wrote:
>>Considering my experience making a subtle change to the Venture's
>>front tire, I would suggest anyone thinking of goofing around with
>>tire sizes give it very careful thought. It doesn't take much to make
>>a big difference and it might not be a positive change.
>I've done a lot of mixing and matching. Some combinations work well, some
>don't. Some people like a bike that falls into turns, some like one that you
>have to throw it into the turn. Some like a bike that wants to stand up as soon
>as you release the pressure on the bars and some like one that will corner like
>it's on a rail until you make it stand up.
I suppose as long as the bike is predictable I could adjust to it. If
the tire combination makes the handling squirrely I'd be looking to
swap them out pretty quick.
>I've mixed radials and bias on the same bike at the same time. Despite what the
>naysayers will start screaming here in a minute, it won't kill you. In some
>circles, it's the preferred setup. The tires I have on my ST1100 right now are
>such a set. Stock size radial on the back, bias on the front and the front is
>narrower and shorter than stock. Stock front is a 110/90-18 and I have a
>100/70-18 on it. The bike felt as first like it was balanced on a razor blade
>but with just a little break-in, everything fell into place.
Interesting description. That is what the Venture felt like when I
switched to the narrower tire.
> It corners
>neutrally and once setup in a turn, will hold that setup all day until it's
>nudged back to upright. That's what I like. You may like something entirely
>different.
>I've put radials on bikes that were "designed" for bias tires. I've put much
>too wide tires on rear wheels. So wide that they rubbed in places and
>drastically shortened the tire life. There is little to no advantage to
>super-wide tires in handling or tread life without wheel and frame modifications
>to accommodate them. The handling difference between radials and bias tires can
>almost always be explained by the shorter profile of the radial and not the tire
>construction. The claimed treadlife increase with radials is due more to
>compound than internal construction. A wide tire on a narrow rim looks like it
>would have more rubber on the road but if you ride aggressively enough to get
>the pegs down and then look at the wear marks on the tire, you'll see that
>there's quite a bit of rubber on the edges that will never touch the ground. The
>extra width is wasted.
>I've put taller and shorter, wider and narrower tires on the front. They all
>affect handling. A few of them caused high speed wobbles but for the most part,
>the handling change caused by non-stock tires was not insurmountable.
>I've never had a combination of tires that handled so poorly as the stock and
>recommended size of Dunlop Qualifiers that came stock on many Hondas in the 80s.
>It cornered ok but braking felt like riding on grease.
Interesting stuff. Thanks for posting.
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>>front tire, I would suggest anyone thinking of goofing around with
>>tire sizes give it very careful thought. It doesn't take much to make
>>a big difference and it might not be a positive change.
>I've done a lot of mixing and matching. Some combinations work well, some
>don't. Some people like a bike that falls into turns, some like one that you
>have to throw it into the turn. Some like a bike that wants to stand up as soon
>as you release the pressure on the bars and some like one that will corner like
>it's on a rail until you make it stand up.