size of tires

[panther]

this is probably a dumb question, but i dont know it so i am going to ask anyways. Is bigger the rear tire the better?? and why or why not??

[Green]

The main thing I've heard is bigger tires slow the 'flickability' of the bike a little. It depends on how fast you're going. A larger tire mass at a higher speed might slow flickability. Some people say it's more noticable than others. Sometimes the big difference felt is because the curvature of the tire changes with width and makes it lean different.

On cars, bigger tires may lessen your traction depending on the road conditions. You decrease your lbs/sq. in. with a larger contact patch. Smaller tires also tend to have less rolling resistance, which is why dragsters run small tires on the front, as long as they aren't weighted they are easier to push.

There are a few posts about tires... here's one I remember...

http://www.cosportbikeclub.org/forum...pic.php?t=1428

There are a few more details, but I don't know how much you wanna hear me ramble.

[Anonymous]

Panther, what kind of bike do you ride?

A 190 tire is designed to put more in contact with the ground. It will turn slower because the tire is just bigger, and it takes more time to roll over it. 180 seems to be what most people use, unless you're on a Busa. then you might need a 200.

[Hutch]

From what I understand, the size of the proper tire for your particular bike depends a great deal on the size of the rim. You can play up or down a little, but the rim size should basically determine your tire size. For example, my rim size on my bike is six inches, so I run a 190 rear tire. Make sense?

[panther]

Panther, what kind of bike do you ride?

A 190 tire is designed to put more in contact with the ground. It will turn slower because the tire is just bigger, and it takes more time to roll over it. 180 seems to be what most people use, unless you're on a Busa. then you might need a 200.

well, for the time being a 91 ninja zx6d, which i am running a 160/60 17, but i was just curious since the smaller tires are cheaper i just thought that meant they were not as good as bigger tires. I mean i love big tires, i have the biggest tire i can put on my truck w/o lifting it, so i was just wondering on the effects of different size tires. thanks for the website as well green.

Jay

[Nick_Ninja]

Found this out on the web:

• The fatter you go, the harder it is to flick into a turn.... going one size
  larger increases the foot print very maginally at any given tire pressure, and
  reduces the flickabiltiy more than that.
  Then there is the profile fo the tire...a narrow V profile is going to give a
  bigger foot print in a turn than a round profile tire a size larger.
  with either tire you are going to get a larger foot print as air pressure
  drops....and thats going to change with altitude due to external atmospheric
  pressure.
  to anwer yer question you can fit a fatter piece of rubber to the rear in a low
  profile tire on the same rim than with a higher profile tire... the lower side
  wall pulls the tire lower on the sides so you can fit fatter rubber.
  You should work all this out though after understanding suspension
  though...suspension and rubber all work together.
  not too many folks, including me, are suspension guru's.
  you need to do some research.
  Fox shocks have a good section on suspension tuning, search google for
  'motorcycle, race, tire, tuning'

[panther]

Found this out on the web:

• The fatter you go, the harder it is to flick into a turn.... going one size
  larger increases the foot print very maginally at any given tire pressure, and
  reduces the flickabiltiy more than that.
  Then there is the profile fo the tire...a narrow V profile is going to give a
  bigger foot print in a turn than a round profile tire a size larger.
  with either tire you are going to get a larger foot print as air pressure
  drops....and thats going to change with altitude due to external atmospheric
  pressure.
  to anwer yer question you can fit a fatter piece of rubber to the rear in a low
  profile tire on the same rim than with a higher profile tire... the lower side
  wall pulls the tire lower on the sides so you can fit fatter rubber.
  You should work all this out though after understanding suspension
  though...suspension and rubber all work together.
  not too many folks, including me, are suspension guru's.
  you need to do some research.
  Fox shocks have a good section on suspension tuning, search google for
  'motorcycle, race, tire, tuning'

dam, that was a lot of info, thanks nick
jay