For the love of god, change out the stock tires!
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For the love of god, change out the stock tires!
Hey all, I was informed by the wife the other day that the scooter "rides funny". I haven't ridden the buddy in months, and boy she wasn't kidding! The thing always sorta rode odd, I could never put my finger on it. I never liked taking it past 40, just felt a bit wobbly. I decided to check the tires seeing that the scooter is 7 years old, and the tread was oddly worn plus the sidewalls were starting to crack from dry rot. Should have replaced them sooner, thankfully she didn't crash from the sheer wobbly ride from the oddly worn stock Cheng Shin tires.
I purchased 2 Shinko SR425 tires because my wife rides less than a mile back and forth to work and then to the store in our town, all 25-30 zones. I honestly am impressed, it's like a different machine. I don't cringe going into somewhat sharp turns now. I searched and didn't see anyone give these a review, so I will ride it a ton and report back. I thought these tires would be cheaply made, but the sidewalls are thick, the tread is deep and appears as if it will channel water out decently and overall this tire looks damn good for $25.
I almost wish that PGO would go with another tire maker as those stock tires are garbage!
Anyhow, here is a link to what I got.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001Y4 ... _ttl_sol_0
I am sure there are better tires, but for $25 I thought what the hell! I'll report back in a few weeks to a month and give my thoughts on these.
I purchased 2 Shinko SR425 tires because my wife rides less than a mile back and forth to work and then to the store in our town, all 25-30 zones. I honestly am impressed, it's like a different machine. I don't cringe going into somewhat sharp turns now. I searched and didn't see anyone give these a review, so I will ride it a ton and report back. I thought these tires would be cheaply made, but the sidewalls are thick, the tread is deep and appears as if it will channel water out decently and overall this tire looks damn good for $25.
I almost wish that PGO would go with another tire maker as those stock tires are garbage!
Anyhow, here is a link to what I got.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001Y4 ... _ttl_sol_0
I am sure there are better tires, but for $25 I thought what the hell! I'll report back in a few weeks to a month and give my thoughts on these.
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- babblefish
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- iamryan25
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The stock Buddy tires seemed to last forever
I replaced with 3.5-10 Pirelli SL26 tires on front and rear and felt a huge improvement in grip and in wet conditions compared to stock
Just replaced both tires with the Michelin S1, but went up in size (110/80 front 130/70 rear)
The larger tire size has made for a very smooth ride. Increasing the size from 3.5-10 was something I should have done a long long time ago.
I've ridden Buddy 50 with the 90/90-10, Buddy 125 with the 3.5-10, Buddy 150 and 170 with the 100/90-10 and I would have to argue the bigger tires on the bigger Buddys offer a smoother ride.
Overall, I'd recommend up-sizing with your next tire replacement.
If you're not interested in experimenting with two different sizes the 110/80 will fit front and rear and offers an increase in size when compared to stock.
I replaced with 3.5-10 Pirelli SL26 tires on front and rear and felt a huge improvement in grip and in wet conditions compared to stock
Just replaced both tires with the Michelin S1, but went up in size (110/80 front 130/70 rear)
The larger tire size has made for a very smooth ride. Increasing the size from 3.5-10 was something I should have done a long long time ago.
I've ridden Buddy 50 with the 90/90-10, Buddy 125 with the 3.5-10, Buddy 150 and 170 with the 100/90-10 and I would have to argue the bigger tires on the bigger Buddys offer a smoother ride.
Overall, I'd recommend up-sizing with your next tire replacement.
If you're not interested in experimenting with two different sizes the 110/80 will fit front and rear and offers an increase in size when compared to stock.
Last edited by iamryan25 on Sat Oct 31, 2015 12:47 am, edited 1 time in total.
The red ones are faster.
- wheelbender6
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I searched and they are for both the front or rear, no idea why it only says front.ucandoit wrote:I, too, have a 2008 Buddy 125 with 4800 miles. The stock tires on mine are in good shape and ride well, unless I don't know any better. I notice your new tires are advertised for front position. Did you buy two--- one for front and back?
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Re: For the love of god, change out the stock tires!
I'm not a tire expert, but I'm not going to be to critical of their stock tire either. A quick search on the interweb and one will find that safety experts and some manufactures recommend 6 years from date of manufacture. Cracking sidewalks and dry rot should be part of a pre-ride inspectionmhardgrove wrote:......I decided to check the tires seeing that the scooter is 7 years old, and the tread was oddly worn plus the sidewalls were starting to crack from dry rot. Should have replaced them sooner.......
2014 Buddy 170i (2) One for GF
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- Dooglas
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The stock tire on the Buddy is nothing special, and the Shinko is not much of an improvement IMO. Certainly Pirellis have a reputation for using sticky compounds that have good traction. I personally prefer Michelin or Continental scooter tires - a good combination of performance and wear. I run City Grips or Power Pures on all our Vespa/Piaggio bikes and Continental Zippys on our Buddy. And I never leave a set of tires on a scooter longer than 5 years regardless of mileage. It is our fannies that are at risk, after all.