Kerry's tire chart...

[lewismug]

At one time I knew where this was and read through it quickly.  Any of you know where it is located?  It was a chart of all the different size/brand tires that Kerry had used on his bike.  I purchased a new Dunlop 150/80-17 for the rear.  Think it will work?  I'm not an advanced enough rider to take it over to the edge of the tire in a corner, so the fact that it doesn't fit 100% correctly doesn't bother me in the least.  Would this be unsafe just for general purpose/commuting?  I know it's a controversial topic, so sorry if I'm getting something started.  I'll mainly be using my bike for my 180 mile round trip to work and back home each day...all interstate.

[trumpetguy]

Search "gsjack" and "tires." It was his chart, not Kerry's.  Kerry has some great resources up, but GSJack is the guy with the tire chart.

[gsJack]

Tires I've used on the GS's:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v443/jcp8832/GS500tirelog.jpg

Can't think of a Dunlop 150/80-17 rear offhand, could be you mean a 150/70-17 or a 140/80-17?  Both the Dunlop D205 radials and GT501 bias tires come in those sizes and both will work.  No problem with the 140/80 but might or might not be necessary to bend the brake rod for a 150/70 for clearance, it's a close fit for a 150 tire.

What front tire?

[lewismug]

Thanks for the responses guys.  That's the chart I was talking about!  Could've sworn it was Kerry's though.  Thanks a million.  Up[on further investigation, the Dunlop I ordered said "For Front Wheel Use Only"  .   Not sure exactly what type Dunlop it was, but I can let you guys know tonight when I get back home.  Thanks again!  Is it possible to run a front on a rear?

[gsJack]

There are actually a few universal tires still made for front or rear fitment and a few without direction of rotation arrows on them.  Tire construction is made to accomodate mostly braking forces on the front and mostly driving forces on the rear so the universal tires typically have 2 sets of arrows for mounting.  It's common to turn the tire around when putting a front tire on the rear.

A 150/80 is made for a 3.5" wheel and we have that size rear wheel so the tire would fit on the bike with the direction reversed.  Next biggest difference woulds be tread depth.  I'm thinking you got maybe a D404 tire which has a 5/32" front tread depth and a 9/32" rear tread depth typically so it would be like putting a half worn tire on using that front on the back.  It's possible to use it up that way but would be better to return it for a proper rear tire if you can.

If your looking for an economy priced tire for commuting service it would be hard to beat the new Avon Roadriders I think.  I'm using them right now and just checked the rear tread depth after 4k miles and had approx 5 mm of the original 7 mm tread depth left at the center of the tire, looks like it will go 10-12k miles tread life.  And it performs much better than the old Excedra OEM tires and at least as good as the new BT45 OEM tires in my opinion if not a little better.

[dogjaw]

amen on the Roadriders, i put them on my GS a few months ago based on GSJacks opinion, and they are bad to the bone, approx 2500 miles and still look lke new, but very sticky. also did I mention inexpensive from swmototire.com?, 135.00 for both including shipping if I remember correctly...