Bigger Tires

[RacerX]

I just got my first bike an '02 GS. Can I put bigger tires on the bike? I like the look of wide, fat tires. Thanks in advance.

[pantablo]

The widest tire you can mount to stock rim is 150/60, like I have. has its issues though and in the end when you park next to other bikes even the 150 still looks small.

With the 150 you pinch the tire a bit since its not supposed to be on a rim as narrow as the gs's. That means you'll always have 1/4" chicken strips AND you'll feel the bike 'fall' into corners when it reaches a certain lean angle.

Might look better but you'll be better off handling-wise if you stick with a 140/70 as the largest.

Alternately, you could mount a bandit400 or 88-89 gsxr750 rear wheel and get the 150 to fit right. Check my site for info on how to do this-its not that hard. Seems the hardest part is finding the wheel itself...

[tricked500]

Hey sup, and welcome to the Forum.  

Yes you can go with bigger tires I have a 140/80/17 on mine Its alot better than stock


Tricked500    



_________________________
KEEP IT ON ONE WHEEL

[South East Rocket]

I'm with tricked 500 on this one.
I got Avon Azero's 140/80/17 on mine, they got a cool sport tread and I got my set for under $190 delivered.
Please check out
//swmototires.com   the owner of this site is cool as hell and has an untouchable price.  Please give him your biz if you're gonna make a purchase.

[blackey]

Hey all-

I need new tires on my bike and i'm willing to pay 200 (or less), seems the Avon Azero's 140/80/17 are a good deal, so would i just get two of these? I thought the front/rear tires are different sizes?

[gsJack]

I just got my first bike an '02 GS. Can I put bigger tires on the bike? I like the look of wide, fat tires. Thanks in advance.

I'm currently running a 110/80 Lasertec front and a 150/70 Road Attack rear on my 02 GS.  I've had no handling issues with the 150/70's that Pablo had with the 150/60.

[gsJack]

Hey all-

I need new tires on my bike and i'm willing to pay 200 (or less), seems the Avon Azero's 140/80/17 are a good deal, so would i just get two of these? I thought the front/rear tires are different sizes?

Front and rear are very different!  I had a pair of the AV45/46 Avons in the 110/80 and 140/80 sizes on my 02 GS.  They were excellent tires on the GS.

Southwest mentioned above does have good prices on them.

http://swmototires.com/

[LimaXray]

Sport Demons are also very popular and I remember reading they were closer to $150 a set.  Do a search for them to see where people are getting them and how much they cost.

[Stephen072774]

I'd stick to a 140 unless you get another rear rim of a Kat or Bandit...  Check out Turd's bike, or ask him, I think he did the swap recently...

http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=25426.0

[gsJack]

Sport Demons are also very popular and I remember reading they were closer to $150 a set.  Do a search for them to see where people are getting them and how much they cost.

Alpha recently mentioned Motorcycle Superstore for the Demons and I checked and they do have very good prices on them.

http://motorcyclesuperstore.com/department.aspx?Division=6&Department=647

I would expect the Demons to generally handle as well as the Avon ST radials but the ST radials will last considerably longer.  Could be best value in the long run, got about 14k miles out of my Avon STs.

[blackey]

Tires for a '97 GS500EV

Where's the easiest place to find my tire size? Just look at my tire i would presume. i went to http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/item.aspx?style=7727&department=647&Division=6# and it doens't seem they have the size's listed for my bike.

Any chance i can get a direct link to some Avon 45/46 in my size?

[gsJack]

Tires for a '97 GS500EV

Where's the easiest place to find my tire size? Just look at my tire i would presume. i went to http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/item.aspx?style=7727&department=647&Division=6# and it doens't seem they have the size's listed for my bike.

Any chance i can get a direct link to some Avon 45/46 in my size?

Link to Southwest for the AV45/46 tires already posted to you above by South East Rocket and myself, once again:

http://swmototires.com/

The OEM tire sizes for all GS500's from 89 to date are 110/70/17 front and 130/70/17 rear.  To run sport touring radials you must use a 140/80 or 150/70 rear to fit our 3.5" rim with a 110/70 or 110/80 front.  To run supersport tires, the choice is 150/60 rear to fit the 3.5" rim with a 110/70 or 120/70 front.  Nobody sells radial tires in our OEM sizes in this country that I know of.

For the AV45/46 tires the 110/80/17 and 140/80/17 would be the best choice in my opinion.  They are the sizes I ran. They are over $260 from Superstore but only $200 for the pair with shipping included from Southwest.

[blackey]

Last question: What is the order of tire brands from Best to worst? Where does Avon rank? I'm looking between these brands, if someone could put them in order of quality i'd appreciate it.

Dunlop
Bridgestone
metzeler
michelin
avon
pirelli
continental

[Chuck]

Last question: What is the order of tire brands from Best to worst? Where does Avon rank? I'm looking between these brands, if someone could put them in order of quality i'd appreciate it.

Dunlop
Bridgestone
metzeler
michelin
avon
pirelli
continental

You can't rank the brands.  You have to use the particular line of tires in that brand.  For example, Bridgestone Excedras are crap, but Bridgestone Battleaxes are great.  However you also have to factor in for what use you want the tires.  Pirelli sport demons are awesome for the track, but crap for touring (because the soft compound results in a short tread life), whereas your good touring tire (ex. a Bridgestone BT020 I think) are not sticky enough for aggressive or track use.

I'll assume you want tires for aggressive use, in which case you want to look into... and MAYBE in this order, I'm not sure:

Pirelli Sport Demons
Michelin Pilot Powers (if you change your rear wheel)
Bridgestone Battleax BT45
Avon AV45/46

I don't know what the current "hot" Metzler tire is offhand.  There may be other members with experience with other tires.  (If so, edit the wiki page!!! http://cgi.stanford.edu/~sanjayd/gs500/Upgrades/Tires)

[deathlucky]

i use Michelin Pilot Activ on my bike stock sizes and the kill the stock tyre that comes with the bike they have a very nice shape to them

[lachie]

didn't someone put a 160 on their GS?? modified rear brake brace etc..

the battleax's get nice an hot an sticky when you push em through the twisties long/hard enough....

obviously not as good at the pilot's but..

[gsJack]

Last question: What is the order of tire brands from Best to worst? Where does Avon rank? I'm looking between these brands, if someone could put them in order of quality i'd appreciate it.

Dunlop
Bridgestone
metzeler
michelin
avon
pirelli
continental

These are the major tire brands and all make/have made excellent tires and average tires and even a few not so good tires.  No way to put them in order, it changes every time someone comes out with something newer and better and this is frequently in this very competative market.  

There are two major types of construction of motorcycle tires, bias ply tires and radial tires.  And each type has tires intended for different purposes; sport, sport touring, and touring and there are also tires intended for only or for mostly track use.

There are tires that will last for 25-30k miles on a GS500 and not give a lot of grip for handling and there are tires that are tops in handling and wear out in a few thousand miles.

I've put about 120k miles on two GS500's since early 1999 after wearing out four 400-750cc Hondas so I've used a lot of tires that are suitable for the smaller bikes over 22+ years.  My personal tire requirements have changed greatly over the years basically from long life tires to good handling tires that still have some life.  

Tires I've used on the GS's:

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

What do you want from your tires and how much do you want to spend on them?  All tire choices are compromises.

If you ask me today what are the best tires for the GS500 I'd say a Lasertec front with a Road Attack rear because that's what I think is best for me right now.  If you ask me next year, I'll probably give you a different answer.