I'm in the beginning throws of turning the raggedy 87 K75 that I recently acquired into a street fighter/cafe sort of thing. I need to ditch the Cheng Shin tires on it (and powder coat the wheels as well).

I currently have a front 100/90 18 front and 120/90 18 rear tire.

Looks like my options are limited,.....and I want a tire that is good in the twisties, wears evenly, and looks very agressive. I would even consider something in a Dual sport tire if it furthers the Street fighter look I am going for.

Wishing Dunlop made their D616 tire (Derived from Moto GP rain tire technology) in a size that would fit,...they have a very agressive look,....and....apparently even do double duty as a dual sport tire to some degree.

Any suggestions from those of you who have been down this road?

Brian in Austin

have a look at  Pirelli "sport demons" .... if you want a road looking tyre with aggressive pattern
stick like glue them ones ...for a good while

I agree with Charlie. The Demons are one of the best for decent lean angles, roadholding, fair enough mileage, excellence in the rain, and the most 'radial' looking of the current crop of bias ply tyres available in your wheel's width limitations.

YES!
What Charlie said.....and I was shouting..
140 rear went in with no probs, (looked to be about the same width when all was done and said)...2 weeks ago and is well scrubbed in.
Now seems to be exceeding the still viable BT45 front end.
Gimme another paycheck and the Sport Demon is going on the front....even though the tire has some remaining life.
I'm not slamming the BT45's...I think that they are good tires......just not like the Sport Demon.
The 110 is going on the front.
I like the way that it looks on others' rides and I want the stickiness....even if it might get a few miles less than the Bridgestones.

...and just realised that you have a K75.

Dunno about how the slightly larger tires size work for that and if the rims are same or not...(I have an 18 on the front).

Anyway, here are the most bestest place to get them:

http://www.rockymountainatvmc.com/
...and
http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/

Regards, and welcome to the mob.......have fun.

I've got 18" front and rear......But, the front is lightly bent from a pothole or similar so, will most likely replace it prior to powder coating the wheels.

I see you have black three spokes. Did you powder coat them, or have you found a DIY paint that is durable enough for motorcycle wheels?

Brian

I did have a look at how much room I have on each side of the current 120/90-18 tire. There is only about 1/2 inch on either side of the tire. Swingarm on the right and center stand rubber stop bracket on the left.

they should fit up ok .....there is very little dimensional differences between any of the monolever rear ends

although not many of us have a k75 ....but I should think that the designs are all very close

we have even extended that gap to fit in a 160 rear tyre ...believe it or not

but anything with a "standard for model" rear rim up to 140mm of tyre should be no issue at all   

the big tyres have about 5 mm clearance ...and its not going anywhere closer to the swingarm

just thinking aloud

The K100 8v and K75 have the same shaft and final drive casings.

The OP says he has a 120 section rear tyre with an 18" diameter, that means his bike is a drum rear brake K75C. The rear wheel is 2.75" X 18 as opposed to 2.75" X 17 (3" X 17 for the later three-spoke wheel).

It's difficult to find wider tyres to suit the 18 inch rear.

Then there's the wheel itself. The 17 inch wheel is dished with an offset to accommodate the wider rubber. 



The 18 inch, drum brake wheel has little or no offset so a wider tyre will be more likely to foul somewhere.



Swapping to a 17 inch wheel can only be done by fitting a disc brake final drive and the brake itself.

The reason for the 18 inch wheel is simply that it is the same drum brake wheel fitted to the later 2-valve, mono-shock Boxers.

have a look here
http://www.pirelli.com/tyre/ww/en/motorcycle/sheet/sport_demon.html  then go to size range 

with 1/2 inch clearance moving to a wider tyre ...say 20 mm wider  means about 10mm wider off the rim ...last time I looked 1/2inch  is 12.5  mm  or so. very close indeed for a 140 MM

so possibly  the 130  would give you good clearance  ?

just trying to help

Hey guys, Thanks for your input,

I'm thinking about the Kenda K761 Dual Sport tires in a 110/80-18 front and 120/80-18 rear (both are listed as "rear" tires). Any opinions on this? The K761 gets some great reviews (other than poor wet traction), lasts up to 12,000 miles, and has the agressive tread I am looking for. Size selection is poor however, closest I could get was the 110/80-18 for the front, and 120/80-18 for the rear and as mentioned above,.....both of those are listed as rear tires, the only front tire listing I have seen for the K761 is for a 21" wheel..........has the identical tread to the rear tires from what I can see.

Brian in Austin

The reason for the 18 inch wheel is simply that it is the same drum brake wheel fitted to the later 2-valve, mono-shock Boxers.

Almost, but not quite. I attempted to fit an 18" rear drum K75 wheel to a '91 Monolever Airhead (1985 on) and discovered the offset is far off between the two bikes. So, they look alike but aren't interchangeable. For the record.

Hey Brian, 

Did you ever try to mount up those K761's? Thinking about trying the same thing and wondering how you got on. 

Thanks!

fearghal wrote:Hey Brian, 

Did you ever try to mount up those K761's? Thinking about trying the same thing and wondering how you got on. 

Thanks!

Never did.  Sold the bike and bought a K1200RS.

wildwestrider wrote:
  I would even consider something in a Dual sport tire if it furthers the Street fighter look I am going for.  



Brian in Austin

Pirelli MT-60 is an agressive looking tyre.  The MT-60R is actually a supermotard tyre, very grippy but not in the sizes required unfortunately.

Al

I put a set of really aggressive tyres on a 250 Honda some years ago and it attacked and killed the pitbull that lived next door so I took them off again.

Ill be fitting Continental TKV 11/12 to mine.

Hey fearghal, I run mild dual sport tyres on my K75 but mine is 1990 with 17" rear but I did a lot of searching before I got the tyres and have a couple of suggestions.

I fitted Pirelli Scorpion Trails and have been very happy with them on wet & dry sealed roads (mind you I'm not Casey Stoner) and have also done a couple of thousand km on dry gravel roads and they were fine. They have a 100/90 x 18 front which is the original size (photo is when new). The Pirelli set are a bias ply front and a radial rear.



I punctured my rear on my last trip and have now fitted a Michelin T66 radial 140/80 x 17 which is all I could get at the town I was in. I like the mild dual sports for my kind of mixed road riding.


I think the standard size on your rear 18" is a 120/90 x18 on a 2.75 rim. I think the Kenda K761 is available in 130/80 x 18. Have a look at this site (in Oz) as a starting point. They should only be 4 mm difference in sidewall height to the standard tyres and I would think you would get the clearance.

Cheers

Fantastic info - thanks so much Gaz!!

I punctured my rear on my last trip and have now fitted a Michelin T66 radial 140/80 x 17 which is all I could get at the town I was in. I like the mild dual sports for my kind of mixed road riding.

I havent seen a T66in years, didnt think they were available anymore.  When I was running my Black pearl naked 100 years ago, my favourite rear was a Mich T-65 till they stopped bringing them in.

Al