Tire sizing for an upgraded rear

[98Mystique2]

So i pretty much decided today when i saw a Craigslist ad for a katana tire set that i'd go ahead and make the switch to a wider rear for more tire options,
i'm pretty set on going with the stickest tires i can get and bt003 race/street tires cause i can get them on sale for like 200 for a set.
with that said i'm confused on what to go with for a rear size
from the bridgestone website the guideline they give is
http://www.bridgestone.com/products/motorcycle_tires/products/battlax/bt003rs.html
_____________________________rec rim width     sug rim width
☆    150/60ZR17M/C    (66W)    TL    4.50    4.00 - 4.50    620    161
☆    160/60ZR17M/C    (69W)    TL    4.50    4.50 - 5.00    633    164
so with the katana 4.5inch rim which tire should i go with on the gs500f
from what i understand from the wiki a 160/60 is about the max i can go with with minor modification (bending that back break thing)
the katana rim i bought came with a junky michelen mesomething 150/70 which doesnt fit, rubs the chain guard and break brace ( i figured that would happen)
any advice on what to go with would be great

[burning1]

Is this for a track bike or a street bike?

If it's for a street bike, the BT003RS are a complete waste - way more performance than you're ever going to use, and terrible wear life. As they wear, the handling will tend to get a little weird, because most street riders can't wear out a tire evenly. Instead I'd point you towards one of the many sport touring tires available, or at a minimum a more conventional street tire like the Q2.

For the track, BT003RS are far from the stickiest tires available in those sizes. Bridgestone's own BT003 Race tires are stickier, and there are lots of good options to fit the 4.5 inch rear you installed. If you wanted to install a 3.5 inch front tire as well, you could easily enough run 250cc 2 stroke slicks, which are available in everything from a medium compound to an ultra-soft.

For those rims, either a 150 or 160 rear is fine - just make sure that the tire will clear the chain, swingarm, and brake linkage.

[98Mystique2]

Let me give you a full run down of everything thats going on.
So i bought the 04 gs500f this past summer toward the end with ~14500 miles i believe for 1500
It currently has some absolute crap kenda tires that are sport touring tires and i've had a few too many close calls, they're also biased ply and the rear is worn down so i was planing on replacing them if i kept the bike anyway. 
My plan was originally to sell the bike before winter hit so i could upgrade during winter to a 600 when prices would be cheaper, i had idle problems which prevented me from selling the bike but fixed them by adjusting the valves.  My best bet right now is going to be selling the bike come summer and upgrading to a 600 then while i'm working at my internship making money. 
THUS tire wear isn't a big issue for me and honestly i just want to have the most fun
I dont really want a tire that'll take 10 min to warm up or something that'll cost more then 250 for the set which is why for 200 for a set of the 003's sounds good.
I DO occasionally get stuck riding in the rain though i try not to so running full slicks is probably not for me however with the sport touring tires i had while riding in the rain i could still slide the back end in third so i'd imagine i'll cope with whatever i have
I DON't plan on really taking it to a track since the fairings are in good shape and i'm looking to sell it soonish, i know on a track i'll probably push it past it's limits to find it's limits, i know the safe limit on my car but it's taken time to find that
I would LOVE to track it i've tracked my car before and go indoor go karting quite often but financially I know i shouldn't till i have a larger income and can pay for what i break.
I DO plan on getting as low as possible on onramps etc, i go as fast as possible is safe on onramps and areas i know with no blind corners.
The touring tires on there have given me ALOT of rear end sliding out and i've been lucky not to f%$kup and crash thus far

[Big Rich]

A modern tire that hasn't past it's "due date" and has the release film taken off will be able to lean over further than the bike can handle.

[98Mystique2]

@ burning1
With the q2's i didnt see the front 110/70-17 so i kinda dismissed them would you recommend i look back into that, My friend swears by them on his 05 cbr and i've read great review online but again i only saw the front in a 120/70 would that work with a stock gs wheel?

