SuperMoto Junkie banner

160 tire fitament...4.25" or 5"

258K views 278 replies 120 participants last post by  wsmc549 
#1 · (Edited)
I think this has to be one of the most asked questions, do I use a 160 on a 4.25 wheel or go with a 150 ?? so I decided to profile both tires with picts to show the profile differences....

The tire is a Pirelli race rain, 160/60/17 set at 24 psi, the first pict has the 5"/160 combo at the top of the pict. The second pict. has the 5"/160 combo on the right side of the pict.

If the wheels had slicks on the them the differences are alot more obvious. Yes, some MFG's make a slightly narrower 160 and some actually are a bit wider, but you get the Idea......

I do have more picts If needed....and YES the tire is on backwards....:twofinger
 
#165 ·
Well, I ordered the wrong tire before I came across this thread. I have a 4.25" rear rim. I ordered a 160/60... and had a 150/60 on my rear originally. Here are some before and after pictures, they are the same tire, just a different size obviously.











Eh, we'll see how well it does... I do a LOT of highway miles, so im sure it will flatten out before I even get to use the sides.
 
#166 ·
^^Thanks for the pics.
The whole point of the thread is not to tell guys with the incorrect tire application that they're gonna eat it if they don't see the light, but rather that there is more performance to be had with correct stuff. I know there are guys here who are faster than they know, but certain things about their bike are holding them back a-bit.
But you're aware of what ya got...it is what it is...so run it and enjoy the ride! :thumbup:
 
#167 ·
This picture is a 160 on a 4.25 inch wheel you will notice the last 3/8" chicken strip is almost vertical rendering it lost rubber for traction. The bead is pinched by the narrower rim..

Thanks Chase that's exactly right... it was for the question of the best rubber contact and performance between 160's and rim size....
 

Attachments

#168 · (Edited)
ok, not to get off the actual topic of 5 inch rims and 160's but this is kinda for my ol pal Chase....:D pardon my sloppy job of grooving I was doing a fast experiment which I can cover on later :hmmm: So, the grooved tire and the smooth tire are both 170 SM spec'd Dunlops the difference is the size of wheel (Chase and I happen to Loooove these tires)....the grooved one is on a 5 inch hoop and the smooth one is on a 5.4 inch hoop....I did a spoke offset for the grooved one and I have a spacer on the rear sprocket for the smooth one.....yep its a Marchi wheel...Now to be clear, these fat combo's are designed for low triple clamp offsets as well in my case a fat 1 inch shortening of wheel base...with 16.5 inch fronts... otherwise putting this big combo on a stock sm will make it handle like a truck....Chase runs Ohlies and I happen to have racetech... those mountain dudes have all the money :rofl: hope this helps...running them back to back really confirms to me that the 160/165 would be better on the 5 inch than that 170, also I ran a 165 Dunny back to back as well the other day and felt the smaller rubber handled better on the 5 inch ....I actually powerslide the back sideways out of a corner on the gas a couple times to prove to myself the point again...Which brings me to another point, personally the 160 on the 4.25 lets go faster in a track situation than the 5 inch, I know that from bouncing my head off the track far too many times... :)Thanks for you input as well Chase, your experince is really helpful !
 

Attachments

#169 ·
Now to be clear, these fat combo's are designed for low triple clamp offsets as well in my case a fat 1 inch shortening of wheel base...with 16.5 inch fronts... otherwise putting this big combo on a stock sm will make it handle like a truck.
Low offset triples, check.
16.5 front, check.
Short swingarm, che..
Wait... ok now I'm pissed. :rant: I really need to get RP to set me up.

Nice pics and write-up homeslyce. :thumbup: Got all the guru's here at SMJ to thank for keeping me on the straight & narrow over the years. Guys lots smarter than me but not near as good-lookin. :cheers:
 
#170 · (Edited)
mxrider, I just took a good look at those profiles...the new tire doesn't look that bad at all... conti's are narrower than they say.....If those were pirelli's or Avons it may suck...
kinda looks like my 170 on a 5 incher...give us a ride report when you get some miles on them...You might have the exception...I would have to look back but I think someone else posted up with the same combo ??
 
#171 ·
Tomorrow if I remember I'll take closer profile pictures. I don't have chicken strips on past 150 rears as well as 120/70 fronts, so we'll see if I can use all of this tire. I'll post up a ride report and pictures a few weeks from now once I heat them up and scrub them in. It's hard to do that in south central Texas.

