Am I crazy, or does it seemlike people 5 years ago couldn't wait to get a 150 on their bike?Then they came with the 150 and people couldn't wait to jam a 180 in there.Now they have 200 and people are still trying to get more in there.I just read a post where someone is excited they might be able to cram a 210 in there.Seriously?200 not enough?Go all out with the Baker 300 kit.You may have a little trouble steering, but you'll have a huge footprint.200 to 210 is such a small difference, you'd have to read the side of the tire to notice.Well I'll guess I'll shut up now, it's not my bike.

 

On a hardtail , the wide tires make a little sense as they provide more shock absorbtion, but other than straight line, the handling suffers in my experience when they get much over 180. I've ridden 200 vs standard softails and thought they 200's handled like a lof ion the twisties, straight line was great.

 

I love the look of the 200 on my Train. I don't see the need to go bigger (way to spendy) and if I was worried about tearing up the twisties, I would have bought a bike designed for that.
One trend over here in Okinawa is fat front tires. Not so much on Harley's but the locals gotta put the bigest front tires on their bikes as they can. Kinda cool. I would go fatter on the front before messing with the stock 200. I really don't care for the narrow front tires like onthe Wide Glide and Train. Love to have the FX front end with a Fatboy size tire on front..............I have not seen a Fat Bob in person but that is the look I would go for on my Train.

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It seems to be motivated by newbies and wannabies. Everyone that has ridden for a while knows that the wider you go the more difficult it is to turn. The "look at me" crowd seem to get noticed and asked more questions in the bar parking lot when they have those super fat rear tires. The dumb chicks say to them "how wide is that tire?" And these guysget all hard and stuff when they reply it is a "300! This biggest in the lot little lady. You want me to break out the suction cup bitch pad so we can go for a ride? Oh, ****. I forgot, I don't have anywhere to keep the bitch pad when it is not sitting on the bike". Sorry if this offends anyone but in my opinion there is simply no reason to have a 300 even on a hard tail.
I must not be alone though. Anyone seen how bad the depreciation is on a Big Dog, Vengence or any other of the production "customs"? They are pretty but not quite as useful as a swiss armyknife.

Mark

 

I like my 200 on the train but I have to admit that I'm a fan of the big tires on the back. I think it has a lot to do with all the stuff people see on TV with the shows and customs and such. Chicks dig'em, too. To quote a friend of mine when I was about to buy mine and we were talking about how the new trains have the 200 tire and how it looks cool and me and my wifey were gonna have fun on it and had to make it down to Lone Star Rally and all that, he warned me "you're gonna feel pretty cool on your bike until some guy pulls up on one of those custom chops with that wide wide tire on the back and your old lady's panties fall off"... I asked my wife if that was true and she just blushed.

 

If you want to go fast around corners.....GET A BUELL!
Otherwise we all make choices on what we think looks kool

Sorry for the rhyme

 

It's the same even in cars.
Why would anyone put 30 series sidewalls or less on their cars.
It sure as heck ain't for the ride.
It's for the looks.

I love my 200 rear,
but I also like the 240 look.
300s just look way to big to me. Nice, but way to big.

 

in my opinion, sometimes it looks cool if it's done right.

i suppose if i had the money for many different bikes, i MIGHT want something like that just for kicks.

but prolly not. before i'd buy one of those i'd buy a a buell, a ducati, a vincent, an indian, etc...damn Jay Leno has it made!

 

I was really into the fat tire look.... now, I just like the classic look... luv my Heritage...

 

The fascination with larger tires goes back way further than 5 years ago. In the late 60's we all wanted larger tires. But we were always limited by what you could buy - the Avon 5.00 x 16" bias ply was the biggest piece of meet out there. Believe me if 300 were around we'd have used 'em - more tire = more contact patch

It wasn't 'til the Superbike racing series in the 70's that something bigger became available. Bike radials came along a little later in the 80's. People were mostly limited by the distance between their swingarm legs.

Today, that is no longer an issue (cost has replaced it), as a strong shake of the tree will drop a dozen manufacturers of "fat-tire" kits. As far as handling goes, sure bigger isn't always better. Not many people have much seat time on a 240 or bigger, yet everyone has an opinion - that's great.

But to set Commander112 straight - the big tire look isn't exclusive to newbies and wannabes. I've been riding for 40 years, have a 240 on my FXST (it is no harder turn than a 150, just requires a tad more room), don't sit in bar parking lots and measure tires, and would counter by saying there is no reason for a hard tail - its all in the game.


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