Tire Options for our CB1100

[2017EX_imp]

Babbits online shows the OEM Dunlap pair ( front and rear combo ) for $348.56, and shipping to you should be free. https://www.babbittsonline.com/ Was the price quoted for mounting and balancing if you bring them your bike and they dismount the wheels, or was the price quoted if you dismount and just bring them the wheels? A new set of inner tubes to go with the new tires, through Babbits would run an extra $53.00, $25.00 front, $28.00 rear.

[pdedse]

Ay! Getting bike ready for trip from Portland, OR to Spokane for early next week...and I found a nail head in rear tire. It's a 2017ex, so tire with tube (5700 miles). I'm thinking if the nail penetrated the tube that a leak would have developed, but it's inflated at 42psi and doesn't go down. I guess I should pull it out to see what happens because I'm not riding it to Spokane like it is, and if it deflates well then I guess I get to ramp it onto pickup to take somewhere, or take the tire off. That probably means that there's not enough time to get it ready for the trip. Arg. Maybe I'll go on the KLR650.

Nevermiiiiiinnnnnd! I must be getting senile. So after calling three different shops, visiting one, spending an hour on the internet looking at tires / prices,...bummed that this was happening right before a trip, and tire still has some life...etc....then I go out to pull the nail head out..... and--it's--a--rock!



I spent a good 10 minutes looking at it this morning and could have sworn it was metal--it had fairly rounded edges, very smooth surface...the worst was that I was thinking it was tubeless for awhile because my '14 standard was...oh well...so no nail, no puncture, no air escaping...I got fooled by a 1/4" round-ish rock.
Thanks 2017EX for that; I'll file for later this year when I probably will need tires n tubes.

Babbits online shows the OEM Dunlap pair ( front and rear combo ) for $348.56, and shipping to you should be free. https://www.babbittsonline.com/ Was the price quoted for mounting and balancing if you bring them your bike and they dismount the wheels, or was the price quoted if you dismount and just bring them the wheels? A new set of inner tubes to go with the new tires, through Babbits would run an extra $53.00, $25.00 front, $28.00 rear.

This particular dealer install price of $150 was for wheels / tires on bike.

[2017EX_imp]

Most shops will knock the price waaaay down if you dismount the wheels off the bike yourself, and just take them the wheels. You might want to ask them sometime what doing it that way would cost.

[Cormanus]

It's very good news that it's a stone not a nail, pdedse.

[kennyw]

Since you have some time until the next replacement, you could go this route. I wad looking at doing it but ran out of time for getting ready for the west coast rally.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=...2017289589

[pdedse]

Since you have some time until the next replacement, you could go this route. I wad looking at doing it but ran out of time for getting ready for the west coast rally.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=...2017289589

Now that is an idea that's worth exploring. Thanks for the link.

[Nortoon_imp]

The nail that punctured the rear tire on my CB500XA had no head left when I was made aware that the tire was flat. I guess it was sanded away by the asphalt as I rode. I consider myself lucky because I was riding rather enthusiastically before that rest stop.

Fortunately there was a gas station next door. I pumped the tire back up and road home cautiously on quiet back roads. There was still air in the tire when I brought it to my Honda dealer a couple of days later. Nobody I asked including the dealer was willing to repair the tire, so I bought a new one.

Now at most rest stops I spin the rear tire with my foot to see if anything is stuck in the treads. Small stones are removed with the ignition key.

[Speed_imp]

BT23, a radial for modern sport/touring motorcycles. They came as OEM on my FZ8. They are a good tire for sport/touring, with touring as the primary focus. They can handle a lot of weight but have a very stiff carcass. Bridgestones typically are quite stiff, as those who follow MotoGP will know. They take a long time to warm up and aren't especially compliant at high lean angles unless the pressure is set correctly and they are fully heated. Bridgestone is the spec tire for MotoGP, so all competitors must use them. My GSX-R had the BT016's OEM, same story, very stiff carcass, poor feel on the street, takes a long time to warm up, and will never warm up on the street at listed pressures.

Both those bikes are now fitted with Dunlop Q3's, a vastly superior tire in all respects. Not a good choice for the CB1100, though, which brings me to the point here.

The CB1100 is an old-school motorcycle that works best with a certain design and size of tire; modern, wide radials are not the right choice for it. Honda chose the 110 and 140 front/rear for the optimum handling and ride quality. A narrow tire provides very neutral handling, as well. The farther the contact patch is offset from the centerline of the motorcycle at lean, the less neutral will be the handling. Anyone who rides the modern machines (those with 120/70-17 front and 180/55-17 rear or larger) knows the handling is quite different from motorcycles with narrow wheels/tires like our CB1100, once the bike gets heeled past 20 degrees or so. The handling is much, much different nearer to maximum lean angle and requires a different riding technique from old-school machines. Bump steer in particular is markedly different, with a lot more of it being fed into the chassis with the modern sizes.

The chassis and suspension of modern bikes are designed to work with wider tires effectively but our CB1100 doesn't have these design features. It's optimized for old-school tires and narrow rims. This is something to keep in mind. Instinct says to us, "Well, let's find a new, modern tire to put on our CB1100", but in truth, today's tires which are made in sizes for our CB1100 are indeed modern in design; they just fit narrower rims. We can get radials or bias-ply tires that are a perfect match for the CB1100 from quite a few manufacturers, Bridgestone, Avon, and Continental coming quickly to mind.

Bridgestone does make tires for our bike, but the BT023 and similar types are not in that group. The 160/60-18 rear, according to Bridgestone's fitment chart, is designed to work best on a 4.50-5.00 inch rim. Our bike has a 4.00" rim, and the maximum size recommended for that rim is Bridgestone's own 150/70-18, which can be had in the BT45 bias-ply or (in European markets) the BT54 radial.

We can put on a wider tire but to what advantage? The contact patch is no larger, as it is determined only by the tire pressure and the weight of the motorcycle. With a larger width on a too-narrow rim, we move the contact patch outward more with increasing lean, where it's less compatible with the bike's design and changes the handling and performance of the motorcycle.

I just installed BT016 150/70 and 110/80. Bike rides like silk, much more comfortable and a lot of confidence while turning, no matter the lean angle you can always give throttle. I feel safer, let's see how long they last, if I can make 10.000 Km with them (I made 20.000 with the previousRoadsmart III) I will repeat for shure.

[zbillster_imp]

Hey, you remember that Dunlop Sportmax front tire that was installed backwards by the Missouri Honda dealer last year?

Well, it's cupping after 7000 miles ... AND I got a nail in my Bridgestone tire I installed, what, two months ago? (Got 4000 miles out of that one).

So went through this tread and trusting you old timers on a pair of Michelin PR3s in 120/70 and 160/60 ... hope I can get 5 digits out of them!

Meanwhile, it's the 4th of July holiday weekend ... but no motorcycle, so renting a Fiat 500 Abarth turbo with 5-speed manual from Turo to keep my clutch leg muscle memory in tact.

[emptysea]

Where did you find the Michelins, zbillster?