Topic: Tire recommendations

[mrbreeze]

Greetings from sunny Modesto,Ca.(It's acually raining here right now though but it should be excellent bikin' type weather here real soon).I haven't posted here for some time but have been surfing the site and would like to say that I really like the new site and I am sure it will get even better as time goes on.I just got my 75 K model ready to ride(or so I thought) and went down 2 days ago and had it registered and insured.Then I went to a car wash that is about 4 blocks from home and blasted all the grime off of it from sitting in the garage for a year.Next stop was to a gas station to get air in the tires but didn't make it that far.I was only going 30 MPH when I felt that old familiar fishtail from the rear.Yup! good old flat tire.By this time I was closer to the gas station than home so I wobbled in and tried to get air but it came out as fast as I put it in.After that,I knew that I rode it with too low of air so I got it back home.I already had planned to get a new rear tire but now I am sure that the great bikers in the sky told me to do it RIGHT NOW! On further inspection I feel that I should just do it all right now and be done with it(at least for the next few 1000 miles)IE..Tire,chain,etc.After all..These bikes are notorious for munching rear tires and chains.This is what brings me to the ultimate wisdom of the SOHC4 site.I realized that I have put 3000 miles on a bike in 5 years that I have never replaced anything on the drive train end.If anyone can steer me in the right direction as to the best product to purchase, I immediatly thought of SOHC4.My questions are...                                               
  1.Most recommended rear tire---I am looking at a 2003 Dennis Kirk catalog and see a number of tires that I like--- I am replacing a 110-90-18 Bridgestone spitfire that I put approx. 3000 miles on in 5 years.I am steering towards a Metzeler ME-77 but would consider what the consencus of this club thinks.
2.How about a good chain and sprocket set-up? Any recommended or any outfits to steer clear of?
3.What about a tad bit higher gear ratio for the highway? Should I change the Counter or the rear sproket? I would like a bit lower RPM at say 75-80 MPH.
4.Rear brake shoes--Mine have lots of lining left but are old and ridicusly(did I spell that wrong???) NOISY!!!-----What is a good brand and who shold I steer away from. I got great info from this site on my front brake and would like to say that it operates great!! The trick was clearing the tiny hole in the master cylinder but only after I spent almost 200.00 bucks having the caliper rebuilt.What do ypu expect from a 30 year old system?


In closing ,I want to say that any responses to my post will be appreciated and I hope that your 750 Honda will be In the wind in 2005 and later.....RIDE ON-mrbreeze

[Dennis]

$200 to get a caliper rebuilt?
Did they gold plate it while it was there?
What did they do to it for that amount of money and who did it?

Anyway as far as your question about tires is concerned, I'm not going to be much help.  I have Bridgestone Spitfires front and rear on my '750' with about 1000 miles on them, and I like them.
I have Bridgestone BT45's on my Yamaha and I like those also. They are also available in sizes which would fit a '75 CB750K.

Any o-ring chain from a reputable manufacturer is much stronger and will last much longer than the OEM stuff from the '70's. Some people have been mentioning clearance problems due to the extra width on certain models, though. I just bought an EK Sport from Dennis Kirk for mine. I figured that it's certainly better than the original chain and I only ride the bike about 1000-1500 miles/year and the first one was on for 12,000 miles. I will admit that it was very stretched out (but I've heard of much worse - LOL).

[mrbreeze]

Yeah, I got took on that caliper rebuild by the good old dealership (Modesto Honda) but they do have to do everything by the book.$80 alone was for a new piston because it had pits in it(although I had to look pretty darn close to see the pits!)I think the main problem was the blocked compensating port in my master cylinder which some of the sharp people here at SOHC4 pointed out to me.As soon as I poked a guitar string through that hole,it stopped locking up.I never did have leaks...just locking up.Anyhow,it works great and now I would just like to get a good rear tire,chain&sprockets(with better highway gearing)and a quieter rear brake.I looked at several tires in the Dennis Kirk catalog but would like some feedback from the club to base my purchase on.Any suggestions on a good long lasting rear tire?

[kghost]

Hi,
 I have two 750's running dunlop Arrowmax GT501f on one and Shen's on the other. I really can't tell any difference between the expensive (dunlop) and the Korean ones.

I am running a 18/40 sprocket's on one and 17/44 sprocket's on the other.

Both equal about 4200 rpm at 70 mph

The stock 18/48 ran about 5200 rpm at 70 mph.

Hope it helps

[Raul CB750K1]

Check out this page I created a couple of months ago.

http://perso.wanadoo.es/camelo4/cb750.html

there you will find the tires I fitted to my CB750 K1 and how they look like.

Regards

Raul

[amattel]

HOwdy!

I have Dunloop GT501's front and rear and I am very happy with them.  They were only around $80 someodd apiece and are supposed to be quite sticky. 

For me I want extra sticky so if I need to make an unforeseen sharp turn they will have a better chance of staying rubber side DOWN.  I have also read that they are very good in the wet as well. 

Tires are one of those parts that I don't want to be cheap...

I have stock sprockets 18-48, but I upped the size of my rear tire to a 120 and it feels good on the highway... no problem cruising 85 on interstates at about 6500 rpm...

Adam

[cben750f0]

the metzlers, if they can use them on the post classic CB750 racers here, and i have seen how crazy they are, then they are ok for me ...peace

[Jonesy]

I like the Continental RB-2 Classic tread front tire and the Conti Twins rear tire. The downside is that they are tubeless, so they are a bit of a pain to mount on the rims and the front tire has block pattern with grooves around the perimeter, so if you ride on grooved pavement the bike behaves a bit squirrely.

[mrbreeze]

Thanks for all of the feedback.I am now leaning towards the Metzeler ME-77 because I have heard good things about them from at least 4 people and I think they look good and are fair priced. Now lets just see how long they last.Years ago I bought a Continental tire for my old Kawi LTD 1000
and man that thing just lasted a couple of thousand miles.As far as my sprockets...I do like the sound of cruising 70 at 4200 RPM instead of 5200 so I will probably go with the 18-40 set.I guess I'll get off of the computer now and go whip out the Dennis Kirk catalog and start ordering. Again ,thanks for the info....MRBREEZE

[oldbiker]

Towards the end of my road racing career, I used Metzeler tyres and found them to be just as grippy and I could lap circuits just as fast as on Dunlop genuine race tyres.