Modern Buddy

Prima Whitewalls, golly, what swell tires... IF you want to change your rear tire with the same frequency as you change your oil.

It seems that owing to Maxxis so unkindly taking their whitewall tire off the market, a Prima whitewall was installed the last time I had my rear tire changed. Who knew. So, what did I notice? Nothing. I didn't notice any difference at all. That is until my next oil change (~1750 miles later) when my mechanic said I needed a new rear tire.

[Insert exasperated disbelief rant here]

So to summarize, golly, I was ever so slightly disappointed with those Prima whitewall tires. Well no, to be fair, they were fine... WHILE THEY LASTED! I miss my Maxxis whitewalls.

Sadly it seems based on the quality of whitewall tires presently on the market, I am forced to switch my St. Tropez to blackwalls. Downside, bye-bye cool whitewall esthetic. Up side, Heidenau K61 exceptional performance and durability here I come.

Sigh.

Agreed. The tires were fine, but I never thought I would need to change out the rear only two months after buying the bike.

What about Shinkos or Continentals? Shinko is reportedly made at the same factory that makes Pirellis - I've used them on multiple vintage bikes and they're decent. Not high performance by any means, but they wear well enough and don't yellow. Contis are super sticky but don't last very long and they tended to turn yellow on me.

Yup, nice while they last, but pathetic durability for sure [the Primas]. If they sold them for $5 to help offset the constant installation costs maybe then they'd be worth considering.

Personally, I have yet to hear a single good thing about Shinkos, or the Continentals.

OK, then here's a few good things about Shinkos:

1. They're inexpensive
2. In my experience, they've worn well and lasted long enough for me to be happy with them - I've gone through 4 sets.
3. The whitewalls don't turn yellow

A not so good thing - they corner fine in dry conditions. They don't corner well in wet conditions.

A few good things about Contis:

1. They corner extremely well in wet and dry conditions
2. They have great stopping power and are not easy to skid

I've gone through 2 sets of Contis. Again, they're a softer tire which allows them to corner and stop well, but because of this they wear more quickly than the Shinkos. The whitewalls are harder to keep white than the Shinkos.

Ya, that's what I've heard in reviews, both brands are lacking in their own way, performance or durability. That's why I'll pass on them. Personally I am not willing to sacrifice either my safety or additional dollars when there are better tires available. Just not whitewalls. The Maxxis were a great all around whitewall - good performance and durability. I wonder why they took them off the market?

Skootz Kabootz wrote:Ya, that's what I've heard in reviews, both brands are lacking in their own way, performance or durability. That's why I'll pass on them. Personally I am not willing to sacrifice either my safety or additional dollars when there are better tires available. Just not whitewalls. The Maxxis were a great all around whitewall - good performance and durability. I wonder why they took them off the market?

We will second this! We have some pictures to show just how far into the second belt we went trying to milk more miles out of them too.

REALLY MISS THE MAXXIS TIRES ! ! ! 11,600 on the front tire, averaged 4,400 on the rear. Don't wanna talk about the LACK of miles on the new Prima white wall tire. Heard Prima took over the Maxxis - yet they are still showing up on the (new old stock?) 150's at the dealers.

We have the Heidenau K61's on now for a test run to see how they do.

Skootz Kabootz wrote:Prima Whitewalls, golly, what swell tires... IF you want to change your rear tire with the same frequency as you change your oil.

I detect a hint of bitterness here.

While I'm willing to try different tires, I am pretty cautious about what i put on there. I swapped out the stock tires on both of my Stella 4Ts ASAP and went with blackwalls each time. Whitewalls look nice and all but I couldn't find any I liked so…

MYSCTR wrote:REALLY MISS THE MAXXIS TIRES ! ! ! 11,600 on the front tire, averaged 4,400 on the rear.

Pretty much exactly what I was averaging. And I sit right at the rear of my seat plus have a top case. So a very heavy rear tire wear scenario.

ericalm wrote:

Skootz Kabootz wrote:Prima Whitewalls, golly, what swell tires... IF you want to change your rear tire with the same frequency as you change your oil.

I detect a hint of bitterness here.

I'm not bitter Prima, just very disappointed in you...

So why don't manufacturers use the same decent quality of rubber in whitewall tires as is found in so many blackwalls? How different is the manufacturing process for whitewall tires? Certainly far fewer whitewall's are sold all in all, so is it cost to produce that has lead to the lack of quality whitewalls on the market? What gives?

Just to pile on about the Prima Whitewall, I bought one as a replacement for my rear stock Maxxis just shortly before you posted this. I wish that I hadn't. It felt fine riding in dry warm weather. In fact, I think it felt just a bit more sticky than the Maxxis. Now that the cold wet weather is here, this is a different tire altogether. If the road is anything more than slightly damp, it feels like the tire is coated with oil. I've felt it slip a couple of times while taking a slow careful turn and it also feels slippery to me just riding in a straight line! Sadly, at just about 500 miles on this tire, I'm going to have to change it out. I, too, am looking at the Heidenau K61's, since so many people on here rave about them. Does anyone have experience with them in rain? Any other thoughts before I sink more money into this?

Labour-wise, how difficult is it to replace a scooter's front and rear tyre?

pdxrita wrote:I, too, am looking at the Heidenau K61's, since so many people on here rave about them. Does anyone have experience with them in rain? Any other thoughts before I sink more money into this?

After reading all the rave reviews I finally got a set and now have about 250 miles them. So just broken in. I've gotta say, I really like them! The scooter is more responsive and turns with ease, feels more stable at high speed, and over all just handles great. We haven't had any rain here since they were installed so no feedback there yet, but I'd have to say I'm hooked.

