Author Topic: Can anyone school me on bike tires?  (Read 2742 times)

Offline Shiftonthefly

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Can anyone school me on bike tires?
« on: June 12, 2018, 10:19:20 PM »
I have a ton of tire experience in the automotive world and almost none in the bike world.
I'm tire shopping for my Stornello and I'm trying to find a retro (ish) street tire. I'm open to having a mild dual sport tire on there. Basically I'm looking for a tire thats both esthetic and functional.

Some I've liked :
Dunlop K70
Pirellis MT66
Bridgestone has a retro one I can't remember with a raised white letter.
Avon Av54
I'm open to any suggestions.


I like the the look of larger lugs and deep sipping.

I don't know if I'm an idiot or if the sites I've been on are not intuitive or the bike has an odd combo of tire sizes. Am I not seeing a way to shop for a brand/model of tire by pairs?? This can't be this hard.  I keep finding either a front or rear tire then not being able to find the other in the same tire model. It's driving me nuts. Not to mention I keep finding bias plys. Which on a car are horrible. I would have thought on a bike it would be worse. Then throw in the tube or non tube tires plus some tires only come in SAE size designations and my head is swirling.

My front is 100/90/18
Rear 130/80/17

I'm open to changing sizes but not sure if I need to factor in certain things beforehand.

Any help is very appreciated. I'll buy the next round.
« Last Edit: June 13, 2018, 08:07:34 AM by Shiftonthefly »

Offline Tom H

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Re: Can anyone school me on bike tires?
« Reply #1 on: June 12, 2018, 10:45:51 PM »
I do not have an answer for your bike. But, in the Guzzi world, many brands do not have a matching model front and rear. I bought a Shinko 777 to try on the rear of my bike, but no front size available. Heck even Metzler can't match my Guzzi with the 888, but they do have a matching for my HD.

Good luck on your search and I hope you get some info for your bike!
Tom
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Offline Shiftonthefly

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Re: Can anyone school me on bike tires?
« Reply #2 on: June 12, 2018, 10:54:58 PM »
Wow really??? That seriously messes with my OCD. The exhaust only on one side is bad enough. That would explain why they don't match now. Same brand but the front isn't knobby like the rear is. I assumed it was for safety/handling reasons. Grrr.

Offline NC Steve

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Re: Can anyone school me on bike tires?
« Reply #3 on: June 12, 2018, 11:14:22 PM »
Contact these folks and see what they've got that'll work on your Stornello.
If they don't have it they can get it, and if they can't get it, it probably doesn't exist.
Good luck. :thumb:

https://www.americanmototire.com/
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Re: Can anyone school me on bike tires?
« Reply #3 on: June 12, 2018, 11:14:22 PM »

Offline Chuck in Indiana

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Re: Can anyone school me on bike tires?
« Reply #4 on: June 13, 2018, 05:34:03 AM »
^^^^^ yeah, my go to tire source.
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Offline Dilliw

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Re: Can anyone school me on bike tires?
« Reply #5 on: June 13, 2018, 06:40:41 AM »
No firsthand experience, but someone on the Ghetto put the Scorpion Trail II's on his Griso and loved them.  They are based on the Angel GTs that I'm running.
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Offline menzies

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Re: Can anyone school me on bike tires?
« Reply #6 on: June 13, 2018, 07:44:21 AM »
 :1:
Contact these folks and see what they've got that'll work on your Stornello.
If they don't have it they can get it, and if they can't get it, it probably doesn't exist.
Good luck. :thumb:

https://www.americanmototire.com/
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Offline Kiwi_Roy

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Re: Can anyone school me on bike tires?
« Reply #7 on: June 13, 2018, 07:57:11 AM »
I'm trying out a pair of Heidenau K73s on my Griso for the trip to Arctic
they are sort of knobby but nothing like the K70 of the same brand
They are a bias tire with more of a round profile which I believe will work better in the gravel of the Dempster.
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Offline Toecutter

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Re: Can anyone school me on bike tires?
« Reply #8 on: June 13, 2018, 09:11:04 AM »
You can run a 110-80/19 up front. That opens up some choices.

Edit: 18! 110-80/18!!

