georgekathe wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:05:sorry to be a pain with another question, Paladin -
As I tell my clients at work -- you can ask me any question. The worst I can do is laugh at you. Not to mention researching your questions also helps me.
Quote:why a 140 please? my bike has a 130 on back of it. thought latter was standard size. any reason for the 140 (I'm fuzzy on difference between 2 sizes too - is the 140 fatter/taller/what?) thanks.
The original tires on the LS650 are Front: 100/90-19 57H and Rear: 140/80-15 67H. Most MC tire manufactures will tell you their recomendation for your MC.
Dunlop's fitment page lists the D404s in 100/90-19 and 140/90-15 as the recomended Dunlop Tire. At the top of that page you can click on "tire catalog" and then "Touring/Sport Bias/Cruiser" which takes you to a list of tires with more detailed specifications.
If you look at our rims you'll see that the widths are listed on the rims themselves, 2.15 front and 2.75 rear. Dunlop's chart shows the recomended rim for the 100/90-19 is 2.15", and on that rim, inflated, the front tire is 25.82" tall and 3.9" wide. The recomended rim for the 140/90-15 is 3.5" which makes the tire 24.73" tall and 5.85" wide. But we don't have a 3.5" rim. Our narrower than recomended rim will pull the sides in just a little which will bulge the height up just a little -- how much is unknown. It will also reduce the width of the contact patch -- not much, but if you want that last little margin of safety . . . .
Dunlop lists a 130/90-15 D404 rear that is 23.95" tall and 5.15" wide on a 3.00" rim -- which is actually a better fit. Compared with the 140/90, the 130 is shorter and narrower -- giving you better tire-bike clearance. The taller tire will reduce your RPMs at a given speed, the shorter tire will give you a slight gearing down and slightly quicker performance off the line.
Running over to Metzler's site, their
<u>recomended</u> tire is the ME880 in 100/90-19 M/C 57H on a 2.15" rim and the 140/80B15M/CTL 67H on a 2.75" rim -- a perfect match to our rims and OEM tire size. Unfortunately they've pulled the detailed specs from the web, so I cannot see how they compare in mounted diameter and width with the Dunlops.
Do one thing, do it right. Metzler only makes motorcycle tires. Might have to reconsider the D404's myself. Tires are (hopefully) your only connection with the pavement -- not something you should skimp on.
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