Which tires do you use?

Hi

I'm in the middle of finding new tires for my KZ550A1.

What i found until now is the Dunlop D404 100/90-19 for front and Dunlop D404 110/90-18 for rear.

I would actually like to go 90/90-19 front and 120/90-18 rear. But haven't really been able to find that for the rim sizes (1.85 front and 2.15 rear)

Anyways. What I would really like to know is what tires you are using and if you can recomend it.

The rims on my KZ650-C1 are 1.85-19 front/ 2.15-18 rear. I run a 100/90 V 19 tire on the front and a 120/90 V 18 tire on the rear. I would not recommend going skinnier or fatter. Why would you want a 90/90-19 front ? :huh:

I have been using Pirelli Sport Demons for the last 6 years, and they work great in the sizes I mentioned. I would never put another Dunlop tire on my bike. I ran 4 different types of Dunlops and they all sucked. Others may have had better experience with them and/or with different model Dunlops that I had, but I found all the ones I used were too slippery. Ed

Too small a front tire will tend to "wash out" in the turns and dirt. I ran Dunlop K 81's in the day. Were the best. Not now.
Steve

650ed wrote: The rims on my KZ650-C1 are 1.85-19 front/ 2.15-18 rear. I run a 100/90 V 19 tire on the front and a 120/90 V 18 tire on the rear. I would not recommend going skinnier or fatter.

I currently run 100/90-19 front and 110/90-18 rear. The rear seems a shade skinnier than the stock which was 4.00-18 so next time I will probably go up to 120/90 rear.

On mine the 120 on the rear is excellent. For years I has shoehorned a 130/90-18 on the rear rim, but I eventually discovered that because of the narrow rim the cross section of the tire was distorted and it didn't really work any better (maybe not as well) as the 120. Ed

I'm also using 100/120 on those same size rims. Conti Go's are nice, and cheaper than many other similar tires. www.americanmototire.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=33_108_871

+1 on the Pirelli Sport Demons and Conti -Gos.



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The D404 is the worst tire made since 1900. Don't use that thing. There are many 3.25-19 tires available as well as 4.00-18. 100/90-19 for front can be swapped in place of the 3.25-19, but for the rear, the original tire was a 3.75-18 I believe, a 4.00-18 would be perfect. A 110/90-18 is a size that replaces, sure it does if you like a wimp looking tire in low profile. A 120/90-18 is too wide for a KZ550. Just my opinion, and I'll stick by it.

I am using a set of Conti Go's on my 1980 B4 KZ1000. They are very good for a bias tire. My next set for a vintage bike will be Conti Classic Attacks, radial tires for classic bikes.

www.americanmototire.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=33_108_1084

Bridgestones on my daily rider and Avons on my spirit bike.

Bridgestone Battlax BT-45. Good wet traction.
I got a TL set from motorcyclesuperstore a year or two ago for about $200 & they seem like good tires.

I Loved the Z-rated Metzlers on my turbo, soft sticky/replace every year...but...Gotta go with Avon Roadriders...Pretty darn sticky, lean pretty darn far over, (haven't scared me YET!) smooth transition through the lean, & while I have been able to break the back one loose on a wet road, you have to sort of "try" to do it...I will give them 2 thumbs up,(& the price ain't bad either!) I would buy another set...