I'm loving my K60 tires, but they're a bit aggressive if you stay on pavement all the time.
« Last Edit: June 13, 2018, 12:55:07 PM by Toecutter »
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Offline mtiberio

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Re: Can anyone school me on bike tires?
« Reply #9 on: June 13, 2018, 09:20:29 AM »


they have a 130/80-17 rear (in both radial and bias)
no 18" fronts, but I have run the rears as a front. You might try their 110/80-18 rear on the front.

http://www.avonmoto.com/street-tires/adventure-sport/trailrider/
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Offline mtiberio

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Re: Can anyone school me on bike tires?
« Reply #10 on: June 13, 2018, 09:21:47 AM »
You can run a 110-80/19 up front. That opens up some choices.

19" tire on an 18" rim, that's a neat trick
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Offline Shiftonthefly

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Re: Can anyone school me on bike tires?
« Reply #11 on: June 13, 2018, 09:44:21 AM »
Ok I've got to ask...this may be a noob type question but what's the difference between a front tire and a rear one? I actually love the look of equal sizes front and rear but I'm not buying new rims. I am open to the idea of running a small "rear" tire on the front provided there aren't major drawbacks.

What about bias vs radials? I remember putting bias plys on my 59 Edsel because I loved the wide whites and the basic tread pattern. Man they rode like absolute garbage. It's to my understanding you get the best ride out of a radial tire. Am I wrong?


Thanks for the suggestions. That website is way better than the ones I was using.

Offline Toecutter

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Re: Can anyone school me on bike tires?
« Reply #12 on: June 13, 2018, 12:54:24 PM »
Quote
19" tire on an 18" rim, that's a neat trick

You gotta ride really fast so the rim heats up and expands.

Heh. oops. Typo.

Old enough to say I've done it, young enough to do it again.

Offline TOMB

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Re: Can anyone school me on bike tires?
« Reply #13 on: June 13, 2018, 01:30:48 PM »
Just ordered a tire from American moto tire. Ordered on Sunday arrived last night. Don't know where the warehouse is located but it was fast delivery.
No tax and no shipping.
I will order from them again.
TOMB
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Offline malik

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Re: Can anyone school me on bike tires?
« Reply #14 on: June 13, 2018, 01:33:34 PM »
Bias ply vs radial? Until recently, I believe there were no radial tyres available for the V7, so it wasn't really an issue, but I shouldn't think car & motorcycle construction techniques would be directly transferable - the forces involved are surely significantly different. There has to be more info out there on the inter web - see where Google takes you - start with wiki. I do know (read = feel) that tyres that work well with the V7 are not appropriate for the 1100 Sport & vice versa. I have also heard that the tyres I favour for the V7 don't work so well in the cold & wet of Northern Europe - so there's likely a climate factor in the mix as well. Note that the new Bonnevilles have similar rim sizes to the V7 - you may get more info on tyre threads in the Triumph Bonnevilles forums (exercise your OCD - let it work for you). Good luck with your investigations - report back what you come up with - don't worry about the time lag, it can take a long time to wear through a few sets, especially when you find ones that work well.
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Offline greer

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Re: Can anyone school me on bike tires?
« Reply #15 on: June 14, 2018, 04:50:27 AM »
I put a set of Avon Trailriders on my Scrambler for a trip out to Big Bend and Sequoia earlier this year.  I wasn't sure how much gravel we might see and that "riding on marbles" feeling really makes my butt pucker.  Avon doesn't offer a front for my bike, so I'm using a rear tire mounted backward, per the Avon website.  Excellent tires all around in my opinion.

Sarah
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Offline Huzo

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Re: Can anyone school me on bike tires?
« Reply #16 on: June 14, 2018, 05:54:51 AM »
I'm trying out a pair of Heidenau K73s on my Griso for the trip to Arctic
they are sort of knobby but nothing like the K70 of the same brand
They are a bias tire with more of a round profile which I believe will work better in the gravel of the Dempster.
Where you headed KR..?

Offline twowheeladdict

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Re: Can anyone school me on bike tires?
« Reply #17 on: June 14, 2018, 06:44:30 AM »
Ok I've got to ask...this may be a noob type question but what's the difference between a front tire and a rear one? I actually love the look of equal sizes front and rear but I'm not buying new rims. I am open to the idea of running a small "rear" tire on the front provided there aren't major drawbacks.

What about bias vs radials? I remember putting bias plys on my 59 Edsel because I loved the wide whites and the basic tread pattern. Man they rode like absolute garbage. It's to my understanding you get the best ride out of a radial tire. Am I wrong?


