Turning The TW200 Into A Street Bike (Mostly)
in [Tech]
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From: Bill Miller. on 9 Aug 2008 18:21 On Aug 9, 5:10 am, Blattus Slafaly <boobooililili...(a)roadrunner.com> wrote: I like the big knobby tires and they wear quite slow. Also their replacement cost on the internet is comparable to standard tires. And on the occasion that I go off road, damn glad I have them. Blattus Slafaly So you kept the knobbies and really don't think there'd be a steering/ handling/mpg advantage on-road with a change to a more highway- friendly tread? Bill
From: Bill Miller. on 9 Aug 2008 18:33 On Aug 9, 6:30 am, "." <yefelnag...(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > On Aug 9, 3:19 am, "Bill Miller." <jay-smith-1...(a)excite.com> wrote: > > > Next would be to lose those tires that look like they came off of an > > ATV and replace them with either a straight highway tread or at least, > > as some manufacturers advertise, an 80% on-road---20% off-road tread. > > A slight problem there surfaces in the odd tire sizes of the > > TW200...130/80-18 on the front and 180/80-14 on the rear. > > If I wanted to put different-sized wheels and tires on a TW200, they > would be 17-inch Excel rims on both ends because there is a far better > selection of 17-inch tires than 18-inchers nowadays. > > However, such a conversion would NOT be cheap, Excel rims are expen > $ive and the wider 17-inch rims may be hard to find. I suppose it > would cost you > at least $400 for the rims, re-lacing and tires, and spending $400 to > save money on gasoline just doesn't seem cost effective to me. You are correct. Not economically feasible. So I guess it just boils down to finding tires that fit the current wheels that are more "highway-friendly." How about these two? They're purportedly 80% on-road and 20% off- road. REAR: http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/2/29/393/14781/ITEM/Bridgestone-TW204-Trail-Wing-Dual-Sport-Rear-Tire.aspx FRONT: http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/2/29/393/14780/ITEM/Bridgestone-TW203-Trail-Wing-Dual-Sport-Front-Tire.aspx Of course, if the major Japanese manufacturers hadn't abandoned the 125-150 cc street motorcycle market and turned it over to the scooter crowd, this discussion wouldn't even be taking place as I would have already bought me a nice new Honda CB125 and been on my way. But for that to happen, I guess I should have been born 25 years earlier. Bill (Who even heard that Kawasaki, the last holdout, is dropping the Eliminator 125 for 2009).
From: . on 9 Aug 2008 20:05 On Aug 9, 3:33�pm, "Bill Miller." <jay-smith-1...(a)excite.com> wrote: > How about these two? �They're purportedly 80% on-road and 20% off- > road. Bridgestone's MC tire site might be helpful in researching those tires. http://www.motorcycle-karttires.com/ The tread pattern looks like it would be much better for pavement riding. You will see similar tread patterns on big adventure tourers like BMW. Those big heavy bikes will wear out a dual sport tire in a few thousand miles, but it's hard to say what the tire life would be like on the TW200...
From: Susan (CobbersMom) on 9 Aug 2008 20:52 "Bill Miller." <> wrote in message So I guess it just boilsdown to finding tires that fit the current wheels that are more"highway-friendly." There is nothing "unhighway-'unfriendly" about the tires that come on the TW. If you want a street bike, why not just buy one and ride that occasionally/seldom off road? I've done that with my VStar and would much rather have knobby tires on the highway than street tires off road. Sue Minocqua, WI Yamaha '00 VStar 650 '04 TW200 (mud = fun) Kawasaki '95 Vulcan 1500 V#15937 The cage looks awful empty, don't it pa? Opie Yea, but don't the trees look nice and full. Andy
From: lobo on 9 Aug 2008 22:26
"Bill Miller." <jay-smith-1935(a)excite.com> wrote in message news:c8e75b7f-290f-4e4b-80ce-89567fe22cd6(a)x41g2000hsb.googlegroups.com... On Aug 9, 5:10 am, Blattus Slafaly <boobooililili...(a)roadrunner.com> wrote: I like the big knobby tires and they wear quite slow. Also their replacement cost on the internet is comparable to standard tires. And on the occasion that I go off road, damn glad I have them. Blattus Slafaly So you kept the knobbies and really don't think there'd be a steering/ handling/mpg advantage on-road with a change to a more highway- friendly tread? Bill Lurking here and was wondering how the knobbies would handle in the corners on wet pavment? Ray |