TYRE TEST CRUISIN’ AND GRIPPIN’

SHINKO SR777 THE COST IS JUST A BONUS WORDS STUART WOODBURY PHOTOS THE BEAR

Our mule for this tyre test is The Bear’s Harley-Davidson 72. I was the mule to test the original fitment Dunlop tyres in a variety of conditions and of course I was the mule to test these new Shinko SR777 tyres we got from Bruce Collins Enterprises – the Australian Shinko distributor.

The original Dunlop tyres lacked overall grip and were quite slippery in the rain, so I was keen to see what the Shinko product could do.

The Bear had the Shinko tyres fitted by the good folk at Moto Tecnica and I was immediately drawn to the amount of tread depth the SR777 tyres offer, much more than the Dunlop tyre, so good life expectancy is the first bonus.

Once I got riding on the SR777 the high comfort level provides a dramatic improvement and there is also a big step up in grip levels – second bonus. In the rain I wasn’t slipping all over the place and of course the same went for the dry, where the OEM tyre would squirm around in the rear and tend to squeal under very hard braking, the SR777 stayed planted and was neutral under hard braking. So far, I was truly impressed!

The only downside to the SR777 was in the sizing. The Bear would have liked the whitewall version you can get, but the 72’s front tyre size is an 80/90/21, and the whitewall is only available in a 90/90/21, so he opted for the standard blackwall version. Only an aesthetic thing and we could have quite easily run the 90/90, but wanted to remain standard for a fair comparison.

Now for the trifecta and winning ticket with the Shinko SR777 tyres – and that is the price. I was knocked for six when I saw the $128 front tyre price (80/90/21), with $180 for the rear tyre (150/80/16)! Wow, having ridden on the SR777s now and experiencing what they can do, I have no idea why you’d spend more on anything else, you would not be getting any added bonus for the kind of riding you’ll do on a cruiser bike.

I expect The Bear will get around 10- 12,000km or more out of the SR777s, which is a massively inexpensive investment. Visit the Bruce Collins Enterprises website – www.bce.net.au to see the entire Shinko range and sizes, and to find your local dealer. SW

 Fit, damn you

The combination of a large diameter, 21 inches, and a narrow rim meant that the Moto Technica tyre fitting machine was unhappy about this job. No problem, though; they just did it manually. Moto Technica is at 98 Reserve Road Artarmon, 02 9436 4111. We recommend them highly.