mismatched tires?

[goose491]

Hey all,

I currently have the stock tires on my kat. The rear needs replacing and I thought I'd go with something better. The front was just replaced last year though, and has some time left on it.

Is there any problems associated with mismatching tires?

N

[FrankTheTank]

My stock tires were swapped out one at a time when I first started riding and I had no problems. I had the stock Macadam on the front and a Dunlop 208 on the rear.

I have been told that certain tread patterns will perform poorly when mismatched. The harder/faster you ride the more you might notice something like that.

Some guys will say never mix 'em up. Others will say it depends on what tires and how you ride.

Hopefully some other guys will ring in with their opinions.

[woobie]

have you seen this post?

http://www.katriders.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=16864

See if a matched set is close to what you'd pay locally in TO, Might be worth getting a new set and keeping newer front as a back up. Shipping by Bus is cheap too, that''s how I shipped Range's pipe up to Ottawa for Cheap.

Rosy Toes in TO is cheap for changing tires if you bring in the rims and new rubber.

[WildKat]

You'll get a variety of answers to this topic and yes running mismatched tires can cause a problem, depending on the type you have. Ive road mismatched before and didnt notice a problem with, even in VERY tight corners. If you can afford both, by all means that is the best way to go, but if you cannot running a better tire on the rear isnt the worst thing you can do, just be careful.

[Knucklehead]

Never mix a bias ply with a radial.

[BraadaJim]

Watch wet riding, mismatched your front will not clean the correct path for your rear.

Watch hard cornering, different compounds (tires) will have different grip.

That said I've ridden mismatched before, not a big deal and you'll likely never notice it as long as you remember the above.