No doubt this subject has been touched on before... but briefly, anyone, what are the positives/negatives to running a 140/70 rear on the road, as opposed to the standard 130/70 ?

Thanks in advance.

H2

Im running a 140 Bridgestone bt003 on my trackbike.  I think probably the stickiest street tire available. 

Yeah, I plan on running the BT003 as well..... so how did the larger tyre effect the handling ... ie slower tip in etc

Stu

I had a 140 on my bike when I bought it. After it blew out about 3 weeks ago I replaced it with a 130 'cause I needed a tire NOW. The 140 seemed to dumb down the handling a bit. With the 130 it turns in better and overall feels more nimble. Visually it looks the same.

That's all I've noticed, but it's not like I'm running on a track, just the street.

I've run 110/70, 110/80, 120/70 front and 130/70, 130/80, 130/90, 140/70, 140/80, 150/60, 150/70 rear tires on my GSs on the stock 3.0 and 3.5" wheels.  All of the tires I've run have been fitments approved by the tires maker except the 150/60 rear.  The difference in handling due to tire size is hardly noticeable compared to the difference due to type of tire.

Comparing handling between a 130/70 and 140/70 means little unless you also consider the exact tires you're comparing and their state of wear.  Replacing a well worn rear 140/70 with a new 130/70 should make the newer 130/70 feel very good if they are of similar types.

I was running a pair of 120/70 and 140/70 Roadriders a year or so ago and replaced the 120 with a 110, both half worn Roadriders, resulting in quicker turn in and generally better overall feel.  Later on I replaced the 140/70 rear with a 150/60 Podium and the larger 150/60 rear made the bike fall into corners with noticeably quicker handling all around.  I wouldn't attribute that handling change to the tire width change but more to the fact the Podium was made for a 4" rim and squeezing it onto the 3.5" GS rim altered the profile making it rounder.  The Podium in not a particularly sticky tire for it's type, hardly much stickier than the Roadrider it replaced.

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

Schweet.... that's what I'm after... thanks for the info gsJack ....I'll be chaging the current worn, flat, square BT45's with  new round, sharp 110/140 BT003RS .... Merry Xmas all:)

140 and 130 are close enough in size that you probably won't notice the difference. I'd personally run 130 if it was available in the desired tire size, and 140 if not.

Hard to tell the difference between the 130 and 140 tires viewed side by side since the Roadrider 140/70 and some others of the current 140/70-17 tires are now sized for a 3.75 inch wide rim so they fit both the 3.5" and 4.0" rims equally well as far as profile shape goes.  Traditionally the preferred rim width for 130/70 was 3.5" and for 140/70 was 4.0".