Thanks for the suggestions. That website is way better than the ones I was using.

If you bike calls for bias, you run bias.  If it calls for radials, run radials.  If you don't you might as well put a car tire on the bike.  :)

If you run a rear tire on the front you have to mount it backwards if it has a direction arrow on it. 

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Offline Shiftonthefly

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Re: Can anyone school me on bike tires?
« Reply #18 on: June 14, 2018, 12:17:12 PM »
Thanks for all the help. The AV54 maybe the one. I'm going to continue to search and make sure. I read about the front tire mounted backwards. Ugh. That bothers me in itself. But seems to be the norm throughout the motorcycle world. Or so I've read on the interwebs.

Offline Testarossa

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Re: Can anyone school me on bike tires?
« Reply #19 on: June 14, 2018, 12:31:50 PM »
Reason for reversing a rear tire when mounted in front is that you want acceleration traction at the rear and braking traction at the front.
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Offline Kiwi_Roy

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Re: Can anyone school me on bike tires?
« Reply #20 on: June 14, 2018, 02:07:11 PM »
Where you headed KR..?
Dawson City and up to Eagle Plains via the Top of the world highway



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Offline Toecutter

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Re: Can anyone school me on bike tires?
« Reply #21 on: June 14, 2018, 02:09:56 PM »
Quote
Reason for reversing a rear tire when mounted in front is that you want acceleration traction at the rear and braking traction at the front.

I thought it was due to construction... and the tires are constructed in such a way that they only resist forces in the "proper direction"...
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Offline Dharma Bum

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Re: Can anyone school me on bike tires?
« Reply #22 on: June 14, 2018, 02:44:12 PM »
I think you're both saying the same thing.

Offline LowRyter

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Re: Can anyone school me on bike tires?
« Reply #23 on: June 14, 2018, 03:19:48 PM »
The knobbies are for dirt and smooth tires for the road and universals are in between.  I don't really care how the tread pattern looks, I just care about how it performs.

I'd say get the tire to match your riding.
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Offline twowheeladdict

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Re: Can anyone school me on bike tires?
« Reply #24 on: June 15, 2018, 05:31:35 AM »
I'd say get the tire to match your riding.

Couldn't agree more.  When you buy tires based on budget instead of riding style you might find out that you can no longer safely ride the way you want to.

The more rain grooves the better wet weather traction, but less dry road traction, and more risk of a puncture in one of those rain grooves.

Every tire choice is a trade off isn't it.  More grip, less miles before the tire is worn out. 
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Online Perazzimx14

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Re: Can anyone school me on bike tires?
« Reply #25 on: June 15, 2018, 08:42:38 AM »
Contact these folks and see what they've got that'll work on your Stornello.
If they don't have it they can get it, and if they can't get it, it probably doesn't exist.
Good luck. :thumb:

https://www.americanmototire.com/

AMT is great for buying tires. Great prices and fast shipping. Trying to get ahold of AMT is where they call extremely  short. When ordering from them double check your order before hitting the submit button. I order a wrong size tire over a month ago and am still wait for a response.

To the OP if you were truly OCD you’d have typed it as CDO
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Offline fossil

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Re: Can anyone school me on bike tires?
« Reply #26 on: June 16, 2018, 12:09:04 PM »
Radials for the V7 (all STB�s, 110/80 R18, 56V + 130/18 R17 65V) Continental RoadAttack 3. I will try them when my Dunlop StreetSmart are worn out. Btw: the Streetsmart are really good even when it´s cold and wet. Uncomparabely better than the stock Pirellis.
« Last Edit: June 16, 2018, 12:11:20 PM by fossil »
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Re: Can anyone school me on bike tires?
« Reply #27 on: June 16, 2018, 04:20:08 PM »
AMT is great for buying tires. Great prices and fast shipping. Trying to get ahold of AMT is where they call extremely  short. When ordering from them double check your order before hitting the submit button. I order a wrong size tire over a month ago and am still wait for a response.

To the OP if you were truly OCD you�d have typed it as CDO

AMT has recently changed ownership it seems. It used to be that if I had a question or problem, I would get a response from "Vaughn" within an hour. Vaughn isn't there any more. Now, it's a day or more. Shipping isn't quite as fast now either. Still my "go to" source for motorcycle tires though. 
Charlie

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