Hi all,
Im a new user, i registered on the forums when I obtained my brothers gs500 after he spun the big ends in the motor incase I needed help building it, yet I found it suprisingly easy to rebuild (I'm a mechanic yet not a bike mechanic).
However now im after a bit of advice regarding tyres, done a bit of reading on the forums and cant seem to find a definate answer, trying to decided weather to get a 140/70 or 130/70 for the rear tyre
Will fitting a 140/70/17 rear tyre on stock wheels have a negative effect?

also I can change the tyre myself at my old work, yet cant do balancing, anyone know of good places in sydney australia to take the wheels to after i change the tyres to get them balanced.

Thanks
Scott

The difference between the 140 and 130 tyres are purely cosmetic. I have had both on my bike and can report no negative effects. A lot of other members here run them and will probably report the same.

Difference is cosmetic yes, but the size is different as well. Granted its only 10mm, but for the limited space our bikes have its the difference between  a few extra thousand before changing worn out tires. I switched to the 140 earlier this year and notice I am getting a lot more life out of the rear tire. But some like the easier handling of the skinnier tire as well, so a lot of it comes down to personal preference. Although I am getting more and more intrigued about the Katana rear wheel swap to put on a larger rear tire. Interested to see if the guy here on the forums has any uneven wear on his chain from putting washers on the sprocket for rear clearance...

There is very little cosmetic difference or handling difference between the 130/70 and 140/70, I'm running the 140/70 right now.  Both are Roadriders. I did notice a significant difference in tire life.  I got 15k miles from a previous 140/70 and 18k miles from a 150/70 just removed for present 140/70.  The cosmetic difference of a 150/70 is more noticeable.  All run on stock 3.5" wheels.



Tires I've used on stock 3.0" front and 3.5" rear wheels:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v443/jcp8832/GS500tirelogs.jpg

My old 130 next to the new 140...



Cosmetically, it's hardly noticeable. On the street... I cannot say I notice a difference that wouldn't have been attributed to a new tire vs old tire - on initial ride. Subsequent rides did not have noticeable difference on handling. The only way to test for real would be to swap a new 130 for a new 140 and see. but as we only change tires when the old one is at the end of its life, such a test is not likely.

In short, no negative effect by fitting a 140.

Michael

ok, thanks for the help guys, will be getting 2 new tyres later this week and ill go for the 140/70 for the rear