Battleax 110/90/18

[Bengt_Phorqs]

Now Kidz, I'm not starting a dreaded tire thread  (sounds of ominous thunder and creepy organ music ).  But all I want to know is if a Bridgestone Battleax 110/90-18 fit on the front wheel of an R65?  Monte pointed out a couple of weeks back that the PO mounted some really cheesy Cheng Shin 2 ply tires on the 65.  In fact the front is an 80/100 - 18, way too small.

I just put new Metzler ME880's on my Guzzi and the front tire only had about 4k on it so I kept it as a back up.  Before I go to swapping tires, what's the opinion on if this one will fit?

[montmil]

I recall that 90/90-18 is the stock size. I'm running 100/90's on both my R65s. Any particular reason you want to go with the mondo 110?   Monte

[Crossrodes]

I have Bridgestone 90/90/18 on my '79.  I have snowflake wheels.

[Bengt_Phorqs]

Any particular reason you want to go with the mondo 110? Monte  

Hmmm, let me see, let me think....oh right, because it's already paid for!  But if it would have a detrimental effect on handling or plain won't fit then I won't do it.

[sixfifty]

i have a 100/90 on the front of mine, and at a couple of places i can't wedge a fingertip between the tire and the fender.

i can go measure if you'd like.

edit:


it's roughly 5/16", give or take with the front wheel off the ground.  my fender is a little off-center.

[Semper Gumby]

Yes it will fit but there are two things to consider.

1) You will probably have to modify the front fender brace mounting holes.  I have a 110/90H18 Micheline Macadam rear tire on the front of my 1980 R65 and in order to get enough room between the fender and the tire I had to elongate the four holes downward so that the fender would sit higher away from the tire.

2) Now I know that the tire will fit but please remember that a 110/90-18 front tire was probably designed for a wider rim.  If you send  Bridgestone an e-mail they will probably tell you that is was designed for a 2.50" wide rim.  This means that while you will get an increased outer diameter there will be a considerable part of the outside edge that will never come in contact with the road and your contact patch with the road might actually be smaller than with a narrower front tire.

So what to do.  You want a bigger front tire for reasons that are your own but the front tires are not designed for your rim.

Here is one possible solution.

Put a 110/90-18 rear tire on the front  (Turned around spinning backwards). This sized rear tire is actually designed for your sized rim and therefor will have the correct cross-section profile.  The result of doing this will give you a bigger contact patch with the asphalt/concrete/rain grooves.  The handling will be different and take some getting used to and it will wear like iron.

I have done this on my R65 because of the larger fairing and the heavy Givi Saddle bags and it works fine for this purpose.
I do, however, avoid mud or anything else that can jam between the front fender and the wheel like the plague.

BTW - My 2008 Michelin Fitment Guide says that the recommended rim size for the 110/90H18 front tire is 2.50" with a max over under rim size of (2.15" - 3.00")  Michelin has stopped making the 110/90H18 rear tires but Avon (Road Rider) and Metzler (Lazertec) still make them.  These are both excellent choices.

Good Luck.

[Semper Gumby]

Hey Bridgestone makes a 110/80H18 rear and a 110/90H18 rear.

http://www.motorcycle-karttires.com/glamourindex.aspx?productID=3&LookupID=8

Both call for a minimum 2.15 width rim so we're out on the fringe here.

What made me do this on the Macadam was the construction of the side wall.  On the front tires the side walls are straight from the bead to the outer edge of the tread.  But on the rear tires the sidewalls are curved from the bead to the tread so that the tread doesn't get pulled tighter (Kinda like Nancy Pelosi's face) pulling the tread away from the asphalt.  The rear tires just look like they were designed for narrower rims.  This is why I did what I did (put the rear tire on the front).   8-)

Given the choice between the 110/80H18 and the 110/90H18 I would go for the 110/80 on the fender issues alone.

[DgM]

On my 1983 R65 I mounted an Avon 4.00 x 18 on rear, an Avon 110/90 x 18 on front, trimmed out fender mount holes for front tire clearance, rides like a dream, slightly slower steering at slow speeds. 110/90 x 18 front tire gives MUCH nicer ride than 90/90 x 18, just a bit nicer than 100/90 x 18,  110/90 x 18 front tire ads visual mass, looks better.

[marcmax]

This might be interesting reading about tire sizes.

http://www.webbikeworld.com/Motorcycle-tires/sizes.htm

[Semper Gumby]

Well how about that!

Hey Bengt Phorqs - what ever you do please get back to us with a report.  The more information the rest of us have the better.

Hey Justin - would it be possible for us to have a spread sheet with what kind of tires front/rear, pressures, oil in engine, tranny, drive shaft, final drive, faring, side bags, fuel additives, oil additives, brakes, and accesories - so we could see what everybody else is using at any given time.  Is there room for that kind of database function on this server system?  Then there would be no need for an ADOT or an ADTT.  We would just know.  Or is this too much trouble?

Thanks,