Best all around tire for my GV 250

[Boudroux]

Hello,
Time to replace tires. Need a good quality all around tire. Wet and dry ( live on key west, FL). Can I get a recommendation and why you like the tire?
Thank you

[mrmike]

  First thing to consider is your tire sizes. Not all tire makers have all tire sizes. Determine what brands are available in your sizes. I have a GTI300 with stock tires. I want a better quality wet weather tire. Several forum members have recommended Michelin City Grips to me. That is what I'm going to try this spring.

[windwheeler]

I have gone through many tires already   The Michelines on the Grand Vista did always a good job. They do not last the longest (there is always a trade-off), but they have good dry and wet grip capability.

[Boudroux]

Thank's guys for the Input. Michelin or Kendra will be the ones.
Thank you again.

[windwheeler]

I have not had Kenda's on the scooter, but MANY Kenda's on my motorcycles.  A very good tire for the money... 

In general, the Micheline's tend to have a bit better grip, especially the many twisting roads I am carving, but for "normal straight line driving" the Kenda is also fine.

[Urbestfriend]

I totally agree with Windwheeler.  I recall the Michelins were around $70.00 to 95,  Low for the GV and higher for the Xciting.
I can't recall the cost difference between the Kendra and Michelin,  but it wasn't that much.  These tires wear faster because
they use a stickier (lower durometer) rubber compound to maintain better traction.  The snow melted and I finally got one of mine back into the shed.  These tires aren't worth 2 cents in the snow or soft muddy yard. 

[mrbios]

Any brand will do but you should probably buy the best here's why: 

I ordered Avon Viper Strike online front and rear for $98 delivered.  They are very grippy but on the GV the lean angle is so limited the traction is really not needed. 

My local dealer then charged $96 to mount and spin the tires (I removed and reinstalled the wheels on the scooter).  That brought the total to $200.  If I drove the scooter in it would have cost about $350.  The bulk of cost is the labor, not the tires. 

One month later I got a nail in the rear tire and fixed it with slime which held for 1 year / 4000 miles.  I then dismounted the rear and plugged and patched it myself.  Because I wasn't interested in spending another $100 to mount a new rear tire.

[MaryK]

Mr Bios....
 Since you removed and re-installed the wheels yourself, do you have any useful suggestions or any important items to pass along.
We plan to change tires and and brake pads  as soon as the weather permits.  I also want to take the wheels to the dealer to have him mount and balance the tires.

Scoot Safely,

[mrbios]

Mr Bios....
 Since you removed and re-installed the wheels yourself, do you have any useful suggestions or any important items to pass along.
We plan to change tires and and brake pads  as soon as the weather permits.  I also want to take the wheels to the dealer to have him mount and balance the tires.

Scoot Safely,

there is some important things to watch out for to avoid damage to your scooter when changing the tires. the front tire is pretty straightforward you'll just want to make a note or diagram of the spacers and things like that.  when it comes to the rear you have to be very careful when you drop the exhaust because it is possible to damage or break of the 2 threaded studs the were the exhaust meets the engine.  when you remove the rear wheel you're going to need a very large socket if my memory serves me correctly its 24 millimeters.  you can drive to automotive store and no usually let you take some sockets out to make sure that you got the exact size and you can just purchase that one large size socket.when it comes to removing the wheel especially if it's never been changed you must use a two jaw gear puller. II hit the end of my axle with a hammer and I bent the the axle a little bit and distorted the threads. It wasn't damage to the point where it would need to be replaced but you can't take any chances with that otherwise you're looking at a very expensive repair.  After you take off the rear wheel lubricate the axle splines with grease or anti seize which you can purchase at any auto store. when you go to remove the rear brake caliper be sure not to loosen the to Alan bolts on the caliper as they hold the caliper together.  instead loosen and remove the 2 bolts that hold the caliper on.  when you take the pads out of the rear caliper be sure to take a digital picture first because there's a little piece of metal and it can be tricky to remember how to put it in place properly.

finally there's the reassembly put the wheels on and I found it extremely difficult to get the three bolts near the muffler to line up correctly the dealer said this is normal the pipe actually has to be flexed or forced into place it took me an incredible 45 minutes to accomplish this.  overall unless you are really good mechanically or have someone to work with that is really good mechanically I don't recommend taking the tires off yourself I recommend just bring it to the dealer.  Also, the large nut on the rear axle is extremely difficult to take off I have an air compressor and impact gun which I use to remove and reinstall it.

[windwheeler]

Very good description and warnings mrbios.  However, as a tip how to get all the axle & muffler bolts back in place quite easy, there is a little trick:

• put all the bolts in but DO NOT TIGHTEN them
• there are usually some bolts that line up very good, and some that do not
• remove one bolt that is lining up good and now take a screw driver that fits into the hole and put pressure on in the direction that the "not so good lining up bolt" can be inserted.
• duplicate for other not good fitting boolts, and again, do not tighten anything yet
• now the bolt that bolt we removed  and lined up very good will not fit as easy back, but it still will grab and turn in
• once you have inserted all bolts now you can tighten them all to specs

[MaryK]

Wow,  Thanks for the detailed instructions.
It does sound daunting.  I will discuss it with my dealer.
Thanks again.

And thanks to WindWheeler for his adedd tips.

Scoot Safely,

[mrbios]

Very good description and warnings mrbios.  However, as a tip ....

• once you have inserted all bolts now you can tighten them all to specs

that's a great suggestion I never would have thought of that. I actually have some insight into this issue. I wondered why the exhaust doesn't line up in the first place I wondered why they didn't make it so everything goes into place from the factory.I believe that I found the answer the hard way. What happened is I had a different problem with my software I had a severe rattle that developed over time because apparently something wasn't weld it properly inside the canister I just got over that when I cut open the canister and found the loose part and removed it and welded in sealed everything back up. Then I decided while I was at it to cut the pipe that comes from the motor and realign the muffler slightly so that all the holes lined up I succeeded. However, hey new problems resulted and that is the large bowl on the bottom which holds the exhaust on only last for about 500 miles now that it's naps off. I think then that the reason you have to flex pipe into place is intentional because they discovered at the factory that they needed to do this in order to distribute the pressure of the exhaustion vibration over the three bolts.

I typed this on my tablet so there might be a few typos.

[Rudolf]

This winter i've used on my Grand Dink 250 snow tires from IRC Urban Master Snow M+S.









It cost me around 150 $ both tires.

[MaryK]

We bought Avon Viper Stryke tires from the local Honda dealer, mainly because we had not tried that brand yet and we got a good price.
The installation cost was 1 hr of labor, which seemed more than reasonable. 
A lot less work for us than if we had to remove the wheels ourselves.
And the work was done in a day, even though the weather isn't really good for riding this week.
Haven't had a chance to evaluate the tires yet.

Scoot safely,

[windwheeler]

Rudolf, so you rode the Grand Vista during the entire Winter?  Also on snow covered roads???

I did ONE try at for us very cold temperatures in the South USA at 4F/-16C to see how this feels, and I could not ride much more than 5miles in this condition or I would have been an "ice block" on the G/V..   but it was much better to stand than being on a motorcycle.  The G/V did not want to start like normally well, after it had cooled down for the ride back home.