[mike1nw]

My owner's manual for my '08 400 shows to use Bridgestone Hoops, but doesn't show the "R" designation for radial tires.

So, can I use radials? Does it make a difference?

Warning- Dark Side question. >> Because modern 13" car tires are radials.

 

[Steve D UK]

Change brands by all means but personally, I'd definately stick with the type of tyre construction that the manufacturer designed the scoot around. If radials were better/safer, I'm sure they would have fitted them as standard. They did on the 650.

 

[Ralph M]

If I could get radial's for the 400 I would fit them but as far as I know you cant get one for the rear,
and it's not recommended to fit one on the front and crossply on the back.

 

[Dave_J]

Mike, I forgot to say in the other topic. Some of us have and are running Bias ply motorcycle tires on the front and Radial Car tires on the rear on our 650's. But the 650 does not have linked brakes front to rear so your left hand and right hand control the brakes. You learn how much "SQUEEZE" to apply to fit the road and tire conditions. Most radial car tires have much more grip in the wet so you learn to get on the rear brakes a bit harder.

This is a desision that can only be answered by the user. There will be 100's that say NO, DON'T DO IT!!!!!

 

[Ernie M]

I have a bias ply on the front and a radial on the rear of my 650. I asked the same questions before I did it. I really do not notice any difference. Like I was told by a member " bias plys are not like the old ones were".

 

[InfernoST]

Mike, I forgot to say in the other topic. Some of us have and are running Bias ply motorcycle tires on the front and Radial Car tires on the rear on our 650's. But the 650 does not have linked brakes front to rear so your left hand and right hand control the brakes. You learn how much "SQUEEZE" to apply to fit the road and tire conditions. Most radial car tires have much more grip in the wet so you learn to get on the rear brakes a bit harder.

This is a desision that can only be answered by the user. There will be 100's that say NO, DON'T DO IT!!!!!

The 08 doesn't have linked brakes, they changed that in the 07 design.

 

[29534]

Back in the "old" days when radials were just coming on the market in sufficient numbers to make a splash, the manufacturers didn't forbid mixing them. However, the instructed people to not mix them on the same axle. I had several cars where I had radials on one axle and bias ply on the other and they worked fine.

 

[Ralph M]

When radials first came i Renault fitted them to I think it was the Renault 8 these were rear engine'd rear wheel drive
and the rear tires wore out first, people then fitted cheaper cross ply's the driver getting better front end grip drove faster than
the rears could handle and the car would swap ends sometimes disastrously, the car got a reputation for evil handling
but it was more to do with cheap skate drivers fitting a bad mix of tires.

 

[Dave_J]

When radials first came i Renault fitted them to I think it was the Renault 8 these were rear engine'd rear wheel drive
and the rear tires wore out first, people then fitted cheaper cross ply's the driver getting better front end grip drove faster than
the rears could handle and the car would swap ends sometimes disastrously, the car got a reputation for evil handling
but it was more to do with cheap skate drivers fitting a bad mix of tires.

This part is true. But it also had some part to do with "Trailing Throttle Over-steer" (TTOS) when the driver lets off the gas in a corner while on the brakes and the rear engine weight trys to keep up speed and swaps ends. Porsche 911's are prone to this as were VW Bugs and Van/Wagons. Porsche was one of the first manufactures that solved this problem, well about 80% of it, by staggering tire sizes front to rear. By adding 20mm or (MUCH) more in tire width in the rear made the rear have more bite in TTOS conditions. I can use TTOS in cornering a high performance frontwheel drive car at will by snapping off the throttle in a corner causing the front wheels to slow down and the rear starts to come around then countersteer and nail the gas to do a drift around the corner.

On a car/truck/UTE I would never put radials in the front and same sized Bias plys in the rear. Its really not a good idea to put radials in front and Bias in the rear period!!! But I have tried like 205/70 SR 15 in front and 255/60 B 15 in the rear and they seemed to have the same amount of grip in the rain. Understanding stagger and plus sizing helps.

I say it again, Its really not a good idea to put radials in front and Bias in the rear period!!!

 

[Scootereno]

They Don't make 13" radials for our scooters so it is a mute point anyways....Right? :roll:

 

[29534]

When radials first came i Renault fitted them to I think it was the Renault 8 these were rear engine'd rear wheel drive
and the rear tires wore out first, people then fitted cheaper cross ply's the driver getting better front end grip drove faster than
the rears could handle and the car would swap ends sometimes disastrously, the car got a reputation for evil handling
but it was more to do with cheap skate drivers fitting a bad mix of tires.

I think it was more the car design than it was the tires. The Corvair wasn't that different and I swapped ends more than once in one but I only totaled one. I never used radials on any of the Corvairs.

 

[knucklehead]

I think it was more the car design than it was the tires. The Corvair wasn't that different and I swapped ends more than once in one but I only totaled one. I never used radials on any of the Corvairs.[/quote]
Many years ago I owned a 65 Corvair with the 4 carb motor - 140hp with a 4 speed. Doesn't sound like a lot does it? It was fast enough to embarrass just about any car on the road. I put Gabriel Red Ryder shocks on it then had Goodrich TA radials in 13" - a 60 series tire on stock wheels. Shocks and tires transformed that car from an average handling car into a very competent road handling car. I had that car up on two wheels a few times! And beat the pants off a friends 340CI Dodge Challenger in the twisties more than a few times. In a 500' drag race I could beat his ass every time - after about 500' it was all his. The Corvair never did swap ends - and never felt like it wanted to in hard cornering. Some earlier ones I owned had that tendency. The 60-64's all had swing axle - in 65 Chevy installed an independent 4 link rear end very similar to the Corvette suspension of that time. The swing axle handling was iffy at times but the early swing axle VWs I've owned all handled worse than any of the Corvairs I've owned.

Nader could have made as good or better case against VW, Renault and other manufacturers but decided he'd make the largest 'splash' going afer GM. He was out to make a name for himself after all. Thats why I'd never vote for that SOB. He killed off a very good car.

 

[29534]

Many years ago I owned a 65 Corvair with the 4 carb motor - 140hp with a 4 speed. Doesn't sound like a lot does it? It was fast enough to embarrass just about any car on the road. I put Gabriel Red Ryder shocks on it then had Goodrich TA radials in 13" - a 60 series tire on stock wheels. Shocks and tires transformed that car from an average handling car into a very competent road handling car. I had that car up on two wheels a few times! And beat the pants off a friends 340CI Dodge Challenger in the twisties more than a few times. In a 500' drag race I could beat his ass every time - after about 500' it was all his. The Corvair never did swap ends - and never felt like it wanted to in hard cornering. Some earlier ones I owned had that tendency. The 60-64's all had swing axle - in 65 Chevy installed an independent 4 link rear end very similar to the Corvette suspension of that time. The swing axle handling was iffy at times but the early swing axle VWs I've owned all handled worse than any of the Corvairs I've owned.

Nader could have made as good or better case against VW, Renault and other manufacturers but decided he'd make the largest 'splash' going afer GM. He was out to make a name for himself after all. Thats why I'd never vote for that SOB. He killed off a very good car.[/quote]

I agree. I had 7 Corvairs in all. The first one was a 63 102 HP Monza, then a 110 HP 64 Monza along with a 95 HP 66 Monza. My favorite was the 66 4 carb 140 HP Corsa. All but one was a 4 speed. All of the 4 speeds would float the valves at 92 MPH in 3rd. gear.