Just got my 2000 Ninja 500R and the tires are in poor shape.Plenty of tread but the sidewallsare badlycracked. Tire size right now is 110/70/17 front and 140/70/17 rear. How wide can I go before I get into clearance issues? I saw a thread on here where someone was running a 150 width rear tire without any problems. I found a nice set of 120/60/17 & 160/60/17. Would they fit?

http://s241.photobucket.com/albums/ff57/bigtire99/?action=view¤t=01010101020901040820070913719550be 3.jpg

 

welcome to KF. changing tires sizeswill change the way your bike handles

 

Thanks

It can't handle any worse than it does now. Just noticed today that the handle bars were wobbling and then saw that there was a bulge in the front tire sidewall! Took it real easy on the way home.

I've also noticed that there are not many sport tires avaliable in 110 and 140 widths.

 

130/70/17 rear, 110/70/17 front are the the stock sizes.

I've heard you can go 140/70 in the rear without modification. And I've heard you can go wider than that with mods. But I don't know what it does to handling. I assume people go wider to improve grip.

 

i'd go +10 max. anything higher you will prolly have clearance & handling issues. just be sure to get used to the new size before doing any twisties.

Normally, people go wider tires because they find themselves running out of rubber on stockers (no chickenstrips) and stickier tires goes with that (a-la-sport demons). On the other hand, some people do it for looks.

You may want to rethink why you are getting wider tires and the brand of tires. I went with sport demons coz I wanted to try it. It is very good, but my next ones will probably be a less sticky variant & costs less too. I am looking at my rear tire now and its only seen about 1% twisty riding, 99% commute.

 

I run a 150/60 on my second gen, no mods necessary. It does pinch a bit but fits, no clearance issues.

 

this is an excellent question, i agree completely, my bikes rear tire is in dreadful condition, what kind of mods would one have to do in order to get it to fit (iam a professional welder and plasma torch cutter...