@ Big Rich
I've ridden the 2011zx10r and wish i knew the tires that were on that when I rode it because when warmed up i was able to confidently power wheelie coming out of corners unlike the current sport touring tires on my 500 where if i try and roll on the throttle coming out of a turn the back end is rolling out

[98Mystique2]

Well I actually looked back at photos of the zx10r i rode and they were clear enough to read 016 on the side and from everything you've said with track tires being too sticky for street use and after looking at tire sizing on all the q2s and 003s i decided to ditch that and go with the bt016 since it came in a 150/60 and 110/70 i just ordered, i'm really hoping that with a smaller tire then the 160/60 q2's, 2cts etc or 150/70 that's on there now i'll have the clearance to not have to bend and cut stuff too much but fingers crossed.
Thanks a bunch for your advice

[SAFE-T]

If you're going to sell it anyway, why don't you just get a good set of Pirelli Sport Demons in stock sizes ?

[98Mystique2]

Thought about doing that actually but it would have been like 215 last i checked, I figure since i bought the katana wheels as a set i'll be able to sell the front of that and the stock gs rim maybe or i'll keep it i dont know but it'll end up being like 25 bucks net and i get to tinker and put stickier cheaper better rubber on
Right now i'm having fun debeading them

[burning1]

Keep in mind that your GS500 won't ride like a ZX10 even with a good set of tires. The stock GS500 suspension is pretty cheap, and has a pretty negative effect on grip and handling in stock form. With that said, Kendas aren't known to be great tires, and there's a good chance the ones that came with the bike are worn out and in need of replacing. New tires certainly would help.

Doesn't look like the Q2 is available in a 110 front. I wouldn't recommend installing any tire that isn't speced to fit the 3.0 inch front rim on the GS500.

You can however run BT016, Metzler Z6 interact, Pirelli Rosso II, etc.

And, don't discount sport touring tires.



A sport touring tire grips much better than you might expect.

[burning1]

BTW, 4chan doesn't appear to allow hotlinking.

[98Mystique2]

The hotlink was working but the threads on that board come and "expire" every day or so the hotlink is dead now.
The tires are coming in Monday and were only 200 bucks for the set so we'll see how they are then, i'm off to look for a valve core remover now

[burning1]

The image appeared as a 4chan logo to me. I had to copy and paste the URI of the image to see it. It appears to work for you because your browser already had the image cached from the 4chan board, and rendered it correctly.

Cool method of popping the bead, BTW.

[98Mystique2]

Doesnt make a good snow tire...
we'll see how it is next season!
Also is there a studded snow/ice tire that could fit on our bikes? i've been looking but couldnt find anything

2012-01-14_13-29-24_647 by billygoat3, on Flickr


2012-01-12_21-19-24_362 by billygoat3, on Flickr

[Big Rich]

I don't know about the sizing, but these guys supposedly make the best winter tires for bikes:

 http://www.moto-amore.com/heidenau/index.html

[burning1]

I don't know anything about winter tires, unfortunately. Perhaps you could share what you find?

[toadcat]

I have upgraded both the wheels on my GS to GSXR wheels. 120/70 Front and 150/70 rear works the best imo. A 150 rear is the limit - I had a 160 rear before but it got chewed by the chain. You'd have to somehow move that before going any bigger - but tbh, the gs doesn't have enough power to warrant anything more than a sticky 150 anyways and going larger you start to lose the agility and flickability of the bike.

I use Pirelli Rosso II's and they are fantastic tyres. I have literally not had them slip once and I ride very hard and am quite eager on the throttle out of corners... They're dual compound as well so it doesn't square off early like a more sticky compound such as that in the Pirelli Rosso Corsa - and you also get more k's out of them. Unfortunately the rear got a nail in it at 10,000kms (6.2k miles) and it seemed to have a fair bit more tread to go. The front was replaced at 11,400kms (7k miles) and a fair bit more to go but it had squared off so I wanted new ones. All miles were done on the street so wore down on the middle. Air pressures checked twice weekly. I did not get a chance to track them yet, the local track, Eastern Creek in Sydney, costs $245 to run for the day...

That said, modern sports touring tyres are very grippy already.

[burning1]

http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4120/4743358710_f2cf886905_z.jpg

I'm WFO in this photo. Stock wheels, front and back. Sticky tires.

Upgrade the suspension before installing larger rims. The improvements are much more significant.

[toadcat]

Done that, got k7 thou forks and R6 rear shock... Now to learn to ride like you do 

[burning1]

Learning is the best part! Get a race license, a race mentor. Read a lot, ride a lot.