Thanks Skootz! If only I had seen your warning before wasting my money on the Prima. I found the really long thread about the K61s on Modern Vespa and at least a couple of people said they handled well in the rain. So I think they'll be good.

What is eveyone's feeling on having two different brands on the front and rear? No where can I find a replacement tire for the front of my Honda Elite. The size is 90/90x12. The rear is a 100/90x10. You can find this size in a number of brands, including the Heidenau K61 discussed here, but the front appears to only be available from the OEM. What impact on riding would two different brands of tires have?

Ralph

how about this for a whitewall? i am sure some are aware but here it is again. its a feasible alternative

http://vespazine.blogspot.com/2006/01/w ... n-how.html

JHScoot wrote:how about this for a whitewall? i am sure some are aware but here it is again. its a feasible alternative

http://vespazine.blogspot.com/2006/01/w ... n-how.html

Heh! If I was really dead set on keeping whitewalls, this would be a viable alternative. At this point, I'm ditching them in favor of a tire that won't kill me. Wish the Maxxis weren't discontinued. They served me well and looked good while doing it. <sigh>

Skootz Kabootz wrote: "I didn't notice any difference at all. That is until my next oil change (~1750 miles later) when my mechanic said I needed a new rear tire."
Sorry to here this. I have put 1,300 miles on my 170i and my rear tire looks great I guess they really fall off over the 450miles. .

I guess i'm switching over to Heidenau K58s sooner than I thought.

I don't have a scooter shop where I live so should I take my wheels and new tires to a motorcycle shop or an auto tire shop to get them changed?

Skootz Kabootz wrote:

pdxrita wrote:I, too, am looking at the Heidenau K61's, since so many people on here rave about them. Does anyone have experience with them in rain? Any other thoughts before I sink more money into this?

After reading all the rave reviews I finally got a set and now have about 250 miles them. So just broken in. I've gotta say, I really like them! The scooter is more responsive and turns with ease, feels more stable at high speed, and over all just handles great. We haven't had any rain here since they were installed so no feedback there yet, but I'd have to say I'm hooked.

Are you going to change your avatar, Skootz?

Syd wrote:

Skootz Kabootz wrote:

pdxrita wrote:I, too, am looking at the Heidenau K61's, since so many people on here rave about them. Does anyone have experience with them in rain? Any other thoughts before I sink more money into this?

After reading all the rave reviews I finally got a set and now have about 250 miles them. So just broken in. I've gotta say, I really like them! The scooter is more responsive and turns with ease, feels more stable at high speed, and over all just handles great. We haven't had any rain here since they were installed so no feedback there yet, but I'd have to say I'm hooked.

Are you going to change your avatar, Skootz?

Heh, I guess I'll have to. Maybe just ride faster and become even more of a blur

First rainy day ride on the Heidenau's today. They seemed perfectly good to me. I wasn't exactly pushing it as it was raining pretty hard but other than one particularly slippery painted area, I never felt any loss of traction. I'm maintaining my two thumbs up rating

I have had some skids in rain on my Heidenau K61s, but they're better or as good as anything else I've ridden on in the rain. In particular, that day we rode out to the RBSC knighting in the rain, I had a little rear tire slide while braking coming through Laurel Canyon. I was ready for it!

ericalm wrote:I have had some skids in rain on my Heidenau K61s, but they're better or as good as anything else I've ridden on in the rain. In particular, that day we rode out to the RBSC knighting in the rain, I had a little rear tire slide while braking coming through Laurel Canyon. I was ready for it!

This is why I ultimately went with a different tire. Pretty much everyone who recommended the K61 was from SoCal or somewhere much drier and warmer than Portland (no offense, hopefully). Out of desperation, and a basic inability to make a decision that needed to be made, I went with Michellin S83's at the recommendation of my local shop. I figured if anyone would know what tire was good in our various riding conditions, it would be them. So far so good, but oddly enough, I haven't gotten to test them in the rain. It's been cold and dry here for the entire month of December. So I can say they're good in the cold (the Prima's sucked in cold too), but I can't say how they are in the rain just yet. For the record, my stock Maxxis never slipped in the rain, but maybe that's just because I'm super cautious on wet pavement.

Definitely if I lived somewhere like Portland I would get more rain specific tires.

Skootz Kabootz wrote:Definitely if I lived somewhere like Portland I would get more rain specific tires.

Yeah, the balance I'm looking to strike is a tire that's safe in the rain and cold while still being decent in nice weather and not wearing out too quickly. In other words, I want a magic tire.

@ pdxrita, have you looked into Continental Zippys? They're tubed, so that's a con, but I've heard lots of good things about them from my friend who has them on his Bajaj Chetak.

matty_x wrote:@ pdxrita, have you looked into Continental Zippys? They're tubed, so that's a con, but I've heard lots of good things about them from my friend who has them on his Bajaj Chetak.

I definitely considered Zippys and might again at some point in the future. Initially I chose the Prima because I didn't want mismatched tires; I had planned to keep my Maxxis whitewall on the front for a while longer since it still had a good amount of tread. When that turned out to be a very poor choice for cold and rain, I had to make a quick choice, so I picked up some Michelin S83's from the local shop, at their recommendation. The Michelins are very utilitarian - not sexy at all. But they seem so far like they'll serve my needs, which is to get me to and from work safely in weather conditions that range from 20ish degrees to 100+ with pouring rain at times. I guess I won't know about heat for another 6 months or so, but for now, they're working fine.