Shinko 009 Raven tire?
 

Anyone have any personal experience with the Shinko 009 Raven tires? I've read reviews...most of which praise the tire for its grip, life of tread, and especially price.

Any thoughts??

(Considering getting a one for my rear on my 03 f4i ;P)

There was a discussion of Shinko tires in the F3 section I think. thatsarachick has the 009 Ravens I think. I had the 005 Advance on my F3.

Cool thanks!

I had a pair of Shinkos on my bike when I bought it, and it felt way slippy in turns, even when they were warmed up. Making turns over crosswalk stripes and stuff like that always had me at full alert. I switched them out for a set of Michelin Pilot Road Twos and the difference is night and day.

Im thinking about some 009's for my f3. I found a place that sells them for about 150 a set. Ive read mixed reviews on the tires, but for every 1 bad review Ive read like 10 good reviews. For me, Im on a budget so Im either considering the ravens or bridgestones battlax 023's. Ive read that both tires (the ravens and the battlax) and both seem to have a real long life for canyons and everyday street riding.

I had a Shinko Advance on the rear of my F4i when I bought it. I was impressed with the tire overall, but the Shinko tires aren't cheap enough to be worth the risk IMHO. Get yourself a matched set of decent tires, it will be much safer!

If I had a spare set of wheels strictly for touring tires, I would rock them. Hell if I was a newer rider or just didn't ride extremely aggressively, I would rock them.

From what I hear it's a nice, predictable tire, but if you ride short commutes or lean/ride aggressively, I would definitely step up to something better. I hear the 005s have good grip for the money but wear quickly.

Still you can get the Dunlop Q2s for around $200 a set and for an aggressive street/trackday tire, it's pretty much impossible to beat...

My favorite choice for a setup that provides good overall performance for the money as well as longevity, is to run a nice grippy Sport Touring tire in the rear and a softer/streetable DOT takeoff or sporty multi compound front tire. Sometimes you can find these on ebay for $30-40 with like 60-80% of the tread still left in the middle. On top of that the tire will have a really nice and steep profile due to the worn sides that will keep its shape better over those long straight commutes and provide excellent turn-in over its life. The downside is figuring out a combo that has a similar stiffness/feel and finding a tire that warms up quickly.

A lot of Shinko's bad rep is ancient history. And snobbery ("they're too cheap to be good tires!"). I ran with Shinkos on my F3 and didn't find anything wrong.

But if they have a "track" or "twisty" tire, I don't know which it is. And they'd prolly be as bad on the track as a racing slick would be in the streets: doable but not recommended for the sane :p

I have a Shinko Advance rear and I have put 800 miles or so on it. It has been impressive. But for the same sort of money you can do better. There is also a lot to be said for having a matched pair of tires. If your front is dropping at a different rate to your rear it can really throw the feel of the bike off in corners.

I ran my pilot pures for over 10,000 miles and 3 track days at fast B group pace. You will NEVER see a shinko do that, EVER. You also never see shinko's on the track at anything above a beggininer/no passing in corners allowed group pace. I've known several ppl who used them, 2 of them swore shinko's were awesome. At least until they finally tried some real tires, now they don't use shinkos anymore.