Rear tire size observation

[chasarms]

Originally Posted by lightguy

Is there such a thing as a rear 300 size mod on a Touring frame ?
How about the front tire ?
I like the look of a HD Forty Three fender vs the stock RK fender and if I can stuff a big tire under it so much the better.

I can't imagine putting a 300 on a touring bike. It would handle like a$$, which defeats the point.

Although those guys pimping out the street glides and road glides might have something that would work.


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[lightguy]

Originally Posted by chasarms

I can't imagine putting a 300 on a touring bike. It would handle like a$$, which defeats the point.

Although those guys pumping out the street glides and road glides might have something that would work.

I dont know which is why I asked.
In my experience a bigger rear tire contributes to better acceleration.
Plus it looks so damn cool.
Skinny front tires are accidents waiting to happen. Nervous.
To me this means bigger is better.
Even with 300 lb + racing bikes (to a limit).

[chasarms]

Originally Posted by lightguy

. . .In my experience a bigger rear tire contributes to better acceleration. . . .

Only if traction is an issue. Assuming you aren't breaking loose, the smaller tire is lighter, so it is easier to get rolling. It would accelerate better.

Originally Posted by lightguy

Skinny front tires are accidents waiting to happen.

Not really. They do tend to ride in the ruts at times, and the lower profile ones on a bigger rim can rattle your teeth out on a rough road, but they don't alter the handling of a bike THAT much, IMO anyway.

The handling characteristics of the bike are all designed around a particular tire size (within a range of course) The rake and trail of the front end, the suspension travel, clearance, etc. All of it. You mess with the tire sizes too much, and you end up with something outside the scope of what the designers designed.

Originally Posted by lightguy

. . .Plus it looks so damn cool. . . .

You can't account for taste. I think they look pretty good on some bikes also. If I was looking put together a 5-10 mile bar hopper, I might consider it.

[gbrown85]

Originally Posted by bmcgc

Wait until you have to replace that wide white wall on the rear. Dunlop only sells that tire through Harley and it isnt cheap.

Makes my 140 look a lot better.

There are plenty of places to get the Harley Davidson wide white wall cheaper than through Harley. JP Cycle has it a lot cheaper than Harley. It's still not cheap, but cheaper than Harley, and you either have to mount it yourself or find someone to mount it for you. The Harley dealership here said, "would you take your eggs to a restaurant to have them cooked?", but I found an independent here who will mount it.

[watoad]

Hi all: Keep in mind the 180 tires on the 09 and up are mounted in a newly designed and wider swing arm. My question is, will an 09 and up swing arm plug and play with an 02 frame to allow for the wider rim and tire. My brother in-law got an old police bike to build into a custom bagger. I doubt the mounting to the transmission has changed but, I don't know if the rubber frame mounts are positioned differently or if there are any other obsticles. I guess the frame is probably wider at the fender mounts and that may cause some restrictions on final tire width especially if he decides to lower the back at all. Anyone got any experience with this?

[petew]

I just put on a 17x6.25 Renegade Racine wheel with a 200mm x 55mm tire and find it to fit in my '11 with a 1/4" clearance on either side. It feels great along with the 21"x 3.5" with a 130x70 tire on the front. And the weight difference is an unreal 9 lbs from the stock rear wheel/tire to the new rear wheel/tire!! I believe it winds out faster, too!