170 on a 5.5" rim?

[Agemax]

currently i have a 180/55/17 rear tire on my GS, the clearance of the chain has always been tight between frame and tire and the chain has always run a few MM out of true with the front sprocket.(never caused an issue).
if i fitted a 170/60/17 i could machine the sprocket carrier to enable the sprockets to line up correctly,give me a slightly better clearance between chain and frame, and between chain and tire.

 

[posplayr]

currently i have a 180/55/17 rear tire on my GS, the clearance of the chain has always been tight between frame and tire and the chain has always run a few MM out of true with the front sprocket.(never caused an issue).
if i fitted a 170/60/17 i could machine the sprocket carrier to enable the sprockets to line up correctly,give me a slightly better clearance between chain and frame, and between chain and tire.

I run 170/60-18 on a 4.5" wheel which is only a bit over sized but causes no problems. This would lead me to think that going to 5.5" would be a big jump, but 180/55 v.s. 170/60 doesn't seem like much of a change.

DUNNO??

 

[Steve]

Will you be using the same wheel that's on there now (is that the 5/5" rim)? If so, I would not think that any sprocket carrier machining would be necessary, just install the narrower tire and enjoy the extra clearance.

Or is your question centered on "is it OK to mount a 170 tire on the 5.5" rim?"

 

[Agemax]

Steve, i have a 5.5" rim on there already. if you read my post i want to go to a 170 so i can line the sprockets up correctly and gain slightly better clearance between chain and frame. i cant do this with the 180 tire fitted at the moment

 

[posplayr]

Steve, i have a 5.5" rim on there already. if you read my post i want to go to a 170 so i can line the sprockets up correctly and gain slightly better clearance between chain and frame. i cant do this with the 180 tire fitted at the moment

Why not go get a 1989 GSXR 1100 17x4.5" 2nd gen wheel wheel which will fit the 170/60-17 well and you get plenty of clearance.

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=144889&highlight=wheel

You are feeling why I went with the 88 GSXR 1100 wheels.

 

[Agemax]

Why not go get a 1989 GSXR 1100 17x4.5" 2nd gen wheel wheel which will fit the 170/60-17 well and you get plenty of clearance.

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=144889&highlight=wheel

You are feeling why I went with the 88 GSXR 1100 wheels.

TBH Pos, i can only just afford the new tyre, i cant afford to get another wheel as well.
if i know a 170 tyre will fit on my rim i will be happy. if i have to stick with a 180 then so be it.....

 

[posplayr]

TBH Pos, i can only just afford the new tyre, i cant afford to get another wheel as well.
if i know a 170 tyre will fit on my rim i will be happy. if i have to stick with a 180 then so be it.....

Well the other thing is to make sure you have the smallest chain. There is a lot of variation even in the 530 size. Checkout Katman's website I think he compares some to find the narrowest one.

 

[Agemax]

i have a Regina 530 non o ring chain. i wont go lower than a 530.
the chain clearance is not really the issue. i just wanted to know if i could fit a 170 tyre with no problems. i added the chain clearance info just to explain why i want to go to a 170. the 180 works fine, just not perfect.

 

[posplayr]

i have a Regina 530 non o ring chain. i wont go lower than a 530.
the chain clearance is not really the issue. i just wanted to know if i could fit a 170 tyre with no problems. i added the chain clearance info just to explain why i want to go to a 170. the 180 works fine, just not perfect.

Well I guess I'm not getting it ; chain clearance is the predominate issue and a narrower chain (not 520) will help (there is a wide variation in width for the 530 chains).

Of course mine is a GS1100ED, but at the end my chain pretty much splits the difference between the frame and tire with 5mm each side and only about 0.2" of misalignment. I did not worry too much about the chain and size but suspect I could improve with a narrower chain but don't need to.

I did do a rear to front wheel alignment today and I have about 5mm of clearance between 530 chain to frame and 530 chain to tire. I'm using 3/8" offset countersproket and as best I could tell I'm out 0.200" out on the chain ; Rear wheel is 4.5x18 with 170/60-18.

 

[Agemax]

my chain will fit with perfect alignment and clearance either side IF i can fit a 170 rear tyre on my 5.5" rim.
that is all i am asking.........WILL IT FIT?

 

[posplayr]

my chain will fit with perfect alignment and clearance either side IF i can fit a 170 rear tyre on my 5.5" rim.
that is all i am asking.........WILL IT FIT?

If the question is "Can I mount a 170 on a 5.5" wheel", I have little doubt it can be done. You might need a strap around the circumference to get the bead to seat but it is doable. The bigger question is what profile is the tire going to have and that has little to do with chain clearance.

You seem very definite that you know what the overall width of the tire is going to be after mounting. I have my doubts because those 170/60 dimensions are assuming an appropriate rim size.

So I guess I would suggest that if you switch to a 170 you will get the worse of both world; not much change in overall tire width and, a deformed tire profile

But yea sure It will FIT.

