hey, im very new to the forum but have been reading in the background a lot using the site as a very valuable tool. as the name implies a have an 06 street bob. im looking at a wider, lower profile tire for the *** end. i just want to make damn sure that the tire i buy wont give me any grief and that i dont need a wide tire "kit"
Metzeler 180/55-17
http://www.bikebandit.com/metzeler-s...-tire?b=155440
thanks for any kind of input

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Man that thing looks like a sport bike tire. I didn't read too many of the comments on the site but one guy who did comment used the tire on a sv650. That tire wouldn't work on a bike that weighs as much as yours. As far as the wide tire kit from Harley it consists of a couple of brackets to secure the tail light wires (something you could make yourself if you wanted) and a SE180 tire. You want to search for a tire engineered to be used on a Harley.

 

Spaceblue is right, I think you want to look for the Metzler 880 tires, those seem to be popular around here. I'm looking to get one for the rear, but haven't decided if I'm going stock width or up to 180.

 

I originally went with a Pirelli Night Dragon 180 60B 17, no kit needed, just have to pay attention to the wiring.

 

Here is a wheel chart that shows stock sizes and maximum wheel size without any modifications. http://www.hdwheels.com/Product.htm

BTW - I run a 180 16 inch touring tire on my 2008 and there is plenty of room left.

 

I tried to buy the "kit" from the dealer last year to install on an 07 Wide Glide. They told me not to waste my money. They suggested buying just the tire. They made sure the lighting wires were secured. Only saved about $30.00,,but as the service writer said " That will buy you a tank of gas and a burger and beer...which makes for a nice day of riding" I've got 5,000 trouble free miles on the 180 now.

 

Just installed a Metzeler 880 (180/55/18) on the rear of my 2006 Street Bob. Had no issues with the tire, installed new rims also, and had a slight issue with the offset on the rim, but if the rim would have been ok, the tire would have been fine.

 

I am in the process of switching my 06 street bob from wire wheels to Harley aluminum mags. I am going with the 180 width SE tire as it is designed to work with the 4.5 inch width rim that comes on the street bob. When dunlop built the tire, the beads are narrower than normally needed for a 180 so it works with the wheel without crowning the tread too much.

The whole point of the wider tire is to gain some foot print so that my 120R might hook a little better than it does with the 160 while getting rid of the spokes which will eventually have problems with the kind of horsepower the 120R is putting out.

As to wide tire kit, as already mentioned, all it has is the tire and a pair of threaded brackets to "narrow" up the attachment hardware for the fender. If you have a detachable sissy bar or rack for the back you would already have the bracket needed (the bracket is threaded so the hardware attaches to it).

 

If you're trying to put a 180 on the stock Harley rim you only have two choices, the SE 180 and the Pirelli Night Dragon. Those are the only two tires I know of that are designed to be run on the stock 4.5" rim width. Not saying you can't mount another 180, they're just not designed to be run on such a narrow rim, how that affects handling is subject to a lot of debate.
I've ran two SE180s and was pleased with the look and performance until last year the price went from about $180 to $259 (17"). So I switched to the Night Dragon for about $170, only have a few thousand on it but performance wise has be as good as the SE180. The ND is a slightly and noticeably smaller width than the SE180 so if it's all about the look, the SE180 is the way to go.

 

thanks all for the input. i know i shouldn't have ordered it but i got eager last night with the warm weather and a few brews... i read through all the reviews on the site and i found one guy the put it under a super glide, two guys with it under a yamahahahaha warrior, and one under a "big Buell." whatever that means.. i know that i should have gone with the night dragon or the 880 since they are known to work. i guess i will see how it works and probably going to be learning yet another lesson the hard way. thanks all again for the input

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P.S. ill keep posted on how it works with my successes and failures