Small tires!!!!!!!!!

[CanadianGS]

Why is the GS's Back tire so tiny?  I hang out with guys who have rr's, daytona's and all that, and my back tire looks like a bicycle tire compared to theirs.  How big can i go, if ne?

[Jeff P]

Wide tires are necessary to put all the power those types of bikes have to the road.  Lower power bikes like the GS don't need big tires.  You can go 10-20 cm wider (experts can chime in please) if you really feel inadequate, but it won't improve the bike's performance.  

jeff

[dgyver]

What's wrong.....penile envy?

Triple your HP and then you will see a need for a wider tire.

[nisus1]

with everything else stock, you don't want to go over 150.  I just put a 140 on mine and have very little room to play with on each side.  Not to mention the rim won't handle anything larger.

[Blueknyt]

you can run up to 150/60/17 on a stock GS rear rim (3.5")

with a bandit 400 rear rim (4.00"), 160/60/17 with shimming the sproket out and bending the brake stay arm to clear the tires. still have plenty of room inside the swingarm.

the 89GSXR750 rear rim (4.50") you could fit a 170 inside the swingarm, but now you have Chain issues as the 160 just barely taps the tire edge. i dont know if there is a shadetree workaround for chain clearance but 160 is about as far as one reasonably would ever need to go.

[JetSwing]

160/60 is not worth all that work...if you really want a bike with a fat tire, buy a bike with a fat tire!

[Roadstergal]

I did ~300 miles of curvies on the GS this weekend now that it's broken in, and I was surprised at how much more quickly it leans than my SV.  The SV will go over a long way, but the GS is so much more flickable, so much more capable for quick manuvering.  If you want to ruin what makes the bike fun, put on a bigger tire...

[JetSwing]

i don't think a bigger tires necessarily riun it. i have a 150/60 in the rear and it's 10 times better than before. it takes no effort to make turns now. i think the new tires has alot to do with it but bigger tire is no problem unless you're going way bigger.

[Anonymous]

Jetswing,

Exactly!

It kills me when I read these posts about doing this and doing that to gain 1-2 HP.  If you want a more powerful bike, you need to buy one!

[Turkina]

Both tire width and tire profile affect turn-in.  Tires aren't made perfectly round.  Cruisers have a flatter profile at the contact patch, and extreme sport bike tires have sort of a round-triangular profile that makes the bike very flickable.

So you gotta think of both

[Roadstergal]

Jetswing,

Exactly!

It kills me when I read these posts about doing this and doing that to gain 1-2 HP.  If you want a more powerful bike, you need to buy one!

Neither Jetswing nor the OP said anything about HP.  

[tkm433]

Why is the GS's Back tire so tiny?  I hang out with guys who have rr's, daytona's and all that, and my back tire looks like a bicycle tire compared to theirs.  How big can i go, if ne?

The GS500 has not changed much since it was introduced in 1989 when its stock rear tire size of 130/70 was not far from the 150/60 and 160/60 rear found on most sport bikes of the time.

The GS500 does not need a wider tire to make it faster or handle any better since the stock 130 tire will handle the 40hp that the bike might put to the pavement.

If you check with the tire companies they will list what size tires will fit what size rims and in most cases you will find out that the stock rear wheel will handle up to a 150/70 but no wider and none of the sites list a 150/60 as a "proper fit" on the 3.5" stock rear wheel.

A note as to installing a wider tire it usually will rasie the rear of the bike whick in turn will cause the bike to turn quicker which can be a plus.  Also by raising the rear of the bike the set angle will change and it will cause you to slide forward on the seat.  

Yes, the wider tire might look better but if you go to wide it will make the bike handle like crap.

Stick with the stock size of 130/70 or maybe a 140/70 at most and you will not run into any problems.

[JetSwing]

one of the reason that i wanted to go at least 150 was alot of tire manufacturers make really good tires for 150 and up.

and the other reason was it looks good on phat rear end of my gs  :mrgreen:

[pantablo]

160/60 is not worth all that work...if you really want a bike with a fat tire, buy a bike with a fat tire!

the biggest tire(s) you can get on the gs rim (or the wider bandit 400/gsxr rim) will still look dinky compared to the 180/55 or 190/50 sportbike tires. Give it up and accept the tire size for what it is.

I was the same when I first bought my gs. I asked and got  mixed suggestions about fitting a 150/60 on stock rim. I went ahead and did it. Great radial tires are available in that size (that was my justification). Bike did handle well. At first. But because the tire is pinched a bit on the rim since its not intended for such a narrow rim it wore funny. It wore in such a way that the point on the edge of the tire that never touched (because of the pinching, not the lack of aggressive lean angle) created a sharp edge. When I would get the bike leaned over and hit that edge the bike would 'fall in' in a very abrupt and scary way.

Instead of trying to get a fat tire (and good radial rubber) just go with a Pirelli Demon Sport in a 140/70 and you'll have plenty of sticky tire to thrash. Once you get some experience and move up to a bigger bike you will have the fat tire of the other riders.

[Blueknyt]

i must say, i liked the way the 150 fits the bandit rim better then the stocker rim,  i ran a 160 on it because i was able to get a "take Off" in that size for nothing and its nice to beable to run all combo of sizes from 130-160 as most the tires i get are used anyway. anyone need an extra stock rear rime, no rotor or cush, just plain rim.cheap

[sprint_9]

Bandit wheels are the way to go, not really that hard to install either, just have to know what your doing.  My picture page has a pic of it on my bike. Tire is a 150/70 Metzler Z6.

[scratch]

Skinny tires are better for the rain.

[CanadianGS]

Thanks guys.  I think I will just stay with the stock, and worry about the fat tire when i get a bigger bike.