Can I use bigger tires?

[BrandonRoy]

Will I be able to mount 120/70/17 front and 170/60/17 rear on my Ninja ZX6-E rims??? The current tires size is 120/60/17 front and 160/60/17 rear.

Thanks for any info

[RyanNicholson]

I don't have any experience with 160/170 tires, but I run 190's on my bikes and they come stock with 180's.....no big deal. As far as the height of the tire, as long as you don't think it will rub it wont be a big deal.

[BostonSVkid]

How wide is the rear rim? If its too thin putting a 170 on it may pinch the tire.

[Jim]

also may want to note if this is a track or street bike. your speedo and odometer might be off if you start changing tire sizes

[BrandonRoy]

I'm not sure how wide my rims is, "noob here" is the stock 2000 Ninja ZX6-E...
The bike is just going to be street use

[NEWTREADS]

General rule I've heard is you can go up or down 1 sixz. If that rear rim was designed for a 180 I wouldn't go smaller than 170. Anyway 180 is a more common size tires are easier to find and in some cases cheaper.

[BostonSVkid]

Thats not totally true. My sv650 had a 160 on it and people tried to put 170's on them and it just doesnt fit right.

My new triumph has a 190 on it and I plan on getting a 180 for my next tire.

Typicaly rims are 4.5", 5", 5.5" etc.

with a 4.5" rim you dont want to go any larger than a 160.

[Honclfibr]

Your bike has a 4.5" rim. You can put a 170 on there (others have), however it wasn't designed for it, they're more expensive, and you won't gain any benefit from doing so.

[NEWTREADS]

Thats not totally true. My sv650 had a 160 on it and people tried to put 170's on them and it just doesnt fit right.

My new triumph has a 190 on it and I plan on getting a 180 for my next tire.

Typicaly rims are 4.5", 5", 5.5" etc.

with a 4.5" rim you dont want to go any larger than a 160.

Never heard that b4. A friend of mine ran 170 on his sv but had to shange the rim when going to a 180. Made the swap cuz he was payin a ton for track tires.
Wierd the 170 wouldnt fit?

[OreoGaborio]

Your bike has a 4.5" rim. You can put a 170 on there (others have), however it wasn't designed for it, they're more expensive, and you won't gain any benefit from doing so.

What he said... you can do it but there's no real reason to unless you can't find a 160.

[wingerdor]

If you don't get the right WIDTH tire for the rim, you will be asking for trouble. You will change the profile of the tire. This in frighteningly common. Often in class we see riders that are leaning their bikes to the point of scraping and they still have wide chicken strips because the tires are bent in to fit in the rims and you would literally crash before using up the tires. Not to mention the decreased contact patch. The rim is stamped with it's width. Contact the tire manufacturer and determine the matching tire for that specific rim width. Different year bikes of the same model can have different width rims!

[OreoGaborio]

If you don't get the right WIDTH tire for the rim, you will be asking for trouble. You will change the profile of the tire. This in frighteningly common. Often in class we see riders that are leaning their bikes to the point of scraping and they still have wide chicken strips because the tires are bent in to fit in the rims and you would literally crash before using up the tires. Not to mention the decreased contact patch. The rim is stamped with it's width. Contact the tire manufacturer and determine the matching tire for that specific rim width. Different year bikes of the same model can have different width rims!

Relax, going up one size isn't gonna kill the kid. I race on a 150 rear tire on a rim that was designed for a 130... big deal. As long as there's no rubbing.

But again... there's no point in it unless you can't find a quality 160. I can't find quality 130 race rubber, hense the reason every EX500 racer out there that is allowed to go to a 150 will go to a 150.

[wingerdor]

Yeah but your talking diameter, I'm talking width. Nothing wrong with bigger diameter as long as it's correct width and clears, etc. Heck, there are times where you might want to change the outside diameter ratio between the front and back to inhance steering by making the back larger and/or front smaller or enhance stability by making the back smaller and/or the front larger.

The key is matching tires that compliment each other when you turn in, so you aren't turning the front in at a different speed than the back.

[SVRACER01]

size of the rim should be cast into it. most likely on a spoke. its tough to say. like others have said if you put a 170 on a SV they just didnt fit right. as for the front...maybe. depends ifyou have enough room between the tire and fender. my 97 F3 had a 120/60 but if you put on 120/70 on it would rub on the fender.

