Rear tires extremely close to rubbing on both sides.

[Guest]

F0KJlji.jpg


There is < 1/4 inch clearance on the right side
and about 1/4 inch clearance on the left side of the bike


Is there anything i can do to remedy this?!?! or is this within spec


the tire i have on the rear is a
RoadRider
190/90-17

[phydeauxmutt]

Best thing you could do is to put a proper-size tire on there.

I belive the correct tire for a 450 would be a 120/90-17.

You won't believe how much better the bike will handle with the correct tire.

If you want a fat tire for "looks", get a bike that was made to use a fat tire. Your 450 is not that bike.

[hillsy]

That has to be a typo - there's no way you'd get a 190 inside the swingarm on a 450.

[hockey911]

That has to be a typo - there's no way you'd get a 190 inside the swingarm on a 450.

Not a typo.... I purchased the bike about a year ago and that is the tire that came on it

[greg78gs750]

I think we are going to need some more info here. You've been running this for a year already? is this the stock rim? 190 is WAY too big a tire for that.......

[Nessism]

No disrespect, but it seems impossible (AND really stupid) to put a 190 tire on a rim that narrow. Can you take a close up photo of the tire markings?

[hockey911]

No disrespect, but it seems impossible (AND really stupid) to put a 190 tire on a rim that narrow. Can you take a close up photo of the tire markings?

My bad, a day in the hot sun got to me, i misread the rear tire, its a 120/90-17 ******!!!


However i still have no idea what to do with the clearance issues :/

Is it safe to space the bar that goes from the drum to the frame with a couple of washers?

[tkent02]

Put the correct 110/90-17 on it.

I just changed the 110/90-18 rear tire on my 1980 450 to the correct size which is 100/90-18, the improvement in handling was immense, it hardly feels like the same motorcycle.

[hillsy]

You can tweak the torque rod for the rear brake but for other reasons stated (mainly good handling) you should just replace the tyre with one of the correct size.

[John Park]

Put the correct 110/90-17 on it.

I just changed the 110/90-18 rear tire on my 1980 450 to the correct size which is 100/90-18, the improvement in handling was immense, it hardly feels like the same motorcycle.

I just went on Motorcycle Superstore and they don't have a 110/90 17. Even 120/90 is getting scarce and may not have much future. I can't recall seeing a 110/90 17 recently but they must have made them back then. I have run a 120/90 and it was close but never rubbed; if the tire is fully stretched out and not rubbing anything I can't see what harm is being done, other than it may not be as neutral in the corners. Once the size is not right for the rim - and 110 was at the limit of wide to begin with - it's had to predict how the handling will be affected, but I don't think it is necessarily unsafe.

I have a personal dislike of the 17" wheel which may colour my comments, but I put an 18" rear on my 450T and never regretted it. I happen to prefer old school 3.50 X 18 tires but 100/90s seem plentiful, and even Suzuki's recent TU250 specced a 100/90 18 tube type, which is pretty radical in this day of 17" radials.

It shouldn't be hard to find a 400/450 18" spoke rear wheel which will probably have tires long into the future. The wire spoke 17" should be easy to unload to the cafe/bobber builders.

[Buffalo Bill]

Google anybody?
Hard to find but Bridgestone makes a BT110/90-17 rear and a 110/80-17 front
thevisorshop.com
Looks like motorcycle-superstore.com sells an IRC tire that fits: IRC RS310

[John Park]

Google anybody?
Hard to find but Bridgestone makes a BT110/90-17 rear and a 110/80-17 front
thevisorshop.com
Looks like motorcycle-superstore.com sells an IRC tire that fits: IRC RS310

When I punched in 110/90 17 into M/C Superstore's tire finder it came up blank. I wasn't encouraged to dig deeper. A 100/80 17 front isn't relevant. The IRC is a good find, but the long term viability of IRC is questionable. I like some of their tires, but they don't even have a distributor in Canada as far as I know and they are struggling in the bicycle tire market. So if we're down to the walking wounded - in my opinion, anyway - maybe a wheel change is something to start thinking about, at least.

Besides, I think that the 100/90 18 is a way better setup on this bike anyway. Stock, I always had the feeling that the front and rear were working against each other, with the front wanting to tip in and and the 17 rear trying to stand it back up. At the moment I'm doing the unthinkable and 'rocking', as they say, an IRC GS11 3.50 x 18 rear - yes, rear - on the front and it's the best balanced and most linear combo I've used. Considering that many Italian bikes used matching 18s F&R [Guzzi, etc] and nothing catastrophic happened, I'm not worried. And when you have a fistful of front brake and the rear tire is dancing, that 3.00 x 18 seems a bit skimpy and squashed. I think the 1.60 front rim was a blunder, but with spokes it's easily changed to a 1.85 or 2.15.

[Buffalo Bill]

Read the reason the 1st GSXR had 18" front and rear was because for endurance racing they gave better access to the calipers for pad changes.
The early 80s Kawasaki GPz all had 18" wheels too.
Wire spokes are way too retro for me.

[technostructural]

You can tweak the torque rod for the rear brake but for other reasons stated (mainly good handling) you should just replace the tyre with one of the correct size.

I am having the same issue. My 1983 GS450T has a 120/90-16 on it. I think that the wheels are not from the same bike (perhaps an L?). All of that happened long before I got my hands on the bike.

What exactly do you mean by tweaking the torque rod? I have been messing around with this quite a bit, and I seem to keep having this same issue. I've tried readjusting everything, but no matter what, once I tighten everything up and apply some rear brake when moving backwards (just walking the bike around), the wheel shifts just enough for the tire to rub on the torque rod.

None of this seemed to happen before I put the new chain and sprockets on, but I counted the links on the new chain versus old chain, and it is the same. Even accounting for some stretch, it shouldn't be that extreme, should it?

[hillsy]

I mean bending the torque rod at the tyre area so it doesn't rub. If you search on here for wheel swaps with the larger bikes it's common (necessary) to bend / weld up the torque arm to allow clearance.