New Tires?? What do I do??

[mrudich]

My 05 ninja 250 still has it's original tires on it.. And I believe that it is time to replace them, but I don't know where to start. I'm a complete noob and I don't really know anything about the internals of the motorcycle aside from enough to know how to ride one. ( which is nearly none ).

I ride partly in small city (mostly flat, stop signs and stop lights, mild traffic) partly on the freeway, and partly on extremely windy mountain roads. So I'm not sure if there is a certain type of tire that will work better. I want them to be able to handle the windy roads and have good wet traction and stuff. So I don't really know what type of tires to get or even what types of tires there are..

Also, I don't really know where or how to get them done. I really don't know anything about how to change them so I'm not sure if changing them myself is a good idea. And I don't know of any motorcycle shops around my area. There is a motosports, which I've never been to and I don't really know what it is, except that it has to do with motorcycles. So I basically need new tires and I have no idea what I'm doing. Sorry for being such a noob. Any help is highly appreciated.

[Sirref]

Here you go, a nice list of tire options for you
http://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/What_ti...fit_the_250%3F
feel free to ask any questions if any of it confuses you.
personally I ride in a sporty manner but I also commute on my bike so I'm getting the bridgestone bt-45 tires or the michelin tires (designed for 300/newgen 250 not the pregen model like yours). The other main option that people love and go for is the pirelli sport demon tires. The pirellis don't last as long but offer more grip in sportier riding conditions (read: twisty mountain roads)

[mrudich]

Okay. But how do I go about acquiring them and them eventually ending up on my motorcycle. Sorry If this is really basic. I really don't know where to start.

[Sirref]

there are a good amount of websites that you can order off of.
A few examples are:
revzilla.com, motorcyclesuperstore.com, sportbiketrackgear.com and so on. As for getting them on the bike you may be more comfortable having a local shop do it (look around using google since I have no idea where mendocino county is)

[komohana]

dont know your financial situation but i'd suggest getting tires and having a motorcycle shop mount them for you. it's cheaper if you were to remove the tires from the bike and bring them along with your new tires to the shop. this means you would have to remove front and rear wheels from your bike. i had to use a jack with the bike on the center stand to have both wheels off at once. this can be EXTREMELY dangerous if you haven't thought it through.
if you are worried about doing anything to your bike yourself, then bring the bike and tires you buy to the shop and have them do it. again, its going to take money to do this plus getting tires.
call m/c dealers around your local area. they usually have a maintenance shop at most dealers. ask how much to mount tires for you. then ask how much it is if you took of wheels and brought them in off the bike. that'll give you some idea of what you're looking at.

what kind of tires have you considered?

[dcj13]

You can always take it to your local Kwak dealership and have 'em put new tires on it. You're due for new ones.

Everyone has their own preferences. The guy I bought my pregen from (it needed tires when I bought it) thought highly of the Pirelli Sport Demons. I had previous good luck with Bridgestone BT 45's on a couple of other bikes, so I put them on my Ninjette.

You shoud read what people say about their tires, talk to you dealer (Kwak or independent), and make your own decision. But get new tires: you're due.

[Josh_kcco]

get pirelli sport demons and call it a day.

[poorfatjames]

I would ask dealerships before assuming that they will do a tire change for a little less if you bring in the wheel. Not all will. Many charge 30-50$ per tire no matter what. I find it irksome to pay over double the rate of a car tire, so I mount my own (and I get better every time...I'm down to 3 hours/tire! lol...)

Regardless, you could probably save a buck and find a tire online and have it shipped directly to the shop of your choice if you ask first.

I encourage you to try to change the tire yourself. Assuming you have a motorcycle stand and access to an air compressor, it will only require a few specialty tools. Worst that could happen is you can't finish the job and then take it to a shop.

these are the instructions I first used many years ago.

http://www.clarity.net/adam/tire-changing.html

[caltony]

As mentioned above there are a number of online places to order tires.

Lots of times I use Motorcycle Superstore because they do have a large selection. I noticed recently that they also provide some kind of mounting service with your local shops.

If you want to DIY, there are lots of UTUBE vids on changing motorcycle tires. Some are provided by professionals and those are usually very good.

tony

[mrudich]

I'm about to purchase new tires for my 2005 Ninja 250. And half of the options are xxx/80 and the other half are xxx/90. I know that this is the sidewall height already, but I'm interested in knowing how much of a difference there is in handling. Do you guys prefer /80 or /90? For what reasons? Thanks!!

[mrudich]

I'm looking to buy some new tires and after checking out http://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/What_ti...fit_the_250%3F I've narrowed down my choices to the Pirelli Sport Demons and the Bridgestone BT45. Does anybody have experience with either of these?

