Tyre size woes

No one locally has a 170 rear tyre for my 4th gen. My first choice would be a Michelin Road Pilot 3 (the dual compound one?) and one of the guys here told me that Michelin don't even make it in that size. That is my first question, is it available in the first world, in which case I may dig my heels in until someone will order me one.

Secondly, if I end up going to a 180, is the handling/turn-in affected THAT badly? I have raised my forks up in the yokes (10mm) so the turn in is slightly sharper than stock already. I don't scrape pegs or anything so I'm not looking for Motogp type handling, just don't want a tyre that will scare me to death every time I ride.

Lastly, someone found me a Bridgestone (not too sure of the model) which was a 170/60/17
, will the lower profile be an issue

Thanks guys.

 

that size is readily available online for many places including RevZilla. Could be a shipping problem for you, though.

180 in a lower profile would do in a pinch.

 

I have a 180 and love it. That extra 5mm per side doesn't affect it much that I can tell.

 

Thanks and apologies, the tyre on my bike is in fact a 170/60/17. Shipping would make it prohibitive but at least I know it is available, will keep trying to get someone to find me one. Due to the fact that our bike market is so small in SA it more a case of what's available than what you want.

 

The 170/60 is taller and has a sharper profile than the 180/55. At least it did when fitted to a Triumph Trophy 900 which had a 5.5" rear wheel. The 170 was standard on the Trophy but the 180 was standard on the Daytona with the same wheel. I ran 170s for a long time (I did 250,000km on Trophys) but in later years the 170 was less readily available so started to use 180s.

What I noticed going from the 170 to the 180 was that the 170 with its pointier profile cuts through gravel much better, but you can feel the rear end rising and falling as you turn from side to side. The 180 skates around on gravel a lot more, but just rolls from side to side oh so sweetly with its uniform radius across the tread surface.

I hear your pain regarding availability. Here in NZ its shocking and naturally the retailers want to sell you what they have on the shelf rather than what'll work best. Even if you pre-order stuff it can be removed from the shipping container before it leaves Europe to make way for a bigger order. At least sports/sportstouring bikes all seem to use similar sizes. Try getting tyres for a rarer-sized niche adventure bike and see how difficult it gets! The tyres are either not made in that size at all, or not imported to NZ.