Newbie: Are "Vintage" Tires Safe?

[1957goldtop]

Total beginner here. Just starting to learn to ride and just bought my first bike. It is a custom BMW R100R I purchased from a custom builder in LA.

I was looking up the tires that came with the bike (Victory T/T Classic) and one of the first results was a little disconcerting... This shop that sells them states:
Disclaimer: We do not recommend road usuage for the tyres. Display only.

Here is the site:
https://www.caferacerwebshop.com/en/450 ... 11345.html

Does anyone know about these tires? Are they safe to ride?

Here is my bike:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/93kmku1xlutxy1g/IMG_0147.jpg

It has the stock wire spoke wheels on a 1992 R100R (which I believe is the same as older R100) but one thing I like about the look of these tires is they are not as low profile. Mine are 500-17 rear and 400-18 front vs the stock tire size of 140/80-17 and 110/80-18 respectively.

Are there other tires that go by the older style numbering system that have the higher height (ie not low profile) that are better quality and DOT approved?

Thanks!

[jagarra]

Not sure if you are in the states, but most mail order suppliers will have what you need. The problem is converting from what you have in inch to the metric sizes,

Here is a chart to help http://www.steelthundercc.com/tiresizes.html

I checked suppliers of vintage tires for inch sizes that had similar looking tread patterns but the problem is when you get to the 17" tire, not used on vintage bikes in those widths.

[Seth]

The wheels and suspension looks stock for a '92 R100R.
I'd go with the stock sizes. When you change sizes, you affect the handling of the bike.
They are not as low profile as modern radials, but slightly smaller than the ones on your bike.
I have a '94 Mystic, which shares the wheels and suspension as your bike and have been very happy with Bridgestone BT-45 tires.

[Wobbly]

Hi and welcome.

► There are "vintage sized" tires, and then there are tires with the "vintage look". IMHO, you need to be very careful to differentiate between the 2. In decades past, tires sizes like 4.00-18 and 3.25-19 were extremely popular. Several manufacturers still supply tires in those "sizes" simply to make tire selection very easy. But those tires now "look" more like the modern, low profile "metric" tires.

A huge number of the "good" tires we could buy in the 60's and 70's are no longer made, simply becasue, while sized correctly, they had a square-ish profile that presented LESS tire contact when leaned over in corners. Since a motorcycle "steers" by leaning, and since it's very important to have excellent tire-to-road contact when leaned over, these "old- school" tire models are all extinct.

The "vintage looking" tire you have shown us is one of those designs. Great for static display, but a poor choice for staying alive on today's roadways. The tire does not present a rounded profile and the tread design will lend itself to being steered by any and all road surface irregularities, such as the cut-in-concrete "rain grooves". In other words, the tire points the bike in the directing the road wants, rather than where the rider wants.

That in turn means the rider ends up fighting (or "muscling") the bike to go where it needs. The result is that the rider ends up physically exhausted and mentally uncomfortable at the end of a 100 mile ride.

► Additionally, the size and profile of the tire figure prominently into the overall geometry of the bike. Hundreds of engineers have spent thousands of hours on test tracks and race tracks to perfect your bike's handling aspects. Large departures away from the recommended tire sizes for than model will adversely affect the handling, and therefore your ability to stay alive in dangerous situations.


Two-wheeled vehicles are alone in their requirement to lean over. Owing to the extreme frailty of the human body, when you select a tire, you should be looking for tires that HELP you make it though the corner rather than worrying about what it looks like in the static state. I am well aware of the current trend to present modified motorcycles as a form of static art. That's all good and fine.

I'm simply trying to remind you there is a vast difference between a statue (true static art) and a vehicle that must comply with the Laws of Physics once rolling.

[SteveD]

Disclaimer: We do not recommend road usuage for the tyres. Display only.

Believe.

Lol at Wobbly

[1957goldtop]

Alright, I’m convinced... found some tires that I want to get to replace the ones currently on my bike. Just started another thread on another issue... finding tubes for my tires!

Thanks!