Hiya All
I promised I would write a "review" about the Shinko 999's I put on my 2014 St1300 this season.
First, and simply, I love them... About 3000km so far. I'll have to do an update when the tread is dead, to let you all know how many km I can get out of the front and the back.
The tires are good in the wet, although easy to slip on dusty/sandy patches.
Next, I have to tell you about the tire sizes I chose...
Front: 130-80
Rear: 160-70
Yes, you read that correctly.
The front is slightly taller and wider.
The rear is taller and narrower.
Of course, motorcycle handling is resultant to a combination of front and back. Let me describe the back first, then the front, then a final comment as to overall handling and expectations.
The rear tire is the 2nd tallest you can fit to this bike. Tallest is the 190-60. Hence, even though it's only about 3% taller, I appreciate and feel the difference in gearing. I can cruise at about 112.5 kph at 4000 rpm if memory serves correctly. Speeds I post are true speeds, since I have a "Speedo Healer" unit installed on my bike. Gas mileage is also slightly better. The Shinko 999 is a "cruiser" tire, so even though the 160-70 is narrower, it has a similar or more gentle (larger) radius than the stock 170-60 "sport touring" tire.
I will NEVER run a sport touring tire on this bike again, since the tires die too soon. I rode Michelins as many people do and enjoy, but I REALLY didn't like them.
So, for the back, the Shinko 999 at 160-70 is a WINNER so far! It is a very hard compound, and I was nervous about traction, but it was surprisingly good all around and in the wet!
The front tire at 130-80 is, as stated above, wider and taller. It keeps the bike's front-to-back level even due to a similar additional height (about 5mm) as the rear tire. Since it has more meat on the tire, there's always going to be more rubber on the road. This inspires confidence for traction, and I expect it will lead to longer life for the tread.
Since it is a wider tire, the steering response is certainly more docile, but the bike still flips side to side very easily, and there was never and instance where I felt the tire limit my capabilities on the bike. I am a skilled rider, but I'm NOT a track rider and although I ride "hard" at times, I do not push the bike to the edge of its capabilities. My fear factor keeps me well within safe limits.
All in all, the bike with this front and back is stable on gravel parking lots, stable on ground-down road surfaces during re-paving prep-work.
I highly recommend, for those interested, to try the Shinko 999's and to try this tire size, at least on the rear tire.
I even can't help but wonder if the bike was initially designed for this as a rear tire size, since even without the speedo healer, the 160-70 will help improve/correct the 6-7% speedo error. I can understand a 3% speedo error, but 6-7% is pushing it over the top! If I see 100kph on my speedo, I don't want my actual speed to be 93 or 94kph.
The 160-70 tire size is actually stock size on a similarly heavy sport touring bike, the BMW k1200lr. It's a perfect size and profile with the "cruiser" tire.
Hope this is useful to one or some of you all...
I promised I would write a "review" about the Shinko 999's I put on my 2014 St1300 this season.
First, and simply, I love them... About 3000km so far. I'll have to do an update when the tread is dead, to let you all know how many km I can get out of the front and the back.
The tires are good in the wet, although easy to slip on dusty/sandy patches.
Next, I have to tell you about the tire sizes I chose...
Front: 130-80
Rear: 160-70
Yes, you read that correctly.
The front is slightly taller and wider.
The rear is taller and narrower.
Of course, motorcycle handling is resultant to a combination of front and back. Let me describe the back first, then the front, then a final comment as to overall handling and expectations.
The rear tire is the 2nd tallest you can fit to this bike. Tallest is the 190-60. Hence, even though it's only about 3% taller, I appreciate and feel the difference in gearing. I can cruise at about 112.5 kph at 4000 rpm if memory serves correctly. Speeds I post are true speeds, since I have a "Speedo Healer" unit installed on my bike. Gas mileage is also slightly better. The Shinko 999 is a "cruiser" tire, so even though the 160-70 is narrower, it has a similar or more gentle (larger) radius than the stock 170-60 "sport touring" tire.
I will NEVER run a sport touring tire on this bike again, since the tires die too soon. I rode Michelins as many people do and enjoy, but I REALLY didn't like them.
So, for the back, the Shinko 999 at 160-70 is a WINNER so far! It is a very hard compound, and I was nervous about traction, but it was surprisingly good all around and in the wet!
The front tire at 130-80 is, as stated above, wider and taller. It keeps the bike's front-to-back level even due to a similar additional height (about 5mm) as the rear tire. Since it has more meat on the tire, there's always going to be more rubber on the road. This inspires confidence for traction, and I expect it will lead to longer life for the tread.
Since it is a wider tire, the steering response is certainly more docile, but the bike still flips side to side very easily, and there was never and instance where I felt the tire limit my capabilities on the bike. I am a skilled rider, but I'm NOT a track rider and although I ride "hard" at times, I do not push the bike to the edge of its capabilities. My fear factor keeps me well within safe limits.
All in all, the bike with this front and back is stable on gravel parking lots, stable on ground-down road surfaces during re-paving prep-work.
I highly recommend, for those interested, to try the Shinko 999's and to try this tire size, at least on the rear tire.
I even can't help but wonder if the bike was initially designed for this as a rear tire size, since even without the speedo healer, the 160-70 will help improve/correct the 6-7% speedo error. I can understand a 3% speedo error, but 6-7% is pushing it over the top! If I see 100kph on my speedo, I don't want my actual speed to be 93 or 94kph.
The 160-70 tire size is actually stock size on a similarly heavy sport touring bike, the BMW k1200lr. It's a perfect size and profile with the "cruiser" tire.
Hope this is useful to one or some of you all...
