Tires? how big can I go, and what kind do you like?

Hey everyone,

Well the time has come to try and figure out what kind of tires I will be putting on the 750 Midnight Maxim...I will be puttering around town but looking forward to doing a lot of road trips as well. I want to get both replaced at the same time, and I am also wondering if I can go to a wider tire?
If you can offer any insight, or help me out trying to figure out what to put on it, I will be one happy camper!

 

If yur planning on doing some serious traveling and want some good handling tires that get good mileage, I suggest Avon Venoms or Metzler 880s. They both are great. I use to run Dunlops, but they don't handle near as well as the others and don't get near the mileage out of them.
I'm thinking about going a little fatter on the rear myself (kinda like the ol' lady!! ) and thinking about finding a car tire that fits onto the rim. Alot of guys run them with great results in handling and they get unreal mileage out of them (about three time as many as a bike tire)
I want to go with a fatter front tire also and go without a front fender on my bobber. I just like the looks of it I guess.

 

Don't think there's much you can do about putting a wider tire on the rear due to drive-side clearance issues. I've heard of tricks like shimming the wheel over, but I'm not sure how practical that would be, especially on a bike you want to be roadtripping. If you're really serious about, get your hands on a Virago ('84-'97) swingarm and see what you can do about fitting it on your bike. Those came stock with a 140/90-15 and I believe will accommodate a 150. Not sure how hard it would be to make it work but if you do I wanna hear all about it!

As for the front, there's not a whole lot you can do with the stock 19" wheel. You could go up to a 110/80-19 but I don't think there's much wider that'll fit the rim. At least if there are, they're not very common. If you look in my gallery there are pictures of my X with a 130/90-16 on the front mounted to a Fazer rim.

 

I may have to re-do the swing arm on the shaft side. I believe the shaft is just solid rod inside a housing. I have a spare to experiment with so I'll make it work.
So far the only parts on my bike that are still stock are the engine and the frame (which has been modified to suit me) It's parts from Honda, Suzuki, Kawasaki, and Harley Davidson, not to mention all the after market stuff I added. You could say it's a Hienz 57 model.

 

Painter, if you successfully make or modify your shaft to be longer, let me/us know about the details .... i was under the impression that the shaft needed to be very well balanced.

 

Question:
I've got 130/80/18's on the rear and 100/90/19s on the front. How much room do I have to work with on the sizes? Not necessarily looking for wider, just more variety in which brand I can use.

 

here' a good resource for comparing tires, a lot of the manufacturers even list actual SIZE sizes (width, circumference, etc.)

http://totalmotorcycle.com/photos/tire- ... /index.htm

Personally I recommend a front tire that does not have a continuous center groove. Tires with a continuous center groove tend to follow rain grooves in pavement. I like Dunlop and Avon myself.

 

My V-Star 1100 came (to me) with a 205/60/16 car tire that will theoretically last 120,000 miles (it will dry-rot first!).
The downside of a car tire is the square profile wants to keep the bike vertical in corners, especially noticable in low speed turns. The bike doesn't go exactly where you point it.

 

That tire's got to be 9, 10 inches wide.
8O

 

Yes, the car tire idea has been around for ages now. There's Goldwing and Valkyrie riders who've been using them with great success. The Honda Shadow also come with a pretty wide rear tire and the 185 - 205/15 car tires will fit on them. My Metzler is about 8"-9" wide so I know a 195/15 will fit on, no problem.
My Shadow has the Metzler 880 on it now, which I like and it's getting remarkable mileage so far. I am going with a car tire on it next time I change. They are cheaper and last alot longer. The difference in handling is not as much as some think. I noticed how heat and weight ate up those Dunlops on long trips (full gear with a passenger) and the car tire doesn't have issues with that.

 

205mm = 8.07inches
still mighty wide

 

Wide is good!

 

I want a wider tire too.... just don't think I can bring myself to put a car tire on the bike.

 

If I had to explain it, you wouldn't understand. It's one of the oldest tricks in the book, but some just don't go out of the box which is fine with me. I wouldn't push the idea on anyone. I've done my research and am confident in my choice to do it. But..I would never put a motorcycle tire on a car!!

 

Your math is right. This tire would support the front of a mini-van, and last 60,000 miles, but it's a harder compound than a bike tire, so in an extreme corner, the rear would "wash out" before the front.

Once I put a donut spare on my 3,500 LB utility trailer- - lasted a week !!