Hey F3Nelson, how fast are you with the 180 on the rear compared to the top guys? I would like to use a 180 on F3 wheel because of ease of install. I would like to use those Pirelli Pro Track Day Slicks, no warmers needed. Bridgestone YCX slicks supposed to be awesome for the price but require warmers. And I heard you only get about 4 days on them. I did a little research, in the back of the Dennis Kirk catalog it list stock size tires for all kinds of bikes and years. Then went on Ebay to look at the wheel sizes that those tires came on. Im finding cruisers with 5 inch wheel and 180 tires. And others types of bikes with 3.5 inch wheels with 160's and 170's. What the hell. Has any one actually used a 180 on 5 inch wheel and thought it was bad? Seems like everything is just hearsay or "stick to what the manufacture recommends". I dont race but I do do track days. I want to go faster. Aint no use doing track days if your just going to ride around. I can just ride around on the street. I would think improving your lap times is a decent guage on improving your technique and ability. Any thoughts?

 

i can say this because ive put all 3 on my bike, the 180 seems to be the wall that makes the f3 less nimble around corners. the 160 and 170 are similar around corners, but it seems the 180 changes things.
ive read reviews, blah blah, but its personal trail and error where you get the feel that you want.

i remember reading a guys post about the 180 on the f3 rim, and how it slightly bows the tire (as ive learned its meant for a 5.5), but only slightly. this over several hundred miles, causes an unusual wear pattern on the tire prematurely in places that it shouldn't.
aside from that the 180 also seemed a hell of a lot closer to the chain than it should be, and after going from a 180 to a 170 profile, i will stay with the 170.

the overall feel coming out of corners wins it for me.
that aside, i also went from PP's to Shinko's after reading some reviews, and for the road, I believe it's an amazing buy. They last forever.

 

Thanks for the reply Spicy. I actually won an ebay bid for a 900 rim. So I will put the 180 on it. But I will keep my stock stuff just in case I dont like it. Thanks again. I ride a liter bike on the street and old 600 track only. I am kind of use to a big tire on the rear. 190/55 on the 08 cbr 1000.

 

Hey Spicy, did you have the 180 on F3 wheel or 900 wheel. The 900 wheel is 5.5 inch made for a 180. They started putting 180's on F4 so I figure it should be fine on my old F2 as long as I use the proper size wheel. I hope the ebay wheel is good and straight. They said it was but you never know. Got it pretty cheap. Gotta take a chance sometimes I guess. Columbus did and discovered America.lol

 

yea the 900 and the f4s started using the bigger rims, the 5.5s im pretty sure, and yea, id assume they are better suited for that size tire.

ive been toying with a rim/swing swap myself,
but i am holding out until i do the single sided vfr swing.
kinda expensive.

right now im working on my cafe racer.

 

Do the F4 rear wheels fit straight on & line up or do they need special spacers made up? Also are we talking F4 or F4i?

 

My bike had a 170 on it when i got it and it felt great but since the factory had a 160 on it i put a 160 on when i changed my tire but i think i like the 170 better but i wouldnt go to a 180. when u go bigger on a smaller rim the tire balloons over on the top and instead of a round tire it is oblong like an oval so it creats a higher top on the tire and once you start to lean over it actualy has a flat spot on the side instead of a good round part to grip and then u will slide and lowside the bike.

 

My F2 track bike has an F3 wheel with a 170/60 tire, it turns slower than almost any other bike I have owned (about the same as my ZX12R did). This is down to the over sensible geometry of the bike as much as anything and also the type of tire which is an old Dunlop 208 that it came with.

I sometimes used to run 170/60 Michelin Pilot race on my R6 which gave it ultra quick steering due to the pointy profile of the tire, they also had a much larger contact patch when lean't over despite being a size smaller than the stock tire. I ran 170 because I got hold of some cheap and they also fitted my FZR600 that I had at the time.

For the best combination of fatness and steering I'd go 170 with a pointy profile but be warned pointy tires are not that stable in a straight line and many such superstock tires need to be kept up to temperature to grip as a few of my friends found out. For safety and quick steering I'd go 160 with a normal profile for the road. Steel framed CBR600's don't have enough power to trouble decent tires regardless of size unless it's really slippy which is why they don't have fatter rubber as standard.