Posted by Bill Miller. on August 9, 2008, 6:33 pm
> > Next would be to lose those tires that look like they came off of an
> > ATV and replace them with either a straight highway tread or at least,
> > as some manufacturers advertise, an 80% on-road---20% off-road tread.
> > A slight problem there surfaces in the odd tire sizes of the
> > TW200...130/80-18 on the front and 180/80-14 on the rear.
> If I wanted to put different-sized wheels and tires on a TW200, they
> would be 17-inch Excel rims on both ends because there is a far better
> selection of 17-inch tires than 18-inchers nowadays.
> However, such a conversion would NOT be cheap, Excel rims are expen
> $ive and the wider 17-inch rims may be hard to find. I suppose it
> would cost you
> at least $400 for the rims, re-lacing and tires, and spending $400 to
> save money on gasoline just doesn't seem cost effective to me.
You are correct. Not economically feasible. So I guess it just boils
down to finding tires that fit the current wheels that are more
"highway-friendly."
How about these two? They're purportedly 80% on-road and 20% off-
road.
REAR:
http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/2/29/393/14781/ITEM/Bridgestone-TW204-=
Trail-Wing-Dual-Sport-Rear-Tire.aspx
FRONT:
http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/2/29/393/14780/ITEM/Bridgestone-TW203-=
Trail-Wing-Dual-Sport-Front-Tire.aspx
Of course, if the major Japanese manufacturers hadn't abandoned the
125-150 cc street motorcycle market and turned it over to the scooter
crowd, this discussion wouldn't even be taking place as I would have
already bought me a nice new Honda CB125 and been on my way. But for
that to happen, I guess I should have been born 25 years earlier.
Bill
(Who even heard that Kawasaki, the last holdout, is dropping the
Eliminator 125 for 2009).
Posted by . on August 9, 2008, 8:05 pm
:
> How about these two? �They're purportedly 80% on-road and 20% off-
> road.
Bridgestone's MC tire site might be helpful in researching those
tires.
http://www.motorcycle-karttires.com/
The tread pattern looks like it would be much better for pavement
riding. You will see similar tread patterns on big adventure tourers
like BMW.
Those big heavy bikes will wear out a dual sport tire in a few
thousand miles, but it's hard to say what the tire life would be like
on the TW200...
Posted by The Older Gentleman on August 10, 2008, 2:24 am
>
> > How about these two? ?They're purportedly 80% on-road and 20% off-
> > road.
>
> Bridgestone's MC tire site might be helpful in researching those
> tires.
>
> http://www.motorcycle-karttires.com/
>
>
> The tread pattern looks like it would be much better for pavement
> riding. You will see similar tread patterns on big adventure tourers
> like BMW.
>
> Those big heavy bikes will wear out a dual sport tire in a few
> thousand miles, but it's hard to say what the tire life would be like
> on the TW200...
Tread patterna have surprisingly little effect on street riding (within
reason - huge gaps and big blocks are a different matter). Their main
function is water clearing.
Actual dry weather tyre grip is much more a function of the type of
rubber used..
--
BMW K1100LT Ducati 750SS Yamaha XT600E Honda CB400F & SH50
GAGARPHOF#30 GHPOTHUF#1 BOTAFOT#60
The bells, the bells.....
Posted by Bill Miller. on August 10, 2008, 3:27 am
I'm not saying that the stock knobbies on the TW200 are road
unfriendly or that they're terrible. We're not talking about black or
white here but about degrees.
Anyone looking at the stock knobbies on the TW200 can clearly see that
they are primarily designed for off-road (non-pavement) use. True or
false?
Then when you look at the two tires in the link I provided, anyone can
clearly see that the tread on those tires leans more toward on-road
(pavement_ use than off-road.
That's all I was saying---that these two tires ...
FRONT:
http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/2/29/393/14780/ITEM/Bridgestone-TW203-Trail-Wing-Dual-Sport-Front-Tire.aspx
and REAR:
http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/2/29/393/14781/ITEM/Bridgestone-TW204-Trail-Wing-Dual-Sport-Rear-Tire.aspx
...are not "superior" to the stock tires but only that they appear to
have a tread better suited for on-road (pavement) use. True or
false? Nothing more!
And if that's the case, and most (approximately 80%) of my riding will
be on-road (pavement) then why wouldn't I replace the stock tires with
these? No need to carry this discussion into any other areas. It's a
rather simple selection...pick choice A (stock tires) or choice B (the
tires shown in the links) for a bike that going to be driven on-road
(pavement) at least 80% of the time and the other 20% of "off-road"
use will be very light and easy trails and/or dirt/gravel secondary
roads.
If you truly think, based solely upon the planned uses I've described
for my particular situation, that this idea has no merit, then please
give me the facts and data to refute what I've just said regarding
these two choices of tires. No generalizations needed about this or
that but please just pick choice A or choice B and W-H-Y. Thank you.
Bill
Posted by . on August 10, 2008, 9:05 am
te:
> Anyone looking at the stock knobbies on the TW200 can clearly see that
> they are primarily designed for off-road (non-pavement) use. �True or
> false?
TW200 was designed as a beach cruiser. If you go to ride the dunes at
Pismo, you'd want a paddle tire.
The knobbie tire is designed to dig into loose soil and find traction
below.
The height of the knobs depends upon how deep the loose soil is on top
of the hard packed surface below.
Radical knobbies have widely-spaced knobs that are an inch tall, less
radical knobbie have lower knobs that are more closely spaced.
The relative softness or hardness of a knobby depends on just how hard
(or deep) the substrate is.
> Then when you look at the two tires in the link I provided, anyone can
> clearly see that the tread on those tires leans more toward on-road
> (pavement_ use than off-road.
The more street-oriented tread relies more upon the pavement surface
digging into the rubber and providing traction like a street tire does.
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> > ATV and replace them with either a straight highway tread or at least,
> > as some manufacturers advertise, an 80% on-road---20% off-road tread.
> > A slight problem there surfaces in the odd tire sizes of the
> > TW200...130/80-18 on the front and 180/80-14 on the rear.
> If I wanted to put different-sized wheels and tires on a TW200, they
> would be 17-inch Excel rims on both ends because there is a far better
> selection of 17-inch tires than 18-inchers nowadays.
> However, such a conversion would NOT be cheap, Excel rims are expen
> $ive and the wider 17-inch rims may be hard to find. I suppose it
> would cost you
> at least $400 for the rims, re-lacing and tires, and spending $400 to
> save money on gasoline just doesn't seem cost effective to me.