Tire Recommendation?

[DavidPorter]

The Rip van Winkle LS saga is almost complete.  I think all I have left to do is get new tires.  I have 15-year-old Meztler ME33/ME99.  What's a good tire choice for the current century?  I don't plan to ride it too hard but may do some short touring eventually.

Thanks.

[Bob_Roller]

This is going to get moved soon !!!! [smiley=2vrolijk_08.gif]

[Justin B.]

Michelin Macadam 50e in 90/90-18 in the front and Macadam 50 in 110/90-18 (or 120/90-18 for monoshock) for the rear.   Very good balance between stickiness and long wearing.

And Ed is right, "Dreaded Tire Threads" and "Dreaded Oil Threads" are exiled to the "rants" section.  Moving to the "rant" section...

[DavidPorter]

Hey, I did a search and came up empty.  This is a reasonable question.  I like Macadams fine, had them on a Monster once.

[Bob_Roller]

The current Metzler equivalent to the ME33/ME99, is the Lazertec series.

I have a set on my '81 R65, and they are great in warm weather, but need a 'warm up' in cool weather.

I don't get to ride in too much wet weather here in the Phoenix area, but with the little I've done, they are not overly confidence inspiring with my experience.

Average mileage that I've gotten is 12-13,000 miles on a front, and 8-9,000 miles on a rear.

Cost is around $100 for a front, and $120 for a rear.

[nhmaf]

Hi David,

Read this thread - it has alot of recommendations/info:
http://suraklyn.com/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1190028078/0

The default search function only looks in the last week, but if you do a search on "tire R65" for the whole forum you'll find lots of threads.
As with other motorcycle forums, tire threads and oil threads are somewhat of a bane, but we do tolerate them (some more than others) as long as they don't come up too often.   Please check that thread for some other good choices.   I've put the Bridgestone BT45s on my 82 R65LS and am very happy with them over the usual ubiquitous metzlers.

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

Well, since I didn't reply to that thread, I guess I should to this one.

I have enjoyed the Bridgestone Spitfires for the last two sets.  I plan on buying my third set this year.

[Justin B.]

David,

Some forums outright ban tire and oil threads where others just abuse the thread instigator unmercifully.  Early on the compromise was made to whole-heartedly allow these often taboo subjects as long as they stayed in the "rants" section.  Discussing oil and tires is just about as bad as religion and politics...

[daveco2]

Since someone else started this thread, I guess it's safe for me to ask a question about tires:
I got this from the Noemi Berry site:

Stock rear tire size is absurdly narrow. Most R65 owners run 120s on the rear, which will just barely clear the swingarm. I'm told you need a spacer to get the tire to fit in the right place, but my 1983 R65 doesn't have or need it. It's possible this applies only to '79 and '80 R65s.

The Metzeler Laser ME33 100/90 front and Metzeler Marathon ME88 120/90 rear is a popular and time-tested tire combination.

Is it true that a 79 R65 would need a spacer to use the recommended 120/90 on the rear?


Thanks,

Dave

[Justin B.]

Daveco2, discuss tires and your favorite snake-oil all you want - IN THE RANTS SECTION!  

As far as what size, from everything I've read it all depends on the brand and model of tire.  I read an article that measured the width of the same exact size tire from several different manufacturers and the widths varied by at least over 1/4", maybe more as it's been a long tiime since I read it.  I remember I was pretty surprised at the big variance number.

I personally stick with as close to the factory recommended size as I can get.  BMW motorcycles were always known for their handling and neutral steering, this bike's suspension geometry was designed to work with the factory size.  Any deviation in dire diameter changes the effective geometry and will affect handling.  Plus, someone I consider knowledgeable told me that often putting a much wider than stock tire on a stock width rim can often lead to a tire contact patch that is actually smaller than what would have been provided by the "correct" size.

I have found that the bikes feel pretty nimble with a 90/90-18 on the front and a 110/90-18 on the rear...

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

To the best of my knowledge, I have never run a 120 series tire on the rear of my R65.

That is 27 years worth of tires, BTW.

The Bridgestone Spitfires I just ordered are 100-90/18 front, and 110-90/18 rear.


I have to deflate the 110 rear tire just to get it between the final drive and the swingarm (left side).  I wouldn't want to add even more to the trouble!

[msbuck]

Well, I think I have a 120/90 tire on my rear wheel...I'll go check in the morning.  It was all I could get when I needed one and they did use a spacer to make it fit.  

[nhmaf]

I put a BT45 110/90 on the rear of my 82 R65LS, as it was the very closest I could get to the original 4.00 size - and I wanted
to try something other than the Metzlers which were obtainable in the 4.00 size.    It handles and sticks very nicely.  I had a
120 series tire on my 88 R100RT, but it had to be kept up in pressure or it would start rubbing on the single sided swingarm.
Didn't have a spacer on that one, didn't really know that I could get one at the time.   I replaced it with a narrower tire when it wore out
as well.

[Justin B.]

Mike, that's interesting.  The sticker on my '95 R100RT lists the 120/90 as the correct rear tire.  But, as I mentioned earlier, it's reported that tire widths do vary so I suppose it's possible some brands might have an issue.

Here is the link to the article about tire sizes... http://www.webbikeworld.com/Motorcycle-tires/sizes.htm

[nhmaf]

Yup, that is exactly it, Justin.   It is easy to get into the habit of thinking that 120/90 is the "exact" tire size, when I think in reality it is more
an expression of the *ratio* of the tire's height and width profile.   A different brand tire, but also 120 series, was at least 4-5mm narrower,
though I've forgotten the brand name - I still wish that I had never sold that bike..