wideside envy,,wait there is hope

I just had to get new tires on the wife's car last week, goodyear weather beater or something. They are 205/70/r15. Just for the heck of it I measured this am, and found the outside measurement at 8". I checked this measurement against my vlx for clearence, and found that it would be really,really close to fit on the vlx. Read envy.

I really like the 165 thats on my bike now, but wider really looks sweet. I guess when and if the 165 ever gets worn down that a 195 will be the widest I can go on this bike without having to do any modifcations. Dang acceptance is a tough pill to swallow. But I'll have plenty of time to adjust to knowing that the 195 will be it for me .

mark f

the little darksider

Otis, I had hubby and Insp#484 put on a Goodyear Tripletread Assurance on mine last night. 205/65R15. It measure 7 3/4 off the bike. It was a close fit, but it worked with no mods. It was a booger to seat, but the guys were persistent. . Here's a picture. I had a perfectly good 165, but wanted to go wider. Insp had to cut the 165 off with a razor knife. That bead wouldn't break for anything. Those are tough little tires.

Goodyear Tripletread cool looking tire.

but he have vlx, which is smaller than our vtx's, and the rear rim is diferent.

I just checked the goodyear web site, the tripletread assurance comes in 195/60/15, and 195/65/15 also, so it may well be in the future. So there is hope for a good looking tread on my vlx

mark f

the little darksider

Mark: I think you have a 165/80 on the back right now. A 195/65 will be noticeably shorter. But your speedo is in the front I think, so the only thing it will affect is the the height. It will lower your back end some. Proably no fit isssues, but you also have a chain drive which will limit the width.

I would put your current tire and potential new tire side by side to see what the height and width difference actually is.

My only thoughts on wide vs narrow is the narrow tires behave more like the mc tire that came with the bike. So leaning side to side in the twisties is easier. Wide tires will do twisties fine, but take a bit more effort to countersteer. I think you use your bike for transportation mainly, so the wide side should be just fine for you. Another consideration is the wideside contact patch is HUGE. You will feel the tread interacting with the asphault especially in slow cornering and on uneven (sloped, tar snakes, road seams) pavement. This can be disconcerting if you are not expecting it. Just wanted to make you aware of this.

Wide tires on the back look great by the way!

I went from a 165 to a 205. My next tire will be a 195 or 185 - and hopefully get the best of both worlds.