Largest Tires, Front, Rear

[sweet78xs]

I would like to know what the largest tires you can fit on these bikes and still have rideable clearances. I have a 110/90-19 front, and a 130/90-17 rear. I see stock is 100/90-19 and 120/90-17 respectively. I also see that the newer bikes have 16 inch rears.

_Carey

[egsols]

The standards usually ran the 17's with the specials getting the 16's. My 79sf runs 130/19-16 rear and 100/90-19 front. I notice that the actually width and height depends on the manufacturer.

IIRC the bridgestone 130/90 16 runs 5.4 inches in width with others being 5.1 to 5.2

There are a bunch of older threads discussing this and I think one of them has a link to manufacturer's width's.

I think the max you could fit out back is 5.5" but anyone else is welcome to correct me if I'm mistaken.

I also don't think you can go much bigger than a 110/90-19 up front without getting into fender clearance issues.

My 2 cents worth

[Jerry]

110/90-19 is about as big as you can get up front. On the rear, 140/90-16 or -17 is about it. The difference in circumference (distance a tire rolls in 1 complete revolution) between the 16 and 17 inch tires is quite small, and depends on tire manufacturer. Even the 140 size will occasionally rub if the bike is heavily loaded, and go with the blackwall only; the raised white lettered tires rub anytime! Stock rear is a 130/90 -16 or -17. Just not much room to work with either front or back on these bikes without getting into some serious modifications.

[yamahansolo]

ok i have been reading tire thread all night and my eyes are sore!!!

i have read that these bikes should do better with skinny tires.

a 140 is still pretty skinny! so if i go with a 140 on the back will it make it handle worse... will the tire last longer than the 130 because of more contact???

my xj has a 110 s11 on the front. too bad it's a little dry rotted i could steal it and put it on mine!

[DiverRay]

I just put a new pair of tires on the LG. Front is a 100/90 and rear is a 140/90, both Elite 3 Dunlops. Handles very nice now, but I have about 1mm between the rear tire and the swingarm on the driveshaft side. I have NOT put anything on the new daily ride, as it had good tires on it when I got it from planedick.

[Crazcnuk]

'" 140 is still pretty skinny! so if i go with a 140 on the back will it make it handle worse... will the tire last longer than the 130 because of more contact???"

No. the difference is negligible. Mmostly ego based around some idea that 'fat' tires are somehow better.

In most cases the fatter tires are just a fashion statement.

Tires are chosen to give the best balance between surface area (contact patch) and psi to road. Larger diameter tires may last longer, but bigger or wider can reduce the adhesion to the road. It's a real balancing act and depends on what road conditions you encounter.

If you look around at bikes of similar weight and purpose, you will find that even modern ones are not that much larger unless the bike is a lot heavier.

Wierd design cruisers are a whole other story.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Chris,

Brent showed up with 140/90-16 on his rear of his special, but had noted that he had a little bit of rubbing on the driveshaft side! IT was a Dunlop Elite II, Black wall, not the Elite III !

But he also had it a bit over inflated at 45 psi, and due to my experience with widening of the side wall with overinflation, I suggested that he drop it down to about 38 psi, and that helped to reduce the amount of rubbing so that the tire stayed cool!

Different tires have different profiles and such, so it's good to know that DiverRay's Elite III's in the 140 size don't rub, but the Elite II's in the 140 are prone to rub.

When I was first running the twisties after I rebuilt Godzilla in 2000, I was using some old Elite II's in the 130 profile, and they were a little slippery due to their age/hardness, not so much the actual size. I went to the 140 Elite II's in 2002 and due to nice new softer rubber, they grabbed very nicely, was like riding on rails, handled very well.

Like Craz said, a wider tire can actually reduce the pressure against the contact patch per square inch due to it being spread out over a larger contact area, and so you can actually have less pressure against the road with the tire. I can lean it over far enough to scrape pipes and pegs with either the 130's or the 140's...but more of a chance to rub with the OLDER Elite II's in the 140, possibly less chance of rub with Elite III ?!
T.C.

PS, I also have a 110/90-19 Dunlop 404 on the front, plenty of room!

[egsols]

The width of these is going a bit far, but hey, if you got the time and money........

http://www.autoblog.com/2008/01/30/a...ike-from-hell/

[Crazcnuk]

Waht I found worked vry well was a softer compound on the front.

I was using the Metzler Marathon on the rear, and a Metzler Laser on the front.

The lazer is 2 compunds softer, and it made the front a lot stickier. It also made it so that the front and rear would wear out at about the same rate.

[Geezer]

I bought 3 Avon 130/17's for a killer price a few years back and I'm happy with them.

I've always found using the widest and best quality tire I could fit on the front of my bikes made them wander less on uneven pavement.

My 79 Standard has a stock sized Dunlap K591 on the front and while it's a nice tire, it wanders a bit more than I like and I'm looking forward to getting the same tire in a 110 width for next year's riding season...

Geezer