[BoarderBry]

I just put a set of michelin pilot power 160/60zr17 rear and 120/70/zr17 front on stock 2006 kat rims and I think it handels great...

I just replaced and old Pilot Road 150 with a Pilot Power 160......lub it

[loudnlow7484]

Ok, I have a suggestion for everybody that involves themselves in the tire debates regarding size. We all know that putting a 160 on a pre changes the profile of the tire. We know that you can't get to the edge of the tire then, which is fine. We know that the bead is not going to explode off the rim because the tire is 10mm too large.

What I would like each and every one of you that have a spare rear tire (this demonstration works better with a used tire, but a new one will work too) to do is this......

Set the unmounted tire upright, and push on the center of the tread downward. Get a feel for how much pressure it takes to make the tire move. Now take a big clamp, and clamp the sidewalls of the tire in (I'd tell you to use the bead, but the clamp will slip off.... if you have a clamp that won't then use the bead) by about 1.5". Now, try to get the tread to deform again by pushing down on it. You'll see that it takes noticeably more force to get the tread to flex. By changing the geometry of the tire, you've also changed its characteristics as far as how flexible it is. This is especially true with radial tires..... not so much with bias ply.

I would never have even stumbled upon this concept, except that it always bothered me that I couldn't get the old kat to hook up, even on a prepped drag strip. I had run the pressure as low as 25 psi without making the slightest difference. But I had a 160 Dunlop 208 on a stock pre98 wheel....... I probaby could have run it with no air at all and not noticed a difference. The tread was stiff, and by curving it more than it was supposed to be, it got much stiffer still. Stiff enough that even with the air pressure way too low, it still would not conform to the pavement, ultimately at the cost of traction while the bike is upright.

In the end, I don't give a s**t what you run on your bike. You can wedge a 240 on there, and it doesn't bother me at all...... but at least have all the information before you make that choice. :

Yeah, but mine has a 200 on the rear and it handles very well. Just sayin'.

I admit that I have no idea what size rim a ZX14 has on the rear, but I'm willing to bed my left testicle that it's not 3.5".....