Topic: 16" Rear?

[Gordo]

Just bought a Frankenstein 1976 CB750 that has a 16" Harley rear rim laced to the original honda hub. The lacing is horrible (broken spokes, inner and outer spokes out of order) so I will either need to re-lace this rim or replace it with an original 18" one. Re-lacing the 16" with new spokes is at this point the cheaper option.

My question is this, is there any benefit to having the thicker tire in back or would you all recommend a return to the stock size?

Im bald, old, and short and the 16" rim helps lower the bike for me, but I'm not racing the thing so I'm not sure that there is any other reason to have a fatter rear tire.
Thoughts?

[ekim98]

Depending on what size tire you put on that 16" rim, and how wide the rim is, it may not be much smaller/if any, than a stock tire and rim. It's probably more a matter of looks than height.

[GammaFlat]

Just bought a Frankenstein 1976 CB750 that has a 16" Harley rear rim laced to the original honda hub. The lacing is horrible (broken spokes, inner and outer spokes out of order) so I will either need to re-lace this rim or replace it with an original 18" one. Re-lacing the 16" with new spokes is at this point the cheaper option.

My question is this, is there any benefit to having the thicker tire in back or would you all recommend a return to the stock size?

Im bald, old, and short and the 16" rim helps lower the bike for me, but I'm not racing the thing so I'm not sure that there is any other reason to have a fatter rear tire.
Thoughts?

If I'm reading correctly and you're trying to decide between and 16 and 18 inch rim.....  I don't like the fact that a 16" rear on my 76 CB750 makes it near impossible to get the bike up on the center stand.  I'm 5'11" and over 200 pounds and not exactly a slouch - I'm old and bald but still benching over 200 lbs (but not quite as thin as I'd like to be .   

Get ahold of Dragman836 - he's got some 18" rears.  That's what I did.  I've seen what he's got and the wheels aren't in new condition but can be cleaned up.  PM me and I'll make sure you guys get in touch.  He's in NW Indiana.  I think he even has a 17 if you want to compromise.  There may even be one with a very good tire. 

Hope this helps,

John

[azuredesign]

Just bought a Frankenstein 1976 CB750 that has a 16" Harley rear rim laced to the original honda hub. The lacing is horrible (broken spokes, inner and outer spokes out of order) so I will either need to re-lace this rim or replace it with an original 18" one. Re-lacing the 16" with new spokes is at this point the cheaper option.

My question is this, is there any benefit to having the thicker tire in back or would you all recommend a return to the stock size?

Im bald, old, and short and the 16" rim helps lower the bike for me, but I'm not racing the thing so I'm not sure that there is any other reason to have a fatter rear tire.
Thoughts?

Hey man, I too am bald, old and fairly short, we must be related!
Seriously, I like the feel of the bike with the 16" wheel. My bike feels smaller to ride with it,  than friend's bikes with the stock 18". I would suggest measuring the circumference of the two wheels to see what the dif is. I also feel that depending on the brand of tire, the aspect ratio of the 16 may be greater than the 18 making the overall circumference similar. I also think it looks cool!

[754]

16 is a bit smaller but not very much..

 I used to run them for a bit more comfort and longer tire life.. that and I remember when the Yokohama 4.60 x 18 came out and was the widest you could get! .. so they maybe had a bit better bite than a smallish 18.

Trust me on this if you have not lowered your bike.. getting it on the stand is all technique.. quite easy..

 Stand facing the bike and slightly to the rear, left hand on bars, right on grab rail..and foot on the horn of the center stand.  Move bike to far left, start bringing it back and as your arms get straight (and it is still rolling back) stand hard on the stand horn and pull up on the grab bar.. once you got if figured out the momentum  of the bike will do most of the work. It will be a bit hard on the foot if you do it wrong or are learning this if you are not wearing boots.

Once you got it, it gets really easy.. but make sure the stand is hitting level or you will get a surprise!!

[Terry in Australia]

Well for the sake of some accuracy here, I went out to my garage and measured both a 16 inch rear wheel with a Pirelli "Route" 130/90 tire, and an 18 inch OEM rear wheel with a Dunlop 130/90 tire.

The 18inch wheel/tire stands 25 1/2 " tall, while the 16" wheel/wheel is 24 1/2" tall. (plus or minus 1/4", I am drinking, after all)

The key phrase in Gordo's original post though, is that he's short. This was a major problem with CB750's, due to the high seating position a lot of shorter riders were turned away, and bought CB500/550's instead.

The benefit of the 16 inch wheel is that you have more room to drop it further Gordo, with the help of "lowering blocks", which will lower the bike another good inch or so, making it much more comfortable when you get to the lights and have to put your feet down.

