Wire Wheel ID

[OldVet66]

I recently got a set of wire wheels for my bike, '78GS1000E. It turns out the rear wheel is an 18" instead of 17" wheel. They have alloy rims. Will I be able to use this wheel? If so, the next question is tire sizes. I have been using the Avon Road Rider series tires.

[rustybronco]

The 78 GS1000(C) and 79 GS1000(N) used 18" alloy spoked rear wheels from the factory.

[OldVet66]

Avon won't recommend a tire for that rim. The closest I can come to the tire they recommend (130/90-17 68V) is a 130/80v18 (66V) rear. They recommend a 100/90-19 (57V) universal for the front. Will the 130/80 18 and 100/90 19 work together? Width would be .1 in narrower and .1 in taller on the 130/80.

[rustybronco]

I couldn't tell you if those sizes will work well together or not.

Have you considered Shinko 230 tires? they do make a 130-90v18.

***edit***
Avon makes a 120/90v-18...

[OldVet66]

I was looking at those tires, how do they compare to the Road Riders? Avon North America only lists the 130/90's , but the 120/90-18's are real close in size to the 130/90-17's.

[rustybronco]

Dunno how they compare, but I can guarantee I'll never be able to run them to their limit.

http://thegsresources.com/_forum/search.php?searchid=2559754

[OldVet66]

They are sounding better all the time.

[Big T]

I've been running the 120/90 -18 Avon on my wire wheel bike and it's actually a bit wide for the rim, but not terribly so. It makes my chicken strips about 6-8 mm wider

I'm ordering the 4.00-18, which is a bit smaller to see how that works out

Don't go to the 130 width, that's too wide for the rim.

I don't know what chart you're looking at, but the Avon chart lists a 4.00, 120/90, 120/80 to choose from

http://www.avontyres.com/node/129

[OldVet66]

Go to Avon North America and look it up by bike. All they have listed is the E model and they recommend the 130/90v17. I have been running the 130 on my 17" wheel. I was actually thinking of going 110/90 on the front and 130/90 on the back with the new tires, unless I use a 120/90. It seemed leaning over wasn't a real real smooth transition because of the larger rear tire. I will try the Shinko tires this time around. I had the cracking problem with my first set of Avons, not with the replacements they sent me, but the replacements started cupping. I attribute the cracking to using Meguiars tire shine. Did it on a set of Metzlers and replacements and the original Avons. The replacement Avons didn't crack, didn't use any tire shine. That's three out of four, so There might be a relationship to the tire shine.

[Big T]

Go to Avon North America and look it up by bike.

I don't trust website info input by a 22 year old on stuff older than him. Besides, the E has a wider rim.

The fitment chart I referenced shows the 2.50 rim you have matches the 4.00 and probably the 120/90, which is my experience

[OldVet66]

There was a long post that was attached, but that is all that got through when a storm shut the internet down last night. I had cupping on my current set of Avons and am going to try the Shinko 230's next. I have always run a size up on the rear, since back in the day, and never had a problem that I noticed. I was even considering going one up on the front to see if it would smooth out dropping into a lean on a sweeper, but I would be interested why you say no. The reveal on the tiny lines on the Avons near the bead were perfect on both sides with the 130's, so that size does mount nicely and falls in the acceptable range between minimum and maximum size on the charts for that rim. I'm certainly willing to listen and possibly rethink this and order the 120's though I think they look too skinny. When I first posted about these rims, someone said the alloy rims were the same width as the cast rims. I'll have to measure and find that out for sure.

[Big T]

The rims are not the same size and the size is stamped on the rim itself

The aluminum rim is 18 x 2.5, the cast is either 17 x 2.75 or 3.00. The standard bike's rear tire was 4.00, the E 's was 4.50

As for going up one size on the tire width, this has been discussed many times. It pinches the tire and changes the profile, putting less rubber on the road and changing the handling. That's probably the source of your handling issue

If you've been doing that for a long time, maybe it's time to put stock sizes on and see what happens.

[OldVet66]

Well that changes a lot of things, I may have to rethink using them. The look and lighter rims is a plus. The front wheel is tapped for twin disks, so maybe these are off another bike? I haven't really looked them over that carefully, was just planning for the next tire change.

[Big T]

All the hubs are tapped for twin discs, so you can just swap over your E discs and go.

Or, get two single discs and the Salty Monk kit and get great braking



It's not like you're going to be giving up traction going to a one size skinnier rim.

[OldVet66]

It would be a swap. https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...eat=directlink