Hey guys, I was searching for new tires for my shay. I went to Coker and I was amazed at the price of tires. I guess I live in the past.
Is there any one brand that is better than another?
I need to buy 4 new tires. Mine are dry rot. What's the best price? Any company cheaper than Coker? Please let me know.

Thanks!
Happy motoring!
Joe

Joe,
I can only offer my opinion. Most people seem to go with the firestones tires from Coker. I like the Lester tires from Universal. They are a little cheaper and have a more aggessive tread. Like I said, My opinion. DON"T FORGET NEW TUBES!

NY - RON

Hey Joe, I feel your pain, I just bought 5 tires, tubes etc. a few months back. I finally went with Coker and got the Firestones. I like Coker because when you tell them Shay,they knew exactly what to send me. They even worked on lowering shipping charges to save me money. Just another opinion. Dave Oh yeah, remember-offset valve stems on your tubes.

I have had other tires on "Clementine" and they have not lasted as long as the Coker. Another advantag to the Coker tires for me is that I get them via Discount tires and they also understand the wheel and can spin balance them and give me a warranty. Cost is not always the best reason for purchase. my .02

I went cheap and tubeless,my tires were just temporary,until I found the right wheels.I had 28 year old Allstate dry weather checked maypop tires.I replaced them with $63.00 Bridgestone Spitfire 130/90HX18 Mororcycle tires.I got them from American Motorcycle Tire,online.They work really well,no tubes either.Lynn

Lynn,

There's been some sort of a debate as to whether you can use TUBELESS tires on TUBE TYPE RIMS and the jury seems to be out on this one...You can see this when your SEARCH the Internet on the subject.

If you installed TUBES inside of your TUBELESS tires, you would be adding a measure of safety than without TUBES....Is $80.00 dollars worth of inner tubes too much to pay for your safety??

What is the weight requirement or capacity for your motorcycle tires??? Motorcycles by their nature are much LIGHTER than CARS...Our Shay's are in the 1850 pound range wheres most motorcycles are but a few hundred pounds.

It's been documented that the rims for TUBELESS tires are manufactured different and that the BEAD on the tires themselves are different.

If you are using original Shay wire rims, then there's always the possibility of air leakage somewhere...Have you experienced any air leakage??? If your rims are more modern aluminum, magnesium or steel types, then there's no further need for discussion as many owners are using them but I personally haven't ever run into anyone using motorcycle tires on a Shay or Camelot.

Looking out for your safety.

Please, some comments for or against me from others!!!! Has anyone else done this???? We need some vigorous debate and/or input on this one so we can learn more than just replacing aging tires and tubes...Is Lynn driving around on 4 potential time-bombs or am I just being melodramatic??

Reggie

As I understand the difference between the "old" tube type rims and the more modern tubless rims is the shape of the tubeless rim between the beads. The newer rim is shaped so in the event of a sudden loss of air the tire will not flop sideways and try to come off the rim. This could happen with either tire. It is not a strength issue. I've been running tubless tires on my '51 Ford rims for 24 years.

Karl, thanks for info. Do you think this design would this apply to the stock Shay rim?

The tubless rims have a large diameter slightly smaller than the bead diameter extending partway across to reduce the chance of this happening. It only goes part way so you still have a deep area to get the bead into to allow slipping the opposite tire bead over the rim. The construction of the Shay rim doesn't lend itself to this although it isn't very deep in the center. However, on the brighter side, when a radial goes flat, because of the belts they tend to run very straight so I think the possibility of the tire coming off would be less with a radial than a bias ply on any rim.

I can't speak to this particular use of motorcycle tires on a Shay, but all things being equal, tubleless tires are safer than tube-type. Generally, tube tires are more likely to blow out if punctured, compared to a tubless which just leak down.

I said the motorcycle tires were only temporary,they worked very well.I balanced them on a regular dynamic balance machine like most tire shops have.mounted them tubeless,easy to do on a hot day,with real tire lube and motorcycle tireirons.They have been on the car for a year with no problems.I run tubeless radial tires on stock 16 inch wire wheels on my real 28 model A,with no air loss or problems.No timebombs yet.If you want pics,ask.Lynn

Thanks Lynn. Yes, a picture would be nice.

hi please tell more abought what you did befor you mounted the tires.and did you balance them on or off the car and how many ply are the tires .this is very interesting to us all.thank you for the info.

Here's a link on the motorcycle tire.

http://www.americanmototire.com/catalog/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=270&products_id=747

Steve were the tire hard to mount, did you use tubes.


Mike

Hi Everyone:

Brilliant to think out of the box on tires.

I think the tires will hold the weight (after all the 1850lbs is divided by 4) and..........

the big bikes R more than a few hundred pounds, the last one I had was 700 lbs without anything in the saddlebags.

So I imagine the rear tire must by needs be able to hold up most of that or all on acceleration.

But....... before I would trust my car let alone my tuccus
to that, I would have some tubes in them babies.

The weak link is the wheel here, a good tube, and perhaps wheel liner (Coker has got it covered) pun intended, is what would give the Shay racing shoes cheap.

As for mounting, I bet U could do it with a polished set of tire tools and a bottle of dish soap.

I reckon U could balance it too if U built yourself a wheelshop workbench.

But that is why tire shops were invented.

Great Idea

Hi Mike, wasn't me. I just provided the link. Lynn Dawson installed the actual tire. Steve

Well if you only focus and the tires that's ok but for me it was to improve my ride and safety. For $250 I bought a 15 inch steel rim from Rally America out of Fresno. Then bought Some 1 1/2 white wall tires for $300. With the wider tire it makes the ride smoother and used a 235/75/15 Which is a little taller and makes better gas mileage on the freeway.