In my quest to put more distance between my GS500 and my Bonneville in terms of utility, I am going to switch to some 80/20 tires. The GS is already much better on rough or gravel roads, and 80/20s would make it even better.
I've pretty much settled on Shinko 705 tires, since they are about the only 80/20 option with 17" front and rear tires in tubeless. Question for those of you who have tried this tire in these sizes.
Rear - 150/70R17
Front - 120/70R17
I figure with some massaging of the rear brake bar I can probably fit the rear tire no sweat. Can anyone confirm this?
Front tire, will this fit under the stock mudguard?
I can go out and measure and make guesses based on my current tires but you never know with different types/brands of tires since they can really vary in actual size.
Remember my GS is probably going to get less than 1K/year of use and if this all works according to plan, it should be at least 20% on rough roads, some gravel, some road construction, maybe sand/beach, maybe smooth granite or limestone, with not a whole lot of higher-speed smooth pavement. But to get to any of these kinds of roads is going to involve at least some smooth pavement and the occasional trip past 60mph so I am not really keen to go with a full on knobby 70/30 or 60/40 tire and I am not interested in putting tubes in.
I'm not familiar with the tyre sizes on the 500's, but going by your question I'm assuming those tyres are wider than the stock sizes?
If so, be very wary of the steering and tipping in as you'll end up with a more "pinched" profile meaning instead of a nice curved tip in as you lean over, you're likely to get to a point where the bike will want to fall in to the corners.
I had this issue on my 450 when I ran some dual sports early on and all I could get were some Michelins... I can't remember the actual tyre models now but I had to run a 95/5 100/90-18 up front and a 70/30 110/90-18 on the rear. The proper sizes I need are 90/90-18 and 100/90-18.
The feeling was absolutely horrendous... you'd turn a corner and the initial gentle lean was ok but then you'd hit that threshold and it literally wanted to fall on its side. It was even worse in the wet which was not confidence inspiring at all!
interesting. well a lot of others remark that 150/70R17 are ok in the rear, but indeed the front size is 10mm wider than stock. It's the smallest 17" tire you can get in a dual-sport type tire.
I could get a 130/80-17 rear which is taller than the stock rear tire but the stock width, it would likely also have the same kind of issues and it requires a tube.
FWIW I am running a 140/70R17 in the rear (+10mm) now and it's fine. I'd be putting that tire on my Triumph in place of the stock 130/80, but a lot of Triumph guys are running 150/70R17 in the rear with no issues so I figure a 140 would be fine.
It basically comes down to recommended tyre sizes for the rim width, and tyre manufacturers will list those on their websites typically.
The ratio makes a difference of course, if it's a common size used and plenty of people have no issues then I'd guess that's an indication it's ok, just figured it was worth mentioning.
I have continental TKC-80 dual sport tires on the stock GS rim's. Both front and rear just barely fit. I did not have to modify the front fender or rear brake arm. I can't remember if the rear is a 140 or 150.
You could go with the TKC80s. They are known to fit and should be much better in the dirt. Since you only plan to ride the GS 1000 miles per year you won't mind that the rear tire only lasts ~4,000 miles.
Thanks bs but those are too expensive and too blah on road. But it's good to know that a beefy 120 will fit up front.
For sure the 120/70s will fit (see picture). I've put those exact Shinko 705s on the front of my last two or three GS's. I've used 130/80s in the rear with no problem and "may" have used the 150/70s as well. I actually went back and looked through my order history and have purchased them both. I just can't remember for sure if the 150s were for the GS or a Honda NC700 that I had for a few years. Based on the pic, I feel like the rear is a 150 though. You also might PM Cedardrew. He posted some pics of a GS500 scrambler he built and I noticed that he had Shinko 705s as well.
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=73197.0
Hope that helps.
p.s. Don't forget you'll have to lengthen the side stand with the taller tires.
Any chance you have a picture with the mudguard on front? Or do you recall whether they fit with the stock mudguard?
FWIW the tires are on the way. If it touches the mudguard up front, I'll just find an alternate mudguard to fit that will mount above the fork brace.
Was initially planning to haul both bikes to a shop and pay $$$ to mount the tires but I think I'll try doing the GS tires myself. Just seems winter time is a bad time to DIY tire installation.
With some tyre lube and cable ties it's an easy enough job. It sometimes take two weeks though. If the rims are a little tyred (har Har) I clean them up and give them a coat of mat paint and generally install one of those 90 degree permanent metal valves.
Quote from: mr72 on December 30, 2019, 06:22:58 AM
Any chance you have a picture with the mudguard on front? Or do you recall whether they fit with the stock mudguard?
Searched and searched but could not find a picture of the mud guard on that bike. Although, I am 99% sure that it fit with that tire. If you need a couple extra millimeters in space you can also pop a spacer underneath of the fender mount. Although I remember that if its too high the fender hits the fork mount. You could also make yourself a custom, two-in-one front GS fender. The profile on that would allow you to use the existing fender mount but also raise it up as reasonably high as you would need with some longer mounting bolts.
Quote from: herennow on December 31, 2019, 02:26:51 PM
With some tyre lube and cable ties it's an easy enough job. It sometimes take two weeks though.
Haha!
I did the rear tire on my GS, and we did the front tire on my dad's VT750. The rear on the GS was like wrestling a bear. Getting the old tire off wasn't so hard but I pretty much almost did not get the new one on. Took me probably 3 hours of very hard physical labor.
Figuring there was a technique to it that I might have inadvertently learned, I volunteered to help my dad do both of his tires on his Honda. We did the front but pinched the tube, so we did it again, pinched the tube again, and he took it to a shop for the third time because it would have taken us two weeks to recover from the physical workout of changing that front tire twice. He still hasn't done the rear. It's been almost a year.
I tried the zip tie method on both wheels, and suffice to say it didn't really work as well as I'd hoped. I actually think the real trick may be tire temperature. Or more than three tire levers. Or I might buy that Harbor Freight tool to do if I can confirm that it has the right axle size.