VFR800 in SE QLD

[DragonCypher]

Hey all, fresh meat here from Brisbane..

I've currently got a 2000 VFR800, not the typical kind of fighter you see on these forums as I prefer a more sporty look. So far I've got:
Movistar race replica fairings,
Sport/touring tinted windscreen (looks kinda silly with how tall it is, but it's useful for keeping out of the wind),
Carbon fibre mirros,
8000k HID headlights,
Stainless steel wave rotors,
Gold adjustable/foldable levers + matching bar ends
Screaming demon slip on exhaust with no guts.

Some of these were added after this photo was taken.

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Future plans include a Ducati 898/1*98 tail section including the underseat exhaust, heavier duty forks with some kind of adjustability + lower clip ons or even swap them for a solid bar as I feel the current position is actually a little bit too high. I also like the idea of swapping the current fairings with 2010 CBR1k and using an RX2-N dash but due to financial reasons that may never happen.

I've already gotten myself a 17x7 +42 rim and 240/45/17 tyre to go on in place of the original as many others have done before, but I ran into a snag where I can't get the tyre over the second safety bead.

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I've had it to a few tyre shops who tried the standard methods, which as you can see came rather close. Unfortunately the last place I went to maxxed out their compressor at just over 100psi and it still refused to pop. It held air quite well at this pressure with no leaks but with the sidewall folded under in this one section I couldn't continue.

I'm almost at the point of giving up on this particular combo, but can't afford to go buying another tyre or rim to try out. If there's anyone around Brisbane who wants to have a go, or has another combination to trade that would fit on a vfr800 swinger please let me know.
I've currently got the standard vfr 17x5.5 rim in black with a 180/55 Pirelli Angel ST, heaps of tread
The white rim is a noname brand and has light scratches, but the 240 Pirelli Diablo Rosso II is brand new and retails for over $300 in Aus.
I love the WRC kinda style of the rim I found, which is almost identical to an OZ Supertourismo, but I'll look at others if someone want's to trade. Also don't care about 17" or 18" as long as it's wide and I have a 32mm bolt on spacer with a couple 3mm slip ons to re-centre it.
Plus I have a spare 32mm (1.25") spacer to offer for trade as well.

[K6Thou]

Welcome along mate. Try Motorcycle tyre warehouse in brendale, Mono is a member here and the service is always great.

[EVLZX]

Welcome, but I've got to ask why do you want to go 60mm bigger than stock on your rear tyre? It's okay for straight lining, but it's going to slow your turning down

[ALBI]

Welcome, but I've got to ask why do you want to go 60mm bigger than stock on your rear tyre? It's okay for straight lining, but it's going to slow your turning down

by that coment i can tell you havent ridden with ben and judge on the go!!!

[EVLZX]

by that coment i can tell you havent ridden with ben and judge on the go!!!

Judge has power to burn though.

Tyre size is generally related to your power output, I see a lot of US guys going the 240s and 300s on stockers

[DragonCypher]

I never go on a race track, and very rarely head for the mountains so reducing the ability to flick it side to side doesn't worry me.
Heavy hands on the bars will still get it to move in an emergency, and it's not so flat that it won't lean over as far.

All that aside, wider and flatter should make slow speed stability a bit better in heavy traffic where I spend most of my time.

[robmac]

Welcome mate.

I'm running a 210 rear tyre on a 7" wide rim with 42 offset and there is about 1mm of clearance between the tyre and chain. I'm also using a 12mm offset front sprocket. There would no chance of getting the chain lined up without this so I reckon ur going to run into a few clearance issues with an even bigger tyre, especially if you want to get it close to running central.

Whats the recommended rim width for a 240? Is a 7 too small?

[xa-mont]

in the car world i'm pretty sure you'de need an 8 for a 240

[EVLZX]

5=170
5.5=180
6=190
6.5=200
7=210
7.5=220
8=230
8.5=240

[Bob]

welcome mate.

[Redmohawk]

I'm running a 180/55/17 on a 4.5" rim to narrow the width of the tyre while still being able to run a dual compound tyre in my swing arm. (gives me grip in the twistys and mileage on the freeway to work) And keeps the bike turn in very similar to when it ran a 16 " narrow tyre.

EVLZX is spot on with the figures there recomended widths , most manufactures will alow a 25mm up or down in width so a 240 should be on a 7.5 to 9.5 but it will still squeeze onto a 7 ok. Your chicken strips will be an inch wide even if you scrape your handlebars though. And the extra width wont help in ridabilty in slow trafic (maybe some weight from it might help but the squashed tyre profile will make it unsettle the bike more than running something more suited to the rim width like a 200 or 210.

It wont "Look" tuff eather as the tyre shape will be pulled in so much it will look more like a 210 race tyre than a 240 with a more pronounced V shape.

If your set on the tyre on that rim , use some air-o-start/start-you-bastard or equivalent. Make sure you put plenty of soap on the rim to help it slip on ! Give it a good squirt it into the gap (between rim and tyre) and light it with a long BBQ lighter. There will be a big boom/woosh and hey presto tyre will be on rim.

Keep in mind DONT STAND IN FRONT OF IT WHEN YOU LIGHT IT IF RIM EVER LET GO YOU'LL LOOSE YOUR NUTS IF YOUR LUCKY IF YOUR NOT YOUR DEAD TO. (I used to do tubeless lawn tractor tyred go-karts like that).

[hooligan]

I went with a 1098s rear wheel on mine (i've also got a 2000 model vfr8).
it's only 6 inch with a 190, but with the smaller, narower ninja 250 seat, it looks huge, but has the benefit of going around corners and is fucking light.
a gsxr front end goes in with head stem bearing change.

