TOPIC:

The 1979 KZ1000E1 ST shaft came with 3.50V-19 front (four ply) and 4.50V-17 rear (4 ply). I looked through the Dennis Kirk catalog last night and can't quite figure out what the rear tire size should be in a metric size. The front is likely 100/90V-19. What is the rear? Is the aspect ration 80 or 90? Is this a 120, 130 or 140 wide tire? What do other folks use on this bike?

The front is a 110/90-19, the rear is around a 130/90-17

George, my 79 ST has a 130/90-17. What brand/model are you looking at using?

george,
I ride an 81 kz1000ltd and it has a stock rear
130-90 16 67H
And front is 3.25H-19 4PR,this was taken from my original owners manual.
hope this helps.
rob

Honestly don't know what type / brand tire I am going to use. I have two other KZs I use as carb testing bikes and just want something that will allow me to live if I get on it a bit and is cheap. Say what you want but the Cheng Shin Hi-Max fits the bill. Now the ST will be a personal "rider" so I want to put some better tires on. I hesitate to ask for advice on this as this type question generally gets a zillion different answered based on what type tire each owner currently uses. I have been thinking about Dunlop 404s which hold up decently and are decently priced. Not sure how they will handle on a KZ... They are OEM original equipment on many cruisers and cruiser owners sometimes complain of tire whine and they don't handle as well as more expensive tires but the cruisers are generally a couple hundred pounds more than a KZ. I also like Avon tires and may try a set of these.

George, I had a Cheng Shin hi-max, not a bad tire (not totally great either), but it does hold to the road. Might want to consider metzeler me880's too, I just put a set on my bike and they GRIP!!

I own multiple bikes and have had ample opportunity to experiment with touring tires. My favorite touring tire is a Venom X. It doesn't last as long as Metlzer (about 20 percent less wear) but handles far better. In the past 5 years, I have put almost 120K touring miles on my touring bikes (Venture, Nomad and now a Voyager) so have gone through some touring tires. Metlzer 880s, Avon Venom X, Dunlop 491, Michelin Commands among others. I won't use 880s as I experienced tread separation TWICE (two different rear tires) and that scared the Metlzer out of me bwhahaha

Problem is all of these tires are $200-250 a set. That is one of the reasons I was thinking about Dunlop 404s... They might not be quite as good or last as long as 491s but heck, they cost about a 1/3 the price.

With a standard KZ900, I get about 20K miles on a front Hi-Max and about 6K on the rear. The longevity of the Hi-Max rear tires is my concern as I don't want to have to remount/balance tires every few months.

Guess I will be paying particular attention to tread separation on these 880's. I got 10K out of my hi-max.