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Just purchased a 2006 and want to replace tires. Anyone have these whitewall tires with pros or cons?
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Veni, Vidi, Posti
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I have a poor opinion of Shinko tires. Michelin, Pirelli, Continental, and Heidenau all make far better scooter tires. The problem is whitewalls. As far as I know, none of the quality manufacturers import a scooter whitewall to the US.
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I am leaning towards Michelin, but thought I would ask opinions. If I am able to ask preferred suppliers, if not, I understand.
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Molto Verboso
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We call them Shi*ko tires, especially the white wall ones. If you never ride on wet roads, enjoy a twisty turn or go over the posted speed limit you'll be fine. If your'e only putting new tires on it to sell it, and figure white walls look great and will help with the sale, it's your karma. My friend used them and liked them though, or did he use the Prima brand white walls?
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The crazy thing is that the motorcycle tires made by Shinko are just a step under the very top and usually a very good value for the dollar spent.
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Thanks for your input, I appreciate it.
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Molto Verboso
2020 GTS300 HPE/2022 Triumph Rocket 3R/1981 Honda CB900C/2019 Triumph Speedmaster
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Wdanyluk wrote:
Just purchased a 2006 and want to replace tires. Anyone have these whitewall tires with pros or cons?
I have those exact tires on my '20 GTS 300.

They look great when clean, but the thing is...that the rear tire's whitewall will stay clean for about twenty miles, then look like dirty crap.

I'm not sure why, but the Vespa kicks more junk onto the sidewalls of it's rear tire much sooner than a motorcycle wheel wearing the whitewall Shinko model tire.

My wife's Triumph Speedmaster has a pair of Shinko whitewalls on it, and even though it's a chain drive machine, surprisingly, it's rear whitewall stays as clean as the front tire does, and doesn't require cleaning after every ride like the Vespa's rear tire does.

Another thing is that, as others have mentioned here, it's wet road performance is NOT good, and in some circumstances it will scare the snot out of you.

Additionally, If you ever ride your Shinko-tired Vespa on a rain grooved road surface, with these tires, you'll find yourself squirming all over the lane, and wondering if the tires have five pounds of air pressure in them..

I will keep the whitewall Shinko tires on my GTS for a bit longer, but they will be soon replaced with a set of good, known-quality scooter tires.

They look great....but considering my first-hand experience with this tire, I wouldn't recommended them for the Vespa.
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Thank you for your response. I will go with something else.
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eeeee bip
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eeeee bip
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Sir, I salute you.

You asked for advice, some nice people gave it and you accepted it as being helpful.

It's refreshing to see.
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