Tire questions
 

I recently got a '99 GZ250, has about 2950 miles on it, took the MSF course, etc, have been doing some local riding, practicing, etc, before I go into town or on the highway, getting my skills up. The tires have lots of good tread, barely used, but being 8-9 years old, have developed small cracks, crazing here and there, in the sidewalls, and are a little hard, from being outside. If this was in my car I wouldn't worry about it yet, but the smartest thing to do would be to get a new set put on the bike, as I don't want a tire failure at 50-60 mph. I'd love to buy these online because I'd probably save myself 25-40% of what the local Suzuki stealer or other bike shops charge, but then I'd probably have to search around for someone to change them out for me, and maybe pay for shipping (some sites have free shipping) and buy some tools, etc., so the cost may come out to the same thing.
I guess I could ask the bike shop if they'd put them on if I supplied them, but I doubt they would like that idea.
My other choice is to ride on these for a while, not knowing how long I'll keep this bike before possibly moving up to a bigger one sometime in the future (if a tire doesn't blow out on the road).
Any suggestions as to good inexpensive tires for this thing?
Does anyone have experience with H rated Cheng Shin tires, which are about $40-50 less than Dunlops or Bridgestones?

Thanks.

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You're situation with tires sounds exactly what I experienced. I bought my 2000 GZ250 in December. It had around 2000 miles on it and the tires looked OK, except they were cracking on the sidewalls. I felt it would be wise to go ahead and replace the tires instead of taking chances that one might blow. I bought the Cheng Shin tires and I think they're great! I've put about 300 miles on them so far and I'm very happy with them. They seem to handle well in the curves. I purchased mine from a local bike shop and then had them install the tires. I thought about doing it myself, but it seemed like more trouble than it was worth. The install cost was around $25/tire.

I have the Cheng Shin tires and I am satisfied with them. I have good traction and disperse water extremely well (rooster tails) off the back tire. I also have a C50 and plan on putting tehe Cheng Shin on them also. Here is a good website for them: http://www.kgmotorcycletires.com/cheng_ ... 6_c907.htm.

You can purchase them and have any local bike shop put them on. They will charge you for it with no complaints. Money is money. Expect to pay $25-$37 per tire for mounting and balancing. You may have to take the wheels off though. No big deaL, easy.

tire questions
 

I think I'll try and find a bike shop here that'll mount and balance the new tires, and I'll buy them online. I can take the wheels off, and it would give me a good opportunity to clean the chain, but then I'll need some sort of stand. It never ends, does it?, just like owning a boat.

I've bought 5 Cheng Shin tires and they work well for me. They last longer than the stock tire that came on my GZ250.

You can use a regular jack from a car to lift the front and rear wheels, helped by the kickstand.

Front:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...cker/apes2.jpg

Rear:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...cker/apes1.jpg

tire questions
 

What do you put the bike down on if you take of both wheels? Or do you do this one at a time?
I suppose I can rig up something to put under each end then jack up the other if both wheels are off.

You can keep the bike lifted with two jacks and the kickstand (I did it), but it's better to change one tyre at a time, keeping the mounted wheel braked.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...racker/one.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...acker/one2.jpg

I just got an email response from swmototires.com saying they don't carry Cheng Shins because they get hard very quickly. Does anybody have a problem like that? That has to relate to poor traction especially around curves after a while.

Jaime, thanks for the pics. I do have a couple of those scissor jacks around. After getting the bike up, it could be supported on something more solid underneath it if need be and tied down so it won't fall over.

Not me I wear mine out way before that happens.

Never heard this when I was researching tires to buy.

Here is where I got the last ones.

KG Motorcycle Tires & Accessories
http://www.kgmotorcycletires.com/

M906602 Cheng Shin C906 110/90H16 $51.78 ea
M907501 Cheng Shin C907 130/90H15 $56.45 ea

Inner Tubes
TS155005506C Inner Tube 5.00/5.50-15 CEN TR6 ea $13.25
TS16400460 Inner Tube 4.00/4.60-16 TR6 $9.36 ea

Rim Strips $2.00 ea