Tires - Going up a size? Good or bad idea?

G

GadgetGuy

Member
Hi,

Would it be a good or bad idea to go up in size when it comes to tires?

Bike is a 83 Kawasaki 440 LTD

Stock is:
Front: 3.25-19 (or 90/90-19)
Rear: 130/90-16

Would it be okay to go to a 100/90 front and 140/90 rear?

Any drawbacks in going to a wider tire?

Could I go any bigger than a 140/90 in the rear?

Thanks,


D.
 
The bad general is clearance issues and slower turn in. The good is tire availability for older bikes. You are adding 10mm on both the front and rear. Make sure you will not hit the fenders, chain or swing arm.
 
Those increases aren't crazy. If you check tire/rim charts you'll note some leeway. If for some odd reason the stock fitment is already pushing the limit you might encounter some handling/safety issue. Why not research your stock rim sizes and cross reference to M/C tire charts from the various tire manufacturers. This is not withstanding clearance issues as mentioned above. You're looking at roughly 5mm extra width each side.
 
going up one size is usually not a problem. All it will do is slow down the turn-in a bit. On a 440 LTD, probably not a big deal.
 
Keep in mind that a 100/90 is not just wider than a 90/90, but has a larger radius as well. From what I can see in pictures, the fender hugs the front tire pretty close on a 440 LTD, so you may want to do the math on the clearance you have. And on the rear, belt drive assemblies take up a bit more room than chain drives, but I'm not sure if that translates into less clearance.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom