Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech Wider rear tire

I'm headed for a new rear tire soon. A buddy commented that it looks like I could go a little wider and maybe fill out the rear fender a little better.
Anyone done that? Any clearance problems or other issues?

yes but you have to change rim without mods can go up to 200 wide but need 5.5 inch rim

You can go to a 180 on the stock rim, but its not really anywider looking because of rim width.

Thats the only thing I don't like the look of on our bikes....the rear tire is way too skinny for this mean sort of bike.
I'd love to go up to a 220 or 250 but its just not worth the cost of a new rim to me.
I'm hoping the fashion goes back to faster steering slimmer rear tires soon!

The trend is already heading back to slimmer rear tires. Just look at all the shops out there creating "old school" bobbers. They all seem to be using slimmer rear ends which I really prefer. Some of the wide tires out there are just stupid.

Funny, I think the rear tire on my bike looks too fat. I'd rather have the regular Bonneville sized rear tire, or about 140/150 instead of 170.

What's even funnier is talking with Harley riders and almost all of them praise the wide rear tire on my Speedmaster, with more than a few of them saying they wish Harley would come out with nice fat tires like that for their bikes.

it'd cost over a thousand bucks in after market upgrades for a harley to run a tire as wide as ours.

Different strokes I guess... I like the rear tire, I couldn't imagine wanting a tire any wider than the one we have. Any more and we'd be in that yucky custom bike range with the massive rear tire that looks really cool(to some) but handles like a Buick 225 and costs almost as much

I think its just because I'm used to seeing sportsbikes with wider rear tires.
The Rs thats parked next to the speedmaster has a 180 section rear but it looks much wider than the 170 on the speedy.... I know It shouldn't but it does.

Im wondering if its the lack of chicken strips on the sports tire and the inch wide ones on the cruiser that make the cruiser look narrower

I think our rear tire has a much rounder profile than some sport bikes, like if you mounted our 170 on a wider rim, it would almost flatten it out, ya know? Or a lower profile 170 or 180 on a wider, larger diameter rim would end up being more than 10mm wider...

Harley-D did convert to a wider tire on some of their models. The Night Train and some of the Dyna's are running a stock 170 or 180 rear for 2006. I do not think you can go much wider without some major mods on our bikes, SM/BA. Take a careful look at the clearences in and around the swing arm area. It is real close in some places.Good luck in your quest. Vegas

The Vrod I saw was with an aftermarket conversion to a 240 or something.

Yikes!!! Gotta clean the cheereos off the keyboard now.