Just throwinig this question out there to people who can answer with validated opinion. Those of you who have the wide tire bikes, 250-300+ how do these handle? I am told they don't corner very well, and they are not real comfortable for longer distance rides, what do you all think?
If you reply to this thread, please tell me what size set up you are refering to when you discuss what you know about these wide tire bikes, and let me know if they are hard or softtail?
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I don't own a wide tire bike, mine has a 150 on the rear. But........I did spend a day on a bike with a 250 on the rear. At first I thought I had a flat because the bike was like a slug on the turns. It was OK on the straits but the turns sucked compared to my skinny little 150. I would like to try a 200 size tire, I think that would be good compromise.
I put two years ago a 240/50-16 in my Softail and I must say that is the best think I've done, not only for the look, because for handling and stability of the bike. With the 130 OEM tire the bike used to slide a lot, and now it doesn't.
In corners and in long travels, this wheel goes perfect. I'm happy with it. I must say that I decided to use this wheel because I wanted to keep my 16" wheel , so when you see the bike from any of his sides, you see more rubber than a 250 in an 18" wheel.
I think that sit similar the 16 as the 18. The difference is that the wheel for the 16 is taller so you see more rubber when you see the bike from its side.
I have the PM phatail kit to install on my 04 fatboy. I have ridin 3 bikes with this kit. the kit is for a 240 tire but it can be tweaked to accept a 250 tire. You sort of fight the bike around a hair pin curve, not real good on roads with a lot of switchbacks. To me it seems to handle better with the wider tire up front versus the 21" narrow tire. I have also ridin them with Metzler tires and Avon. The Avons seem a little more rounded which helps with the curves. Just my 2 cents.
I run a Avon Roadrunner 230/60H15 R on my rigid chop.
Normally I keep the tire at 25-30lbs of air, I've never had a problem with handling, or riding in the rain. In fact I like the way the motorcycle handles through the twisties.
The frame is a CMH Nastybike, and I think the handling has as much to do with the frame as the tire. In other words my frame was designed to work well with this tire. I can't speak to adding a fat tire kit to a stock bike.
I did have a problem with the tire expanding when it was hot, seem this particular tire expands more when running less air, so it took a bit of experimenting to get it just right.I had some fenderrubbing issues until I was able to figure out what was happening.
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I rode a chopper about a week ago with a 300 and it surprised me. a little harder on the turns but I didn't think it was that bad. My bike has a 200 and it seems perfect. I liked it better then a 160.
I had an 04 texas chopper for 3 years. it had a 240. I now have an 05 LSC (rigid) with a 280. both ride and handle very well. any handling limitations are due to the length of the bike and have little to do with the rear tire size. never run anything other then metzler tires.
I just put 12000 mi on a 250 rear tire.......first time I ever rode anything wider than 5". It took about 50 mi to get the feel for it, and have loved it since. I DO hear that the 300mm is a bad handling tire though...gets a flat spot in the center and throws everything off.
Regards... Dick
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wide tire handling
