Pirelli Tire Size for Katana

[Gibo]

Hi Guys,

Whats the thoughts on a Katana rear wheel with gs stock front and Pirelli Diablo Rosso 110/70  front and 160/60 rear?

Its going to be tracked a little bit and used for fanging around twisties most of the other time.

Recon it will fit? If not, whats my best bet for getting some rubber in Aus. Current front is a Sport demon. In Aus if it makes any difference.

Many thanks for any input.

[Paulcet]

160mm will probably hit the chain on one side and the brake torque arm on the other.  I'm pretty sure you would be happy with a 140mm Sport Demon, and I think 150mm is readily available. 

And mixing radial (Diablo Rosso) with bias-ply (Sport Demon) tyres is not recommended.

[Gibo]

It does say in the wiki some 160's will fit with the swapout. If anyone has any suggestion about 160's that work (the M1 is not readily available in Australia AFAIK) that would be awsome, otherwise I will just go with a 150 something else. The whole idea was to get some better tires than what was available to the stock wheels.

My aim was to upgrade both front and rear at the same time. So if anyone with some experience with what works could contact me I will send you my love.

[gsJack]

That 160/60 M-1 is narrower than most 160 tires and just clears the chain on a 4.5" rim but standard spec size 160s will touch the chain and require some offset.  Don't see any advantage to running a 160/60 on the GS500s.  If you want to run supersport/hypersport type tires on a GS the 4.5" Kat rim would be desirable though.

Size availability varies around the world, but here in the US you can get the new Diablo Rosso II, the B'stone BT016, and the Sportec M-5 for examole in the 150/60 size.  The Dunlop performance tires all seem to start with a 160/60 smallest size here.  Any of these tires would probably be overkill on a GS500, a good 150/70 sport touring radial or a good 140/70 bias tire would do the job I think.  If appearance is part of the issue, a 150/60 tire on the 4.5" rim would measure 155 mm wide in most cases

[Gibo]

Thanks for that, I might go with the Rosso II 150/60 and 110/70.