Bias Ply Vs. Radial tires Which Ones to use ??

Alot of tire talk lately but I still have some questions running around in my little brain.
When are radial tires a good choice on a KZ that was designed for Bias belted tires 30 plus years ago??
Is it when you stiffen the frame ? Or Change suspension to a new type which came with radials ??
I would ( I Think ) like to put some new tires on my LTD but always struggle to step up to radials if they are unsafe on my 78 1000. So who here has already figured out the answer to this question. Are radials worth the cost ? Do they come in sizes to fit my 19 in front and 16 inch rear without having to do more work ???
What is a proper tire for the Turbo bike ? V rated ? Whats the biggest size to fit inside the LTD front fender ? How wide a rear tire with a 630 oring chain ?

I thought all bike tires were radials?

Maybe the biggest consideration is the wheels. If you do not have tubeless wheels you must use tubes. Unfortunately, radial tires do not play nice with tubes, so that is a bad mix. Tubes are fine in tubeless tires that are bias ply, but I believe you will find that tire manufacturers warn against tubes in radial tires. The good news is that there are modern compound & tread design tires made with bias ply. Pirelli Sport Demon is one good example. Ed

www.pirelli.com/tire/us/en/motorcycle/sh...rl=%3Fsubtype%3Droad

yeah I don't think you'll find any radials in the sizes you need anyhow.

Thanks Ed
My Mags are (were) for tubeless tires, but I have run a tube in the rear for a number of years as the mag had a little corosion on the inside and I didnt want to trust it. But I did like some of the tires on the Pirelli site and they do make Sport Demons in 19 in front and 16 inch rear sizes. I have had good luck so far with the Battlax , but am always looking to improve my bikes performance.
Still curious as to what is the reason or factor to safely run sport radials on our old KZs. I know some manufacters state not to run radials unless the bike is DESIGNED to run them. Yet I see them here on a number of the tweeked bikes.
Thankyou for your reply.

Street Fighter LTD wrote: What is a proper tire for the Turbo bike ? V rated ? Whats the biggest size to fit inside the LTD front fender ? How wide a rear tire with a 630 oring chain ?

Probably the widest rear tire you can fit! :silly:

I have a naturally-aspirated 900 A4 [18" rear wheel instead of 16"] and my tire size is limited by the swingarm- 130mm is as wide as I can go. That width is too wide for the stock 2.5" rim, but I know many people who use that size tire and haven't had any problems.

Do you have the stock swingarm? I know this is quite a proposition (and we have different situations I'm sure), but if I were building a turbo bike, I'd get a swingarm that fit at least a 150mm tire and had the stock rear wheel widened by Kosman . I love the look of stock wheels!

Currently have stock sizes on the bike, but the Pirelli Phantom I had was much wider and just rubbed the chain. New swingarm coming this winter will take a wider wheel and tire but want to keep the look stock with factory mags. Bike is not raced anymore by me , and if my son just has to he can buy a wide wheel and slick like I used to run. May get with Kosman ( Or the new owners ) and check out widening factory mag down the road.

I originally had spoke wheels, but now have mag wheels - 19" front, (2.15" wide) and 16" rear (3" wide) wheels, but never found any radials that would properly fit these sizes. Original sizes were 100/90-19, and 130/90-16.
The front 100mm width tire on the 1.85" spoke wheel was really sucked in at the sidewall and handled poorly. When I got the 2.15" wide mag wheel, I went with a 90/90-19" Avon Roadrunner front tire. It fits properly and handles soooo much better.
I went with a Dunlop Elite rear tire in size 140/90-16. It just barely clears the swing arm - (Not more than 5 mm on each side).
This is just my personal opinion, but I would think that the motorcycle frame, (although flimsey), steering, etc. could perform just fine with radial tires. But I feel strongly that radial tires absolutely have to be mounted on the proper sized wheel, especially the width - in order to perform properly and be safe. THIS is where the major shortcoming arises, so unless modern wheels are used, + all the mods that come with that - radial tires are not a good choice.

The main reason some of the guys have radials is they have wheels from bikes that ran radials. I think its just down to the wheels size and design. Bias ply tires are pretty round, whereas radials are flatter, more like a car tire. So you need a pretty wide rim to run a radial. Also why you cant get a tube in a radial. The space inside the tire isn't round.

Whatever you do, do NOT mix bias-ply and radial tire types on the same vehicle.

mtbspeedfreak wrote: Whatever you do, do NOT mix bias-ply and radial tire types on the same vehicle.

Better fire off a message to Harley Davidson, Victory, and Triumph, (among others) setting them straight then, since they sell new bikes with bias front and radial rear

Radial front and bias rear is still a no-no, as far as I have been able to discover.


But I still wouldn't mix them on my bikes

steell wrote:

mtbspeedfreak wrote: Whatever you do, do NOT mix bias-ply and radial tire types on the same vehicle.

Better fire off a message to Harley Davidson, Victory, and Triumph, (among others) setting them straight then, since they sell new bikes with bias front and radial rear

Radial front and bias rear is still a no-no, as far as I have been able to discover.


But I still wouldn't mix them on my bikes

No one in their right mind rides a Harley anyway...