tires..

Ok I guess this fits into this section.. they are mounted on wheels. I need to get new tires for my kaw and I have no clue on brand size or any thing else. I have never bought tires for a bike befor.... I don't think I have kept one bike long enough to buy tires for it.. any how I am open for any advice you guys have. Also my bike has mags on it so I do not know if I need to run a tube or not... The old tires were taken off befor I bought the bike.

what kind of riding d you do?:whistle:

just normal casual riding. I like some grip in the corners, and the occasional 90 mph+ shoot down a straight road.

a good set of H-rated tires should be plenty then.check Dennis Kirk,i think z1 enterprises has some tires listed also.

I noticed the other day that those BF Goodridge Battlaxs are going on sale.. those a real nice with the dule rubber compound. nce and sticky in the corners, but have a good compound for the up right day to day ride/tour.. might wanna check on a set.

And yes you need tubes in those mag wheels, they were not designed to be run tubeless.

You can run them tubeless, but be prepared for a real interesting ride (and to change your underware at a minimum) if one of them gets low on air.

Post edited by: steell, at: 2006/07/09 04:04

Leather wrote:

I noticed the other day that those BF Goodridge Battlaxs are going on sale.. those a real nice with the dule rubber compound. nce and sticky in the corners, but have a good compound for the up right day to day ride/tour.. might wanna check on a set.

I think you probably mean "Bridgestone"

I'll second the Bridgestone Batlax tires. I like em' real good and will probably keep running them for a while. Where are they on sale, might need a new rear soon.

I think the guy is asking about size also -- am I to understand that there are no tires currently mounted on the motorcycle? If there are, then you can read the sidewall for sizing.

I'm running Pirelli Demons, no problems here so far, but these are the first set I have run on my setup, so have nothing to compare them too. For $75/tire new and Pirellis background, I didn't feel that I could beat it.

Years ago, I ran the Bridgestones, they were OK. Metzlers were top shelf, and Dunlop made a fine tire. Chen Shing or whatever seems to have worked their way up the ranks, kind of like Hyundai -- they were real cheap way back, but seems to have evolved into a very good tire. Have seen good writeups on here. I believe it is the Baraccuda that is liked.

Can't help you on the size, though. Just make sure you go bias ply, not radials, not right now. Your bike was made for bias plys.

When did the bikes go to not needing a tube, or am I completely blown away by the fact that my 84 GPZ could need tubes, but I don't run them?

my 84 kz 700 has tubeless right on the mag, I'm running Metzlers me880 front and a lasertech out rear can't complain, I also went to a 130/70/18 for the rear just to fatten it up a bit:P

Kawasaki switched to tubeless mags in the early 80's (80-81 on most models).
83-85 GPz750 has tubeless mags (it's marked on the rim) and I use a pic of a GPz750 rim in the pics I have posted showing the difference between the tube and tubeless type mag wheels, I use a 79 KZ650SR wheel as a tube type example.

The 78-79 (don't know about other years) has a 2.15x19 front wheel, and a 3.00x16 rear wheel, and my nephew's 79 KZ650SR has 110/90/19 front, 130/90/16 rear tires.

I just checked buykawasaki.com, and it says 3.50x19 which converts to 100/90/19 for the front, and 5.10x16 which converts to 130/80/16 or 130/90/16 for the rear.

According to this Conversion chart

Post edited by: steell, at: 2006/07/09 12:54

My oopsie! yes I ment that! and as for what I run. I hae to say the chen baracuda is what I have on mine and I ride the twisty roads here just fine.. and they have a good feel for me in the wet as well. As to where the battleax's were on sale , I could swear it was at D.K.'s
or maybe it was bike bandit's come to think on it a sec. I my self went up to a 130 tread width with the higher profil 90 side wall.. and as I dont plane to run extended speeds over 100 mph I opted for the 4 ply rate. for a bit more carcass under me.