anyone try....Michelin Pilot Street Radial Rear Motorcycle Tire 130/70/17

[joe penoso]

Hi:


anyone try....Michelin Pilot Street Radial Rear Motorcycle Tire 130/70/17?
Thanks
joepenoso

[Grimly]

Not that make or model, but I've had a couple of radials on the rear, and the difference in handling was worthwhile.

[salty_monk]

Radials require a wider rim. Be sure that the 130 is good for your rim size. I was going to use a GS1150 rim (3.5") to run radials but never got around to it.

[joe penoso]

What rim size on rear GS850gn..............think it will work? Or throwing money away.
Joepenoso

[Grimly]

What rim size on rear GS850gn..............think it will work? Or throwing money away.
Joepenoso

Same as mine - it works.

[Steve]

It may "work", but I would check the manufacturer's specs to see what width rim is recommended.

I tried installing a radial on the back of my Wing, and found that it just won't work, the rim is too narrow. I have to run the tire at maximum pressure just to get anything resembling "stability" on the rear. That gives a rather rough ride and strange handling because the pressure is so high.

I realize the GS is different, but the rim is even narrower, making me a bit apprehensive.

.

[steve murdoch]

There MIGHT also be an issue with getting a matching front.
Some tire manufacturers, depending on the bike and tire model being used do not recommend mixing bias and radials tires.

[bwringer]

I couldn't find a spec quickly on the Michelins, but other brands in that size require a 3.50 inch rim width, with 3.00 - 4.00 acceptable.

I'm not sure of the rear wheel or original tire width on the 1979 GS850G, but on the '83 it's listed as 2.50 inches for a 4.50-17 rear tire.

The most direct conversion for 4.50-17 into modern sizes is 120/90-17, but that size is really rare so pretty much everyone with a GS850G/1100G/1000G runs 130/90-17 and it works very nicely.



So anyway, running a rim an inch narrower for that 70 series tire is going to pinch it pretty badly and make the profile more pointy and oval instead of smoothly round.

Going from personal experience with a friend's bike, some PO (the accursed Previous Owner) stuffed a 130/80-17 on the rear and it turned the handling to, technically speaking, absolute poop. The bike felt unstable and inconsistent. This was easily corrected by installing the correct size tire. Installing a 130/70-17 rear would have even worse results.

FWIW, on the front it's also important to stick to the correct 100/90-19. For some daft unknown reason, maybe because that's all a shop had in stock or something, POs often stuff 110 tires onto the fronts of shafties and they then handle like pigs (The GK models did come with wider wheels, beefier forks, and 110 tires.). My GS850G came to me with a 110 on the front, and the difference once I figured this out and installed the correct tire was astonishing.


Motorcycles aren't cars, and wider is not better. The closer you can get the original tire sizes, the better the bike will handle. And Suzuki's shafties are some of the best-handling bikes of the '70s and '80s; Suzuki really got the geometry right on these long before Kawasaki, Yamaha, and Honda started to figure it out. The correct tire sizes are an important part of the equation.


And just to head off another question that pops up over and over and over and over and over again, no, there's not a wider rear wheel that will let you stuff phat meats onto your vintage Suzuki. It's possible to adapt later model wider rims onto chain drive bikes, but thus far this isn't really practical for shafties without some very advanced fabrication capabilities. If you feel the need to do that, start with a chain drive motorcycle.

Just take a look at the left side of the tire where it passes the swingarm. Only a few MM of clearance there, so a wider tire will rub.

[Grimly]

That must be why the 130 / 80 / 17 radial on the rear of my GS makes it handle like a pig.

Oh wait. It doesn't.

[Gorminrider]

the difference might be in the lower profile (80). A 90 might be that much closer to swingarm given the sides of it get closer towards the front? I don't know that but it'd be worth exploring this aspect? I do know the lower profile does change handling in a real way for me with my first skinnier- tired bike versus the round 90s...

[joe penoso]

What make, size radial are you using? How long does it last??.


Joepenoso

That must be why the 130 / 80 / 17 radial on the rear of my GS makes it handle like a pig.

Oh wait. It doesn't.

[Grimly]

What make, size radial are you using? How long does it last??.

One of these.

Fitted it last year, so don't know how long it will last; it's less than half-worn.
Makes no difference, as it was an end-of-line bargain, and you can't get them any more.
Doesn't detract from the fact that it's a radial in that size on this bike and it handles well.

[rphillips]

Just got back from appx. 60 mi. on my CB1100F with its brand new Michelin Pilot 130/70/17's maiden voyage. Feels great as most new installs do, due to being compared to old worn out that it replaced. It does feel very good. Looked for wheel size found 17 X MT 3.00, guessing 17" dia., & 3.00" width. Next question, how long will it last ????

[joe penoso]

Inquiring minds want to know
joepenoso