Kenda tires

[djkdjk07]

Are they decent? Was trying to tighten my tail light a little bit today and I realized I had never checked the rubber on the bike (bought used, only rode about 5 miles [gotta take MSF course, register it, insurance, etc.]) And I see my front tire is a bridgestone which is a name I'm familiar with. However the back tire is a "Kenda". Is that a decent or good quality tire? Or should I eventually swap that out when other maintenance issues have been resolved.

[joshr08]

not the greatest tires but for the money they are a good tire.  i mounted a set on my vtr250 when i rebuilt it 2 winters ago. 

[Trwhouse]

Hi there,
Welcome to the board.
My opinion, after riding motorcycles for 35 years and working in motorcycle shops in the past and riding on various bikes -- dump the Kendas.
They are cheap replacement or OEM tires that offer poor or inadequate traction for most types of riding.
So why then do people buy them?
They're a lot cheaper than quality, high-performance tires, that's why.
And I'm not talking about tires for racing.
A motorcycle, since it only has two wheels and two tires, should always run quality tires because traction is critical.
A Kenda can be had for $45 to $60 or so for the GS500.
A good tire, from Metzler or Dunlop or Avon will run $120-$150 depending on its size.
You can get better deals online from some of the online vendors. But use caution -- some local shops won't install the tires you buy online.
Some here on the board will tell you to install them yourself.
That's fine, if you know how to do it and have the right tools. But I think it's way more of a hassle than its worth.
I take off the wheels, take them to a local shop that will change them for me, and let them do it.
Putting the wheels back on is no problem.
So, on tires, I always say spend more and buy the best tires you can afford that will do the job that you need.
I have Michelin Macadams and love them, but they have been replaced.
Others here have their favorites. Do a search of the site and you''l find lots of suggestions.
One thing I'd also recommend is sticking with the stock tire sizes.
Especially stick with the 70 series sidewalls -- the GS500 is very sensitive to larger ratios like 80 and 90. My bike handled terribly with 90s. It would fall into turns and be very scary to ride.
Stick with the 70 series aspect ratio.
One other thing -- I never recommend mixing tire brands and styles. You want to have them working together, with the same traction, tread designs, etc., so they track properly and are safer.
I hope this helps.

Best wishes,
Trwhouse  

[gsJack]

I've used 110/70, 110/80, and 120/70 fronts and 130/70, 130/80, 130/90, 140/70, 140/80, and 150/70 rears on the stock 3.0 and 3.5" rims on my GS500s for various reasons.  Some were better than others but none were really bad.  It's probably best to stick with the OEM 110/70 and 130/70 sizes until you have a good reason to run something else.

The Kenda tires are decent but there are many better ones, you tend to get what you pay for.  I put a Kenda K671 rear on my old Honda CM400 winter bike to use it one more season and my current 02 GS500 came slightly used with a Kenda K657 rear tire and a OEM Bridgestone Excedra on the front.  I put about 5k miles on that K657 before replacing them both with Avon radials.  I'd rate the Kenda tires on par with the old B'stone Excedras that were OEM on the GS's thru 2002.  The newer 04 and later GS500F models  come with B'stone BT45 which are better tires.

All of the current name brand tires are very good tires and are much better than the ones available just a decade ago; namely the Avon Roadriders, Dunlop GT501, Bridgestone BT45, Metzeler Lasertec, Pirelli Demon, and Michelin Activs.  Tires I've used on my 97 and 02 GS500s:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v443/jcp8832/GS500tirelog.jpg

[djkdjk07]

Thanks a lot guys, at some point this summer I think I'm going to pick up those BT45s.

[Allen]

I run kendas tire right now, its fine for putting around town, but definately not as good as the oem bt45.  Come to think of it, I don't like going sideways with my bike on the street happened twice already.  I won't be taking my baby on any fireroads with this.