Does any one have any experience with the max width for the rear tire on an o4 1220custom? Book says 150/80B16 71H .?

I replaced the front w an M880 and went a bit wider and would like to do the same to decrease gravel raod slippage. I do have about three miles daily on gravel..:tour ..no fun at all but required! I do like the M880 on the front .

Help please?

ping? any help out there?

ping? any help out there?

A Metzeler 160/80-16 will fit with no clearance issues. The Mezeler 160 is only a few mm's wider than the stock Dunlop tire.

thanks.have yo uhad any experience wit hthe M880's and their performance?

I don't know if he do... but I have...

ME88 Marathons and ME880s both... love em...

I'm TOLD that Avons are stickier, but the Metzlers are stickier than stock and last WAY longer than Avons so as far as I'm concerned they're the best of both worlds...

K

thanks.have yo uhad any experience wit hthe M880's and their performance?

Dry pavment performance is better than the stock Dunlops, wet traction is superior. They last a good while too.
But nothing beats an Avon Venon for dry pavment traction. But if you already have an 880 up front, I would do an 880 in the rear to keep grip characteristics balanced.

very good! I guess it is the gravel but i only got 7k out of the front and 10k on the back and it is down to the nubs! I don't mind the usage but i hate to be slipping around. That is one reason i want to go wideer. The M880 rears talk about a wider "on the road" profile which is good too............maybe i just aught to pave the road!

Hey Bullittt, I would suggest you regularly inspect that belt of yours due to all your travel on the fun stuff. Gravel/pebbles/small stones can do wonders for a belt, if you know what I mean (a belts worst enemy).
Swankster

never thought of that............and i will check it.. The regular gravel ain't too bad but they put this cordite type stuff on the roads that make it like marbles!

never thought of that............and i will check it.. The regular gravel ain't too bad but they put this cordite type stuff on the roads that make it like marbles!


Maybe someone smarter than me can explain this... we've had tire contact patch talks before and I only partially get it.

But, typically in rain, snow or ice you're supposed to go with a THINNER tire to increase lbs/sq in. on the contact patch and to push through to harder surface.

On sand or in mud, you want FATTER, lower pressure (like from airing down tires on the beach or off road), I'm guessing that digging through to harder surface might get too deep, so you want to spread it out, using less lbs./sq in. so as not to overcome what little traction that surface can afford.

So which would gravel be?

DEEP gravel, I'd expect fatter... but thinner layers (as most dirt/gravel roads tend to be) I'd expect you'd actually want thinner...

What am I missing here????

Kev

great discussion.............the more surface on the road the less psi. Like why a tank won't gt stuck as easily as a truck. My concern was not bouncing or slipping off the gravel as easily but i now am confused as to which will give the more stable ride. Mostllyarount 20-35 mph

My concern was not bouncing or slipping off the gravel as easily but i now am confused as to which will give the more stable ride. Mostllyarount 20-35 mph


Damn, I was hoping someone was gonna answer that question

Anyone Out There Want To Wade In On This?

Does any one have any experience with the max width for the rear tire on an o4 1220custom? Book says 150/80B16 71H .?

I replaced the front w an M880 and went a bit wider and would like to do the same to decrease gravel raod slippage. I do have about three miles daily on gravel..:tour ..no fun at all but required! I do like the M880 on the front .

Help please?

how much wider is the front tire?? Photos?? I would like wider too but want to keep the 21 inch up front. I do not want to deal with a 21 x 3.5 wheel needed for a 120-130 series tire...but like you I amd lookinf for more rubber up front. There is PLENTY of room under the fender.

I'll take some picts tonight..... it is visibly wider and abit taller but has not problem in clearance. But with the new tread and bewing closer to the fender i do get pebbles hitting the underside of the fender.

CONTACT PATCH WOES:

It all depends on the surface. On a surface like snow, you want a thinner tire so that you can dig through it faster and get to the road surface undernieth easier. Same thing with water, although the tread channels can make the tire "seem" narrower.

On any other surface (that I can think of), you want to stay on top of the surface. Mud, sand, gravel, pavement. You don't want to dig through it because you'll just dig all the way in since there is no hard base at the bottom. Now, there may be a base at the bottom of gravel, but you'll never get a tire thin enough to eactually dig through it, so you'd want to wider profile so you can get as much traction from what's on top.

Hope this clears things up.

BTW - A bigger contact patch is better for acceleration and cornering (on dry surfaces), but a thinnder tire with a smaller contact patch will yeild a higher top speed due to areodynamics and mostly rolling resistance and lighter rotating mass. The new Corvette C6R racecar was able to get an additional 2mph top speed by narrowing the wheels by 1".

that makes sense! The gravel roads we ride on out here are well packed but with loose gravel on top. The gravel being loose seems to be the biggest problem with the gravel shifting under the tires. So me thinks that the wider the tire the more the weight is distributed............but the thinner the tire the quicker it will get to thr packed surface......do i have that right?