Shinko Ravens

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JeffAsheWhat is your weight?

The reason I asked about the weight is I have never experienced the bounce of the front tire you and others have described.

I weigh about 240 without gear, with gear and crap I carry, I am putting about 270 lbs to 290 lbs, one up riding.

Bob
183 lbs. in street clothes

My Yami top box also helps contribute to the front end bounce when running solo.

 
My understanding is that the Shinko's had a wet weekend in the mountains. This should make for some interesting comments from the resident tire-shredder.

 
My understanding is that the Shinko's had a wet weekend in the mountains. This should make for some interesting comments from the resident tire-shredder.
I don't want to put words in his mouth, but I believe that Jeff has some new names for these tires when they're run in the wet???? I know I have a few choice words for the ME 880 I had on the rear of my bike. The SOB kept sliding out.

Jim

 
I'm not a tire shredder per se, but I rode my Stinkos in a steady rain through the Stanley Idaho area. They seemed to stick fairly well for a hard tire. Mind you I wasn't going balls out, but I was riding sportier than many guys might under the conditions. Note that I didn't trust them as much as previous Avons or Pirellis under the circumstances, but they performed pretty well in the wet canyon curves. If I was going to buy tires for distance more than performance, I'd get 'em again. Especially for the price.

 
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I'm not a tire shredder per se, but I rode my Stinkos in a steady rain through the Stanley Idaho area. They seemed to stick fairly well for a hard tire. Mind you I wasn't going balls out, but I was riding sportier than many guys might under the conditions. Note that I didn't trust them as much as previous Avons or Pirellis under the circumstances, but they performed pretty well in the wet canyon curves. If I was going to buy tires for distance more than performance, I'd get 'em again. Especially for the price.
We got into the situation where it hadn't rained in a very long time and where the moisture on the road was more from mist than from rain, ergo the road had a light lubricant over it. Anytime you hit a very smooth pavement, the hard tires got really squirrely. I literally had the rear break lose on a 45 - 55 mph curve where I wasn't gassing it very hard. I know Jeff had a problem holding lines with his "stinkos".

Jim

 
If I was going to buy tires for distance more than performance, I'd get 'em again. Especially for the price.
Gunny! Well said!

Just make damn certain that you don't put yourself in a situation where you are doing anything that requires more than 75% of the braking power/handling of the FJR. If you do, the tires will go first, shortly followed by your sliding a$$.

I'm officially declaring the Shinkos... [SIZE=18pt]Z5s[/SIZE]

Better than Metzeler Z4, but not as good as a Z6.

 
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I'm officially declaring the Shinkos... [SIZE=18pt]Z5s[/SIZE]Better than Metzeler Z4, but not as good as a Z6.
Oh, great. Another tire added to my shit list. Well, thanks for saving me the money, Jeff! I owe you a beer!

That makes my list: Z4, Z6, Cheapo's and BT 021's. All ka-ka.

 
I think I'll just save mine for the mega-mile super-slab trek to NAFO. That'll keep me from worrying about hunting a tire change mid-trip. Yeah, that's it. The super-slab stretch out.

Where's my Pirelli's?

 
That makes my list: Z4, Z6, Cheapo's and BT 021's. All ka-ka.
I did LIKE the BT-021 rear. It seems to be a reasonable compromise between grip and tread life. I want to try one with a nice, sticky Strada front.
Yeah, the rear is nice, but damn! it wears fast... And what's up with the wandering front? It's not too bad, but hit a small parallel groove or crack and it's all over the place. Not fun when navigating triple digit sweepers. :eek:mg:

 
Yeah, the rear is nice, but damn! it wears fast... And what's up with the wandering front? It's not too bad, but hit a small parallel groove or crack and it's all over the place. Not fun when navigating triple digit sweepers. :eek:mg:
That custom seat is too expensive to be pulling out a sphincter plug.

 
Yeah, the rear is nice, but damn! it wears fast... And what's up with the wandering front? It's not too bad, but hit a small parallel groove or crack and it's all over the place. Not fun when navigating triple digit sweepers. :eek:mg:
I considerd it a tire that was "trying to find itself".

Just needs a little therapy. Oh yeah, what about that fear of tar snakes!

:)

 
Just make damn certain that you don't put yourself in a situation where you are doing anything that requires more than 75% of the braking power/handling of the FJR. If you do, the tires will go first, shortly followed by your sliding a$.
I think that's a fair statement, and you've summed up this tire smartly, Jeff. :clapping:

You know, before I bought one of these FJRs (well, actually I'm on my second), I thought tires were just tires. Hard to believe that now I'm picking and choosing, trying to find the right combination of ride, wear and grip for each big mission.

I wouldn't call the Shinkos a failure by any means, but there certainly are better tires out there. For the money? Well that's a tough call. For the price of my lilly white ass? Yep, I'll be going back to Avons and Pirellis. I just hope the two Storms I have waiting for next season aren't defective.

I don't think Shinko's will be making the trip to NAFO on my AE, but they did easily survive the ~7K trip to Park City for WFO. If I was going to run down to Hooterville or the Dragon area for some spirited riding, they'd be stripped off, like right now. Yep, they're still on my AE waiting to get smoked off after the snow melts. May have to remove them over the winter and keep them for spare, though (along with a slightly used "emergency" rear Dunlop I had installed in Littleton Colorado just before WFO). I don't plan any long slab trips on the scoot, so I guess I should prepare for corner carving early in the Spring.

 
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You know, before I bought one of these FJRs (well, actually I'm on my second), I thought tires were just tires. Hard to believe that now I'm picking and choosing, trying to find the right combination of ride, wear and grip for each big mission.
The FJR has the habit of making the missions bigger, at least for me! I'm thinking NAFO will be a 5k trip with 3k of that slabs, sounds good for the Ravens. On the other hand looks like some nice roads in CO, sounds like a good place for the Storms. Decisions, decisions. :yahoo:

 
Well I guess the tires performance is more a combination of what the roads are made from than the tires alone.

A tire that has a harder rubber has no problem on these commonly called chip sealed roads that are all over Colorado.

I have read of riders getting 20000 out of ME 880 on the east coast roads, I only could get 6500 at the most. When it rains here I have never had any problems with the Shinko's sticking in the curves, mist or not. I guess riding on crushed 1/4-1/2 inch granite would make hard plastic sticky.

How come I don't see any info on the type of asphalt that the tires are tested on?

Aren't there states that use sea shells in in the aggregate, Kansas uses a lot of chirt in its roads, the tires would perform different on it.

What I am getting at is, add what the road is made from, maybe on the east coast the test would apply, but maybe it would be moot out in some other part of the country.

I am still going to keep using the 009 Ravens, the other tires would be a waist of money out here, since I do 90% of all my riding in the Colorado Mountains and the Utah canyons.

Bob

 
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