Kenda K671 a good tire?

[GS_Twynne500]

Hey
I just bought a new Kenda K671 Cruiser front tire on closeout for my GS.  I prefer to get something high quality but am limited by my budget.  Has anyone used these or heard anything good/bad about this brand and model tire???  Also I have tried to get tire advice from dealers and cycle shops but I never get a clear and straight answer.  Can you guys tell me the major differences between high cost brand name tires and comparable off-brand tires?  Just less mileage or is there worsened handling and safety---am I really losing out by not shelling out more money by not getting a higher performing tire?  I am looking to get another 2000-5000 miles on my bike before I upgrade.

Can I get away with riding with the new tire paired with my old OEM rear Bridgestone til I need to replace my rear tire?

Thanks

[gsJack]

It's always hard to get clear straight answers on tires.  There are so many choices in tires that it's hard to know a lot about a most of them.  The Kenda tires are from Taiwan.

The Chinese tires like Cheng Shen have had a bad reputation for years in this country.  A lot of them gave very high milage and therefore were not very good handling.  It used to be a trade-off between long life and good handling.  Hard rubber gave long life and soft rubber gave good handling but wore out quickly.  Now with the much improved new compounds to make them out of it's possible to make good handling tires that last. Like the current sport touring radial tires.

I put a Kenda 671 on the back of an old CM400 winter bike and my newer 02 GS500 that I bought slightly used had a Kenda 657 on the back of it.  The 657 is more of a touring tire and the 671 like you bought is more like a sport touring tire.  I thought they both handled as well as the OEM Excedra tires in the dry.  I had been running sport touring radials for a couple years and the Kendas were definetly no as good in the wet, but neither were the Excedras.     I think the  657 was as good as the Excedras and the 671 was probably between the Excedras and the BT45s in handling.  

Cheng Shen is now marketing better more modern tires in this country under the Maxxis name. Some here are using their Promaxx tires and are happy with them.  I wouldn't hesitate to use either the Kenda or the Promaxx tires and would mix either of them with the Excedras or the BT45s.

[octane]

Compound is a little hard for my taste...and riding. If you're a mellow, moderate pace on the back roads kind of rider, you'll probably like the Kenda just fine. If you like to get down and throw sparks from your pegs, the Kenda is gonna be a little scary. My bike was a little skittish with the Kenda on there, so I took it off. But I tend to ride a bit on the more aggressive side when the roads are twisty and vacant.

[sprint_9]

You can get to the edge of the tire but it takes some skill and courage, I wouldnt try this until you have some good mileage on the tire so its broke in and you know how it reacts.

They are pretty hard as mentioned, but if you take your time and get them nice and warm they can be a decent tire, you still need to watch yourself though, I gave my bike too much throttle while leaned with a cold tire and lost the rear end and lowsided my bike, heat is a big priority with this tire, well with any tire I guess.  Just make sure there warm and you'll be good.  I was trying what I said above about the edge and this is what happend to me because I was inexperienced.