Does a larger diameter front tire handle better? I have a 16" American Elite now, would a 18" or 19" handle better?

 

I don't know about a 16", but I had a 18" front tire on my '12 SG and recently traded for a '14 SGS with the low profile 19". Huge difference in handling. Carves the road much tighter with more confidence. Less sidewall flex. Maybe not such a good thing for me as I already ride a bit aggressive.

With the 18" on the '12 SG, you did not want to use the front brakes in coming to a stop or low speed. Really hard to keep the bike upright. With the 19" low profile, I can easily come to a stop using only the front brakes with the front wheel turned. Feels a lot lighter! Not really sure if it has lightened up the front end much, but it sure does feel that way. The only downside if anything is that you can certainly feel every bump in the road up front.

 

I would think that a lot of the improvement you describe would be attributable to the new larger forks on the 14's no?

 

I think your handling has more to do with the new front forks. A much better design.

 

The 16" front HD touring tire is within a .10" in diameter of both the 18" and 19" tires on the HD tourers. Less than .05" of a difference in radius. Less tire more wheel should always handle better and ride firmer.

 

Co worker of mine has a 2010 road king
went from stock 16 on front to 21 inch
He said he see no difference at all in ride or handling

 

Handling is based on the rake. That is why sport bikes handle and turn quickly and allow you to not loose the front while turning quickly on the brakes. I can't imagine going from stock to a 21 inch front wheel that you would be able to turn better especially with any confidence in the front end.

 

The '14 has stiffer forks and much better trees, thus better handling. While lower profile 17/18/19 combos will firm up the handling somewhat, the improvement wouldn't be worth the investment. They are for looks. 21" up will mess with handling.

 

I'm riding a 21" on my Road King, dropped the front to maintain center of gravity. Can't say it rides better, but it does ride different, and it was immediate. That was 25,000 miles ago.

 

I don't know for sure.


I look to the racing scene for answers to stuff like this, and all racers/sportbikes use small diameter wheels with a good bit of sidewall. Racers don't use low profile, although I think sidewalls are shrinking. Also, I want tires and wheels that roll through/over whatever my sometimes mixed up heads gets into. So, given rubber selection options, I think 16 & 18 or 18 & 18 with potholes-at-speed level sidewalls are the ticket