Another 17" Wheel Convert

[chync_imp]

I have only had one ride so far but it was on some twisty roads I travel often. First the handling is much improved. I think that has a lot to do with the new tire size profile. I was using 160 wide tires on the 18" rims because it was the only width close for the tire I use. That was causing a little distortion of the designed tire profile. I have improved clearance as much as I could with some adjustable racing footpegs but I still had about half an inch of tire left on the edges of the old wheels when it would start scraping other things like the center stand and/or muffler. Honestly it's plenty of lean angle for riding on the road. Certainly any more lean and I will have to get some knee pucks. I looked at the new tire after my ride and I had used as much tire as before (about half an inch strip at the edge unused) and that was what I considered to be a more conservative ride. I didn't want to push it until I had a feel for the new tires and wheels.The bike felt stable cornering before but I noticed it has improved. I guess it's all relative to what I had experienced from the stock bike through all of the mods.

Overall the seat height may have lowered a half an inch but when the bike is leaning it isn't leaning from the middle of the tire. It's point of contact on the ground is out towards the edge of the tire. With the wider tires it may be that I actually have more clearance. I will have to think about that some more. But from my initial ride I don't think I have less. Actually as I am visualizing the geometry in my head, I do believe that with the wider tire I should have more clearance in a lean and not less. I'll see how much more of the tire I can use in the upcoming weeks.