Radial Tire Question

[Guest]

Perelli has a new Radial tire that would fit our bikes..
Only thing is it's a street/trail tire for motards.

http://www.us.pirelli.com/en_US/browser/attachments/pdfCatalog/moto/SCORPION%20TRAIL.pdf

Anyone think it might be worth the extra $50-$70 for a set vs say Bias ply Avons or Sport Demons?

I was thinking 100-90-19 front and the 140-80-17 rear for my 79 GS1000L

[Nessism]

What is it about the term "radial" that makes motorcyclists all gushy?

Before going farther I suggest you get the rim width recommendations from Avon. A 140 section tire is too wide for a 2.5" rim assuming you are using bias ply tires, and I doubt that situation changes with radials.

[salty_monk]

Radial will likely require a wider rim for the same width tyre so I wouldn't bet on these fitting. Unless you're going to hit some dirt I would think the Roadriders or Sport Demon's would outperform these.

Dan

[sschering]

Avon specs for the stock tire 130/90/17 recommends a 2.5 min

the 140-80-17 min is 2.75 so yeah it'll be a bit pinched.
Bridgestone BT45 recommends the same thing in a 130 and 140
Pirelli offers no recomendations


Interesting to note that Avon's 130/90/17 lists a true tread width of 140mm and 143mm for the 140/80/17 where bridgestone says it's 5.2" (132mm) for it's 130 and 5.6 (142mm) for it's 140

Pirelli does make a 130/80/17 in the Scorpion Trail and that does meet min specs by avon's lists. Downside is it's 1" shorter than the stock tire.
I could always bump to the 110-80-19 for the front.. it still meets the 2.15min rim width and drops 1" like the rear.

Update:

Found the Pirelli spec sheet

http://www.pirellityre.com/en_IT/browser/attachments/pdf/Scorpion_Trail_Technical_R_ENGL.pdf

they want 2.5 for the 100/90 and 3" for the 130 so yeah they do need wider rims..

Well it was a fun thought..back to looking at Avon AM26

[bwringer]

I thought I saw a 120/90-17 rear -- that would work.

[Steve]

I predict tire life measured in inches...

Especially if your GSR screen name is bwringer.



(edit: looks like I snagged that quote just before he edited his post. )

.

[Billy Ricks]

I know this point is moot now, but there are things radials do better than bias ply tires.

They roll easier than bias plies which makes them more efficient.

They do a much better job of soaking up the initial jolt of road irregularities so suspension doesn't need as much travel and can be set up stiffer without giving up comfort. When people mod their suspension they worry about losing ground clearance. The fact that newer suspension components have less travel and is set up stiffer means the ground clearance isn't as big of an issue as one might think.

[tkent02]

Radial tires, on cars for street usage are the only ones worth considering.
On bikes, they are not much better than bias ply. They don't stick much better, don't seem to last much longer. I have only had a few bikes with radials, but there does not seem to be much difference. Maybe on modern bikes with wider tires there would be more of an advantage to radials.

[bwringer]

Especially if your GSR screen name is bwringer.



(edit: looks like I snagged that quote just before he edited his post. )

.

Sorry, the PO referred to them as motard tires, which are very soft and made for much lighter bikes. But once I checked the specs I learned that they are actually dual-sport tires. So the tread life wouldn't be the issue -- simply fitment.

And price. Holy crud, those Pirellis get spendy.