110/70 is a bad tire size, twitchy steering and its like running no tore on the rim, every bump is horrendusly painful

I hate them if you have lowered gearing with the big bore the rear tire breaks loose really easy. I'd rather have street tires for te street and in the dirt. If your going to be on fire roads with no large rocks, just use street tires

 

This thread is worth a read if you can get Pirelli tires in your country, the 120F & 140R work really well together on the road & I hit the gravel/sand every once in a while for short cuts & bars on the beach etc.....95%/5% road/offroad.

https://www.kawasakiforums.com/forum...e-combo-40642/

 

Thanks Joel. I had actually read your thread on the Diablo 120 and 140 and it makes them sound very appealing tires. I can get them here but they are not cheap, about 400+ USD. Im going to take a ride down to the local "market" for car/motorcycle wheels/tires see if I can trade these tires in on some new Diablos.

Cheers,

 

Depends on what you're looking for and what experience you've had. I tend to prefer quick turn in and handling in general, so the 110/70 is what I run on my 550 rather than the 110/80 and will likely run when I put 17s on my 650. But that's my choice.

If 9" of front suspension cannot take care of every bump you have a suspension problem, not tire problem - especially considering that is the OEM tire size. My Zephyr with about 4" front suspension travel and Progressive suspension fork springs/10w fluid rides pretty plush with the 70 profile 110.

 

Agree to disagree I suppose, with a heavier bike a 110 is fine, but on a 290 lb bike its like a bicycle at high speeds, and suspension only does so much, hitting a curb with the 110/70 tire felt like I bent the rim

 

Not having a bent rim demonstrates the tire worked. You need to soften up the suspension. That 9" travel fork not reacting quick enough is the problem, not a tire being about 1/2" or less lower in profile. Besides why in the heck are you running into curbs?

What you really need to do is put in a lower weight suspension fluid to reduce compression damping to deal with sharp bumps like that curb. THAT is where you get your ride. One other additional thing to improve suspension might be to install Progressive Suspension springs. It's your suspension, not the tire,

As I said, I want a quick handling bike, BUT Kawasaki put the 110/70 on the bike as OE in the first place. They seem to think it works. I guess some like slower handling and that is fine.

 

With supermoto you want stiffer suspension not soft suspension. If what your saying is true then why have any height of a tire? Why not 110/20? I still feel the tire, regardless of super softer suspension, protects the rim from pot holes, curbs rocks, etc. if you want 110/70 quickness, buy a 120 and raise the forks to lessen the rake.

 

Fact is the real diameter difference is minimal at best. For example, the IRC RX01 110/70 is 592mm (23.3") diameter where the 120/70 is 605mm (23.8") diameter per IRC (I run the 110/70 on the front of my 550 in place of the 110/80 which is 614mm (24.17") diameter) Bridgestone BT016 radials are at 23.3" AND 23.7" per Bridgestone. That is DIAMETER, so there is only 6.5mm (about a quarter inch) difference in the actual profile from rim to ground! That isn't going to affect impact tremendously. The smaller diameter of the 17 will not roll over places like curbs and pot holes as easily as a large diameter 21, so they will hit harder because of the effort needed to get over the bump. If you want to make up for that it is in the suspension. A quarter inch just isn't that much.

A 120 is wider, requiring more effort to turn in. Simply dropping the forks will not make it work like a 110. Using the 110 with the regular rake gives higher stability with quicker turn in a 120 still has more leverage factor to turn in that may be partially compensated for by raising the forks, but some higher speed stability is sacrificed by the reduced rake. It isn't that simple.

Supermotos do not have stiff suspension in comparison to any road bike. They are built to take jumps and rougher terrain than any street. A good supermoto race will actually have doubles and/or table tops along with some rough stuff when possible. The fact is most street supermotos have the suspension shortened, but the bikes raced usually ran around 10-11 inch travel, because they ran them in rougher dirt that can develop holes. In other words they use the suspension.

And I wouldn't expect any bike to actually take a curb without jarring one's teeth. Fact is I'd expect a bent rim if hit hard enough. If there wasn't enough tire you'd have bent the rim. And to use your logic, why not run a 130/90? I think the OP would be willing to trade... and it will still jar you when hitting a curb.

I learned quite a bit about this when researching tires for the street bike and also when researching tires for 17s on the KLX650, along with personal experience.

 

+1 on firmer supermoto suspension for the SF. We got some good roads here in Thailand but also some shocking moon crater sized pot holes to deal with!!

I have to agree with the sure footedness & better bump absorption of the 120 up front. The 110 & 130 combo is just to twitchy & quick to drop into corners for me, now the 120 & 140 make the bike handle in a still fast fashion but also more predictive way! Jumping on a stock SF is now a terrifying experience on fast twisty roads IMHO.

Hey RBSM, what tire pressure are using?? The recommended 33f/35r was to hard for me. My preferred pressures now are 29f/31r, which works great for my riding style. Quick warmup, bigger contact patch, better bump absorption & more grip in the wet.

 

Fact is, even that small amount of sidewall difference does make a difference on the sf, it does, I've ridden it both ways and will never go back. One could also say the "quick" turn in is only really effected at high speeds, like above 70mph, and the klx just doesn't do sweepers that fast that well. But like I said, agree to disagree, I won't change my opinion because I'm stubborn and you won't change yours, but at least the OP has some serious knowledge to be gained. Good discussion
Dude, my front I run at 20 or 25 the lighter klx you can use lighter pressures I think, my rear I try to keep at 20 but after a week it drops to 10 psi and I forget to pump it up for like 3 weeks, I never notice any significant wear, 4k miles on the avons with uber low tire pressure, backing it in, and burnouts, they just won't die!!!! I haven't noticed much of a difference between 20 psi in the rear, or 10 psi in the rear, but I have the heavy ds rear compound touring tire.