Tire Question: Mixing Radial and Bias ply Tires?

I am seeing more and more motorcycles with a sportbike rear wheel and radial tire being run with a standard size, bias ply front tire. I have always been told that radial and bias ply cannot be mixed or very poor handling can occur. I have felt this on a car, btw. I think I had radials in the rear and bias ply on the front.

Does anybody have first hand experience with mixing tire types? I'd love to hear some real world information about this. I'm considering going with a more narrow dragbike style front wheel on my MKII but have a 180mm rear radial. They don't make super wide bias ply tires and you can't get skinny radials.....so what do you do?

Thanks

I don't have any experience mixing radials with bias tires, but if you use the bike on the street I would be very careful about installing a skinny front tire. It may have a detrimental effect on handling whether or not it is bias or radial, but more important regardless of the tire's construction if it is very narrow it will affect your ability to stop the bike quickly. During hard stops, 75 - 80% of the bike's braking is done by the front brake because of the weight transfer from rear to front. So with a narrow front tire the front is much more likely to skid in an emergency braking situation. It's definitely something to consider since it bumps up the risk factor of street riding. Ed

I have mixed them up on my Kawi Concours as have many other Concourse owners.
Wayne

Yes, great things to consider. I should have been more clear but what I meant was a standard size tire....maybe a 90/90 or 100/90. Skinny compared to modern sportbike rubber. There are no radials that will fit on a 1'.85" or 2.15" rim, so if you go with a fat rear tire, you have to change your front wheel to allow for a wider radial on the front too.

So the ultimate question I'm getting to is, "if you put a wide rear tire on your kz (160mm or wider), do you have to change your front wheel? If not, you have to mix radial and bias ply...is that OK?

kzz1king wrote: I have mixed them up on my Kawi Concours as have many other Concourse owners.
Wayne

Good to know, thanks. Why is it that they end up mixed on the Concours?

Not sure but iam running a 190 rear tire off a hayabusa with a stock size front tire and rim. I havent noticed any problems. i dont see why it would cause any problems.

I thought the big taboo was mixing them on the same set of wheels on a car (front or rear) but I thought it was OK as long as the front had both the same and the rear had both the same. YMMV

No, not mixed stock. Guys on the forums are mixing them and I have as well.
Wayne

79MKII wrote:

kzz1king wrote: I have mixed them up on my Kawi Concours as have many other Concourse owners.
Wayne

Good to know, thanks. Why is it that they end up mixed on the Concours?