New Tire Choices...

[bwringer]

and as for the tires i was talking about earlier, they have the exact sizes available that are on my bike right now so through my research, they should work...

Whatever random crap the PO stuffed onto your bike are not a reliable guideline for the CORRECT tire sizes. Or anything, really.

We're not talking low-tech four-wheeled Chevy Impala type vehicles here, where you can fudge tire sizes -- motorcycles REQUIRE the CORRECT size tires for safe handling.

Yes, I've seen a 140/80-17 rear stuffed onto a GS1100E. It handled like absolute poop until we installed the proper 130/90-17 rear. (As noted above, a 120/90-17 would probably be even closer to the original correct size -- I believe the Avon RoadRider may be the only modern tire available in this size.)

Up front, a 100/90-19 is the correct size. This size is very common, so first look for the somewhat rare rear.



As to the photo just above, don't get too excited -- Dunlop unfortuately hasn't made the 491 in a 17" rear for several years.


Also, are we talking about a GS1100E (chain drive) or a GS1100G (shaftie)? Either way, the tire sizes and advice are the same -- the only detail is that the GS1100E came with tubes, so you'll need to order new tubes or convert the rims.

[bwringer]

Dagnabbit!

Dingbustit, we've been talking about the wrong damn bike.

Busted has been talking about his 82 GS1100 without specifying whether it's a G or an E. Above you'll find quite a bit of advice pertaining to one or the other. Since the tire sizes for the G and E are the same, it didn't matter much.

As it turns out, after looking at pics in his profile, what he has is a GL, so most of what we've been yammering about is irrelevant.

The GL has a 16" rear wheel, not a 17" like the G and E, and as it turns out there are TONS of choices in a 16" rear. It's a pretty popular cruiser tire size.

The proper sizes for your bike are 100/90-19 up front and 130/90-16 out back. In old-skool letter sizes, these translate to MM90-19 and MT90-19. You may be able to find Dunlops or Bridgestone Spitfires in the correct sizes with white lettering. There may be a few others as well.

A good site for finding oddball tires for old bikes is http://tiresunlimited.com . http://americanmototire.com is also good.


In the meantime, PLEASE correct your signature line so everyone has some vague idea of what we're discussing.