Author Topic: another tire question........... (Read 18697 times)

xsmooth69x · « **on:** April 28, 2011, 05:28:23 PM »

i bet you guys get tire questions all the time but ..............

i have a 1975 cb550k1

i am making it into a cafe bike (i will log and post my whole build after finals)

i want a very vintage of period LOOK it does not actually have to be tires actually made in that era or anything crazy like that

now i have 2 problems....

some cafe bikes i see have moderately fat very tall and either smooth straight line treads or dirt bike looking tread

other cafe bikes i see have very low profile and thin tires.....

so whats going on? i try to find actual period photos of the bikes which im having a hard time with and every other cafe pictures i see are modern spin offs of what cafe bikes look like now

so i was thinking about Firestone champion deluxe but i have no idea on measurements...

these tires are massive i dont want them that fat but the height is what i like

but this has like straight tread tall tires.....

i dont know what tires these are

but the very skinny low profile tires are sweet too

i also heard the dunlop tt100 k-81, k112 are good but its just hard for me to look up the tires the try and conceptualize them on the bike.....

xsmooth69x · « **Reply #1 on:** April 28, 2011, 05:38:32 PM »

ow ya i put no thought as of performance..... so any thoughts on this too would be nice

Retro Rocket · « **Reply #2 on:** April 28, 2011, 05:57:19 PM »

Quote

so i was thinking about Firestone champion deluxe but i have no idea on measurements...

These tyres handle like crap and are more for looks, they track badly and if doing a cafe i would be looking for a more modern tyre or just go with the K81 dunlops, old school looking tyre with more modern compounds.....Is this bike a show pony or one you will ride regularly.?
If ridden regularly, go for the Dunlops, best of both worlds....

xsmooth69x · « **Reply #3 on:** April 28, 2011, 06:14:03 PM »

ow deff an everyday rider if i could ride it everyday... when i can ride it lol

damn i so wanted those firestones to be ..... good hahaha they do look cool though

ok then on to other tires..... so theres other firestones dunlops and avon (?)

how are the continental RB2/K112 combo?

seanbarney41 · « **Reply #4 on:** April 28, 2011, 06:31:25 PM »

Try to keep your history in perspective here...those guys at the Ace Cafe and what not, that was in the late 50's early `60's, there wasn't many `tires to choose from and there were no Hondas! Putting that original wave of cafe style equipment on a Honda sohc is just not gonna look right, let alone improve performance. The whole idea of a cafe bike during any time period is really a race bike for the street so you should be trying`to get the best performing tires you can. Fortunately, there are some decent handling Dunlops, Avons, and Continentals (probably others too!)that have 1970's correct tread patterns and profiles with decent rubber. Try to find period magazines and such to see what guys were doing back then...

splitt · « **Reply #5 on:** April 28, 2011, 08:11:41 PM »

Those old tires from the 50's & 60's were not that great, but the new repops are made with the newer compounds. They are much better quality now. So now you can get the best of both worlds. Stay away from the oem replacement Dunlops & Continentals. The better tires are only like $10 to $20 higher but are much better. I usually run either the Continental k112's or Avon Speedmaster II's on my choppers. I like to retain that old school look.

Anti-Johnny · « **Reply #6 on:** April 28, 2011, 08:22:03 PM »

I like the classic look too, but I ended up going with the pirelli sport demons. They just look like the devil would have them.

Interested in what you pick and the price range youre working with. Mine were less than 200 shipped.

xsmooth69x · « **Reply #7 on:** April 28, 2011, 08:32:18 PM »

budget is around $200 give or take.

ill look into those demons they sound cool.

i like the k112 with the diff tread patterns front and back.

anyone second those k81 or is that just a run of the mill tire everyone runs?

xsmooth69x · « **Reply #8 on:** April 28, 2011, 08:50:55 PM »

looked into the demons there cool but to modern... bummer

buth those k112 look promising

any other suggestions out there?

Roach · « **Reply #9 on:** April 28, 2011, 09:05:33 PM »

dunlop 404's are nice

same with the k70 are nice with a bit of a older look\

ps 666 the number of the beast

xsmooth69x · « **Reply #10 on:** April 28, 2011, 09:09:18 PM »

arnt the k70 just smaller versions of the k81

swellguy · « **Reply #11 on:** April 29, 2011, 12:30:25 AM »

The k70s are a 3.s5x19" front and 4x18" rear. They may not have been a stock tire but they were a stock upgrade or replacement tire for many bikes of the era:

You could try Bridgestone Spitfire S11's 90/90x19" front, 120/100x18 rear I just put them on my 77 BMW R100.

xsmooth69x · « **Reply #12 on:** April 29, 2011, 01:38:48 AM »

mac screen shot aghhhhhhhhhhhhhh............

so other than the obvious size what are the diff between the 70 and 81?

xsmooth69x · « **Reply #13 on:** April 29, 2011, 01:47:23 AM »

wow the RB2/K112 are significantly more expensive then the k81.....

are they worth it? can you really tell the diff with all these tires other than the firestone champion deluxe

i really dig the straight block tread on the front tire

what tires are these?...... does these tires look like they will ride like crap?

Gordon · « **Reply #14 on:** April 29, 2011, 03:23:58 AM »

Quote from: xsmooth69x on April 29, 2011, 01:47:23 AM

what tires are these?...... does these tires look like they will ride like crap?

Those are the Avon SpeedMasters:

http://www.americanmototire.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=33_61_76&products_id=496

xsmooth69x · « **Reply #15 on:** April 29, 2011, 02:24:49 PM »

wow so they put the rear tire on the front too?

flybox1 · « **Reply #16 on:** April 29, 2011, 02:41:25 PM »

i read cafe and tires, and for some reason this post from Gordon comes to mind...

