I just ordered a rear tire & tube for the Savage last night from American Motorcycle Tire.
A Kenda Challnger in the 130/90 x 15 size @ 66.20 & free shipping. Could have saved a few bucks elsewhere maybe but their site is extremely easy to use, I thought, so I ordered there.

We,ll see how that goes. I need a rear tire bad. I thought long & hard about buying a more expensive tire as Ive put on nearly 3,000 miles in the short time I've had the Savage. I Used to ride bicycle long distance and road on Kenda bicycle tires because they were inexpensive. I had good luck with them there so thought I'd try them on a motorcycle too; once anyway!
I'll let you know how it goes.

badwolf wrote on 06/11/16 at 13:50:39:


Badwolf, thanks for catching that. The size should have been 130/90 x 15 ! I wanted to try a narrower & taller rear tire. I ride a lot of back gravel roads. My thinking was that the handling might be better with a narrower tire; we'll see!

The current size is 140/80 x 15. I think that is stock. I never bought the bike new but I think the rubber was original!.
I corrected the original post.

I seen the pic of your little bagger. BTW , thanks for putting it on for all to see. Nice bike!
I read all the scuttlebutt on tires and I realize; if iI'm gaining anything it isn't much. I'll take what  I can get! I thought I'd try it one go around before going to a 16" wheel on the rear. And yes, I've read the skuttlebutt on that too.
The trouble with this bike is it means alittle something different to everyone that has one. That's some of the fun in having one; I guess!
We need a company that makes a single cylinder for every occasion; that way we could all just buy the bike we want and ride the wheels off it; no?

OK tire came today via UPS-- less than a week. According to tracking tube should be here tomorrow by separate carrier (FedEx). Apparently these folks drop ship this stuff from either their warehouse(s) or someone else's.
The Kenda Challenger was dated to be 32 weeks old - to me - it's a keeper. I'll probably have it worn out in a couple years.
They sent me an email upon shipping the tires. I emailed this email address back and they sent me the tracking numbers within a couple hours so I was content knowing there was someone on the other end of the order.

Gus wrote on 06/20/16 at 09:50:25:


Buying tires from any internet supplier is a bit of a gamble if you are in a hurry.  They are are all using the same  "drop ship" method and getting the tires/tubes from the same supplier warehouses.  Most of the time it get shipped fine - but once in a while the suppliers and shippers screw up.  And it is frustrating the tires, tubes and factor parts often come from different suppliers and arrive independently of each other.  I once ordered a 100/80-18 Hidenau Tube that was listed as "in stock" on the dealers website.....only to find out it was going to take 2 weeks for them to get one (they really didn't have it in stock at all).

The only sure bet is if you can find a new (fresh) tire in stock at a local shop.....and that is not real common when our bike has somewhat uncommon sizes.

I don't buy my tire locally either.....as I got weird choices in brand and size of tire I want.  And most likely they are not going to have what I need....and they are going to have to order them anyhow.

Now.....if I owned a common bike, with a common size tire, and wanted the latest commonly sold tire.....then maybe I could buy them local.

I received the tube Monday and put the tire on forthwith. I've put 120 miles or so on the tire and couldn't be happier other than the fit isn't quite right. I may end up having to move my license plate as it appears to rub on rough roads. So the diameter must be a bit larger than the stock size.

If there is any changes in the way it handles it would be that it drops into a corner more easily; which kinda caught me off guard.
I road to work again this AM (30 miles) on wet roads and I am liking the Kenda Challenger so far. Wish this bike had a real fender on it . ☔