Downtown Tires???

[scrollderf]

Jalmar, welcome over from advrider.

[mnpugdog]

and its the nice seat too

[Nireen999]

Love that bike! Nice looking too!

[mystika]

I very recently traded up from a Like200i with Michelin City tires to a new DT with stock tires. Ugh. I feel like they have no grip. Wondering if anyone has tried both the Michelin City (City Slicks? City Grips? I forget) and the Michelin Power Pure and could offer some comparisons? Thx.

[de dee]

2011 downtown 80,000  km.  I am on my 4 th set of tires  ,.  I have 150/70  13    rear tire  city grip,.   120/80  14   front tire  power pure,   because they don't make city grips for the front tire120/80  14,.    I do like the way my scooter handles with this set up. 

[nushipwright]

I've got power pure s both front and rear. They are fantastic. Can't even compare to stock doughnuts. I can only recommend them.

[kneeslider]

Seems Pirelli now is available in our size for the Diablo Rosso.

Anyone have any reviews for this?

[Nireen]

They always go flat like this.  I don't do sharp Corning. 

Glad to hear you've got a brand spanking new rear tire fitted. I'm sure it will be much better than old one with the "flat middle".
Make sure you ride more cautiously for the first 50-80km on the new tire. You need to remove the factory protective layer from the running surfaces before you can ride normally.

[Nireen]

Jalmar, I love your 2 cents!! My book say's 32 psi and my tire itself says 40psi.  What do I do?

Hi, I'm new here and new to scooters. But I have been riding for 35 years    Mostly heavy touring bikes. And the problem you show in your picture is a well known problem. But I think I have a solution that you can try 

My scooter is a Kawasaki J300. And that is a Kymco Downtown with Kawasaki badges. I live in Norway, and scooters are not the most common bikes here. You can only buy Kymco mopeds here, so when I wanted a Kymco Downtown, I had to buy a Kawasaki J300. And then I found this forum and registered. I think this forum is a nice source for information, and I hope I can contribute with information as well when I get into this "scooter-thing" 

One thing I have learned over the years is that air pressure is very important on bikes. To low pressure will give you the wear that you show in your picture. I have 3600 km on my scooter now, and my rear wheel is still round and fine. And I do a lot of straight highway with high speed and heavy load of luggage.

In the owners manual it says 33kpi pressure in the rear wheel with full load. I have used 36 kpi. If you look at the side of the tire, you will find a "max load", and thats the pressure you can use to get most milage out of your tires.

The thing is that the worst enemy for the tires is heat. The warmer the tires get, the faster they wear. And they wear most in the middle. If you use higher pressure in your tires you lower the working temp, and therefore get more km out if it.

Eventually the tire will be flat in the middle anyway, if you drive normally. But you will get much more km if you use the max pressure stated at the side of the tire.

I can mention that on my last touring bike, a Kawasaki 1200 Voyager, I got 10K km on a rear tire when I followed Kawasakis recommended tire pressure. I used Metzler tires on that bike. When I talked to Metzler, they said I should use the pressure stated on the tire, and then I got 18K km out of a rear tire.

Just my 2 cents    Hope this will be useful. And I hope my English is readable 

[Nireen]

OK Stig what tires to I get?  I am changing the darn thing every 7000km's

We'll perhaps have to agree to disagree about proper two-wheel tire pressures.
Both of the service counter personnel at my Honda mega store motorcycle shop and my local multi-brand motorcycle and scooter shop tell me to use the PSI listed on the scooter/motorcycle sticker and in the owner's manual.
Do NOT, they say,  inflate and ride at the max pressure printed on the tire.....whether riding solo or two-up or heavily loaded. That figure is not meant to replace or augment the recommended PSI for the wheel/tire/scooter combo.

At least two things will happen if you over-inflate the tire like that:
1) you will immediately notice a harsher ride
2) you will decrease the tire contact patch & thus alter the designed handling - which you may or may not notice when riding

Solid tires will give you longer mileage, too. But mileage is not the sole purpose of a tire on most any vehicle.....and certainly not on motorcycles or scooters which need to make good and predictable contact across their rounded surface.

Tire and rim sizes are designed specifically for each bike. Stepping outside of manufacturer's  recommended PSI changes the tire shape & ride behavior characteristics.

Car tires on a scooter last a long time, too. Their box shape & road contact profile are different than the round shape of a scooter tire. Watch the youtube video with the gopro mounted under a scooter using a car tire. Some folks have no problem using car tires - even after watching what that car tire does on a turn.
To each his own - but I'll stick with trained guys who make their living servicing bikes & scooters.


I'll soon be at 10,000 miles on my pair of Michelin City Grips, running on the PSI in the owner's manual.
Stig

[Nireen]

Beautiful looking bike!

