confused about bying new tires???

[davidt8567]

Hi everyone,

At last post, I had purchased a 1977 yamaha xs-650. I have since replaced the front brakes, rebuilt both carbs, new points, and timed engine. now the only thing I have not done is replaced the old vintage Dunlop tires.

I ordered a set of Dunlop k70 tires from bike bandit, but made the mistake of not checking the tire size on my own bike. (looked up the size per specifications) What I ended up getting from bike bandit was 3.25H 19 front and 4.00H 18 rear (again, my fault)...least to say both looked like they might fit a small dirt bike. (not at all wide enough)

I called Bike Bandit back, and the sales guy took my tire sizes that actually came off my xs-650. (Dunlop 3.50H 19 front and 5.10H 18 rear). He then advised to me that he had a set of Kenda tubless tires....100/90H 19 front and 130/90H 18 rear.

my question now is...are these size tubeless metric tires the correct sizes for the front and rear for this bike. I have look this up all over the net, and cannot be sure. any help would be nice. thanks in advace

 

[Tim of DO THE TON]

I would have said the 3.25 and 4.00 would be closest to the originals. Thats the size I have on my BMW 750.

A 5 inch wide or 130 wide rear is much wider than stock.

 

[davidt8567]

Hi everyone,

At last post, I had purchased a 1977 yamaha xs-650. I have since replaced the front brakes, rebuilt both carbs, new points, and timed engine. now the only thing I have not done is replaced the old vintage Dunlop tires.

I ordered a set of Dunlop k70 tires from bike bandit, but made the mistake of not checking the tire size on my own bike. (looked up the size per specifications) What I ended up getting from bike bandit was 3.25H 19 front and 4.00H 18 rear (again, my fault)...least to say both looked like they might fit a small dirt bike. (not at all wide enough)

I called Bike Bandit back, and the sales guy took my tire sizes that actually came off my xs-650. (Dunlop 3.50H 19 front and 5.10H 18 rear). He then advised to me that he had a set of Kenda tubless tires....100/90H 19 front and 130/90H 18 rear.

my question now is...are these size tubeless metric tires the correct sizes for the front and rear for this bike. I have look this up all over the net, and cannot be sure. any help would be nice. thanks in advace

ok...I just re-checked the specs. on the 1977 yamaha xs-650. the tyre dimentions are listed as original: 3.25 x 19 front and 4.00 x 18 rear...that leaves me to believe that the
Dunlop front tire 4.00 x19 and 5.10 x 18 rear that are on them now were added on later, but were not the original tyre dimentions...I'm crossing my fingers that the Dunlop K70 set that I just ordered (3.25 x 19 front and 4.00S x18 rear) will fit...wish me luck!

 

[Scrambled]

ok...I just re-checked the specs. on the 1977 yamaha xs-650. the tyre dimentions are listed as original: 3.25 x 19 front and 4.00 x 18 rear...that leaves me to believe that the
Dunlop front tire 4.00 x19 and 5.10 x 18 rear that are on them now were added on later, but were not the original tyre dimentions...I'm crossing my fingers that the Dunlop K70 set that I just ordered (3.25 x 19 front and 4.00S x18 rear) will fit...wish me luck!

I just bought K70s . Dunlop no longers makes a 3.50 19 K70 ,which was the stock size, but the 3.25 works ( I know it looks way too skinny ,but once you mount it it looks fine and really handles well . Same with the rear , 4.00 18 was the stock size and actually works well on that bike.

They look real good too.

 

[Tim of DO THE TON]

You made the right choice - putting fat heavy tires on these old bikes is a waste of time if you're keen on handling.

 

[gggGary]

Agreed, I have run bikes with an oversize front on a stock rim and it tanked the handling.

Michelin makes version of the pilot tires in the right size I want to try them soon. I put 100/90 front and 110 80 I think rear Shinkos on my 79 last year and for normal riding I am quite happy with them, well until I put some miles on a rocket with michelin pilot road 3s last fall, whoosh that bike handled.