Busaracer05
New Member
I'very been looking for a good front tire for my 1st Gen. It seems they only make bias ply for that size rim. Doesn't make much sense to me since we haven't seen bias ply tires on cars in over 30 years, so I went searching for a better solution. Many threads talk about retro fitting a sport bike front end on a max to get the 17" rim and wider tire for improved stopping and turning. After looking into this, and sizing up triple trees and forks, and looking at all the stuff that would have to be adapted (like the headlight), I found what seems to be the perfect solution. I found that the front rim off a late 90's yzf 600 uses the same axle, and has the same brake rotor spacing. I was able to bolt it into my stock forks and use the stock speedo gear and brake calipers. The wheel sits slightly off ceter and the axle spacer is too long, so the only mods necessary is to shave 3.75mm off of the speedo side fork tube to center the wheel, and take 1.5mm off the spacer. The wheel looks good and helps the max handle better. Keep in mind this tire is 3.5" shorter in diameter, so it will lower the front end 1.75" or so. This matches my lowering shocks in the rear nicely!
