I'm really at a loss-- which tires are recommended?

3030vision · Post by **3030vision** » Tue Aug 22, 2006 7:00 pm

As my '64 CB77 gets dangerously close to finally getting on the road again, i'm back to considering tires.

I'm aware that Chen Shin should be available for pretty cheap. However, i wouldn't usually skimp on tires. I've looked around on jcwhitney.com, coker.com, and domiracer and it's not clear what my options are-- or at least, if any of these options are better than the Chen Shin's. Is there a jcwhitney option that's better? What about the copies on domiracer? Are different sizes an option? I'd love a style suited to the bike, but i'm also considering tires are the only things between me and the road.

If anyone could help me out it would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

piecutter · Post by **piecutter** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 12:20 am

The Cheng Shins are fine, considering the performance envelope we're dealing with here. I'm currently running a set of them and have no issues, other than the fact that they don't say "Yokohama" or one of the other original brands on the side of them.
Your other options are a set of Avon Race only tires, which cost a pretty penny and are not street legal, or, I recently saw a set of IRC's on Ebay sold as a set for CB77's. They have the additional esteem of supplying at least one of the "Big Four" japanese brands with OEM tires currently, but your really no worse off with the Cheng Shins.

prima5star · Post by **prima5star** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 10:30 am

Tiresunlimited sells Bridgestones that are period looking and not too expensive... look in the 'scooter and small cycle' tires section. I think some SH's had Bridgestones from new. They will set you back about $120 a set, the sizes are 3.50 X 18 front and 4.00 X 18 rear. Is this stock sizes??

I had the IRC tires on a SH daily driver for 8 months and they did the job. Also had a SH with the expensive Avons, I don't know if they are worth the extra money unless you are really going to tear it up on the twisty backroads.

kustommusic · Post by **kustommusic** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 5:23 pm

Prima5, Those tire sizes are too big! Stock is 2.75-18 front and 3.25-18 rear. I guess the front would work but the speedo would be off. The rear just wont work(I've tried), you have to tweak the rear fender. That always looks bad,I'd bet we've all seen alot of those. Steve

3030vision · Post by **3030vision** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 9:45 pm

Thanks for the responses. I gave it some thought and decided to go with the Cheng Shins. After asking around i understand JC Whitney probably sells the the CS's anyway, and the Duros sold by Domiracer are comparable at best. Again, after installing the electronic ignition and getting the bike ready to go, the last thing i wanted to skimp on was tires. I'm hyper-concerned due to a bad experience with cheap auto ties.

Regarding size, I ordered 2.75x18 for the front, 3.00x18 for the rear. Based on what i see on here on honda305.com these are the stock sizes. My mechanic friend recommended going up something like .25 on the front and .5 in the rear, but i figured i'd get a feel for stock and work back from there. I didn't even consider how that might affect the speedo. The bike does not have stock size tires on it now-- i think it may even have a 4.00 on the rear but i'd have to check.

Also for reference, the CS's are available from Retrobikes for $20/tire in the stock sizes. They told me it would cost around $25 to ship for arrival in about 5 days. I've had good experience with these guys so far.

Anyway, that's what i've come up with!

prima5star · Post by **prima5star** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 10:24 pm

I looked tonight, and the ancient bald Avon on the front of my CB72 is a 2.75 and it's counterpart at the rear is a 3.50 Conti of unknown- though at least older than 1970 origin.

I may just go for the CS tires as well, since I can shoe both SH's in my garage for a good price!

piecutter · Post by **piecutter** » Sat Aug 26, 2006 12:22 am

Get a new mechanic! Kustommusic is right about them being to big. I just got rid of a pair of oversize ones. The front doesn't seem to interfere with anything but the rear rubs against the front inside of the fender and when you hit a good bump it's got an annoying habit of hitting the fender mount bolts. Yeah, there were a few tread blocks that were half missing.
Anyone who believes in going up a size is either compensating for a dearth of something we won't mention or has been taken in by the common myths created by the afore mentioned individuals. Now, if you are racing, that's a different story. But we must assume that you have built a "racebike" and no longer worry about things like low hanging stock mufflers and pegs that might scrape, so that you can actually take advantage of some extra tread when your deep in a corner! But you kinda want to also shell out some cash for some real suspension, a bit more than 28hp and some wider rims! Putting over size tires on stock rims changes the aspect ratios that these tires were intended to hold and degrades there handling charactaristics.
I go through this every week with my sportbike customers, it started out with an idea that they were somehow going to magically improve their ability to drag their knees,(secretly , though, I think this has only ever been about looks) and has since progressed into some kind of show off status pissing match. 240 and 300mm tires? Notice their not using those sizes on the race track?
I'll end this little rant now with some common sense proof. You CAN get race tires for this bike. And the sizes are 2.75x18 and 3.00x18.
Just like stock.
Just like they used to race on.

Joe