For the Maxxis we talk about 10% more pressure in the rear tire. 33 psi on the sticker versus 36 on the wall of the tire. I don't know how much more km's that will give, but from the picture Nireen999 posted compared to my rear tire at 3600 km it seams that it will give a lot more km's. And 10% more air pressure will not be noticeable or give any dangerous effects. I would say that a tire that is flat in the middle is far more dangerous.

On my Voyager Kawasaki recommended 36 psi in the rear wheel. Metzler said at least 46 psi. I used the same word as Stig when I talked to them and they answered that they had more knowledge about tires than Kawasaki had. They even had it in writing on their website, but I can't find it now. I'll keep looking and post it when I find it.

My experience with the Voyager tires was that I never experienced any drawback when it came to performance or grip. In all kind of weather and road surfaces for over 65K miles. And here we talk about 30% up on recommended pressure.

But everyone must choose what they want to try. I just wanted to tell about what I was recommended, and what's working good for me.  Maybe the most important thing is to check the tire pressure often. Many folks drive around with to low pressure most of the time.

[Snorvey]

I've got a Michelin Pure Power rear tyre on order. I fancy a bit of French rubber in my life.

[Jalmar]

Jalmar, I love your 2 cents!! My book say's 32 psi and my tire itself says 40psi.  What do I do?

I expect to get at least 10K km out of a rear tire. If I get more, I see it as a bonus. If I get less, I look for errors... I got 6K km out of the factory rear tire. I changed it because I didn't like it so much. I changed it for a Metzler Feel Free. I think the factory tire could have lasted maybe 8K. Now I have 3K on the Metzler, and it is doing good 

On the factory tire I used 36 psi pressure. Thats 10% up from what is recommended. On the Metzler I use 39 psi. I have never experienced any change in roadholding with 39 psi, so I think that's OK. After 3K km in all kind of traffic, it holds the profile nice and round.

This is what I do. I am no tire specialist. I just do what Metzler recommended on my touring bikes long ago. And I have used that trick for many years with no problems. 

Another thing that often is overlooked is the gauge. Is your pressure gauge correct? I am so lucky that I can get my gauge measured every now and then, so I know that it is correct. I have tested many different gauges, and found that there are many bad ones out there. Up to 25-30% wrong readings on the cheap ones. So maybe you think you have the right pressure, but have to low because of a bad gauge?

Tire shops should have correct gauges, so you can check your own if you check the pressure with your gauge right after they have filled the tire. Gas station gauges are not that good usually. At least here in Norway.

Another thing I do when I get on new tires, is that I measure the tread depth in several places around the tire. I measure where the tread wear indicators are so I'm sure to remember where I measured. After 1K km I measure again in the same places. Then I know how much tread wear it has been in 1K km, and I can calculate how long the tire is going to last. And it is surprising how accurate that has been for my tires. Actually I do this for every 1K km on a tire just for the fun of it. But I am an old geek and love to keep track of things 
(This method is not a scientific correct method. Just for fun.)

 

[Nireen]

This is great.  I am going to copy and paste this for my records.  I  recently had that back tire put on and yesterday I thought gosh I should check the pressure that they put into this tire.  It was only at about 23psi! Geeez!  I put it up to what the book said 32psi but on the tire itself it say's 40psi.

I expect to get at least 10K km out of a rear tire. If I get more, I see it as a bonus. If I get less, I look for errors... I got 6K km out of the factory rear tire. I changed it because I didn't like it so much. I changed it for a Metzler Feel Free. I think the factory tire could have lasted maybe 8K. Now I have 3K on the Metzler, and it is doing good 

On the factory tire I used 36 psi pressure. Thats 10% up from what is recommended. On the Metzler I use 39 psi. I have never experienced any change in roadholding with 39 psi, so I think that's OK. After 3K km in all kind of traffic, it holds the profile nice and round.

This is what I do. I am no tire specialist. I just do what Metzler recommended on my touring bikes long ago. And I have used that trick for many years with no problems. 

Another thing that often is overlooked is the gauge. Is your pressure gauge correct? I am so lucky that I can get my gauge measured every now and then, so I know that it is correct. I have tested many different gauges, and found that there are many bad ones out there. Up to 25-30% wrong readings on the cheap ones. So maybe you think you have the right pressure, but have to low because of a bad gauge?

Tire shops should have correct gauges, so you can check your own if you check the pressure with your gauge right after they have filled the tire. Gas station gauges are not that good usually. At least here in Norway.

Another thing I do when I get on new tires, is that I measure the tread depth in several places around the tire. I measure where the tread wear indicators are so I'm sure to remember where I measured. After 1K km I measure again in the same places. Then I know how much tread wear it has been in 1K km, and I can calculate how long the tire is going to last. And it is surprising how accurate that has been for my tires. Actually I do this for every 1K km on a tire just for the fun of it. But I am an old geek and love to keep track of things 
(This method is not a scientific correct method. Just for fun.)

[kneeslider]

The pressure level on the tire sidewall indicates its MAX pressure when cold.

It is not its recommended tire pressure.