shenko raven 009 ,,, in a pinch

[ratgti]

i was looking my bike over thursday after the ride home from work and holy cow. threads showing on the rear wheel , in more than one spot. bad. so my local dealer only had a shenko tire that fit the kat, and it was 7 miles from the house.so i paid 127$ for a 100$ tire but its all good. ill take it .seems to ride good though....any experience with shenko tires out there ? besides obviously being cheap and being made in south korea.

[jeffer949]

I have 6k on my raven and its not worn out yet. I live in Kansas so its mostly interstate but it does get you down the road. and yes 127 is to much for that tire.

[csjcsj]

Yes way to much! Paid like $89 for mine! But when they wear out they wear out! My last rear tire was perfect tread wise but the middle wore completely out! And it happened in one day! And I too ride mostly commuting to work , 55 miles one way!

[Slofuze]

Is your life worth $127???? I gather they must have installed it for you. I may have to start getting tires put on stateside. I put on new tires a month before I left on a trek East....3,500 miles return. The tires were scrubbed on dry twisties before I left....but it was 5 days of riding in the rain that made me appreciate my tires.This is my third set of Q2's and I'm impressed. Unfortunately, the rear has sort of a squared off part, yet fortunately I got home safe and sound. I've never ridden on a Shenko, but it sure sounds like it's better than what you had. You're "above ground", and that's always a good thing.
Out of curiosity, I live a mile away from the American border. What's roughly the median installation charge stateside?

[jeffer949]

At the shop I work at its $60 for the rear and $50 for the front if you bring in the whole bike. If you can just bring in the rim its $15 for tubeless and $20 for tubed tires. Shinko's arent that bad of a tire. are they as good as some PR2's? no but they are way cheaper. They make a good selection of sport bike tires actually. They have a lineup from race slicks to drag radials to a wrinkle wall drag slick and they have many different options for sport to sport touring. They have a new sport touring tire that just came out that I'm going to try in 2-3k when my current tires are worn out. Well I should say the rear as my front raven is still like new.

[TRPUT]

Shinkos are made using the old Yokohama motorcycle tyre manufacturing equipment, so they aren't complete rubbish - they just aren't the latest technology. I'm running Advance 005s. They seem to be a perfectly OK tyre for the price. I've never been short of grip in the dry but they aren't brilliant in the wet. At 6000 KMS of mostly touring, the rear is starting to flatten - otherwise it has worn quite well. Ravens are next since I already have them, but I'm thinking PR3s are a better investment in terms of mileage and safety. However. at $150 a set they were worth a try and as others have said before, a decent "get out of jail" tyre if selling or funds are tight.

[rockat]

At the shop I work at its $60 for the rear and $50 for the front if you bring in the whole bike. If you can just bring in the rim its $15 for tubeless and $20 for tubed tires.

I was quoted $70 for rear if I brought the bike in. $40 if I brought the tire. Seems about the average, as I called a bunch of places.

[thetable]

I hated the Shinko Apex less than I hated the ContiMotion. Haven't run the 009, but I understand they are quite hard, so they last but they are a little lacking in the traction.

[teddy]

The Shinko isn't a 'high performance' tire like most guys with sportbikes like to run (Pilot Power,Road Attack,Q2 etc...) but they are a decent tire for the money, plain and simple. Like TRPUT, I have only run the 005 Advance, and had no issues with them that made feel like I was gonna die. I can't say that about the Macadams it came with or the sportmax I ran after the macadams. Now, are they of substance when compared to a Pilot Power? No. Then again 99% of riders never get to a point when they NEED a high performance tire, or even have the ability to push the bike hard enough to warrant a high performance tire.

Unless you are doing consistent trackdays, spend every weekend running hard twisties in the mountains, or simply put 50K a year on your bike (thetable ) a Shinko will do you just fine for 'normal' everyday use.

Just my $.02

[thetable]

The only Shinko that I've really heard anything bad about (from people who've ridden them, not just people who say they're garbage because they're cheap) is the Shinko slicks. If I ever start putting miles on my tard, there's a good chance that I'll give the Apex a run; there just aren't many options in a 150/60.

[DoyleDee]

They aren't bad tires. I've run them for a while on mine- got about 8K on the rear and 10K on the front. I was on my second set -Kat was totalled due to a negligent driver.
I'd buy them again withought a doubt.

[Timberwulf]

I've got Shinko Ravens on my Kat now. I've only had them on for about 450 miles but no complaints so far. I do mostly commuting on my bike and have very very little time for pleasure riding (canyon carving). I haven't noticed any real handling differences vs the Pirelli Diablo I replaced. I put a 170/60 on the rear; Shinko recommended that size for the 4.5" rim and it's not deformed in any way.

Cost was a factor when I was looking for a tire (didn't really want to spend $250 for a tire that would be worn out in the center commuting). Reviews on all the websites I could find that sold the Shinko Ravens were consistently 4.5+ out of 5 stars.

Of course, YMMV.

[hardlydangerous]

I ran a 170 Shinko Apex on the rear at the dragon this year... great tire and amazing grip. Better then the Conti motions, and road attacks, and comparable to the street attacks. I still prefer the Pilot powers.

the Shinko Raven is a very hard tire, also a very WIDE profile tire. Not one of my favorites. I would rather run conti motions

[ratgti]

well ive put about 3K on the shenko and it is fine, i mostly commute and its not showing signs of inconsistant wear. good tire for the money as said before.