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Published: September 15th 2012
About a years and a half ago, while enjoying a nice BBQ sandwich at a Ride to Eat with a group of riders from the Motorcycle Tours Forum the subject of tires came up. Of course I was all ears, because my tires were looking very very bald. I was sitting between a rider that rode in on a KLR and another that rode a Suzuki Bandit and they both were raving about their tires, Shinko 705s. They said that the tires had great grip, were very affordable (cheap) and gave them a good 6,000 to 7,000 miles of safe riding. I also talked to other riders, mostly with bigger heaver bikes, that said the millage stinks and the tires were junk.
When I got home I decided to try a pair. One of the riders told me that he got them from
Motorcycle Superstore and that they offered free shipping. I found there website and ordered a pair and sure enough they shipped them to the installer of my choice for free. A week later the tires were on my bike. The front and back tire ran me about $160 for the pair and then I paid
Big Boy Motorcycles 
Arriving at Big Boy Motorcycles
1834 Airport Blvd.
W. Columbia, SC 29169
803-794-7900another $90 to install them. Total invested $250.
I got great service out of the tires. The tires stuck to the road better than the Trail Wings that were on the bike. I do not have a single issue with the tires to report. Even when the tread was getting low on them and the wear bar was showing, the tires road like they were glued to the road. Just last week I got stuck riding about 35 miles in the rain and never lost traction with the road. I was/am really happy with the tire.
Four days ago, while cleaning up the bike, I noticed that the rear tire was showing a lot of wear. I checked the millage and my calculations showed that I had gotten 6,723 miles out of the back tire. The front still had plenty of wear left. Even though the rear tire looked like I could have gotten another 500 miles out of it, I decided to go ahead and order a new rear tire.
I got back on the internet, went to my favorites and opened up the Motorcycle Superstore website and ordered another
rear 705 for my 2007 Suzuki DL650 VStrom. My bike takes a 150/70/R17. The total price for the rear tire was $ 89.99 with free shipping. I went ahead and had the tire sent to my home because I also ordered several other items. The tire arrived two days later and I made an appointment with Big Boy Motorcycles to have the tire installed.
This morning I secured the tire to the top case of my bike and left out for the 40 minute ride to Lexington SC. I arrived around 10 am and they took the bike right back. $50 later I had the rear tire installed and was ready to go. One thing that I noticed is that the cost of the tire had gone up by $4 and the installation price went up by $5. With the way inflation has caused prices to go up I think I still got a good price.
As you can see that by putting the Shinko on my bike again I am sold on the tire. I have ridden on pavement, gravel, dirt and farm roads and have had no issues. I did get less
New Rear Tire
This photo was taken before the new tire was installed on the bike. mileage out of the Shinko then I got with the Trail Wings but the tire cost about half the price and sticks to the road a lot better. For the money I don’t think you can get a better tire.
I am already planning on putting a new set of Shinko 705’s on the VStrom once this set is finished. I believe I have enough life left in the front tire to leave it on until this new rear one is used up.
In the last year and half I have talked to several people that have tried Shinko tires on heavier bikes and they say that the tire did not last long at all. From what I can tell the Shinko 705 is a great tire for smaller lighter bikes but do not hold up nearly as well on the heavier bikes.
Ride Safe!
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Jeff (1129VLD)
non-member comment
Shinko vs CT
I'm also close to needing a new rear tire on my wee. I was going to try the 705s, but decided to take a walk on the dark side instead. I'll let you know how it goes when I put the CT on.