Respoke that 16 inch wheel, (plenty of cheap spoke kits on EBay) get yourself some lowering blocks, and enjoy the benefit of better accelleration due to the lower gearing caused by the smaller dia rear wheel! Cheers, Terry.

[754]

You can get an 1 1/2 out of the seat if you are careful and lower the forksan inch or a bit more

[Terry in Australia]

Yeah I agree, but I don't like chopping away the foam if I don't have to, (I'm very tough, but some guys here would whine after an hour or so in the saddle with next to no padding) and Gordo still has to swing his little leg over the seat to get on, so I wouldn't. Cheers, Terry.

[Gordo]

Thanks for all the input fellas.
The guy I bought it from looked at me and then suggested that I might want to cut into the seat foam  - I'll keep it stock though... my butt likes plump cushions.
Sounds like re-lacing the 16" might be the best short term fix.
As it sits now I have both feet flat on the ground, if the 18" adds an inch then I might be leaning over a bit when standing still at intersections.
Kind of does away with the cool guy image.

For the record I'm 5'6" 155lbs and would make a crappy bench press spotter for GammaFlat.
Glad to hear that bald pride is in effect here!

[754]

The tire height was an inch difference..which is about the most you will find.

That would mean 1/2 in difference in axle height. I ran lowering blocks for a while, I makes the back end look cleaner as the wheel is a bit closer to the fender. The changed shock angle will make them a bit stiffer..not a problem if you have a good seat.

You would like riding mine its about 5 inches lower at the seat than stock.. you might like it till you hit a bump!!..no shocks!

[ekim98]

My 5.10 x 16" tire is actually closer to 26" in diameter . It has a high profile, but like Terry said you can go a low as 24-1/4" diameter. But you could also do the same or close to it with an 18" tire depending on the tire profile you choose.

The lower blocks I took off mine dropped the back end almost 1-1/2". But I'm right at 6' so I wanted it up more any how.

[Patrick]

A 130/90-16 tire has almost exactly the same circumference as the stock four-inch wide 18" tire (within one mm). The only way the bike rides lower with the 16-inch wheel is if you were running a larger than stock 18" tire or a 16-inch tire smaller than 130/90-16. Terry's are 130/90-18, if I read posting correctly. That tire is .9 X 130mm tall (117mm), added to the diameter of the rim. Stock is .9 X 101.6 (25.4mm times 4) or 91.44 mm tall. Most of us are not running such a wide, tall tire on the rear. Mostly we have 120/90-18s or 110/90-18s.

Patrick

 

[Terry in Australia]

That's true Pat, the 130/90 tire on that 18 inch rim was too big, it's got a big scrape along one side where it dragged on the brake stay arm. I've got a 110/90 18 on my K2, so I'll go measure the 16 incher against it, but from memory, the 16 incher was still smaller in dia. Cheers, Terry.

[nteek754]

Gordo, just a little heads up, IF you do decide to relace the 16. (my choice) I run the 16 inch comstar on my 73 750K/70 engine/836  I like the way it sits and it handles with the best of them .Now back to the lacing , I dont want to step on any toes here, but there is a certain way to lace them because of the shorter spokes.  a buddy had it done cause of some , "some" well a bunch of broken spokes on his chopper. cant recall the  whole ins and outs but they do lace differant than if it were an 18 inch wheel  got something to do with the spokes acttually hit the inner part of the hub and puts a bad strain on them and  SNAPO good luck Craig in Maine

[ProTeal55]

I had a 16'' rear and 11'' short shocks on my old CB750 and it was LOW (and actually rode quite well)..

[736cc]

  I dig my 16 rear w/ its fat Dunlop GT501

[Terry in Australia]

That's a nice tank on your "Yoshi" bike Andy, where'd you get that?

[736cc]

   From a SOHC4 owner only 30 miles from me, Ken736cc. Just what i was looking for, this bike needed an interesting tank. I'm about to tear-down the bike for the winter (seal the tank, replace fork seals, ceramic coat various parts, swiss-cheez the discs, re-think and clean-up rear fender/liscense bracket, etc) but weather forecast Tuesday is a record 60 degrees(!) so a little hooky may occur....

[Gordo]

Nteek745, am I understanding you correctly that the lacing for a 16" harley rim is non-standard?
here is what the little nightmare looks like - can anyone with a 16" give me feedback on how it is laced up?
I may need to get a different hub - the drilling looks rather sketchy to me

[.RJ]

Nteek745, am I understanding you correctly that the lacing for a 16" harley rim is non-standard?

Thats how mine looks - all to the inside.  Bucahannan sells a spoke kit that laces inside/outside like stock.

[Gordo]

nice wheel - thanks for the info
what seems weird to me is that one side is all on the inside and the other is out and in...