Tire makers recomendations - why ?

[Robbarrie]

I was curious, so I just went to a few tire manufactures because I wanted to see what tire sizes they recommend for the Max.

They all seem go with nothing over a 150/90/15 rear 110/90/18 front - stock sizes. Is this because Yamaha uses these sizes as stock ? OR is this because they have tested and found that these sizes is what is best or safest for the bike ?

The bike is rock steady now ( on dry ) with stock sizes, should it only get better from here ??? if I go with a 170 and a 120


And has anyone gone with a lower profile than an 90 - I know some ride comfort will suffer a little over the bumps but I like the lower ratio. Do you find it handled any better or worse ?

Sorry, but I'm just tring to figure all this tire shit out...before I spend the money then learn the hard way....I'm still going with B-ply and I will try for a V rating if possible. Any advice or opinions will be appreciated for sure.

 

[Robbarrie]

I have another question:

It seems when I take my hands off the bars the bike wants to fall to the left a little and was wondering why ? Was it the bike or was it me just .... hmmmm ?
I was also interested knowing something was off, so I measured a rough estimate with a ruler that I have about 27mm of space between the side wall and the brake caliper brace arm but on the shaft side I only have about 15mm. As I stated before the bike does NOT wobble or shake at any speed. Is this narmal spacing or is the tire off set ? I never measured with calipers just a steel ruler and a rough line of sight. But even without measuring anyone can tell there is a difference, but as far as I know the front/rear alignment is good.

One of my buddies was asking as he was checking my tread on the back tire - all I could say was I guess so, it seem fine other than the slight lean thing happening. But I only noticed it when I took my hands off it - if I hadn't I probably would not have noticed it at all.

Thanks.

 

[one2dmax]

You can't gauge the centerline of the chassis by measuring off the swingarm. You need to measure it in relation to the front wheel. The stock rear wheel/tire is off center just a hair to begin with and doesn't hurt anything except for those going for 100% pure handling (which 99% of the riders don't need anyway).

The stock size tire does work well all around. Going shorter won't hurt too much but will raise your RPM's up a bit. The taller 170/80's do help a bit with that and give a larger footprint.

Sean