The International CBX Owners Association

So I'm confused - what's wrong with just getting new S-11s if you like them?

Dave

daves79x wrote:Which brings us back to why guys like the Bridgestone S-11 tires - mileage! Along with very respectable handling in wet and dry and a reasonable price. I'll rest my case AGAIN!

Dave

I think this is the core of the matter. It all depends on what you want - miles or "lean angle". I am faced with that decision all the time on the bikes I ride a lot. Because there is always a trade-off between "grip" and "life" I have to really think about how important it is to be able to push a ride through the corners vs not having to buy new tires every 6,000 miles.

daves79x wrote:So I'm confused - what's wrong with just getting new S-11s if you like them?

Dave

Fair question. The only response I have is that they are almost twice the cost of the Shinko's. I know we are only talking around $100 difference in the set, but I have a different style of Shinko's on my FJR and have developed a good deal of confidence in them. I sometimes get into situations where I ask a lot of my tires and the Shinko's have shown me very good traction qualities. I know there's a tradeoff with traction and wear, but there's also a happy median, especially for sport touring. If I can get the same traction, wear and ride (the Shinko's may be quieter) from the Shinko's, that may make it an easy decision.

Sometimes I think we motorcyclists put too much weight on the price of a set of tires and we tend to be penny pinchers.
Let's say, the difference in a set of tires is $100.- and let's say for the sake of the argument, both sets give us the same mileage. Assume 8,000.
That's 1¼ cent per mile. 50 cents for 40 miles - or per tank full of gas. In other words, approx 9 cents per gallon of gas......do we make the same fuzz about gas being 9 cents per gallon more, when we ride our motorcycles?

I've danced around the subject of money here, but I guess I'll just say it - if you can afford to own a CBX, you can afford whatever tires you want. If not - well..........

Guys that buy these with the idea of doing a pretty good restoration will be looking at spending:
Up to $3500 for a decent project
Up to $1500 for paintwork (much more for a Pro-Link)
$1500-$2000 or more for an exhaust
$800-$1000 for carb rebuild
$250 for chain and sprockets
$100s of dollars on other painting/powdercoating
$100s of dollars on new fasteners/missing parts
On and on
And that's not a dime on the engine.

So do I spend $200 on a set of tires, or $250?

Dave

Rocky Mountain ATV in Utah has pretty decent pricing on tires. Lot of the Goldwing folk I know buy tires there.

Okay I screwed up. Thought OP was looking for a front and that I found a bit of a price break. Rocky ATV has same $110 price with free shipping.

At least you both inferred I'm too cheap - nicely. THX. But my points of possibly less road noise and possibly better traction still hold water.
IMO.

No offense intended, just trying to put the cost of a set of tires for a CBX in perspective. Think about it this way - ANY tire you can buy now is far superior in every way to what came on the CBX 30 years ago, or even to what was available anywhere then. Are you really going to do more with this CBX than you would have 30 years ago? I doubt it - I certainly don't. Really - other than my advice for picking the right size, get what you like.

Dave

daves79x wrote:No offense intended, just trying to put the cost of a set of tires for a CBX in perspective. Think about it this way - ANY tire you can buy now is far superior in every way to what came on the CBX 30 years ago, or even to what was available anywhere then. Are you really going to do more with this CBX than you would have 30 years ago? I doubt it - I certainly don't. Really - other than my advice for picking the right size, get what you like.

Dave

I agree with everything you say in this post, especially tire size. So if I can determine, by other members posting their experiences, that the Shinko Tourmaster 230's do everything at least as well or maybe better than the S-11's, I can save a few $$$'s for other mods .

Shameless plug for some friendly folks................

Try Sporttour LTD for tire pricing. http://www.sporttour.com/

UPDATE: I have about 3,000 miles on my Shinko 230 Tour Masters now and they are fine for me, it corners neutrally and is easy to put onto the center stand. My bike is a 100% Stock 1982. I have used Shinko's on several of my bikes and have had no issues.