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Shinko Anyone?


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hello to all senior in here, is any of you currently put on this Shinko tire on your bike? I would like to hear you guys opinion regarding this tire from personal experience. I myself currently had shinko 011 verge radial on my bike but my friend convince me to try out some bridgestone tire (003, 16, 23) as according to him it will be better for cornering (he never have experience shinko tire anyway). so far I really have any issue with this shinko tire in tight cornering even for knee dragging, but I do spilled my bike twice and both is during braking on wet (rainy day) road surface. so I really want to know either should I follow his advise or should I stick with this shinko brand as i'm about to replace it with new one soon.

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I suggest you try a Bridgestone tire; I have seen great comments and reviews for all three tires you mentioned - the BT023 (sport touring), BT016 and BT003 (premium sport tire). I have not used Shinko tires, but the few people I know who tried them were disappointed when compared with Bridgestone, Dunlop, Michelin, Pirelli, Metzeler tires. Below is a link for a US-based tire test from 2010 which, although not all-inclusive, appears well done for the circumstances and includes a good number of tires to consider. From what I have read and heard I think you will appreciate the Bridgestones far more than the Shinkos. Let us know how it turns out.

 

http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/545/8285/Motorcycle-Article/2010-Street-Motorcycle-Tire-Comparison.aspx

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Like Brad, I've never run the Shinkos but I have never known anyone to rave about their track performance. They are an economical brand and for that some people love them, but by definition an economical solution sacrifices performance for price. If your tires are ready to be replaced maybe you should look to another brand but if they still have miles on them you may want to consider waiting. Quality equipment is important but it's not a "silver bullet". It's likely that unless the tires are worn your culprit lies elsewhere :)

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  • 3 weeks later...

I have not used Shinko tires myself, but from what I have seen they are mainly popular among drag racers... (at least their Hook Up & Stealth tire).

 

At a track day I had been talking with a person about them, and they basically said that they had seen people on Sinko's flying off into the gravel traps... don't know how much of an exaggeration that was, but from what I now know through experience, I would say that anyone who crashed and blamed their tyres was either riding beyond their limit, or does not have enough understanding & feel of traction (or both).

 

As far as your crashes during braking on wet roads... I would not be looking to blame the tires, but that shows me that you were simply riding/braking too hard for the conditions. Just slow down a bit & ride to the conditions. If you don't know the limits of those tyres, what is to say that you will be able to know the limit on any other set of tires? But as far as wet capabilities between different brands of tires, my understanding that the rubber compound is the single most important thing (tread pattern is not nearly as important). I think the big tire companies will tend to have better wet weather performance (as a broad, sweeping generalisation). I remember testing out a set of Bridgestone 002s on back when I had a GSX-R600 on a wet road... I was doing my best to provoke a slide and I was very, very surprised with how well they rode in the wet (of course they did slide eventually).

 

But my advice as far as tire choice goes - don't go and buy a set of top end sport tires just because you think they will be "grippier" and give you more confidence. Of course many people do exactly this, but they're cheating themselves in a way. Yes they may have more confidence and be able to ride faster & harder, but they will have blind confidence, they won't be able to feel out the limits of the tire (which is dangerous because they may keep pushing & pushing, then suddenly crash and not have any idea why).

 

If you use a "lesser" type of tire and learn to find it's limit, you will gain a lot of feel & understanding of how to also find the limit of a higher performance tire. Also a lesser tire will not need to be pushed as hard to reach the limit, so it will be much easier for most people to get to understand traction this way instead of having to ride so fast that they scare themselves! Of course all this talk about "finding limits" is best practiced on a race track instead of the road... that's a dangerous game to play with armco & oncoming traffic.

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I understand and value Mugget's point about riding too hard for the conditions, but we should not forget that there can be quite a difference between tires in wet conditions. Metzeler's Z2 and Z4 Sport-Touring tires were well known to have poor tracking in the wet, but excellent tracking in the dry (the Z1 and Z3 were OK, but wore down quick).

I've spun the rear on my YZF600R in the wet by running over a white (yellow for you US folks) line while gently accelerating on Z4 tires.

The Sportec Z6'es, on the other hand, had excellent grip and longevity on both dry and wet conditions for me.

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Absolutely - different tyres will give very different levels of wet weather traction. But one of the main points that I wanted to make is that "riding to the conditions" includes not only riding according to the weather, but also what tyres are on the bike... wink.gif

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I cannot recall any tyre beating the Michelin Pilot Road 2 in the wet, ignoring track only wet tyres, of course. However, a lot of tyres will best the PR2 in dry conditions.

 

Personally, I think most people are highly affected by the brand tags. Mercedes build great cars, Skodas are ######, that sort of thing. Ignoring the fact that Mercedes have far more quality issues than Skoda. Hence I will say that the best judge of the tyres you use are you. If you like it and don't have issues, it is a good tyre. Doesn't matter what test reports or mates say, because it is good. For you.

 

No matter what you do, do not fit Bridgestone BT023 (or the older 021 or 020) because they are touring tyres. Also, they give virtually no warning when they are about to let go, instead going from all grip to no grip instantly.

 

I personally do not like Bridgestones in general, they feel wooden to me. I've tried the BT014 and 016 as well as the old school 045 and disliked them all. They may work differently for you. I also had a 001 that was better than me and I could only push it to its limits in very cold conditions, and then it reacted predictably. So chances are that the more modern 003 have all the grip you could ask for and then some. In dry, warm conditions.

 

But back to the real issue; make up your own mind. When you know that your Shinkos are holding you back, upgrade to a racier specification. Until then, if it was me, I would stick with what I knew.

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  • 1 month later...

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