[Crash Dummy Denno]

If you don't get the right WIDTH tire for the rim, you will be asking for trouble. You will change the profile of the tire. This in frighteningly common. Often in class we see riders that are leaning their bikes to the point of scraping and they still have wide chicken strips because the tires are bent in to fit in the rims and you would literally crash before using up the tires. Not to mention the decreased contact patch. The rim is stamped with it's width. Contact the tire manufacturer and determine the matching tire for that specific rim width. Different year bikes of the same model can have different width rims!

CHRIST... talk about overdoing it.... that response was the post equivalent of bringing a goldwing on the track...

listen to honkie's post, its clear and concise

[Karaya One]

with a 4.5" rim you dont want to go any larger than a 160.

Tell that to all the guys who ran the 170 on the F2 and F3.

The 170 will work if it was designed for that application. You can make the wider tire work on the 4.5 inch rim.

BUT - the SV issue is also correct. That bike does NOT like anything wider than the 160 in stock form. But then we keep hearing about SV racers out at Willow running 19/67-420's on that bike. And they claim it works!

So, what the hell do I know....

[Karaya One]

Will I be able to mount 120/70/17 front and 170/60/17 rear on my Ninja ZX6-E rims??? The current tires size is 120/60/17 front and 160/60/17 rear.

Thanks for any info

The 120/70-17 front is a taller tire than stock, and at speed it will grow. You may rub the front fender.

Your best bet may be to stick with stock sizes to avoid any handling issues.

[OreoGaborio]

Yeah but your talking diameter, I'm talking width.

No I didn't say anything about diameter. The rim on my bike was meant for a 130 WIDE tire... I run a 150 WIDE tire.

To be clear, I only do this because I KNOW it clears the swingarm & because it allows me to buy better rubber suitable for racing.



The only way to know if you can run that size tire on that bike is to ask someone who's run that size tire on that bike. Some bikes have room to play with tire sizes, others don't.

[SVRACER01]

Tell that to all the guys who ran the 170 on the F2 and F3.

The 170 will work if it was designed for that application. You can make the wider tire work on the 4.5 inch rim.

BUT - the SV issue is also correct. That bike does NOT like anything wider than the 160 in stock form. But then we keep hearing about SV racers out at Willow running 19/67-420's on that bike. And they claim it works!

So, what the hell do I know....

i had to put a F3 wheel on my F2 to run a 180 (5.5 rim)
and i dont know what a 19/67-420 is. but if that is a 170 or 180 then i also know that you can put a F2/3 wheel on a SV to run wider tires.

[Crash Dummy Denno]

i believe he's reffering to their 190 rear - i remember my rains were labeled like that - cm's instead of mm's or something? i dunno im not good at biology

[naked-daytrader]

Will I be able to mount 120/70/17 front and 170/60/17 rear on my Ninja ZX6-E rims??? The current tires size is 120/60/17 front and 160/60/17 rear.

Thanks for any info

I'm not really good with tire sizes and rims myself but I know a guy who is pretty much a guru when it comes to all things moto.

He's a real motorcycling son-of-a-bitch. I'll embed his video in this thread for you, I think there's an e-mail address at the end of his vid. You should really check it out, you'll learn allot from this dude...

Good luck

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwXffBTFuUo

[wingerdor]

No I didn't say anything about diameter. The rim on my bike was meant for a 130 WIDE tire... I run a 150 WIDE tire.

To be clear, I only do this because I KNOW it clears the swingarm & because it allows me to buy better rubber suitable for racing.



The only way to know if you can run that size tire on that bike is to ask someone who's run that size tire on that bike. Some bikes have room to play with tire sizes, others don't.

Sorry, Brain fart. I meant what rim width the tire was meant for, not what width the tire was. 2 different measurements.

[Mr. Kurtz]

Someone at Kawasaki, who knows alot more than I do, decided a certain size would work best with everything else on your bike. Unless you have a good reason to change, and understand what it will change, just stick with the stock size.

[eboos]

My bike was offered with a 5 inch or a 5.5 inch rear wheel both with 170mm rear tires stock. The more common 5 inch cast wheel is what I have, and the other one is heavy and expensive. I am running 180's on my rear. I went to 180's since there isn't much of a tire choice in 170. Before I chose 180's I also thought about running 160's. Using the advice of people that competed with my bike before, I went with the 180 rear.

The long and the short of this is... there isn't much of a tire choice in 170mm. I would probably stick with the 160.