Why the jump from 1 65 to 205?

Why did some of you jump from the 165 width to the 205 width without trying the intermediate sizes first. I've read through the darkside forums but have not seen a 175 or 185 width tire mentioned. It seems the 165's are hard to find, but some of you have said a newby should not start with a 205. Is there some reason the mid-ranges have been rejected, instead of a 165, why not try a 175 or 185? There are several tires available in the 175 or 185/65/15 sizes, will they work on a 1300S?
Also, when I look at the specs for a tire, there are two columns on rim width, rim width range and measured rim width. Which column should I be concerned with, I think Tennx told me the max was 5 inches but all the measured rim width dimensions are at least 5.5 inches.
I confess to much ignorance on this subject but am anxious to go darkside but I don't want to go wideside till I have some experience in the dark first. Any help would be appreciated.

from what i understand, the 205 is the closest to the stock tire heighth. the others are too short

voldog, first welcome to the site....
I went right to the 205 for the extra stability it offers in the wind....Stupid wind never seems to stop around here....The rim on the 1300 is 4", so to get a tire to seat you want to try and stay close to that width from bead surface to bead surface. The douglas 205/65/15 is between 4-1/2 and 4-3/4. Why the difference, I dont know.....I have an R model (tubeless) and mine seated at about 80 psi. There are a couple threads where people with S models are having trouble getting a tube to seat their tires. I would sujest measuring the bead width on any tire you might try, to make sure it is below 5". you also might want to read the thread on sealing spoked rims and going tubeless....The search feature will find the threads for you....I'm sure someone will be alone that has gone darkside with an S model to help you out more than I can....I am sure you will enjoy whichever way you decide to go...

Jerry

Voldog,

Good question and glad to have you here...and there is a reason we don't use the 175's/185's.

The 165's we were happy with and great tires, but they became harder and harder to find and nothing but backorders with NO idea when they would come in. It's a VW beetle tire!

So when that became an issue, we needed alternatives. The 175's and 185's if you do the conversions of the side walls...they are too short and makes your bike feel like you are riding up hill and throws your gear ration to low and you start to over rev at highway speeds.

The 205/65/15 is the closest ration to the stock tire height of a 170/80/15 that is a stock dunnie numbers. It's not just the width we worry about....it's a combination of all the number in there ratio's and size determines whether we run them. The first number on the tire is the width in mm's and the second number is the ratio in % of the width, and of course the last number is the tire rim diameter that it fits. Gotta use the ratio to get the height, so if you go with a 175 or 185 you would need a side wall height of 80 to 90 to get close! Don't make tires like that just every where. But 205 are a dime a dozen at the 65 and 70 ratio's that match our stock diameter of the motorcycle. The 70 series tends to be taller than stock and allows for better highway traveling and gets your speedo more correct to the right mph.

*****Of course if you own a 1300, you need to consider does the tire also fit a narrow rim like our stock rims. It's a 4" rim and you will need a car tire made for a 5" rim to even try to mount it. If you own a 1800 the sky's the limit.****** The S models are the hardest to mount a 205 on and success is low because of the tube....sealed rims are the best way to go and wayned does a good job on the 1300 tech area to show how to do it. Pretty easy mod!

I hope this answers your questions......It will add to what everyone else on here has made a comment to your question.


..............bobby


.

Thank you very much, I knew there had to be a reason for the jump but wasn't "tire smart" enough to figure it out. I am definitely going to seal my spokes, tubeless seems to be the way to go for several reasons. I think I'm going to find a 165 (don't know, sometimes I can be impulsive) to try it out and go from there. I'm sure I'll have more questions and thanks again.

Tennx had a 165 for sale in the classifieds section....dont know if he still has it but you could PM him

Jerry

Yep, I talked to Tennx about his tire and if I don't find one here quick, I might head to Memphis to get his. If I rode my bike, I wonder if I could just slip that tire over my head and shoulders and kind of wear it back. Don't see nothing illegal about it, might even give some extra protection, if needed. Now that I've thought about it, I don't think a 15 inch tire would go over my shoulders, have to put it on from the other end.........might hang up down there to. I guess there is always UPS.

voldog wrote:Yep, I talked to Tennx about his tire and if I don't find one here quick, I might head to Memphis to get his. If I rode my bike, I wonder if I could just slip that tire over my head and shoulders and kind of wear it back. Don't see nothing illegal about it, might even give some extra protection, if needed. Now that I've thought about it, I don't think a 15 inch tire would go over my shoulders, have to put it on from the other end.........might hang up down there to. I guess there is always UPS.

