Motorcycle to car tire

I am hoping that somebody can help me with changing my stock Bridgestone 150/80-16 on a 16 x 3.50 spoke rim to a comparable car tire size to shop for. I am another rider tired of paying high prices for low miles. I ride two up heavy mainly on the interstates. My bike is a 2008 Vulcan classic 1500 FI.

I have not found a narrow car tire to fit my Kaw Concours that uses this same size tire (150R80/16) as the swingarm clearance limits me to a 170.
I ended up using a 15" wheel from the Eliminator that was produced 85-87? Then used a Nankang 165R80-15 (too much side wall flex), and the now the Federal 165R80-15 which I like very much. Have not yet tried the Kuhmo 165R80-15.
I do have a light truck/van tire. Vredestien 175R80-16 on the stock wheel. The width causes minor rubbing of the plastic fender at top at the tire shoulder area.The more plies in the sidewall make the stiffness noticeable. Probably a very long lasting mileage tire. Not great for sporty cornering but OK. Not sure of the wet weather traction as thinking it has a harder tread compond. Did use it on a 1000 mile ride to a Mt Shasta rally. Likley will use it when I next have a very long trip.

T Spurlock wrote: I am hoping that somebody can help me with changing my stock Bridgestone 150/80-16 on a 16 x 3.50 spoke rim to a comparable car tire size to shop for. I am another rider tired of paying high prices for low miles. I ride two up heavy mainly on the interstates. My bike is a 2008 Vulcan classic 1500 FI.

I'm running the Vredestien 175R80-16 on my 05 Concours, and have about 15K miles on the tire. I don't have any rubbing anywhere with this tire, but it does have to be un-inflated to mount and take off the bike. But once on and inflated, I have had no rubbing anywhere. I do have the shock inflated to 40 lbs, but also have a 3 gallon fuel cell mounted to the back.
I found no loss of cornering capability with this tire, and traction on wet pavement is greatly increased over the bike tires that I've used in 82,000 miles. Although I'm no 100% rider, I do enjoy cornering and testing myself and the bike on extreme roads. I had some oscillation as the bike hit 100 MPH, but worked most of that out by changing air pressure. It's still there, but very minor and goes away just above 100 MPH.

Can you tell me who make's the Vredestien 175R80-16 and where did you get it? How much did it cost?

http://www.tiresbyweb.com/p-8480-vredestein-comtrac.aspx
$156 or so to my door. Can't torture this thing enough!

quadancer wrote:http://www.tiresbyweb.com/p-8480-vredestein-comtrac.aspx
$156 or so to my door. Can't torture this thing enough!

Agreed, I've got a Vredestein on both my Concours and my Vulcan 900C. I've got about 15K on the Concours, some of it a very high sustained speed on Western Interstates, and on the Dragon and Cerahala Skyway curves. There is hardly any discernible wear on the tire, it handles the twisties, 2 and 4 lanes quite well. Only about 5K on the 900C, but it's also been on the twisties in NC and the Interstates there and back, with all good results.

The only issue is on the Concours, which is already unstable at parking lot speeds due to it being very top heavy. At parking lot speeds, it is slightly harder to put it into a tight corner and you can feel the edge of the tire, which goes away once you've reached 15 MPH or so. I can't feel any difference on the 900C.