Tire Size for 1981 XJ550 Seca - Can or should I go Larger?

I know what the recommended tire sizes are for the front and rear on my 81 550 seca, but I wanted to know if I can/should go with larger tires.

The tires that are on the bike now are 100/90-19 on the front and 120/90-18 on the rear made by continental. They are about 20 years old. The 120 on the rear is pretty tight.

I am strongly considering the Avon AM26 Roadriders and they recommend the 3.25-19 on the front and 4.00-18 on the rear. I called Avon technical support and they did not recommend using anything other than what their fitment chart said. This is not a surprise to me. He said that even though I have larger tires on it now, that Avon tires may not be the same size as others.

I like the look of the larger tires, but if I order them and they don't fit, I am stuck.

Any comments about going larger. Have any of you put larger tires on your 550 and if so, how large?

 

Hmmm.

As a matter of fact, I'm running the Avon RoadRider AM26s myself; a 4.00-18 rear and 3.25-19 front as specified by Avon.

LOVE 'EM. Great in the wet, too.

The only drawback is that you can only expect to get maybe 7000 miles out of a rear, 8K is really stretching it.

 

Thanks for your response Bigfitz52 I think I saw a post you did about changing the rear bearings and noticed the Avon tire. I sent you a note asking about them.

I guess I will go with the recommended sizes.

Great looking bike. Did you have to recondition that one or did you get it in that condition? Where did you get the rack/frame that is on the back?

 

I'm going with a 120/90-18 rear and 100/90-19 front on my 550 seca.

Continental Conti Go's