why you need some more come by the truck stop in between my juggling act i'll see if i could get someone in the medical field to drop you some by
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why you need some more come by the truck stop in between my juggling act i'll see if i could get someone in the medical field to drop you some by
p.s. sorry my manners are as bad as my spelling thanx 4 the helpful reply i'll have more to think about on the next tire
ya know where i could get some of those headlight covers and you say they will lower my bike and make it faster dddaaaammmmnnnn your just a fountain of helpful knowledge and who said said old people have no place in the world
Bill Seward
Well-Known Member
Everyone's welcome here. Stick around. You obviously have a lot of knowledge and experience to add to the mix.
Welcome!
Welcome!
I believe you mentioned your age is 52? Spoken with any Millennials lately? That venerable age gives you the privilege of being considered old to a 35 year old or younger millennial.
One thing is evident, you showed up with a whole boatload of attitude! Compared to most internet websites we've been able to avoid the drama that seems to plague many websites where overt sarcasm, name-calling and attitude abound. As a newly entered participant I'd like to think that you have some respect for the way things have been in the past and I hope will continue into the future.
I got my chops here by volunteering information, answering questions other members had, submitting technical articles, and trying to push forward the love we all have for the VMAX.
Braggadocio is the opposite of humility. I would rather be known for the latter than the former.
I recognize that you hoped to be able to help someone else make a choice of a cheap tire, but you should also recognize that someone can respectfully disagree with you without you taking offense. If your priority is to put a few extra dollars in your pocket because you didn't choose a motorcycle tire instead of a car tire, that's your choice to make but if your bike goes out of control because of its sketchy handling and you injure somebody else that's negligence. If all you're doing is running the bike down the strip sure a car tire may be a cheap way out. Post up your time slip and we'll all be able to congratulate you on your 60 foot time, your ET and trap speed.
Perhaps you'd like to pledge some of that money you saved on your recent car tire purchase for your motorcycle and support the Forum? As is said, "actions speak louder than words." To this point I really don't see you having any skin in this game.
One thing is evident, you showed up with a whole boatload of attitude! Compared to most internet websites we've been able to avoid the drama that seems to plague many websites where overt sarcasm, name-calling and attitude abound. As a newly entered participant I'd like to think that you have some respect for the way things have been in the past and I hope will continue into the future.
I got my chops here by volunteering information, answering questions other members had, submitting technical articles, and trying to push forward the love we all have for the VMAX.
Braggadocio is the opposite of humility. I would rather be known for the latter than the former.
I recognize that you hoped to be able to help someone else make a choice of a cheap tire, but you should also recognize that someone can respectfully disagree with you without you taking offense. If your priority is to put a few extra dollars in your pocket because you didn't choose a motorcycle tire instead of a car tire, that's your choice to make but if your bike goes out of control because of its sketchy handling and you injure somebody else that's negligence. If all you're doing is running the bike down the strip sure a car tire may be a cheap way out. Post up your time slip and we'll all be able to congratulate you on your 60 foot time, your ET and trap speed.
Perhaps you'd like to pledge some of that money you saved on your recent car tire purchase for your motorcycle and support the Forum? As is said, "actions speak louder than words." To this point I really don't see you having any skin in this game.
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as per your answer i did not in any way start any name calling as i stated in the former post they do not offer a lower profile tire for this bike so if you would like to express your opinion about that subject i'm sure they would love to here from you as far as me paying a thousand dollars or more for a rim for a 21 yr old bike thats only worth 3000 i would think thats not "cheap" thats just not a good use of money and as far as hitting a patch of fuel in a corner while i'm throttling it really wouldn't matter if i had snow spikes on it your goin down and if any person were to put this tire on there bike and drop there's and blame it on the tire they shouldn't have been on it to begin with i personally have not had any problem with this tire so it would be the same as me having the argument of the car tire puts more rubber on the road while upright so it stops the bike faster so how often do you need to use the rear brake ina sharp turn and how often do you need it to stop in traffic to keep from hitting another texting driver i never claimed it to be safer just more economical but then the name calling began with calling me cheap among other crackhead comments that were impliad so if your going to wag that finger do it in the mirror it seams your quick to lash out and not much on the help and i didn't have a problem with any other reply just the one calling me cheap ect ect so lets just agree to disagree on this subject and put the name calling to rest and as far as respect that gets earned and lets be for sure u would have never said those things to somebodys face in public my only int on this forum was to help if i could and learn something new everyday so sorry if i upset anyone i'm just not a laydown sort of guy but thank everyone who helped and gave there opinion
sdt354
Well-Known Member
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Hey, Beaumont, I said the car tires are cheaper than a purpose-built motorcycle tire. Most old bikers who rode 5:60 X 15" VW beetle tires were on hardtails, and they ran 'way-lower than stock tire pressures because they wanted to have some suspension in their ride, and low tire pressures would allow some 'give' in the carcass for bump relief. It would allow more flex in the face and the sidewalls of the tire to keep rubber on the road, though excessive flex can cause unwanted heat, and could lead to ply separation. A stock 1200 Harley-Davidson didn't put out much-more than 33 RWHP in the 1970's, so you didn't need to worry about excessive power overwhelming the tire.
