Kenda K671 tires? Too tall?

[LemonSlice!]

Hello! This is my first post here, nice to meet everyone!

I just got my very first bike, a beautiful 2005 ninjette with 8,6xx miles. It came to me with brand new tires (less than 100 miles) which is cool...except that they are brand new Dunlop K630s... So I'm looking at new tires as my first upgrade.

I'm a newbie rider, and I don't plan on doing any hard riding for a good long time. What I'm looking for are tires that I'll feel confident with in standard street riding, particularly wet (I live in the Pacific Northwest), but that won't raise my bike too much. I'm fairly small (female 5'3") and one thing I love about my ninjette is that I can flat-foot when stopped and I feel I can control/stabilize it (not so when I try to ride my husband's Z1000!!!) I've read the ninja250.org tire faq, and my question is - will the Kenda 671 raise my bike much? I see they're good for commuters (track days are a long ways off in my future...), but will they raise my bike at all? That's my main concern.

Thank you in advance!!
Lemon

[Motofool]

Welcome to the site, Lemon !!!

Yes, those will make the rear a little bit higher, but nothing dramatic.

For moderate street riding, the tires that your bike has now are perfectly fine, unless they are more than five or six years old from manufacturing date.

[LemonSlice!]

Thank you, Motofool!! Hmm I will have to find out the manufacture date, from what little I know of the bike's history, it's probably 2009 or 2010. Are you sure these tires will be ok in rain?? I just see so many things online saying "these tires suck". Maybe I'm being too paranoid.....

Thanks again. ^_^

[Motofool]

Originally Posted by LemonSlice!

Thank you, Motofool!! ............Are you sure these tires will be ok in rain??..........

You are welcome

It is not the rain, it is what your control inputs are in the rain.

With no one mishap, I wore a set of those commuting, frequently in rain, at around 70~80 mph, down to the cords.

There are better options for wet pavement (Kendas have been great), but these are not as bad as many state, IMHO.

[rojoracing53]

Originally Posted by LemonSlice!

Thank you, Motofool!! Hmm I will have to find out the manufacture date, from what little I know of the bike's history, it's probably 2009 or 2010. Are you sure these tires will be ok in rain?? I just see so many things online saying "these tires suck". Maybe I'm being too paranoid.....

Thanks again. ^_^

Your to paranoid and those people just suck at riding in the rain and they blame anything(the tires) but them selves to their mistake.

Enjoy your new ride

[Solunatic]

I've ridden both the stockers and the kendas to the cords commuting in portland, oregon and I can say this: The stockers are adequate in the wet for anything but performance riding, the kendas can handle some performance riding in the rain, but beyond that they give much more feel than the stockers in rain even at low speeds. I'm very particular about my tires, and I would still buy the kendas If I was using them solely for commuting or touring. The stockers I would run if they were on the bike but i'd be making excuses to buy new tires.

As far as height changes go, you'll only notice the difference if you're already on your tippy toes.

[FrugalNinja250]

My 2006 still had the stock Dunlops on them when I bought the bike in '09 with 2K miles on it. Within a thousand miles the sidewalls were disintegrating, a bazillion cracks and checks. They were also "greasy" feeling. I went with the Kenda K671s and never looked back as I use this bike as a daily commuter. I'm now at 59K miles and on my third set of Kendas and I love them. I consider them to be the absolutely best bang for the buck by far. The only reason to go with anything stickier (IMHO) is if you're taking the bike to the track, or if you're going to ride on the street as if you were on the track (highly NOT recommended).

As far as height goes, replacing them front and rear will raise the bike like, maybe, a quarter inch, if even that much. At 5'-3 you're probably not able to flat-foot the bike anyway, so this won't really change things. The speedo will likely become slightly more accurate as it often reads high from the factory. The odometer on these bikes is dead-nuts on the money, the new tire in the front will make your odometer read .997 miles for every actual mile traveled.

[j98sprint]

Agree with the above post. Great tire at a great price. Small height difference.

j98sprint

[Lychee]

I didn't like the stock tires, they have this groove down the middle that likes to follow the grooves cut into a concrete freeway if they are cut parallel to the direction of travel. As a newbie, you probably won't notice the difference and should ride them as is without incurring any extra costs from new tires. When you have enough skill to tell the difference, try another one that fits your riding style.

[choneofakind]

Originally Posted by LemonSlice!

I just see so many things online saying "these tires suck". Maybe I'm being too paranoid.

Welcome!

Like I've said in other threads, unless they 'suck' to you, don't change them. Grow as a rider before worrying about fixing problems you don't even have yet. Once you get better at riding, you'll notice things about the bike that are either lacking, or awesome with your style of riding; things like suspension, brakes, jetting, tires, etc etc. It's your bike. Learn at your pace, and make changes as you see fit.

Are Dunrocks usable tires? yes. Would I choose them for my track riding? no. But that doesn't mean a thing, because I'm not riding your bike.

I can tell you that I rode Dunrocks for a while when I first got my bike. It took me a full season to even realize what I was feeling from the bike.

So ride away! Have fun! Learn what feedback the bike gives, and learn to understand what it's telling you. Once you decide that your riding style could benefit from other tires, you're more than welcome to change them