Comments about the 17 inch front wheels/tires

The first ride after changing to a 17 inch front wheel / tire combo I was jumping with joy as the bike became / felt much lighter and easier to turn at slow and high speeds but as time went by scrutinizing the bike's performance I realized that it caused a severe case of over steering ( the bike falls in turns rapidly and sometimes needs to be held up from turning too tight ) some would say the bike can be flicked from Rt to Lt much easier which is true, some go with steering dampers to deal with this problem, inverted forks & triples to rake the bike back or just learn to live with it.

The front of the bike drops 32mm or 1.259 inch going from 110/90X18 to a 120/70X17, this also affects the rake and trail angles resulting in quicker steering but a little too excessive for a heavy bike like max, high speed stability also left a lot to be desired but is much better than stock:damn angry: so I figured a taller 17 inch tire would tweak the over steering a little and enhance high speed stability,
I ended up installing a 130/70X17 tire which is 14mm taller than 120/70X17
The difference is unbelievable to the point of me wanting to go with a MORE fat front tire, the high speed stability gained from a fatter front tire while not making steering any heavier @ 40 psi tire pressure is just unbeilvable and effectively fixes over steering with 17 inch conversion.

I found two front tire sizes that are even taller & fatter than the 130/70X17
140/80X17VR( very hard to find ) and 150/80X17VR which might be too wide to fit the stock 03 forks, both are ME 880.
I was under the impression that a fatter front tires would make the bike clumsier but to my surprise it made the bike's handling more confidence inspiring with superior bumps/pothole damping, it sticks to the road like a magnet, sure footed in all situations (curves & straights), Less strain on the forks due to a bigger air cushion with 70 profile, abundant traction availability, slight increase in gas consumption but who cares max is a pleasure to ride
these are the dimensions I found:
110/90X18 D = 657mm, W = 114mm
120/70X17 D = 600mm. don't have it at this moment.
130/70X17 D = 614mm, W = 129mm
140/80X17 D = unknown
150/80X17 D = 679 mm, W = 152mm , might not fit.
I will be ordering the 140/80X17 and see how will that work out, if it does work out that means that I will have no wide gap between tire & front fender.

This is my first hand experience with this mod,the bike has race teck front springs & emulators with one inch internal lowering.

After all the radials 17 inch / 18 inch debate all what Max really need is Raceteck front with lowering to firm up the forks and a good pair of rear shocks with stock wheels & tire combos ME 800 the bike becomes a sweet handling machine together with a good fitting less fatigueing handle bar with less backward sweep, Sean Morley has them.
Properly torqued steering head, all possible brake mods some gas and a lot of open roads.
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Ibrahim,This is why I kept my stock 18" front rim when I converted to radials.I have no complaints at all with the handling.It was way cheaper too only converting the rear rim.It handles well in the turns and flying at top speed .

Shawn, the 18 inch front in a 60 or 70 profile is even worse since you have less air cushion, I am having NO problem with handling I am just refining it more, To me the 17 is much much much better than an 18 front in handling characteristics,
The 18 front makes the bike UNDER steer no matter what tire you have on. the 60 or 70 profile on an 18 front does not quicken the steering enough while the 17 front quickens it too much, plus the 17 has a big choice of tire sizes to fine tune the bike's handling to your liking.
I think you should try to swap a 17 front and ride the bike a few days you will feel what I am talking about, if I had to do it again, I'll still go with 17 front, no offense . what I noticed is that changing the rake & trail by lowering from the forks is totally different than when using a smaller diameter front tire, the contact patch of a fat front tire makes a huge difference in handling in high speed or curves.
Max is heavy and a 60 or 70 profile front tire is just not enough IMHO

shawn kloker said:

Ibrahim,This is why I kept my stock 18" front rim when I converted to radials.I have no complaints at all with the handling.It was way cheaper too only converting the rear rim.It handles well in the turns and flying at top speed .

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Ibrahim,I am running a 110/80 zr18 front and 180/55 zr17 rear. Michelin pilot road radials.My front is also dropped 2" with racetech 1.0 springs.I really like them except my rear is showing pretty bad wear after one summer.I am not sure yet but I want to try a shinko rear next time,super sticky.I thought my clutch was starting to slip but I now know it is just the rear breaking loose under hard acceleration while still cold.It blows putting a new rear tire on every spring.

Man with your kind of riding a tire a season sounds about right, have you considered a 120/80X18, I tried micheline macadam it lasted ~4800 it handles ok but ME 880 is much better.
with 2 inch lowering do the forks bottom out? since the travle is less.

shawn kloker said:

Ibrahim,I am running a 110/80 zr18 front and 180/55 zr17 rear. Michelin pilot road radials.My front is also dropped 2" with racetech 1.0 springs.I really like them except my rear is showing pretty bad wear after one summer.I am not sure yet but I want to try a shinko rear next time,super sticky.I thought my clutch was starting to slip but I now know it is just the rear breaking loose under hard acceleration while still cold.It blows putting a new rear tire on every spring.

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The 1.0 rate racetechs do a good job.Mine has never bottomed out.I also do my best to avoid potholes and big bumps.