tires for GS Twins

[davidduarte]

I will have to, at the very least, put a new front tire on my 1980 GS450 soon. All you twin owners, what tires are you using? I've had Barracuda tires on my bike for a few years, but I'm not crazy about them, and would like to get new rubber at a reasonable price. I'd also like to go back to original equipment size, and so far I haven't found too many in the original equipment sizes (3.00-18 front, 3.50-18 rear). I've seen these dual sport tires (http://www.cyclegear.com/spgm.cfm?L1...=WES_87-4402_G), but I'm not sure if those would eat into my gas mileage (currently 55-60 mpg)

[lurch12_2000]

My GS500 has a Michelin Pilot up front and Bridgestone Battleaxe BT-45 in rear. Note... that's a radial up front but they were on it when I got the bike. Not something I would do but seem ok for now. Then again the GS500 is somewhat different in frame/suspension setup than the old twins like yours and has smaller 16" rims.

[pete]

I was considering the Avon Roadrunners, but there have been some sidewall cracking issues so I'm reconsidering that, but I'm not 100% decided yet.

I believe the Bridgestone BT45's are available in the right sizes for us but I haven't confirmed it yet.

I had a Barracuda on the rear, never again... couldn't touch the rear brake in the wet without a slide... ugh.

Those Shinkos look a little too dirt biased for my personal liking, not sure how they'd affect MPG though.

I'm a way off getting tyres at the moment so will be good to see what you decide too...

I think the sizes in radials are 90/90-18 front and 100/90-18 rear for our 450's too.

[pete]

So you prompted me to start looking at these again today, and so far I've found...

Bridgestone BT045 - 90/90H18 front and 110/90H18 rear
Dunlop GT501 Arrowmax - 90/90 18 51H front and 110/90 18 61H rear
Metzeler Lasertec - 90/90H18 front and 110/90H18 rear
Avon AM26 Roadrider - 90/90-18 51V front and 100/90-18 56V rear or 110/90-18 61V rear
Pirelli City Demon - 90/90-18 M/C 51H front and 100/90-18 M/C 56S TL rear
MT75

It seems we may not have the same choice as you guys do in the US, but having said that I'll be there's several other brands available that aren't online.

However, seems there is definitely choice out there, just a matter of making a decision as to what suits best...

I'm not sure off the top of my head what our rim widths are or if the 110/90-18 will be too wide for the rear or not.

[davidduarte]

Snip
I'm not sure off the top of my head what our rim widths are or if the 110/90-18 will be too wide for the rear or not.

110/90-18 should be fine for the rear, I have a 120 on my rear wheel right now, which I think is too wide (you end up having clearance problems with the swing arm and/or the brake torque arm).

[pete]

Cool, figured the 110 was surely ok given most of them don't have a 100.

Any ideas what you're going with yet? Not exactly being swamped with replies...

[davidduarte]

I'm thinking about the Bridgestone Spitfire S11, 100/90-18 front and 110/90-18 rear.

[pete]

Aaah ok, we don't appear to have them over here... the 100/90 won't be too wide for the front? Again I'm not sure on the conversion factors and rim width etc...

[davidduarte]

I have a 100/90 on the front right now and unlike the 120 on the rear, there are no clearance issues.

[davidduarte]

I've found some tires in 90/90-18, but all the 100/90-18 tires I see are either front tires, or they are tube type. I found this thread about running a front tire on the rear (http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum...d.php?t=160990). That thread seems to indicate that the tire will run fine, but won't wear as long. I'm not sure that would be the case with small displacement bikes like ours. I'm going to reply to it and see what kind of bites I get.

[pete]

Cool, subscribed to that one also.

And you're right, most 100/90's I came across were fronts rather than rears...

[Flaming Chainsaws]

I'm going to get Bridgestone Spitfire S11 tires for my bike when it's time. But my bike uses a 100/90-19 front and a 120/90-16 rear. Sizes are available for my rims .

Some people swear on Avon Road Riders. I thought the cracking sidewalls was just a defective batch. I've seen LOTS of people using them with no problems.

Cheng Shin Hi-Max is also a good choice according to scottychop. Good cheap tires with good grip and life. I think it was about $120 shipped for both a front and rear tire.

There was another tire that I can't remember right now. I'll look into it some more.

[pete]

Cheng Shin and Shinko both seem to be a non-event over here.

We appear to have some Shinko's, but very limited and more for modern sizes.

I did find more Michelins though and these are universal fit, not front/rear:

Michelin Pilot Sporty - 90/90 - 18 57P REINF TL/TT and 100/90 - 18 56S TL/TT

No idea how good they are of course but they're apparently derived from their high performance sport tyres...

[davidduarte]

Cheng Shin and Shinko both seem to be a non-event over here.

We appear to have some Shinko's, but very limited and more for modern sizes.

I did find more Michelins though and these are universal fit, not front/rear:

Michelin Pilot Sporty - 90/90 - 18 57P REINF TL/TT and 100/90 - 18 56S TL/TT

No idea how good they are of course but they're apparently derived from their high performance sport tyres...

Pete, is there an Australian version of motorcyclesuperstore.com? They're having a big sale, I just got a pair of Dunlop D404's for my bike, at 44% off!

[pete]

Good score!

I can't find a single online tyre distributor here in Australia, so when I get to tyres I'm just going to have to do the 'phone around... I really wish they'd get with the 21st century...