That is why I suggest finding a rim that will actually fit the 170 (to match your assumed mounted dimensions) or reduce the width of the chain so you have more wiggle room for alignment

 

[Agemax]

ok i will rephrase it to make life a little easier......

has anyone fitted a 170/60/17 rear tyre to a 5.5" rim, and if so does it fit ok without any issues?

thanks.

oh, and by the way, i will lose 5mm each side on the width by swapping to a 170.

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/tirecalc.php?tires=180-55r17-170-60r17

 

[posplayr]

ok i will rephrase it to make life a little easier......

has anyone fitted a 170/60/17 rear tyre to a 5.5" rim, and if so does it fit ok without any issues?

thanks.

oh, and by the way, i will lose 5mm each side on the width by swapping to a 170.

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/tirecalc.php?tires=180-55r17-170-60r17

I doubt it, as I previously stated when you force a 170/60 to fit onto a 5.5" rim it is not going to retain it's ideal shape on which those calculations are based. The bead of the tire is still going to be out at 5.5" regardless if it is 180/55 or 170/60.

I will say I have never mounted one though, there is really no reason to think it is going to achieve what you want.

 

[tatu]

Adrian, try here, I was looking for the tyre size and rim suitability chart I used the one here on this site : http://users.powernet.co.uk/cwc/brochure/classic_brochure.pdf

I also checke dup on acouple of others when I was researching the wheels for my GS. I've been looking and they are on the net, I'll look a bit more.
But an inch does sound like a lot to soak up on the rim.

 

[Agemax]

with a bit of research on Gixxer.com apparantly a 1990 GSXR750 has a 5.5" rim and comes with a 170/60/17 tyre as standard.

checking on alphasports fiche diagram indeed proves to be correct.
so, i have just answered my own question.

thanks for the input anyway.....

 

[tatu]

and there's this:
http://www.mtsac.edu/~cliff/storage/gs/Motorcycle_Rim_Width_Tire_Size_Chart.pdf

 

[Agemax]

Adrian, try here, I was looking for the tyre size and rim suitability chart I used the one here on this site : http://users.powernet.co.uk/cwc/brochure/classic_brochure.pdf

I also checke dup on acouple of others when I was researching the wheels for my GS. I've been looking and they are on the net, I'll look a bit more.
But an inch does sound like a lot to soak up on the rim.

cheers mate, but i am only talking a difference of 10mm in width, not an inch.
i have found my own answer now but cheers for looking......:dancing:

 

[posplayr]

cheers mate, but i am only talking a difference of 10mm in width, not an inch.
i have found my own answer now but cheers for looking......:dancing:

Here is a side by side picture of a 170/60-18 compared to a 4.5x18" wheel and a 5.5x17" wheel.

That tire is measuring at 6 9/16" or 167mm (v.s. 170mm) meaning it would appear to be squeezed a bit on that 4.5" wheel.

I also looked at the side profile to see where the widest spot is. My guess is that the total width at the bead would move out by 1.0" (difference between 4.5" and 5.5") and so the side wall width will move out approximately 1/2 of that distance ( 0.500" or 12.75mm ) if mounted on a 5.5" wheel.

So the total width of this tire mounted on a 5.5" rim is going to be 167+12.75=179.75 mm you are basically back where you supposedly started with the 180/55 tire.

Bottom line is that the actual fitted width of a tire is going to be a function of both the stated size and the rim width.
The link that you posted does not consider rim width, so your fundamental assumption about sizing is going to lead you into a circle. (i.e. back where you started).

Further to my comment about profile, as mounted the tire is only -3 mm off in total width. Adding +12.75 mm you will be off by +10 mm in the other direction. This is going to flatten the profile and probably make the tire a little harder to roll into turns.


here is a link explaining for car tires.

The width of the rim will influence the width of the tire. A tire mounted on a narrow rim would be "narrower" than if the same size tire was mounted on a wide rim. NOTE: Because the overall diameter of a steel-belted radial is essentially determined by the steel belts, there is little, if any, change to the overall diameter of the tire due to differences in rim width.

The industry rule of thumb is that for every 1/2" change in rim width, the tire's section width will correspondingly change by approximately 2/10".

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=198

That 40% rule of thumb is for car tires, I used a 50% rule for the motorcycle tire due to the very wide widths.

 

[Fjbj40]

I just installed a Bridgestone Battlax BT 021 170/60/17 on my 5.5" Bandit wheel. Mounted up with no issues. Easily seated when air was added.

Edit:Installed width of 172.9mm @34 psi.

HTH's
Daryl

 

[Agemax]

I just installed a 170 60 on my 5.5" wheel. Mounted up with no issues. Easily seated when air was added.

HTH's
Daryl

can you measure the width of the tire, extreme edges please?
what make of tire is it just to be curious?