[RevHead]

by that coment i can tell you havent ridden with ben and judge on the go!!!
i have and weve had some fast fun,lol

[hyofighter]

welcome good to see another vfr in the mix

[DragonCypher]

I was originally going to use a 200 on the 7 inch, but 3 different brands of 200 tyres at TeamMoto failed to bead with the guys all coming to the same agreement that 200 is too narrow for that rim and the next available size up was 240.

I'm more set on the rim than I am on the tyre, but I don't have the money to buy another tyre unless I can first get rid of this one.. hence why I'd love to find someone wanting a trade..
Was going to try the flame method since I've done it before with small car tyres, just haven't gotten around to buying any starter fluid yet. And I've never seen it done on low profile (or bike) tyres before.


@EVLZX:
180 / 5.5 = 32.72 : 1
240 / 7.0 = 34.28 : 1 - lil'bit too wide as you expect, but by under 5%
240 / 8.5 = 28.23 : 1 - Way too narrow, so unless I missed something I think the rule of +.5" to +10 tyre size doesn't quite match up
I saw someone else put a 190 on a 7 inch, and it stretched the sidewalls to being parallel with the face and had a small gap between the tyre and edge of the rim.. looked quite scary


Thanks everyone else for the welcomes too, didn't expect the replies to come in so quickly

[EVLZX]

https://www.google.com.au/search?num=50&hl=en&safe=off&rlz=1C1ASUT_enAU492AU492&q=240+rear+wheel+conversion+motorcycle+8.5%22&oq=240+rear+wheel+conversion+motorcycle+8.5%22&gs_l=serp.3...215812.221063.0.221400.5.5.0.0.0.0.1 90.943.0j5.5.0...0.0...1c.A_upB9DSrHg

[Redmohawk]

I was originally going to use a 200 on the 7 inch, but 3 different brands of 200 tyres at TeamMoto failed to bead with the guys all coming to the same agreement that 200 is too narrow for that rim and the next available size up was 240.

I'm more set on the rim than I am on the tyre, but I don't have the money to buy another tyre unless I can first get rid of this one.. hence why I'd love to find someone wanting a trade..
Was going to try the flame method since I've done it before with small car tyres, just haven't gotten around to buying any starter fluid yet. And I've never seen it done on low profile (or bike) tyres before.


@EVLZX:
180 / 5.5 = 32.72 : 1
240 / 7.0 = 34.28 : 1 - lil'bit too wide as you expect, but by under 5%
240 / 8.5 = 28.23 : 1 - Way too narrow, so unless I missed something I think the rule of +.5" to +10 tyre size doesn't quite match up
I saw someone else put a 190 on a 7 inch, and it stretched the sidewalls to being parallel with the face and had a small gap between the tyre and edge of the rim.. looked quite scary


Thanks everyone else for the welcomes too, didn't expect the replies to come in so quickly

Your figures are metric divided by imperial, not really the correct way to work it all out. 1" is 25.4mm for a start so 1/2" works out to be 12.7mm not 10mm. Side walls on most modern bike tyres are designed to sit slightly in at rest off a rim. A 180 wide tyre will have aprox 125mm/5" gap at rest off a rim but is able to be fitted "factory recomended" to anything from a 112.7mm/4.5" rim to a 162.7mm/6.5".

I dont know teamMoto staff , but if there tyre fitters and they cant get a 200 onto a 7 inch rim its seriously time to change tyre fitters. Gaps between tyre and rim are often due to incorrect lube when seating the bead. I have fitted tyres to rims with such a large difference the sidewall is bow'd in reverse at angles similar to the opposite of where its ment to be without issue/failure. Just look at drift cars with 195/50/17 tyres on 7 inch rims ! Common in drift comps for front tyres.

[DragonCypher]

Dividing metric by imperial doesn't really mean anything, the tyre is metric, the rim is imperial and I was merely comparing the ratio in width between them using the factory 180 on 5.5" ratio as 'correct'. The percentage I mentioned is also the difference in the ratio.

1" is 25.4mm for a start so 1/2" works out to be 12.7mm not 10mm.
This is precisely why I did the ratio comparison, because the 2.7mm difference means the more sizes up you go the further out the ratio will be.

None of that is really important right now though, if it fits it fits and for a street bike that's all that matters so I don't wish to argue about it.


TeamMoto is one of the largest motorcycle dealers that I know of on the south side of Brisbane, and they cover half a street with a dealership for every manufacturer you can imagine plus that's where I bought my bike from so it was the first place I tried. After they failed I took the tyre down the street to JAX, a car tyre fitter who had the same problems. When they gave up I went to a truck tyre fitter at the other end of the street since they should have had a proper bead blaster and cage to give it more pressure.
Turns out they didn't, and just used a normal compressor that maxed out without results.
This is why I haven't 'just gone somewhere else'. Plus I don't have a car of my own to make this easier.

[EVLZX]

I dont know teamMoto staff , but if there tyre fitters and they cant get a 200 onto a 7 inch rim its seriously time to change tyre fitters.

I've dealt with teammoto in blacktown and they suck arse, worse service, well I mean it's okay until they've sold to you.

[Tony Nitrous]

Honda's, full f#irings and look-at-me tyres aren't really my thing,
but its still something different and an interesting project.

You have obviously worked out spacers etc,
do you still manage to keep the wheel central ?
and no issue's with chain alignment ?
Chain clearance on frame ? Offset front sprocket ?

As K6thou said, ASF member Mono is in Brissy (Northside)
and fits/sells tyres, maybe he'd have a go ?

If not Mick at "Micks Bike and Car Tyres" Brendale should be able too,
or he'll tell you why you can't. He know's his stuff.

[robmac]

Forgot to mention it took 130psi to get my 210 tyre to seat properly on the 7" rim.