What size tires are you guys running on the back of your rigids?

 

Avon 500/16 speed master - we wont install the china **** and thats the rest of them

 

I had a Shinko on my road king and thought they were made in China too so I immediately crapped all over them before actually riding the bike. It had great grip, I was super happy with it whereas the commander II's I had were not that great.

My FX has two on it, came with them when I bought it and Im happy with them too. Different animal than the road king and its a vintage tire that suits the bike so it wont perform like a modern inappropriate tire would. I had the Avon's on my 66 and 62, I was underwhelmed and didn't like the look of them on the bike.

Something I copied and pasted from a tire review site:
​​​​​​In case you are not familiar with the Shinko name, the company has been around for 70 years and is based in Osaka, Japan. The tires are made in South Korea, using motorcycle tire technology and molds purchased from Yokohama. In addition to cruiser tires, Shinko also makes tires for all genres of motorcycles, including scooters.

Im not sure if the firestone Champions are available but they look great and appropriate as well if that matters?

 

What about size ?
I guess what I’m really asking is: What is the fattest 16” tire I can put on a stock early rigid frame? 130, 150 or bigger ?
Both you guys know the answer

 

unless you wanna start spacing the trans sprocket etc i wouldnt bother with anything bigger than a 130-90x16.
& I ONLY use quality tyres Avon, Metzilas,Pirelli etc, NO chinese ****) that stick to the road rather than trendy tyres that dont stick but look 'cool' when not moving or on a trailer ,...

 

5.00-16 is what I run and if you run a wider one the issue then becomes the ability to fit it in between the drum and frame when you squeeze the wheel in or out. My 5.00-16 firestone champion required a bit of a push to get it past the drum and frame when I put it on the bike. Wider and you'll need to take the drum and backing plate out with the wheel. The room to the right of the wheel is so you can move it to the side and get past the drum.

 

That’s a good looking tire, how much clearance to the chain ?

 

Agreed, the tire has to work but looks cant be ignored.

I put a straight edge across the tire and there is a little more than a 1/2" to the sprocket so without shimming the sprocket on the drum you could go with a 6" tire technically but then you would have to install the wheel with the drum and backing plate as an assembly - no big deal if it means you get a fat bun on the back. That said when I was putting a 180 on a bike with a juice brake I had to shim the sprocket away from the drum 1/4" and not all 180 tires were the same width! Enough that one would interfere with the chain and another would just clear. I had a 1/4" ring laser cut for me that went between the drum and rear sprocket then ran an offset trans plate etc.

 

One more detail about the 180 tire. I laced a mid-star hub to a 5" road king classic rim and ran the wide tire on a tubular swing arm / drum brake combo and had to do the drum / wheel install as an assembly.

 

The brake drums won’t be a problem.
I’m using a Paughco frame and was planning on using a hydraulic rear brake because I’m going run a spool 21” up front.
I’m doing a few things that won’t be period correct.