Tire size

[Nubian]

What say you?

Well just noticed my front tire has a problem.
Contacted MSS and they suggest the wrong tire size was installed. I have used this size since day one (spitfire s11) with no problem. They wanted pictures of gap between front fender and tire. How many of you run the 110 instead of 100 on your front Standard?

[BA80]

I run a 110 on my special and never had an issue like that. I had a rub on the side once but never in the center of the tread.

[Nubian]

I run a 110 on my special and never had an issue like that. I had a rub on the side once but never in the center of the tread.

Were they Shinko's? I forgot to state that these are Shinko's 712 front and rear only front has the problem.

[BA80]

Yup, 712. The one I have on there now seems to be out of round. I've balanced it repeatedly and it still gets a "hop" between 70 and 75.

[jetmechmarty]

I took some front tire measurements in my garage recently. I didn't have a Shinko, but tire sizes vary a lot even though they're supposed to be the same size. As I recall the 100/90-19 Bridgestone Spitfire is 100 mm wide. The same size Metzeler ME880 was almost 110 wide. Dunlop GT501 was just over 90mm. Pirelli MT66 just over 90mm. Plus some others I forgot.

I don't believe a 110 Metzeler would fit on the XS, at least, I wouldn't be willing to try it. I expect a 110 Pirelli MT66 would likely fit, too. Keep in mind, the smaller tire will turn in faster.

Your tire looks like the fender trashed it, or something got between them. What do I know? I'm just a schmuck with a keyboard.

[BA80]

I found that the 110 turns just fine and makes the front much more stable in hard turns.

Does pretty good in the grass too if you can hang on to the bike.

[BA80]

I don't believe a 110 Metzeler would fit on the XS

I'm not sure what difference if any between the front of an XS and an XJ but I do believe that Tod has had a Metzler on the front of his XJ. I could be wrong though.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Nubian,

Take a look at this photo....from my Special front Tire pictorial/tip...I had to get the photo from the DROP DOWN MENU at the top of the site, instead of the regular FORUMs.


Look familiar?? That happened right after I had put that new tire on and took it for a high speed run! The cracking wasn't that deep, and the tire had a deeper central tread strip, so I just left it there. I DID adjust the fender to provide more clearance...I reamed out the front mounting holes a bit which allowed the fender to then be positioned a bit farther from the surface of the tire. That was back in ~2006, I just changed that tire this month with some 9K+ miles on it, it still had some tread, but was old and getting hard!

SO....your tire company will probably say it was owner/installer error for not ensuring enough clearance between the fender and tire to allow for centrifugal high speed expansion .

Good Luck! T.C.

PS, mine is a 110/90-19 also!

[jetmechmarty]

I'm not sure what difference if any between the front of an XS and an XJ but I do believe that Tod has had a Metzler on the front of his XJ. I could be wrong though.

I would be willing to wager there is a size difference in tires even within a brand. It's even possible that a 100/90-19 and a 110/90-19 Metzeler ME880 are the same tire with different numbers embossed on the sidewall. I don't know that, just saying it would not surprise me based upon my observations.

[Nubian]

Hey Nubian,

Take a look at this photo....from my Special front Tire pictorial/tip...I had to get the photo from the DROP DOWN MENU at the top of the site, instead of the regular FORUMs.


Look familiar?? That happened right after I had put that new tire on and took it for a high speed run! The cracking wasn't that deep, and the tire had a deeper central tread strip, so I just left it there. I DID adjust the fender to provide more clearance...I reamed out the front mounting holes a bit which allowed the fender to then be positioned a bit farther from the surface of the tire. That was back in ~2006, I just changed that tire this month with some 9K+ miles on it, it still had some tread, but was old and getting hard!

SO....your tire company will probably say it was owner/installer error for not ensuring enough clearance between the fender and tire to allow for centrifugal high speed expansion .

Good Luck! T.C.

PS, mine is a 110/90-19 also!

How do you adjust the fender for more clearance? I see what you mean, I guess I should have taken better pictures showing the gap, but it's not as close as it looks.

[Nubian]

Anyone know the size difference between the Spitfire S11 and the Shinko 712?

[BA80]

You should be able to loosen the 4 mounting bolts and move it around quite a bit.

[BA80]

Hey Nubian,

Take a look at this photo....from my Special front Tire pictorial/tip...I had to get the photo from the DROP DOWN MENU at the top of the site, instead of the regular FORUMs.


Look familiar?? That happened right after I had put that new tire on and took it for a high speed run! The cracking wasn't that deep, and the tire had a deeper central tread strip, so I just left it there. I DID adjust the fender to provide more clearance...I reamed out the front mounting holes a bit which allowed the fender to then be positioned a bit farther from the surface of the tire. That was back in ~2006, I just changed that tire this month with some 9K+ miles on it, it still had some tread, but was old and getting hard!

SO....your tire company will probably say it was owner/installer error for not ensuring enough clearance between the fender and tire to allow for centrifugal high speed expansion .

Good Luck! T.C.

PS, mine is a 110/90-19 also!

What air pressure were you running there TC? Do you recall?

[xs11lover]

Yup same thing happened to me.....I had been running kenda 110s with no troubles. when I got new tires I asked for that size because that was what was on the bike. I just assumed a stone got stuck in there on the way home! I showed it to the shop after I moved the fender up and he said watch it and if it doesn't get any worse don't worry about it. I changed the tire....
They had told me before when we had the drive shaft debate that 10% over/under on tire sizes is a given on all tires.

[TopCatGr58]

What air pressure were you running there TC? Do you recall?

Hey Greg,

Back then I used to use ~32 or so PSI. I didn't want the front end to be too stiff/bouncy so I ran a little softer than what it now discussed as the spec of around 40. I still only run about 35 psi.

SO...now the theory I think you're aiming at is that if it was a bit too low on pressure, then that would allow the sidewall to flex more which would then allow the center of the tire to expand outwards with the centrifugal affect. And IF it had the spec pressure, that would put more pressure on the sidewalls to keep them in place which might not allow them to collapse under the centrifugal force, and so the center would not be allowed to expand as much??

I just invision those top fuel dragsters with that big wide fat rear tires, and when they do their burnouts...the tires grow like 50% taller!

T.C.