Quote from: Gordon on March 02, 2011, 09:59:18 AM

I know I'll catch some (deserved) flack for this one, but here goes!

Cafe

As in: I just picked up an old, neglected sohc4 for a steal, and I think I'm gonna "cafe" it.

Definition: I'm very susceptible to popular trends and I don't have the time/money/patience to do a proper rebuild, so I'm gonna throw on a solo seat, some clubmans, and I'm gonna junk that ugly air box and put on some cheap pods because that air box is a pain in the ass when I have to keep pulling the carbs to figure out why my bike isn't running well instead of just doing a thorough clean and rebuild of them the first time, and then I'll get pissed at it because it runs even worse and I can never get those stupid carbs tuned right, and then I'll bolt on a ratty old 4-1 exhaust and ditch that useless, heavy center stand, and then I'll half-ass an attempt at converting to dual front discs but end up with two discs and only one working caliper instead, and then I'm gonna get rid of those ugly clocks because the needles just bounce around uselessy and put on a digital bicycle speedometer, and I'm gonna put on a super bright headlight and a Dyna-S because fukin' points are crappy, old technology and I don't want to learn how to adjust and set points anyway, and then I'm gonna curse this bike's old, anemic charging system because it can't keep the tiny battery I've installed in the seat hump charged, so then I'll change all the other bulbs to LED, and then I'll put on the fattest, cheapest tires I can find 'cuz I can't stand the look of those stock pizza-cutters and then #$%* about my bike not handling well but I don't care because it looks tits, and then I'll try to fix that with some cartridge emulators I heard about that will make your bike handle like a modern crotch rocket and put on these cheap, Chinese piggyback shocks I found on ebay because they make the bike look mean and fast but they're too long so I'll put on these lowering blocks while I'm at it but the shocks hit the chain guard making it rub the chain so I'll throw away that useless thing, and hey how do I hang this exhaust, I guess I'll just use some of this pipe strap, and how much exhaust wrap do I need, and I think the engine is overheating so I'll put on this oil cooler, and the valve cover keeps leaking so I'll just use this gasket sealer instead of shelling out for new gaskets, and why did my engine make a loud screeching sound followed by a louder PING and then die?

SCREW IT! I'm sick of trying to get this POS running well! I'll call it a cafe and try to sell it on ebay for $5,000 because I see that guy Carpy selling them for that much all the time, and hey, these things are rare, sought-after, vintage bikes, right?

priceless...

Gordon · « **Reply #17 on:** April 29, 2011, 03:11:31 PM »

Quote from: flybox1 on April 29, 2011, 02:41:25 PM

i read cafe and tires, and for some reason this post from Gordon comes to mind...

Oh sure, get me in trouble!

xsmooth69x · « **Reply #18 on:** April 29, 2011, 04:25:35 PM »

hahahahahahaha that is so epic im saving that

i imagine im doing a proper build though

thats my bike so far. after finals the engine is coming out and im rebuilding it. frame is going to be ground down and cleaned. redo most of the wiring, keeping the points, KEEPING THE AIR BOX, going to run dual disc but with a new MC and lighter discs, 35w hid headlight and the other huge amounts of misc things to do

problems now are my exhaust and what tires i want

budget on the tires are like $200ish

*** my bike didnt come with a center stand.... is that bad?

splitt · « **Reply #19 on:** April 29, 2011, 08:27:41 PM »

Just an fyi if you're thinking of running a rear tire on the front.

I'm not an expert on this, but I've been told by the guys who have built bikes with a rear tire on the front that you are supposed to mount it backwards on the rim. (so the arrow points the wrong direction) This is due to the way the tire is manufactured & the way that the applied front braking forces affect the tire.

Retro Rocket · « **Reply #20 on:** April 29, 2011, 11:17:39 PM »

Quote from: splitt on April 29, 2011, 08:27:41 PM

Just an fyi if you're thinking of running a rear tire on the front.

I'm not an expert on this, but I've been told by the guys who have built bikes with a rear tire on the front that you are supposed to mount it backwards on the rim. (so the arrow points the wrong direction) This is due to the way the tire is manufactured & the way that the applied front braking forces affect the tire.

I am not too sure if that goes with all tyre's but i had a GPX750 race bike i put on the street and it had a rear "R" {race}compound tyre on the front in reverse direction and it worked excellent......That was a scary fast street bike and handled awesome....

xsmooth69x · « **Reply #21 on:** April 30, 2011, 02:25:51 AM »

nvm the speedmaster mk2 can be used for both front and rear.

looking at other websites other then the one given says front/rear

dave500 · « **Reply #22 on:** April 30, 2011, 02:33:19 AM »

start up a project thread maybe?

xsmooth69x · « **Reply #23 on:** April 30, 2011, 03:08:48 AM »

ow yes sir im starting a build thread

all my finals are over next week so ill have more time to work on the bike since im only taking 2 classes.

ive taken tons of pictures so ill deff have the build thread up and running to contribute to the forums.

and its my first bike so its special

Gordon · « **Reply #24 on:** April 30, 2011, 04:32:56 AM »

Quote from: xsmooth69x on April 30, 2011, 02:25:51 AM

nvm the speedmaster mk2 can be used for both front and rear.

looking at other websites other then the one given says front/rear

I wouldn't recommend it. It's a very square tire. It works fine on the rear of my 550, but I imagine it would make for some interesting cornering if used on the front.

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Author Topic: another tire question........... (Read 18697 times)