The recommended wheel width for a 145/65 15" tire is a 5 inch wheel. Since a VMax is one and a half inches under that, you are seriously below what is considered a safe width, at a minimum. A narrower rim will pinch inwards the sidewalls, creating a distorted profile, and create stresses on the tire carcass it wasn't designed to handle.
Try searching for European VMax pictures, and see the $$$$ they lay-down for their rides. We all have budgets, some are bigger than others. There are many people on-here who chose to budget for a set of Sean Morley's Carrozzeria wheels at about $2,000/pair and who are very pleased with their purchases. The difference in handling between narrow stock bias-ply wheels and tires and the wider forged wheels or cast wheels, and radial rubber is considerable. Ya gotta pay to play, buddy.
The forum has many riders who choose to run Shinkos in bias-ply and stock sizes, and are perfectly-happy with their economical choices, they often report the stickiness is good, better than you get with a touring tire like a Metzeler Marathon ME880, which lasts longer, but is more-prone to break-loose if you twist the loud handle too-enthusiastically. If I was planning a 7,000 mile trip, I think I would opt for the Metzeler, to last me the entire time, instead of getting something soft that is more of a performance compound, which would be displaying wear down-to the bars, and a square profile by half that time.
The mechanic I go to, if there is something I don't want to undertake, has built supercharged VMaxes, turbocharged VMaxes, NOS VMaxes, and big-engined VMaxes, sometimes in combination. There is nothing cheap about those bikes. If a rider has a budget of $3,000 for everything, including the bike purchase, that limits the choices of what can be done, especially in engine work. My machinist charged more-than that for the last big-bore VMax he built the heads for, look at Morley's Muscle engine work spreadsheet to get an idea of what's possible, and what it will cost you. $peed costs money, how-fast do ya wanna-go?
The recommended wheel width for a 145/65 15" tire is a 5 inch wheel. Since a VMax is one and a half inches under that, you are seriously below what is considered a safe width, at a minimum. A narrower rim will pinch inwards the sidewalls, creating a distorted profile, and create stresses on the tire carcass it wasn't designed to handle.
Try searching for European VMax pictures, and see the $$$$ they lay-down for their rides. We all have budgets, some are bigger than others. There are many people on-here who chose to budget for a set of Sean Morley's Carrozzeria wheels at about $2,000/pair and who are very pleased with their purchases. The difference in handling between narrow stock bias-ply wheels and tires and the wider forged wheels or cast wheels, and radial rubber is considerable. Ya gotta pay to play, buddy.
The forum has many riders who choose to run Shinkos in bias-ply and stock sizes, and are perfectly-happy with their economical choices, they often report the stickiness is good, better than you get with a touring tire like a Metzeler Marathon ME880, which lasts longer, but is more-prone to break-loose if you twist the loud handle too-enthusiastically. If I was planning a 7,000 mile trip, I think I would opt for the Metzeler, to last me the entire time, instead of getting something soft that is more of a performance compound, which would be displaying wear down-to the bars, and a square profile by half that time.
The mechanic I go to, if there is something I don't want to undertake, has built supercharged VMaxes, turbocharged VMaxes, NOS VMaxes, and big-engined VMaxes, sometimes in combination. There is nothing cheap about those bikes. If a rider has a budget of $3,000 for everything, including the bike purchase, that limits the choices of what can be done, especially in engine work. My machinist charged more-than that for the last big-bore VMax he built the heads for, look at Morley's Muscle engine work spreadsheet to get an idea of what's possible, and what it will cost you. $peed costs money, how-fast do ya wanna-go?
nah what you said was "people are cheap "reff to me but lets just us both be happy we are not on a forum full of sissys who cant take it like say H--da Sc--ter forum after all we are on the same team and we can find a new subject to kick the hell out of i hope everyone enjoyed posts though and everyone aim for that squirrel next time instead of dodging it now thats good advice you can get behind wouldn't you say fire med p.s. i was counting on the profile being changed for the circum of the tire to be more like a motorcycle
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We no longer have to use a scooter tire if we want a 15" radial. When I was trying to decide what the best option for converting to radial's for me, I found several 15" motorcycle tires. It looks like Harley has a few bikes that use them so obviously someone is making them. I'm not sure of the speed rating but the weight rating should be within spec.
sdt354
Well-Known Member
No problem with H rated tires. Even exceeding the rating. Been there done that. I like my wheels but might have put the $$ somewhere else if I could have gotten rear radials for my 15" wheel back then.