Bwwhahahaha You are going to fit in good around here. There are some pics floating around here of Darkside Shadow I think and his motorcycle with a tire tied to it and one of me somewhere sitting on it riding to the tire shop....... You even think like a darksider!

You will love the 165, It's just a little shorter than the stock tire but really feels good lowered a little bit also.

..............bobby

twin1300 wrote:

voldog wrote:Yep, I talked to Tennx about his tire and if I don't find one here quick, I might head to Memphis to get his. If I rode my bike, I wonder if I could just slip that tire over my head and shoulders and kind of wear it back. Don't see nothing illegal about it, might even give some extra protection, if needed. Now that I've thought about it, I don't think a 15 inch tire would go over my shoulders, have to put it on from the other end.........might hang up down there to. I guess there is always UPS.

Bwwhahahaha You are going to fit in good around here. There are some pics floating around here of Darkside Shadow I think and his motorcycle with a tire tied to it and one of me somewhere sitting on it riding to the tire shop....... You even think like a darksider!

You will love the 165, It's just a little shorter than the stock tire but really feels good lowered a little bit also.

..............bobby

There is always a bungie cord

All we need is Muntz and we can start another party

Jerry

jedishon wrote:

twin1300 wrote:

voldog wrote:Yep, I talked to Tennx about his tire and if I don't find one here quick, I might head to Memphis to get his. If I rode my bike, I wonder if I could just slip that tire over my head and shoulders and kind of wear it back. Don't see nothing illegal about it, might even give some extra protection, if needed. Now that I've thought about it, I don't think a 15 inch tire would go over my shoulders, have to put it on from the other end.........might hang up down there to. I guess there is always UPS.

Bwwhahahaha You are going to fit in good around here. There are some pics floating around here of Darkside Shadow I think and his motorcycle with a tire tied to it and one of me somewhere sitting on it riding to the tire shop....... You even think like a darksider!

You will love the 165, It's just a little shorter than the stock tire but really feels good lowered a little bit also.

..............bobby

There is always a bungie cord

All we need is Muntz and we can start another party

Jerry

You rang???? Party on dude!

Voldog, Welcome to the Madness
Muntz

I started with the 165 then tried a 185 and hit a peice of firewood in the road broke a belt and bent a rim. and now I have a 205

Appreciate the welcome and all the good info. I was going to order me a tire changer and mc adapter from Harbor Freight but I realized I had to bolt the thing down to concrete. My little farm is for sale so I don't want a go drilling holes in my concrete at this time. I guess I could rig something else up to use temporary. Just seemed like for $100 or so, a tire changer would really be cool, could do a bunch of experimenting that way. Anybody else on here got a harbor freight tire changer?

Darkside Shadow has a tire changer over here in Texas.....

One of the first initiation rights we have here is to carry a spare car tire on the back of our bikes! I have a spirit, and the tire fits just fine around the sissy bar. Actually had TWO tires on the back coming back from Ennis. Wont be the last time I carry tires, but they will be few and far between trips.

Welcome to the sight. Going darkside is much easier than you think. Just read about your model. Generally, if you can take the wheel off, a bike shop will replace the tire. Going with a tried and true tire will improve your odds of getting it to work the first time.

Let us know how the spoke sealing goes.

Hey, I got the HB tire changer. There are some videos on youtube that show how to use it. I wish I had looked at them before I did the first tire. Still working on my skills, or lack of skills with the thing. The guys on YouTube do not have it mounted and basically use it to break the bead.

The bead breaker is about all I use on mine, then it ends up on the floor on a peice of carpet, Then the match is on and I have had a few get the best of me.

The harbor freight tire changer is great. I bought one the other day after swapping the rear tire on a piece of carpet(MISTAKE). Anyway, it takes some trial and error getting the stand set up and you absolutely must bolt it down somehow, but once its right, a tire change is a piece of cake. The front tire took about fifteen minutes to change, and no scratches to the rim at all.

If you catch it on sale, it cost less than having one tire mounted at the local harley shop!! Yeah, I'm cheap!