Wes
 
#172 ·
I'll chime in since i run a bunch of different tires all on 4.25 rims. I've run pilot powers, bt002's, qualifiers, conti sm's, distanzias, etc...

As far as what is "correct" and what "fits" 150's are the way to go. That said if you ignore the chain rub, the 160's seem to hook up better to me. This is especially noticeable on corner exits. The 150's seem to kick out more. 160's seem to give better drive. I always feel like i'm running out of tire with the 150, and not so much with the wider tires. I run 160's on all the school bikes now with no ill effects other than chain rub which doesn't bug me.

On a side note I'm heading to the track with fresh pilot powers, 2ct's, and conti's all on drz400sm's, so I should be able to give a 3 way comparo/shootout! I'll make sure to take notes tommorow!
 
#173 · (Edited)
ok... forgot to add this to my previous post but I'll keep it on its own for easier reference......

So I measured some tires on rims with two straight edges and measured the absolute width see below..


160 Michy on a 4.25 rim 150mm wide If this was on a 5 " rim prolly adds 3-5mm ?

165 Dunny on a 5.0 rim 155mm wide

170 Dunny on a 5.0 rim 153mm wide

170 Dunny on a 5.4 rim 157mm wide


I'm on the prowl for a 160 Dunny on a 4.25 to give a real life comparo as the Michy's I think are a wee bit wider for there measurement... now don't forget this is basic general information just to make some aware of the differences....So in other words the 165 dunny looks like the 160 michy size wise....:hmmm:


NEW INFO

A 160 michy on a 5 inch is 158 mm wide, this might be my new tire on my 5.5's
 
#177 ·
I was thinkin the other day while practicing my back ins. When sliding, you are riding on the very edge of the rear tire... so will the slight balloon effect will give you a greater lean angle before giving out?

Haven't been riding much. Probably put about 500 hard miles on the rear. Gaining some confidence, but I still don't want to push carving corners as hard as my 150.
 
#180 ·
Agreed. The profile will be flattened out at the edge.
When you reach the edge during a turn, and maybe a little more, it will abruptly let go. Be careful. :)
 
#181 ·
hey Chase....see above I added another measurement... Those Michy's are wide...now that Dunlop don't make SM tires anymore It looks like the michy 160 x 63 profile on my 5.4 might work...
I'm glad you are chiming in....I think that's what alot don't experience is the gradual slide a perfect tire wheel combo allow...early warning....
so here is a tidbit of info for you...a stock BEHR 5 inch with a Dunny slick sprocket and rotor is 29 pounds.....the same in the Excel lite with Talon and a michy ( TUBELESS) is 27 pounds....that could very well be the tube difference...:headscrat I thought excels were 25 to 30 percent lighter...? just got a set of tubeless excel's, 5.5 inch rear:D
 
#184 ·
Where did you find tubeless excels?
I remember a thread not long ago where somebody weighed a bunch of different wheels, including the Behr and excells w/talons. To my surprise, the weight between the two wasn't much different. The behr is a good wheel, but I always thought it was an anchor. It is compared to the rexfelgens anyway..even with the stock hub, they're obviously way lighter than the behr and handle like it too. But I still think your marchi's are at least 5-6 lbs a set lighter than the rex's. I've seen BST's on some show queens but I've never seen anyone actually run 'em in anger.
I havn't shopped for michelins in a long time. Where are you finding a 16.5? I'm curious to see what that 160/158mm job looks like on a 5.5.
 
#185 ·
caulking and tape for the excel's, actually a member found 45 buck a roll 3 m tape and doesn't use caulk...so far so good....:hmmm: well I will be getting the rear Michy soon...
I stock piled the dunny soft fronts also and extra soft... the Michy is a 160 by 63 by 17 sm...good catch the 16.5 " will be their RR front...:D
 
#186 ·
guys,

I'm looking at a new replacement tire for my 5,5" rear Ape SXV wheel.

as i'm riding almost only on streets, but want to have a SM spec. tire, I thought the Maxxis Goldspeed Intermediate II in the size 160/60-17 could be a possibillity.

do you guys think these will work on my 5,5" rear wheel?
 
#189 ·
on there before was a Dunlop sportmax 180/55-17.

I have no pics yet as i'm still considering which tire i should take. the goldspeeds have my voice at the moment, but not sure if these are going to fit well on my 5,5" wheel.

