Honda Spree and Elite 50 Forums

Fatty rear tire with stock size front tire looks the best, and you have to really be carefull with a larger front tire on a spree because of rubbing on full front compression.

Bear45-70 wrote:

elitedio wrote:I might interject some comments on tires, not looking to start a fight.

Buying as cheap as you can does not take into consideration safety, handling and ride comfort. Even on a bicycle, tires can make a terrific difference on whether you slide in a turn or are keeping the rubber side down.

Weather checked, Yeah they have to go.

When you get them make sure of the date code on the tire. Reject it if it is more than two years old.

My Spree maxes out at 27 mph. I rode bicycles faster than that in my youth. These thing are not a 140 mph cruiser like my Police Interceptor is and premium high speed rated tires aren't gonna do anything for you except dent your wallet more. These things are not crotch rockets by anybodies standards.

maybe your spree only goes 27 mph but if you ride it up a hill that has a lot of switchbacks and turns your most likely gonna come down that hill at more than 27 mph. you could probly get up to around 50mph and is the cheapest tire possible going to grip the road when you take a turn at that speed? i dont know and im not going to find out...

makadangdang wrote:maybe your spree only goes 27 mph but if you ride it up a hill that has a lot of switchbacks and turns your most likely gonna come down that hill at more than 27 mph. you could probly get up to around 50mph and is the cheapest tire possible going to grip the road when you take a turn at that speed? i dont know and im not going to find out...

I want to see those hills. I've never had my spree over 31mph at WOT (gps verified) down the biggest hill I could find. The $18 tires held up just fine for the 2300 miles I rode them and then they were bald.

eliteguy50 wrote:

makadangdang wrote:maybe your spree only goes 27 mph but if you ride it up a hill that has a lot of switchbacks and turns your most likely gonna come down that hill at more than 27 mph. you could probly get up to around 50mph and is the cheapest tire possible going to grip the road when you take a turn at that speed? i dont know and im not going to find out...

The only real "flats" we have around here are called water and it is only flat because the water fills up the holes. It is almost all up or down and the fastest my Spree will go, on a straight, 1 mile long, down hill is 35 mph indicated. As to that, it only did that on a test run as it just isn't good for an engine to be reved that high on a regular bases. Oh, and if I get going too fast, down hill of course there is a cure for it, it's called "BRAKE"!.

Like I said this isn't a super bike or a race bike or even a high performance street machine and spending big bucks on tires is not a wise way to spend your money, at least in my opinion and I definitely qualify as an old dog. But hey, spend your money anyway you want, I know the brand name manufacturers love you and your thinking. You are how they get away with charging twice as much as the produce is worth. You see that DOT spec on the tire means the tire is safe, especially at 25 or more mph or it would not have the spec stamped on the tire.

eliteguy50 wrote:

makadangdang wrote:maybe your spree only goes 27 mph but if you ride it up a hill that has a lot of switchbacks and turns your most likely gonna come down that hill at more than 27 mph. you could probly get up to around 50mph and is the cheapest tire possible going to grip the road when you take a turn at that speed? i dont know and im not going to find out...

I want to see those hills. I've never had my spree over 31mph at WOT (gps verified) down the biggest hill I could find. The $18 tires held up just fine for the 2300 miles I rode them and then they were bald.

my 87 spree can top 40 on the flat with gps, and i'm pretty sure that 50 is still out of reach down even the biggest of hills. at that point, the little engine would scream up to jet-turbine-like rpms and, ka-BOOM!!

the fastest i've ever gotten a spree was with the engine turned off, down a big hill. the inability of the engine to rev to the needed 20,000rpm serves as quite a hindrance. if you should choose to try the extreme downhill coast, 50mph or faster is well within reach. if you accidentally start the engine at that speed, when the clutch engages, the rear tire will skid and try to kill you, and the engine will scream like a banshee and try to spit out parts.

Bear45-70 wrote:

eliteguy50 wrote:

makadangdang wrote:maybe your spree only goes 27 mph but if you ride it up a hill that has a lot of switchbacks and turns your most likely gonna come down that hill at more than 27 mph. you could probly get up to around 50mph and is the cheapest tire possible going to grip the road when you take a turn at that speed? i dont know and im not going to find out...

The only real "flats" we have around here are called water and it is only flat because the water fills up the holes. It is almost all up or down and the fastest my Spree will go, on a straight, 1 mile long, down hill is 35 mph indicated. As to that, it only did that on a test run as it just isn't good for an engine to be reved that high on a regular bases. Oh, and if I get going too fast, down hill of course there is a cure for it, it's called "BRAKE"!.

Like I said this isn't a super bike or a race bike or even a high performance street machine and spending big bucks on tires is not a wise way to spend your money, at least in my opinion and I definitely qualify as an old dog. But hey, spend your money anyway you want, I know the brand name manufacturers love you and your thinking. You are how they get away with charging twice as much as the produce is worth. You see that DOT spec on the tire means the tire is safe, especially at 25 or more mph or it would not have the spec stamped on the tire.

i agree and i go 40-50 on a regular basis on mine. Its not like i take some crazy sharp turns on it at those speeds. I can't accelerate hard enough to burn out my cheap tires, and i can't break hard enough to lock up the cheap tires. I can't see a name brand tire gripping the road any better than an off brand tire. If your tires decide they are going to wash out from under you, the brand on the side of the tire is not going to make a difference

ok fine you guys win...im still not sold on the cheap tires though. and 50+ mph is easily attainable if you simply coast down some hills.

not on a stock spree its not. I went full throttle down some steep hills when my spree was stock, and about 35-40 sounds like parts are going to fly off

But who comes on this site to ride a stock spree at under 30mph? Most (not all, but most) here are interested in more speed. I will say that most people here should be worried about riding on a 10-20 year old tire, and ANYTHING new would be an upgrade. I take turns at 50+ and like to be absolutely sure of my equipment. Will any tire suffice? 99% of the time, yes.

But if I have that 1% of doubt in my mind, I won't go blasting around like that, just because of the "What if"

im not arguing that a new tire with tread is a good idea. im just saying that new tire doesn't have to be name brand


spending a few extra dollars on a tire for peace of mind is not a bad idea though, if your worried about it

Thanks for everyone's input, a lot of really good points. I went with the Kenda K329 2.75x10 front and rear. I will post an update on how they handle.
Thanks Again!

I like my Ching Shens from Chapparel. Nice look and dirt cheap.

RZ Rob

Rather than post a new thread, I am going to just add to this one since I need tires for my 85 spree. Since mine only goes 27-28 on level road currently, and probably will never reach 40 even after I do upgrades, so cheap is fine with me. I am going to put 2.75x10s on mine and just want to know who is cheapest? Chin seng or kenda is fine with me although I think I would rather have a motorcycle styled tread than a dirt bike style thread. So far the cheapest I found was a kenda for about $16 each. I guess shipping has to be factored in too since it will be a pretty high cost relative to the overall cost. Has anyone done the checking recently to see who is the low price leader?

Greetings:

Dunno about Sprees, but the Elite's built-in speedometer optimism (reads higher than actual with stock 3.00 tire...) is neatly corrected to within 1% of true using a 90/90. A 3.50 causes it to read about 6% lower than true. I personally verified this with my GPS mounted over the headlight cowl.

Most motor vehicles have an intentional optimistic error. Do the manufacturers do this to help the owner avoid tickets or to make the owner more impressed with performance? You be the judge. Supersport 600s in particular routinely have a 10-12% optimistic error, according to Motorcycle Consumer News.

i have the kenda 2.75X10 on my spree and like how it looks and performs. now i never tokk a corner at wot. but it does handle well.