Bear with me...another tire question.

[Guest]

I am part of a Mustang Bullitt forum, and this question gets asked REPEATEDLY, so bear with me. However, with the Bullitt, there was only one year to worry about, so it was easy to answer the question.

What is the next width tire I can go with on my bike? Here are the current sizes. I'm assuming the "V" is speed rating. Sorry for the large boxes, but I cut and pasted it from a GS1100G web page.

Front Tyre	3.50 V19
Rear Tyre	4.50 V17

[Tim Tom]

3.50 and 4.50 are wheel widths, most motorcycle tires are sized in millimeters. V is the speed rating yes.

There is probably a 130mm on the back, and you should replace it with a 130mm tire. Why do you want a wider tire?

Unless you fit a wider wheel, putting too a wide tire on a skinny wheel is a great way to screw up the handling. You may be able to pinch a 140 on there, but that is it. I'd expect it's profile to be altered and reduce the size of the contact patch. Also since your G is a shaft drive, fitting a wider wheel is much more of a project than doing it to a chain drive bike.

[Datsa Noydb]

Installing wider tires on your stock wheels is an exercise in futility. Stick with the sizes that work for your 1100G: 100/90-19 for the front and 130/90-17 on the rear.

As Tim Tom mentioned, putting wider tires on your stock rims will just pinch them into a tighter radius, which actually gives you a SMALLER contact patch.

[posplayr]

3.50 and 4.50 are wheel widths, most motorcycle tires are sized in millimeters. V is the speed rating yes.

There is probably a 130mm on the back, and you should replace it with a 130mm tire. Why do you want a wider tire?

Unless you fit a wider wheel, putting too a wide tire on a skinny wheel is a great way to screw up the handling. You may be able to pinch a 140 on there, but that is it. I'd expect it's profile to be altered and reduce the size of the contact patch. Also since your G is a shaft drive, fitting a wider wheel is much more of a project than doing it to a chain drive bike.

IIRC, those are Tire Width NOT Wheel Width and assume a 100% aspect ratio so Height and Width are the same.

3.5(inch) x 25.4(mm/inch)= 88.9 mm or a 90 series tire. Most people go (Edit)100/90-diameter (90 is aspect ratio ratio)
4.5(inch) x 25.4(mm/inch)=114.3 mm or a 120 series tire but most people move up to 130/90-diameter

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.maxxis.com/media/684488/motorcycle_size_chart.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.maxxis.com/other-motorcycle-information/motorcycle-tire-school&h=348&w=288&tbnid=BlFcx24g2ijvnM:&tbnh=160&tbnw=132&docid=oXcHKJn0y1z19M&usg=__UJPZ-s0iP2vq7dHdBScSe4hWgxY=&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi0__nRq5jKAhVO8GMKHc9ICi0Q9QEIKjAA

I'm open to comment, and while I agree putting too wide of a tire will distort the profile on a narrow rim. However you can still lower the aspect ratio (going from 130/90-x to a 130/80-x or 130/70-x on the rear) and reduce the sidewall flex which is improves cornering stability. It is also lower the bike in the rear so something should be adjusted to counter large changes.

Most people have reported sluggish steering with wider than (Edit) 100/90 front tires.

[Nessism]

There are at least a bazillion different tire threads in the archives here, and with only minimal discenssion general forum wisdom says to use a 100/90 on front and 130/90 on back for your bike.

[posplayr]

There are at least a bazillion different tire threads in the archives here, and with only minimal discenssion general forum wisdom says to use a 100/90 on front and 130/90 on back for your bike.

Thanks I edited my post. I don't have bias ply tires anymore so could not go look.

Although there are a bazillion tire threads, we apparently don't have enough on "google search" or basic math conversions .

[Guest]

Thanks for the responses! I just wanted to go a little wider. I guess that comes from how my Bullitt looks with 315/35/17s on the rear. Stock was 245/40/17s all the way around. I have 275/40/17s on the front.

[hannibal]

You can throw massive tires on stock auto wheels or do the stretched tire on a wide wheel for clearance. I'm learning bikes are very different. The contact pitch changes far greater when moving in anything but a straight line.

[Tim Tom]

You may loose some parking lot cred with the 130 rear tire... But it's worth it to have a proper and safe handling motorcycle. Besides if you know how to use your 130 tire well you won't care, as you giggle to yourself while you pass the stanced and stretch tire cars with ease..