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Oversized tire update

13K views 62 replies 25 participants last post by  Misfittom138 
#1 · (Edited)
Hey, Gang....:D

For those a bit skittish about this mod, or for those who may be considering it, I thought I would weigh in on my experiences with the increased tire sizes (as seen below in my signature) over stock, after 500 miles of riding on the new tires.

Let me first say that, there are no clearances issues with these upgraded sizes. If you try to have someone else put these sizes on, and they suggest that there are fitment issues, take your business elsewhere!!! I see no evidence of scuffing (or nearly so) on the tires, either from the fenders--or the swingarm.

The main advantage that I've experienced thus far is increased stability. Whether it's turning tight circles in a parking lot (scraping the pegs is that much easier, now!....:p), or cruising the interstate at 70+ mph, the bike just feels more stable.

Turn-in effort, if anything more, is negligible.

As Dianna (and perhaps others) have already mentioned, the bike is running at lower rpms for a given speed (I'd say 400 rpm, or maybe a little more).

I haven't checked for improved gas mileage over the factory sizes, nor have I been in the rain with the new treads, yet. So I can't offer any feedback there.

Anyway, for those facing the need for new tires, this upgrade seems to be a no-lose option, based on what I've encountered....:smiley_th
 
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#2 ·
This is good to hear. I have been a proponent of the larger front for years
(the 110), and was only told that a 170 would not fit....never had the chance to check it out myself.

More rubber on the road is always a good thing,

You wouldn't happen to have a photo of the two tires next to each other for comparison would you?

KM
 
#3 ·
Sorry, no photos. I never thought of before/after, especially on the bike itself....:(

BTW: Now seems to be a good time to mention something else...

(Again) for those needing new tires soon--be sure to take full advantage of the fact that our bike uses tubeless tires.

When you order your new tires, also order/purchase two or three 8-oz bottles of "Ride On" tire sealant.

This stuff works with tubed tires--but even better with tubeless tires!

After you "break in" your new tires, add "Ride On" per the instructions that come with your order. It's actually pretty easy to install...:)

And no, I'm not an employed by, or in any way affiliated with, the parent company of "Ride On" sealant....
 
#6 ·
*Sniff* *muffed sob*
I'm so proud of you!
You have learned well grasshopper! :rockon:
 
#4 ·
Did you have any issues getting the rear wheel back into the rear swingarm with the wider tire on it? Any notes about how you did it?
 
#5 ·
I did the samething to mine last summer. The rear tire was a little hard getting in but if you let the air out of the tire it slides right in. I've got about 1,000 miles on both tires and love the way they feel.
 
#7 ·
Thanks, Dianna!....:D

Darrel, to answer your question: You may find that letting air out prior to mounting the tire helps; other that that, I don't remember any install complications.

For what it's worth: Metzeler fans--note that the tires that Yamaha (Star) is using for the slick new Raider....are Metzeler ME880s.
 
#8 ·
The front tire sounds like a nice upgrade. My only concern about the rear is the effect on the loads placed on the splines and other drive line components. Designers are always under pressure to keep cost effectiveness and over-engineering in mind. I wonder if Kawa had listed mods that would void the warranty. Of course, that's moot with our bikes now.
 
#9 ·
Also for those of you wondering - ME-880s are what OCC uses on most of their bikes (at least the ones on the show). I have them on my V-Star and I love em. If I hadn't gone with the Avon Venom-X tires, I probably would have put the MEs on my Vulcan, which is actually now **officially** my buddies Vulcan. tears, sniffles.
 
#10 ·
Bumping this back to the top.
 
#11 ·
and if i remember correctly the larger front tire corrects the speedo difference.... i need atleast a new front.... maybe ill look into stepping up to the larger size for the front....
 
#12 ·
I will try to get pics off the tire size diff. I have my new Metz in my basement patiently waiting. I didn't get the larger front though. ...shame,shame,shame... I had the Metz on my ninja 250 and they were grrreatt. especially in the rain, and in the rain on cement roads with those stupid grooves. they didn't track all over.
 
#14 ·
I went with the 170/80 in back and stayed with the 100/90 in front. Metzeler
 
#16 ·
I will do pics when I put the tires on the bike. right now its 10 degrees out. I'm not changing tires in my garage and lubing my spline, in this weather. Hopefully later this week. When I do though I will get before and after pics. I could do a pic now with the one tire off the rim, but it wouldn't look quite the same without the weight of the bike
 
#17 ·
FWIW, guys, the 110/90-19 front, 170/80-15 rear combination has been working for me for well over 15,000 miles now. IIRC, it was Feb. '07 when KM commented on the Yahoo group he didn't think the 170 would clear the swingarm, but wasn't sure, so I set out to find out. It did, sooo...I done it. :D

Found out later some of the 1500A (same stock tire sizes as the 750) riders had been using the 170 for years.

