Fat rear.

[AUSSIE BLACK KAT]

Hi everyone!!!
I'm only new so please be gentle. I ride a 2002 Katana and am wondering what the pro's and con's are to fitting a wider rear tyre to my Kat???
I have been told that by fitting a wider tyre will in fact make my Kat harder to corner. Is this true? If it's not true, then what is involved in doing this and what modifications will I have to make???

[Spedee]

Didn't notice anything harder for me. I have a 160 which is the widest for the swing-arm.

[BraadaJim]

Changing tire sizes will slow your turn in but not by any significant amount. Like Spedee said you probably will not even notice. Now if you are on a pre98 and go to large 98+ front rim also then you would really notice a difference.

Make the change and if you notice it makes a difference to you then drop your front end a couple of mm's and you'll solve the problem. Really it is something you should do anyway, tire change or not just to improve handling.

[Haggisman]

I had a 160 on the rear of my KAT and it did not affect it hardly at all.

Oh and Welcome to KR!!!

[WildKat]

HS2020 has a 160 on his pre98, and loves it.

Welcome to KR !

[SweetLou]

Welcome. I too plan in upgrading my rear to a 160!

[irenekat]

going from 150 to a 160 makes a huge POSITIVE difference! go for it

[ZukiFred]

Welcome to KatRiders!!

[ThAzKat]

welcome and HS has the pre98 with a 98+ rim to make sure you don't put a 160 on the pre98 because the rim is thinner. Waltari is the one to speak with about a 180 on the rear and I think Frogger. I like the 160 for a stock wheel.

[Waltari]

For larger rear tires, 98+ rims normally can run 160s, some tire manufacturers produce 170s specifically design to fit on a 4.5" rim (but make sure the 170 is made for a 4.5" rim...NOT ALL 170 TIRES ARE CREATED EQUALLY!). Thats about the max on 98+ rear rims

pre98 s have 3."5 rims and run a 140 standard and can go up to a 150 on the stock 3.5" rim. You can however swap a 98+ rear rim to a pre98 by using the 98+ rim and brake rotor with the pre98 cush drive/sprocket/axle/spacers. This would allow you to run the above mentioned 98+ combos

I still have this 98+ rim combo for sale if any pre98 people want to moveup to a 4.5" rim. $150+shipping (usually runs about $35 for rim tire combos)



Beyond thse options, anything larger than a 4.5" rim requires MAJOR surgery...there are NO direct swingarm swaps unless you have one custom manufactured

[ThAzKat]

You da man Waltari!!!!!

[Blacktog]

look here!itīs a 180er tire on a bandit rim. looks very fat!

http://photoalbum.powershot.de/fotos/32/77//168f7dc64aad2afd0daae002c93a8958.jpg

[Waltari]

look here!itīs a 180er tire on a bandit rim. looks very fat!
http://photoalbum.powershot.de/fotos...02c93a8958.jpg

Is that actually on a katana??? If so I'd like to see other angles as well. I too "fit" a 180 on a cbr900rr rear rim into my stock kat swingarm but there is NO way in hell I could have operated it safely. There is about a paperclip worth of clear between the front right edge of the tire and the swingarm and rub would definitely be an issue on to mention there not really being enough space to also fit the brake caliper bracket and cush. If someone has actually figure out how to make it work, I'd be interested in the details.

[Blacktog]

yes it is a kat03!and it actually runs!itīs a friend of me! look here!here you can see the normal tire and the actually picture:

before

http://photoalbum.powershot.de/fotos/31/77//a57f32ffb357c901b75c7bb1506dfd3a.jpg

after

http://photoalbum.powershot.de/fotos/32/77//168f7dc64aad2afd0daae002c93a8958.jpg

just a normal kat and kat-swing but a rim from a bandit!

[Waltari]

Hey Blacktog...since he's a buddy of yours, can you do me a favor and get a couple more pictires of the front of the rim and swingarm and maybe a couple showing where the chain passes the tire. I'm interested in checking out his clearances. If you could help out, that'd be great!@