[mrudich]

Thanks for all the help everyone. I've decided to order them online and have a shop put them on. I don't have any of the necessary tools (stand, air compressor, etc..) or the space (at the moment) to do it myself. I'm hoping that by the time they need replacing again, I'll be able to do it. But for now, I'm gonna let a shop do it.

[BoBO]

I never owned a set of bt-45.However, I have tried a 250 equip with one and both tires provide similar performance. I have the Demons right now and it gets the job done. Just don't buy IRC.

[Kscreations08]

I wasn't sure if you knew this but your stock size is the 100/80/16 for front and 130/80/16 for rear

[choneofakind]

I like 80 to keep the stock lightness feeling when flicking into turns. There's a noticeable difference, but it's really not enough to fret and lose sleep over.

The biggest advantage of going with 90 is the tire is a little taller and has about the same effect on your final drive as switching to 15/45 gearing vs the stock 14/45. This lowers the highway engine speed a hair.

Other than that, just pick a tire you like and go with it.

[csmith12]

The answer to this question is found in the type of riding you do. At a high level, the sport demons are your more sporty of the two and will not get the mileage life as the bt45's. While the 45's are a great tire with a decent grip level, the harder center compound lends itself to a lot of straight line miles or commuting.

Which kind of rider are you?

[InvisiBill]

I whipped up http://syclone.invisibill.net/tirecalc.html years ago when I was looking at larger replacement wheels for the Syclone, so I could quickly see the difference in measurements for different tire sizes. You can use motorcycle sizes too, though the different profile might affect the actual measurements. It should at least give you an idea how different two sizes will end up being though.

[Yarhj]

Just keep in mind that on the pregen, 110/90-16 front tires may require some mods to the front fender.

I just put Pirelli Sport Demons (100/90-16 front, 130/90-16 rear) on my motorcycle (to replace the 11 year old stock dunlops it came with! ) and they feel great, but I'm too much of a noob to really be able to tell the difference between the different aspect ratios in terms of turn-in and all that, since it's not a night-and-day difference.

More tire info than you can shake a stick at.

[Alex]

/merged several new pre-gen tire threads

[Josh_kcco]

Originally Posted by Yarhj

Just keep in mind that on the pregen, 110/90-16 front tires may require some mods to the front fender.

I just put Pirelli Sport Demons (100/90-16 front, 130/90-16 rear) on my motorcycle (to replace the 11 year old stock dunlops it came with! ) and they feel great, but I'm too much of a noob to really be able to tell the difference between the different aspect ratios in terms of turn-in and all that, since it's not a night-and-day difference.

More tire info than you can shake a stick at.

but youll be okay with 100/90-16 tires

[Amsler457]

What is the widest front and rear tire I can run on my stock wheels with no fender mods ?

[choneofakind]

100/90-16 and 130/90-16 is the widest you can go on both ends without fender mods or pinching or swingarm clearance.

I mention the 90 profile (taller) tire because I know that a 130/90 Bridgestone BT45 is about 138mm wide and has about 1/4" clearance on each side of the swingarm, where a 130/80 Pirelli Diablo scooter tire is more like 132 and has a little more clearance. Will the babes notice the extra 6mm? That's up to you to decide. (they won't).


[obligatory (but serious) rant]
Noob. Buy tires because they match your riding. Unless all you do is wednesday bike nights at the bar (on a 250. great choice for that), you should stop worrying about wide tires.
[/obligatory rant]

EDIT: looks like you have a newgen, not a pregen? Same rules apply. Go for the rubber you want. People seem to have really good luck on newgens with 110f/140r Pirelli Diablo Rosso II tires, but that's because they stick very well and 110/140 is the smallest combo they come in, not because the extra 10mm moistens the feminine undies.

[csmith12]

Originally Posted by choneofakind

[obligatory (but serious) rant]
Noob. Buy tires because they match your riding. Unless all you do is wednesday bike nights at the bar (on a 250. great choice for that), you should stop worrying about wide tires.
[/obligatory rant]

[agentbad]

I went with the Kenda k671's because they're cheaper then sport demons and last a lot longer.

[Finesse]

another vote here for the pirelli sport demons. excellent tires

I did NOT have to modify my front fender when I got these put on even though they are a little bigger than the stock size.

I ordered my tires from revzilla.com and had a friend who works in a car dealership mount and balance them for me, since my local shops wanted to charge in the 3 digits for mount/balance. one shop said they would install/mount/balance the tires I already paid $200 for, for an additional $145... that's NOT a good deal.

[mrudich]

I went with the Sport Demons and so far am extremely happy with them. I don't have anything to compare them to as this is the first bike I've owned and this was my first tire change, but they are definitely a HUGE upgrade from the crappy stock ones.

[Finesse]

glad you like them!!

and you are lucky to live in beautiful mendocino county....