Jim
 
#19 ·
Agreed!!! :rockon: I need to replace both of mine as they are worn/old and some pics would help me determine if I want to oversize or not.

BTW, there was another thread somewhere on here asking how you can tell the age of your tires. The risk is that, even if you can not see dry rot (small cracks) on your tires, the rubber compound loses it's elasticity over time. Which means every pothole is an even bigger threat of having a blowout. Although very aggressive riders might need to change more often, a good rule to follow is think about it after three years, change them by five years. Anything over five years old is on its way out. Not worth risking your life or your significant other if you ride 2-up.

Check your newly purchased tires to make sure you haven't been stuck with stale ones. Should be within a year at most.

Found this a while back on another website somewhere, can't remember so can't properly credit, but is very helpful when looking at tires:

• How do you know how old the tires are? All tires have an industry-standard dating code stamped on them. Look for digits stamped into the mold on the rubber sidewall of the tire. The date code for tires made prior to 2000 is: "WWY", where WW is two digits denoting the week of the year, and Y is the last digit of the year. A tire produced on May 30th (the 22nd week) of 1996 would be stamped 226. (A tire produced on May 30th of 1986 would also have a code of 226, but will probably have a ton of dry rot.)
• As of 2000, the date coding system has changed a bit. All tires are still required to be stamped with a DOT number on at least one sidewall, but now there's more data. Look for a code that starts with "DOT" and has up to 12 letters and numbers. The last four numbers are the date code in the format: "WWYY", where the WW two digits denote the week of manufacture, and the YY denotes the last two digits of the year. So a date code of "DOT913ACX3C2200" would have been manufactured in the 22nd week of '00. If the three/four digit stamp you found doesn't make sense with this scheme, you're not looking at the date code stamp. Keep in mind that both tires will have this date marking (possibly/probably different), and that tires should be replaced at least every third year, or whenever they have damage that threatens their integrity. (Punctures, cuts on the sidewall, excessive wear, dry rot, etc.) Frequent tire inspection could very well save your life.
 
#20 · (Edited)
Looks like I've been running on great looking but pretty old tires. Front: DAWV M49187 (18th week of 1997/1987?). Rear: DAZF M2A119 (11th week of 1999/1989?). The bike is an '89 model with Dunlop Qualifiers. POs kept bike in a garage and they look good. No cracks at all.

Just got the thing running right and need to park it until I get new tires! Glad you posted. I was fixing to head out.
 
#21 · (Edited)
Looks like I've been running on great looking but pretty old tires. Front: DAWV M49187 (18th week of 1997/1987?). Rear: DAZF M2A119 (11th week of 1999/1989?). The bike is an '89 model with Dunlop Qualifiers. POs kept bike in a garage and they look good. No cracks at all.

Yup - those definitely need to be replaced (likely 97/99 vintage if they look good). The risk is yours though. You could probably take it out and run it around a little at moderate speeds but just make sure you're on decent roads and take it easy in the corners. I just ordered the ME880's (oversized 110/90-19 front and 170/80-15 rear) from Ron Ayers. $245 total including shipping. It'll take a week or two to get them but I have time. if you want something faster, you might be able to find them elsewhere. It's the old time vs. money dilemma.....
 
#22 ·
Ok Custom Cow :baby: :smiley_thyou can quit your bitchtin. Sorta. I got some pics. Right now its only of the stock tire and the clearances. I have to get the new tire mounted hopefully tomorrow. Plus I gotta get the spline lubed, but that shouldn't be a big deal. Heres the other thing to freak you out. I ONLY take pics in High-res. so they wont fit on here. Im putting them on facebook. My id is Eli Gaffke. I also started a private group on there for 750 people. its called "Vulcan 750 Riders"
http://tinyurl.com/ca8b54
:worthless
:smiley_th
 
#23 ·
I got mine from ron ayers too. they only took about a week. I got a place to mount them for 23 bucks
 
#25 ·
Hi-res being 7mp. guess thats not as hi-res as your 10mp mister fancy pants. i have the choice, but I make the choice not to go any lower. If a 7mp could be turned into a 300k file maybe you would see some comparison pics on here. If ringo was still around i would use that. i dont like how flicker only allows you to post 100 mb per month. unless you pay.
 
