“Katsumi” - a new project in the making

[Tev62]

I think the handling on the CB1100 with stock tyres is pretty sharp. One downfall of a wider tyre (amongst some others) is that your contact patch is further away from the centre of the tyre in a corner, requiring you to lean further than stock to balance those same cornering forces. Look how upright a 250cc bike with skinny tyres can get round corners. You might get a slightly larger contact patch too but the power the CB1100 lays down is not testing the regular tyres patch in the first place, I'm not so sure you are getting any extra grip that would make any real world use to you. You are also carrying extra weight, un-sprung mass and making more work for the engine with the heavier rubber. To me there are too many negatives going up a tyre size but I will admit a big fat rear tyre does look nice.