Michael Moore wrote on 05/09/24 at 18:03:19:IIRC, 40 years ago when I raced my 750 bevel Ducati it had a 100x18 Metzler ME99 Sport on the front and a 130x18 ME77 Sport on the back. The Ducati weighed more and had more power than the Savage, and I don't recall ever thinking that I needed wider tires (the tires I had needed more rider!
).
Old Norton, Ducati, BMW and Triumph motorcycles had 4.00" or 100mm wide tires on the back and had more weight and double the HP of the Savage. Even when raced the bikes had that narrow of a tire - I have a friend that used to race a Norton and he currently has a couple of nice restored bikes - he can ride faster on those narrow tires than a lot of the sport bike fellows he rides with.
The current use of wider tires on Cruisers is more of a fashion statement than it is a need......folks like the looks of a wide tire. Motorcycles will accelerate faster and stick just fine with a lighter and narrower tire. With my Cafe' bike I was experimenting with different size rims and I originally had a 2.50" wide rear rim and a 110/90-18 rear tire - it handled great and I never had a need for a wider tire.....but it looked a bit weird as we are used to seeing much wider tires on modern motorcycles. My final choice is a 130/70-18 on a 3.50" wide rim.
Modern sport bikes have really wide tires - mostly because they have very soft compound tires and they need a lot of rubber to get any reasonable amount of tire life. Some of those sport bike tires can wear out in 3,000 miles!
For the stock sized Savage: The stock 140/80-15 tire is a weird size, and IRC is about the only company that makes that size.....it is an "OK" tire - but not anything special. A 130/90-15 tire is within a few millimeters of the original size and works very well on the Savage and it provides you with far more choices in brands and styles of tire. Some folks go to a larger 140/90-15 tire - that bigger tire is heavier and does slow the handling down a bit...it does provide for a bit taller gearing that can help correct a speedometer that reads too slow and if you spend a lot of time going in straight lines down the highway that heavier/wider/taller tire can help provide a bit more straight line stability.
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