#26 · (Edited)
Hi-res being 7mp. guess thats not as hi-res as your 10mp mister fancy pants. i have the choice, but I make the choice not to go any lower.......
My pants are not fancy and the camera is over 2 years old and just a pocket camera. You can find inexpensive pocket cameras now that are 12 mp. My freinds Nikon is 24 mp.
All of this is moot because the standard computor moniter is no more than 3 mp so I really do not know what your thinking is taking all your photos at 7mp unless you plan on printing them larger than 8X10's.

The real resolving power of a camera is the ability of the camera to capture fine detail in a scene and depends on many things such as signal to noise ratio, optics quality, focus accuracy as well as the number of pixels captured by the camera. Basicly meaning you can have a camera that says "8mp" but because of a poor lens the image will never be "high res".

Many folks somehow think the bigger the number the better the photo, which is a false concept. If you just print a 3x4 the human eye can not really tell the difference between one taken with a 10 mp setting and one taken with a 5 mp setting.
Most times you are just wasting memory using a high mp setting on your camera. Kind of like paying for a picture of beer and only drinking one glass...

The whole point here is we are talking about a photo of a tire, not trying to bring out the subtle differences in a close up of a metal flake paint job. Just about every photo editing software I have seen has some kind of re-sizing feature.I know there is free software online that does only that.

I'm just saying if it were me, I would as a favor to those intrested , even if it went against my own self imposed standared, just to be a helpfull guy , I'd post the photos here for them to see. Asking someone to join your little trendy facebook page just to see the photos is a bit douchey.

And perhaps I am mistaken , but didn't someone else already create a
webpage for sharing large files for this forum?
If someone has a link for that you can post them there if you lack the proper software to re-size your photos.
EDIT: Sorry, the site is here:
http://www.scribd.com/group/68783-kawaski-vn750-owners

But it appears to only be for text type files. ...so scratch that then....lol

KM
 
#27 ·
:notworthy I understand the whole megapixel and lens quality issue. thats why most camera phones suck. and i know that cameras have the capability to change the dpi by using the image quality setting by using fine or super fine or normal, or however that brand works. But i do know that if i took a pic at 640x480 versus 3280x2460 (or whatever is high) that when you zoom in it goes to hell very quickly. a 7mp pic can fill the screen and still look decent and see details. I dont know how to make a 7mp super fine image that starts at 3mb to bring it down to less then 300k.

when and not if, i figure out how to take the pic i have, keep the quality and get them on here i will.

also i have been avoiding facebook for awhile cuz it is douche, but there are a lot of us that are on here that are on there. So why not have a group just for us. im not inviting people to go on facebook, so i can throw snowballs at them, or invite them to a food fight. I like the ease of the picture sharing. Thats why i used to be on ringo til they went tits up. and i dont like the file space limits of flikr.
Kind of like paying for a picture of beer and only drinking one glass...
also if i had a picture of beer, i wouldnt drink any glasses, cuz they would taste like paint or ink. But now if i had a pitcher of beer. then I might use straw and tell you to get your own damn beer.:beerchug:
And its too bad your pants aren't fancy you don't what you're missing out on then. Cuz mine are silk lined and i always wear them commando.
 
#28 ·
:.... I dont know how to make a 7mp super fine image that starts at 3mb to bring it down to less then 300k.
.

We only talking about one or two photos right? Why don't you just send them to me and I'll post them here..


( knifemaker1954@yahoo.com )

KM
 
#30 ·
I deleted the pics of the stock tire, cuz i figured it would be better to have two posts in a row, one of the stock tire and the very next one be the new tire. I have to wait to get lube before i can mount the tire. and i had to order it off the internet, since none of the honda dealers carry it apparently.

I figured how to get my "hi-res" pics on here. Knifemaker you are right that facebook down sizes the pics. I ending up right clicking on the pics when i viewed them on there and saving them. when i did that it shrunk them in file size and kept them in the size that they appear on the facebook page and kept my quality intact. then i had to upload them on here and do the whole properties cut and paste technique to get them inline with my post. Total PIA but hey its for the greater good. I took alot of pics from multiple angles. like 10. and there will be that many more for the new tire.:doh:
 
#31 ·
Well I found the grail "Moly 60" paste. Now if the weather would cooperate a little and i could get the grease in play. the painted is the hardest part. not sure about how the final is going to turn out. i really hope by sat, it will run. gotta finish my botched RR too.
 
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