Tires to get

WOW! 1980 rubber! No wonder you cant figure out how to lean and turn. Wait til you get some modern rubber, that will make a HUGE difference!

Scott

Dumont wrote: WOW! 1980 rubber! No wonder you cant figure out how to lean and turn. Wait til you get some modern rubber, that will make a HUGE difference!

Scott

Yeah, especially with those cracks I see I'm not comfortable doing A LOT! :ohmy:

TheDude wrote:

Forrest wrote: After viewing the photos at home, I have just one thing to suggest. DO NOT ride that bike more than around the block on those tires. The mold date appears to be week 11 of 1980 in your first pic. Not sure how that is possible on a 1982 bike. Sincerely, if those tires are that old they will be like hockey pucks on fresh Zamboni ice. They are not safe to ride on. Any recently manufactured tire will be a huge improvement over those aged bricks. Good luck with your freshening up project. AND, when you can post some pictures of your bike for all of us to see.

Where do you see the mold date? Is it where it has the numbers 40-11-80?

Yes..........Now how about some pictures Dude... of the entire bike ... :whistle:

Oh, AND When I acquired my 1977 KZ650 back in February 2009 it still had the original tires on it with a mold date from 1976!!! :ohmy: They did not have any cracking on the side walls due to being stored inside away from sunight for many years. Your tires have likely been exposed to the sun and U.V. light which degrades rubber compounds over time.

I run both Sport Demons and Continental Conti Gos. The Demons are a little stickier and the Contis
a last a little longer.

I too run the Conintental Conti Go! on my KZ650. Correct sizes for the 19" and 18" wheels of my bike.

For a cheaper tire look at the Shinko 120/90 by 18 model 712 tire. Not quite as nice as some of the others but only about 60 bucks and measures out just under 5 inches in width.

Plus I heard they bought out Yokohama and are using a lot of there dies,equipment and hopefully rubber formula's.

I installed the Tires last night @ a DIY (do it yourself) shop. It was enjoyable.
Here are some pictures.

Looks good. Both the tires and the bike. Enjoy.

Nice! Ed

I have a pair of Shinkos on my Concours. They are nice handling tires and seem to be holding up well.
Wayne

KZB2 650 wrote: For a cheaper tire look at the Shinko 120/90 by 18 model 712 tire. Not quite as nice as some of the others but only about 60 bucks and measures out just under 5 inches in width.

Plus I heard they bought out Yokohama and are using a lot of there dies,equipment and hopefully rubber formula's.

TheDude wrote: I installed the Tires last night @ a DIY (do it yourself) shop. It was enjoyable.

Good job Dude....have you ridden it yet with the new rubber?

Good job! They look good