start with a fairly flat profile, so the tire doesn't wear the center tread out right away like many moto tires do when used on sidecar rigs. I don't find the tread to be loud or bumpy on pavement. They are cheap enuf you can try one out and see if you like it. I've used this pattern on my Tiger, KLR and Suzuki Bandit rigs with good results.
A customer service rep at one of those discount mail order tire outfits told me that Perelli and Metzeler use the stiffest rubber, and should therefore last a little longer. But I am still looking at the Kenda K270. I am going to talk a local Honda dealer tomorrow and see what they can get in the size I need, and then go from there. Thanks. Hey Claude. I believe you did some work on Greg Brenner's rig, and I recall seeing a photo in the "Hacked my Strom" thread showing a TKC 80 bungied to the back of his hack. This is obviously his spare. But do you know what he is has on the rear now? Is it also a TKC?
I've also had good luck with the Kenda 270 series, but they're getting a bit difficult to find in 150/70 for some reason. I've gone to an equally cheap rear tire on my GS/Ural rig, a Shinko 712R, which is readily available for under $80: http://www.wilzgarage.com/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=W&Product_Code=87-4155&FootSteps=1 It has decent wet grip, handles slop pretty well, and after 2000 miles is just starting to show some wear. Cheers Jim
red frog tango wrote: >>Hey Claude. I believe you did some work on Greg Brenner's rig, and I recall seeing a photo in the "Hacked my Strom" thread showing a TKC 80 bungied to the back of his hack. This is obviously his spare. But do you know what he is has on the rear now? Is it also a TKC?<< Actually we have not done any work on Greg's rig although we have comunicated quite a bit. I do not know for sure what Greg is running for a rear tire. Hopefully he will see this thread and post. We are, however, into two builds on V Stroms now and are looking for a source for a car tire that may be adapted to the stock rear wheel. So far we have not been successful in the quest. There is of course the option of having a custom wheel made. Actually, I think the tires mentioned are probably a good bet for you. I have attached a picture of our subframe. Thought someone may be interested in seeing it. When done we will have a full aluminum skidplate on it incorporating a guard for the oil cooler. The stock plastic piece from the Strom will be discarded.
I hate to belabor the point, but I am still a bit confused. Here are my final (I hope) questions. There have been several recommendations for the Kenda K270. It certaintly is cheap enough, and seems to be a good all-around tire. But I wonder if the aggresive tread (ie, knobbies) would be suitable for me since I primarily drive on pavement, much of it on the expressway? A few customer service reps at the big mail order tire places are trying to steer me towards a radial bike tire, arguing that they will give me better handling and will last longer. So it seems we have two different philosophies. The first says buy the cheapest tire you can because they will all where out just as fast. The second says go for a radial tire, even if more $$, becuase it will last much longer. I am starting to think I should just flip a coin.
I find the K270 has good grip wet and dry on pavement and off. I am not a big fan of cheaper harder tires for better wear at the expense of cornering and braking adhesion, but I feel the K270 delivers both and a larger contact patch than most moto tires, including radials. Not everyone likes them, but, because they ARE cheap, you can try them without too much expense. The tread looks aggressive, but actually is more akin to an all-weather auto tread than a true knobbie. I didn't find them lumpy, even at freeway speeds. I ran radials on the Tiger rig, and did not find they offered any improvement over non radials, either in wear or performance. This will of course vary by driver, rig, tread pattern, pressures, speed and load, but I didn't find them worth the cost.
The 270 works well for 60/40, or even 70/30 street/offroad - but there's an even cheaper Kenda, the 671 'cruiser' that works stupidly well as a pusher rear tire, it's very much a highway doughnut: And they are sold for under $70 - but the 150/70-17 size is a bit harder to find. The bike tire guys aren't exactly blowing smoke - radials are better for most hi-pro riding - but remember that bike performance tires are optimised to work at lean angles that we're typically not looking to reach with a sidehack rig - unless you enjoy hosing off the seats .... I actually tend to prefer the cheaper bias-ply tires because I feel that their stiffer sidewalls and flatter tread patterns wear better and have less 'squirm' than performance radials. During spirited cornering, my 650 rig can develop some significant sideloads, especially on left-handers. I think it was this side-force, along with the added weight of porky me and the hack, and a less than fully inflated rear tire which caused an expensive Avon rear radial to come apart in the most spectacular manner last year. This is not a slam on Avon tires, I was abusing them pretty badly, but I really don't like have chunks of tire whizzing past my ears - especially when it's MY tire that's just exploded in a sweeping left-hander. Ugh... Full credit to the Avon engineers, the tire was utterly nuked, with large chunks of tread gone and belting fibers twirling around, but the body held together long enough for me to slow down and get safely off the road. So, I've gone back to running cheap bias-ply rear tires and am quite happy to get 5000 miles from a pusher, and lots more mileage from the front and sidecar tires. Cheers Jim
Hi Mike, hope all is well. Sorry I didnt answer sooner, Connie and I are in Europe on a 6 week road trip on our new non hacked Strom. I tried the ME880 and got around 9000 miles. The size is a little taller, dont remember the exact #s, but they are posted on the V Strom forums. I replaced it with a Michelin Anakee due to availability, suspect I will get much less mileage. I have spare wheel mounted, as you know, with a TKC knobby. I used it for maybe 500 miles on the pavement......yikes. It will probably get 2000 miles max used that way. regards greg