Dunlop sportmax 180/55-17
vs.
Goldspeed interm. 160/60-17

so there is a bit of a size difference there..
 
#188 ·
Just finished putting DNA wheels on my afc500. Had to swap bearings cause they are Crf wheels. Found bearings that work (47x20x14 - needed 12 wide) but moved my rim a little bit towards the chain. I dished the rear one full turn n it just clears now. I'm gonna add a chain guide wheel roller setup tomorrow to keep the tire edge clean.. its a 5" rim w 160/60/17 shinko 003 stealth tire.
 
#190 · (Edited)
I don't have much to add here but I did want to bring up something. From my limited track experience tire pressure made a huge difference for me. Running contiforce 150 on my 4.25 rim I wasn't real confdent in my tires until I dropped to 20 psi. It made a huge change in The feel. Also like bdm said it wasn't real stable on turn exits. It wanted to let go and slide. This makes me think the 160 he is running on the school bikes gives a better profile on edge.

You can kind of see how the profile of the tire deformed. After one track day at 20psi I had to reverse the tire.



Same tire and track and this is what it looked like at 25 psi warm. It never really got up to temp.

 
#191 ·
spose you can try it.....back to the original intent of the thread...5 inch wheel 160 tire...IF you feel a DOT 160 on a 4.25 inch rim works for you go for it... me... ? oil and water.... lets not forget.. DOTs are for the street...
 
#194 · (Edited)
no worries ..gotta remember we have street guys here and track guys as well... but that is the point... 160 are more suited for 5 inch wheels and 150's are better for 4.25 inch... you were having problems with a DOT on the track...its not a super great tire to begin with, its really more designed for street use.... I'm a tire snob... Dunlops and or Michelins for the track,same but pirelli/metz as well for the street...low dollar slicks or any tire for that matter are going to do weird things, unpredictable...need to read the thread in its entirety.....you have to remember there is a reason why the fastest guys on sm bikes choose those two brands and run min 5 inch rears min...when I first started.. I constantly walking through the pits checkin out what the top ten were using, because that's what I was gonna use... I didn't want to re create the wheel I wanted to start on the best setup I could to learn how to go fast..just like what chase and I were bs'ing about goin up the extra size, now requires more than just adding a 5.5 inch rear wheel...:D
 
#195 ·
It's all good man. The contis were my gateway:) the bike I got has shinko slicks and a 4.25 rear rim cause.there isn't clearance for a 5. I want to run the good setup too and I did read through the entire post before I posted. All the stuff you posted was on slicks but a lot of others were posting dot stuff. I'm going to dig into this bike over the winter to see if I can stuff a 5 inch rim on here.

I'm here to learn :)
 
#196 · (Edited)
hey shift ! I found some cool stuff...

http://www.supermotojunkie.com/showthread.php?80352-2007-RMZ-Build&highlight=rmz450


http://www.supermotojunkie.com/show...-wheel-size-combo-for-RMZ450&highlight=rmz450

hope that helps...

do a search under suzuki RMZ450 wheels.... looks like alot of cool stuff.. hope that helps... :) I wasn't sure which bike you were referring to...


I mentioned above I have a 5.5 rim replacing a 5 same excell stuff same spokes... thought maybe juuuust maybe you might swap that 4.25
 
#198 · (Edited)
I've got two 05' Husabergs. Just for the hell of it, I measured the swingarms the other day. The supermoto swingarm is 1/2" shorter than the dirt one.

Pretty sure the KTM bikes are the same. Just something else to consider.

Had a pilot power 160, no chain rub at all. The Distanzia 160 barely fits, and had lots of chain rub. I have 1.5-2mm at the swingarm, and just 2mm at chain. I think it would have more room if I swapped swingarms, but would be slower to turn. I made a chain guide out of delrin to keep it off the tire. Also tossed the stock rear chain guide and put a real one on to keep the bottom of the chain off the tire.

This is on the FS650 with Behr 5" rim.
 
#199 ·
good point...yes the ktm's are the same....one trick is to add a link and get the wheel further back...dropped the triples to counter the effect.. no not the best way but cheap....If you look in the KTM SMR section you will see my swinger is 25 mm's shorter than the stock smr...I had a fully built 55o berg... I ran dunny and pirelli's as well metz... I offset that rear wheel as well had a cush drive which really helped....on my marchi's I have the ktm sprocket spacer times two stacked.... saves the day
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top