Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums Custom Corner How fat can I go???

I am having a new back-tire this winter, and i want to go as fat as I possible can!!! Do anyone know how fat I can go? Have an BA 2002 (170/80-18 is standard)

How much money do you have?

I'm sure for $50grand you can get a 360 series installed with a widened swingarm, modified frame and jackshaft chain offset.

allright....I am maybe spesific enough here, hahaha....

I want to get so fat back-tire as possible without re-building the bike:)...with standards

(standard is 170/80-15 u know)

Well, would you be willing to get a new rim laced to your stock hub? I think the biggest tire I've seen is a 200 on a 17 or 18x5.5 hoop. The width of the stock rim pretty much limits you to a 170 or 180. British Customs has a "wide tire kit" for the rear.

Click the Cool Bikes link in my signature and look for the green bike that says either Soul Survivor or Doug. I can't get to it from work so I can't post a direct link. Doug has a 200 rear tire. I think the silver bike labeled "Euroshop" also has a 200 rear.

hmm...I`ll have to check that out! thanks!

should have known FriarJohn would know how fat you can go.

Nice colection of photoes John

Chip: Thanks!

Ian: I just got back from 3 days in California. Can you say "In-n-Out Burger?" I knew you could.

Just say no, Keith.

Didnt Grzegorz put a 200 on his bike?

How fat can I go? Since I quit smoking I'm starting to wonder!!

Quote:

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Can I get a 200 tire on the stock rim???

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would you wear boots 3 sizes bigger?

seen 200 tyre on stock rim and it looked just wrong

any suggestions on size for the rim then?

most suitable rim for 200 tyre is 6 inch wide i put 5.5 inch and works well




and 130 wide front tyre

Naw, he'd just need a crapload of duct tape. Preferably the nuclear kind.

So, has anyone decided yet how wide of a tire you can go on a stock rim?

Soren, I think you should start buying tires, test it out and get back to us.

I have to ask since it seems to have escaped this area. What is the
obsession with the widest rear tire someone can cram in place on a
bike? Is there an advantage, or is it just personal preference
akin to the guys who put 40-inch rims and low profile tires on a
30-year-old car?

May I ask what I’ve done to deserve you issuing forth your venom upon me?

I doubt that I am the only one on this site that doesn’t have a TBA or
Speedie, and I’ll admit that it isn’t for lack of desire.

I also doubt that I’m the only person here who wonders whether there
are performance gains to wide tires or if it is all personal preference.

I believe it's most of all a "look" thing. The bike doesn't get faster or better in the curves, but it may look cool. And if you go crazy wide you won't need the sidestand...

Yeah Rev, Bengt[piper] is right. It's definitely a "look" thing, as in most cases mounting a wider rear tire than is recomended by the factory usually degrades the handling of almost any motorcycle, due primarily to the tendency to "plow" into turns with that "too wide" rear tire.

In other words, the wider rear tire will tend to put more straight ahead force onto the bike in turns and somewhat overstress the front tire's contact patch.(once again, otherwise known as "plowing" in turns)

Case-in-point: Almost all motojournalists who have ridden both the Triumph RocketIII standard with its 240/50-16 rear tire setup and the Triumph RocketIII Touring with its 180/70-16 rear tire for their magazine evaluations have made it a point to mention that the latter bike mentioned handles much better in turns, due primarily to its narrower rear tire.

This "wide rear tire is cool syndrome"(as I call it) is somewhat akin to what many folks do to their rear suspension when they lower it. I suppose it "looks cooler", but when folks do that to their bikes, they tend to degrade the handling abilities of their motorcycles also, both in ground clearance and in weight-distribution, resulting in less weight upon their front tire, which then makes the steering lighter and giving less feedback to the rider.

(hope that answers your question)

as a every day user of fat tyres (front & rear) can't agree with Dwight !!!!

handling is no issue ,cornering is easy and no need to force bike to lean,lean angle is limited in my case by grinded front foot pegs and use of tyre thread 90% on front and can say 95% on rear.....
BUT my tyres are 130/70 R18 front on 3.5/18 inch rim and rear 200/55 R17 rear on 5.5/17 inch rim not big tyres squized on stock rims like some here doing with front and making some mods to front mudguard(fender)to accomodate it
...

look factor????!!!!......of course

Uh huh Grzegorz, however the operative wording in your above response was, "As a every day user of fat tyres (front & rear)..."

You see, what I was refering to was a case where the rear tire is widened excessively(as say in cases where some of the bikes out there now have a 250-sized rims and tires on the back), BUT the front tire remains the same and much smaller width, and thus the case where the rear tire "overpowers" the front tire and thus causing the "plowing effect" in turns, which I mentioned above.