trying to understand tire size

[derekgreen]

i am looking for a new set of tires(front and back) and i want to go with a wider tire in the front and only slight more wide in the rear on the stock spoke wheels my bike came on. i have no idea where to look online and am a little lost on figuring out how i would go about finding the width. im using the stock forks but took on the front fender thing. any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. front rim is an 18 and rear is a 16. looking for a meatier tire look on it.

 

[16VGTIDave]

If you intend to ride the bike, put the front fender back on. It acts as a brace for the front forks and you may experience dangerous handling without it. Search for "head shake" and "speed wobble" for examples. A wider front tire may look cool to some people (who pose for photos with motorcycles), but it will make the bike difficult to turn when actually being ridden. There is geometry involved, but that is complicated.

If you are about posing with your bike, check out Firestone tires. Their crap tires are all the rage with the waxed beard crowd right now. Otherwise, stick with stock sized tires and enjoy the ride.

 

[lemonhead]

I used this with good results:

http://www.dropbears.com/u/utilities/tyrerim.htm

...And here is mine with very slightly larger tires:

http://www.xs400.com/forum/showthread.php?p=153844#post153844

 

[xschris]

Your front rim is a 1.60-18 and a 2.15-16 rear so the stock 120/90-16 and a 90/90-18 tire is what should be there. The mag bikes use a wider rim so a bit wider tire is not much of an issue but on yours I would stick with stock, like dave says

 

[derekgreen]

So from the sound of this than I have to figure out a different for set up. For both not wanting to run that ugly front fender and not encure any issues with running a slighty bigger front tire.

 

[Wolfe_11B]

Some advice, you can use it or ignore it, up to you.

Don't build a bike you plan on riding for looks. Put the time and effort into making it perform better. As you improve those things, the 'looks' naturally follow. Those that build for the 'looks' end up with a bike that performs worse than a stock bike.

Unless you are building an art piece that gets trailered to bike shows/contests, then go for it.

 

[derekgreen]

Thank you for that input. Thats how im starting to feel about it honestly. Im have a lot of fun learning about all of this bike and the processes of re building it. It will be functional. And looks will be a side product of that.