Conman
Well-Known Member
Hold the phone.... what are the options for RADIALS on a stock rear rim!?!? I didn’t know any existed (I’m talking motorcycle tires only, not scooter or car).
sdt354
Well-Known Member
Apparently they do exist now. But, I'd be concerned with fitting properly on the narrow O.E.M. wheel. Worth investigation for sure, as radials enhance the handling of a Gen 1 considerably.
After checking, the H.D. 15" wheel is narrow. So there ya go. The same tire should fit.
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If you can point our the H-D bike running the radial tire and we can see the width of the H-D wheel, that would help. Another interesting spec would be the aspect-ratio of the radial tire, as anything below the 90 series bias ply on the stock rim is going to increase your rpm's. Effectively, a shorter tire/wheel combo is a lower (higher numerically) final drive 'gear ratio' which means quicker acceleration, but less gas mileage, more rpm's at cruise, and a lower top-end. Few of us probably have done any 'top-end research' for any length of time, as the bike's dynamic handling performance on worn tires is not confidence-inspiring. There is the 'go directly to-jail' aspect of triple-digit speeds, which would probably earn you a spot on the local news, if it's a slow news day and there aren't any interesting 3 a.m. 'tweets' to cite.
Sure you can install a Venture final drive pumpkin, or split the cases and install a Venture 5th gearset to restore your lower rpm's at speed.
Sure you can install a Venture final drive pumpkin, or split the cases and install a Venture 5th gearset to restore your lower rpm's at speed.
Like most things it's about personal preferences, riding style and one's ultimate goal for their bike. I for one try to optimize my bike's performance in the low to mid range. I rarely ride above 125mph and spend most of my riding in the 30 to 100/115mph range. I prefer to tune and modify my bike to accelerate the best it can in that range rather than try to find a few more mph on the top end. When I want to get up past 140mph I'll jump on a bike much better suited to that purpose. Personal preference. Lots of guys chase their top end performance and that's great for them. I think the biggest considerations for going with a 15"radial with the associated aspect ratio's are how much it will lower the bike, how much highway riding one does considering the increase in rev's and finally the aesthetic issue of the now very wide gap between the tire and fender. I ended up going with 17" wheels and tires with the lowest aspect ratio available because I needed a little more lowering. Had the 15" radials been available 5 years ago when I lowered the front internally and the rear with new shocks I most likely would have gone with the 15" tires and solved my height issues and convert to radials in one inexpensive swoop. Hindsight as they say.
Conman
Well-Known Member
So the 140/75-15 Michelin on the back of the HD 500 & 750 is the only option for radials on the stock rear vmax rim?
The Street 500/750 H-D uses a 15" X 3-1/2" rear wheel from what I found. The stock rear wheel width size/aspect ratio, tire construction and diameter is 140/75R-15". Radial tires wider than that, i.e., 150 or larger are recommended for a wider than 3-1/2" rim. Refer to prior links in the thread for individual manufacturers sizing, as not everyone makes a radial tire in this size.
Lowering the rear of the bike will make it more-prone to dragging parts sooner, whether it's lowering from a lower-numerically aspect ratio tire, lower overall tire diameter, shorter rear shocks, or pulling the downtubes up in the triple trees. The footpegs, the sidestand and the centerstand, and the exhaust are all pieces that can drag sooner if you lower the bike. Generally, to maintain a handling balance, whatever you reduce it in one end is what you should do to the other end. Lowering the rear and leaving the front will make the bike steer more-slowly as it relaxes the effective head tube angle.
Lowering the rear of the bike will make it more-prone to dragging parts sooner, whether it's lowering from a lower-numerically aspect ratio tire, lower overall tire diameter, shorter rear shocks, or pulling the downtubes up in the triple trees. The footpegs, the sidestand and the centerstand, and the exhaust are all pieces that can drag sooner if you lower the bike. Generally, to maintain a handling balance, whatever you reduce it in one end is what you should do to the other end. Lowering the rear and leaving the front will make the bike steer more-slowly as it relaxes the effective head tube angle.
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