Researching the right tire for my 1800F

I have been reading this site for a few days and talked to a few people about the car tire on a bike. It sounds like I will be going to the darkside when my stock tire wears out or next spring which ever comes first. I know that many people with the F are using the Toyo tire 215/45R18 and I was have been looking at the HankookVentus V12 evo K110 but it lists the width as 8.4 on a 7" rim. i know it will narrow up a bit on my bike rim. My basic question is what should a person look for in a CT. I would assume a round shoulder is a must, and a softer tread compound can't be a bad thing. Any other things i should look for? I know it has to fit in the wheel opening I have tried looking at the stickys in the general forum and for some reason unless it is more than one page I can't open it, and if it is more than one page i can't open the last page.

If you guys want to give feedback on the tires i am looking at I'd really appreciate it.

Kumho Ecsta SPT sec 8.4 on 7
HankookVentus V12 sec 8.4 on 7
Yokohama ADVAN Neova AD08 sec 8.5 on 7
Yokohama AVID ENVigor (W) sec 8.4 on 7
General Exclaim UHP sec unknown

other than the Toyo, a high $$ Michelin Tire and recently a cooper tire that looks like the Toyo, I haven't seen any others tried... If you don't wanna use a tire that has already been proven, you are diving into some potential experimentation!

nodakbassmaster wrote:other than the Toyo, a high $$ Michelin Tire and recently a cooper tire that looks like the Toyo, I haven't seen any others tried... If you don't wanna use a tire that has already been proven, you are diving into some potential experimentation!

Nodak, told me the same thing when I was looking. I went witht he Toyo and have never looked back. Its awesome. My advice is to go with tried and true. No issues at all.

Moon

I am not opposed to experimenting, just to see if we can add a few more tires to the list. That being said i don't want to attempt all possible 215/45R18's either. Which is why i was asking what things i should look for in a tire. I know it was not long ago when the cooper was tried. And if not for the experiment then the whole darkside thing would not exist.

I wouldn't bother with anything that has an actual width of over 8.3", keep the speed rating up there where you'll be covered and look for a cool tread pattern. You can see a pic of the toyo, regardless of what you find, we have low profile tires and they won't be quite as rounded as the 16" rim folks....

Keep us posted!

I would totally go the other way. You don't see performance bikes with wide tires at all, except for the new packaging of recent models; but that's not for performance - everybody is all about the look. IMO, a DS tire will have some crossover effect that you'll get used to. The wider the tire, the more crossover, and at some point, you DON'T get used to it because it will always be there.
Figure you're going to get nasty long mileage regardless; the wider tire is uneccessary. You may be wider anyway since you won't find CT's equal to your bike tire, but I wouldn't exacerbate it.
That was good advice on the speed ratings too. All of them will be softer than a MT, as far as I've seen. There is controversy over using runflats, and that's all I'm gonna say there. I'm new to this, but I've studied a LOT before crossing over. Going from a 150 MT to a 175 CT was a huge difference at first, but still within learning limits; I don't notice it anymore.
I'd also think that experimenting with an untried tire would be better done after having ridden a tested one for a while, so you'd know if it was good or bad.

the section width restriction I mentioned is because of the amount of room we have in the swingarm, anything about at 8.3" or wider will rub on the driveshaft tube...

We can't go any narrower than the 215 because of the 18" rear wheel on the F model 1800, there is just nothing available.... some 215 models are physically wider than others. Say the Toyo that I have on is physically about the same width as most 205's that the DS folks are running, and that is why it will fit and why there are only a couple of known good tires to use.

checking out a new tire will be more of a "if it will fit" than a shake-down to see if the tire will work, although I know what the question sounds like it's asking...

What is the section width after the T1R has been mounted to an F rim. that may give me more insight to my question in the first place. I know it has to be narrower because the F rim is not 7" wide. And what is the swingarm to tire clearance on both sides?

anyone?

Kalten wrote:anyone?

Sorry Kalten, not ignoring you but I am not even close to my bike to give you an answer. This will have to come from someone closer. I believe that there is a post somewhere that has pictures too of the tire on an F in relationship to the swing arm.

Peace
Moon