16.5 wheels

[airhead749]

Good Idea? What tire selection is available if any, need 180 rear.

[union]

I dont know about rears but Dunlop has 16.5 fronts. As for how they work. I dont have a lot of experience with them yet and I think it depends on the bike type. On the motard style Im told they tend to chatter less and from my limited experience that seems to be the case.

[timmyho414]

A friend ran dunlop 16.5's a couple years ago. He liked them, said he had more feel from the flex in the sidewall. He was running low 14's on a 749r. He was planning on switching back to 17's because they have better support from the tire manufactures.

[Degsy]

Wirelessly posted

If you buy a set of 16.5 wheels be prepared to lose your shirt or want to really keep them because they are harder to get rid of than aids.

[airhead749]

Thanks, here's the deal on the marvic mags on ebay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/130779282607...S:1123&vxp=mtr

Think I'm gonna pass since I don't want to run a 190 and never had to get rid of the latter but I do remember drinking a lot of cranberry juice in college.

[Degsy]

Wirelessly posted

That's cheap at $700 though.

[timmyho414]

I'm pretty sure Dunlop DOT race tires are 190 anyway. That's what I run on my 749, no complaints here.

[CBR929RE]

there's nothing on the Dunlop Racing site that I could find showing a 16.5 tire except for a front 250/Supermoto slick

[airhead749]

Ok, Pirelli has 16.5 slicks with a 190 rear. Tempting. Timmyho414, did you feel a big difference between the 180 and 190? My bike's not cranking out as many ponies as a 749r.

[timmyho414]

Ok, Pirelli has 16.5 slicks with a 190 rear. Tempting. Timmyho414, did you feel a big difference between the 180 and 190? My bike's not cranking out as many ponies as a 749r.

I've never ridden it with a 180. I have ridden it with a 200. To tell the truth, I did not notice a difference. I have the stock size 17x5.5 in the rear.

From what I hear, the tire will make more of a difference the the size.

[Mr. Kurtz]

Pirelli currently makes 120 and 190 16.5 slicks.

However, with WSBK switching to 17" wheels in the near future(next year?), I imagine those may not be long for this world. They are not very popular. Since a few motards run 16.5 front wheels with 17 rear wheels, the fronts could hang around longer. Note that this is all my guesses, not any official word from Pirelli.

[Karaya One]

I have 16.5's on sale in Michelin superbike 120/190 slicks and rains, plus SMR fronts.

Michelin stopped making them in 2011.