Tires on an EX500

[SHOTIME]

Anybody locally racing / riding GEN 1 EX500's?

What are you guys running for tires on the street?

The stock tire size is 100/90-16 front, 120/90-16 rear and I have found them rather hard to find, not sure if people are up sizing them and finding other options.

Does anyone who races them have take off's they are looking to part with?

I am stuck choosing between selling the bike as it is, or trying to put some time and money into it and clean it up.

If I rode it now it would likely only be 2 miles a day back and forth to the commuter rail stop, so take off's would be a great choice for me.

Thanks for looking, and there is a FS ad in the appropriate forum.

["Dangerous" Dan K]

Anyone racing around here on one has done the 17" conversation, so takeoffs may be hard to come by. I'm talking with a kid that track days his EX 250, which is 16". He is running Pirelli sport demons, rear is 130/90-16. He likes them. If I were looking for pirelli I would go to MTAG. www.gomtag.com

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[gregp]

I ran Dunlop GT-501's on my old '89. They worked great!
Or you could get some budget Kenda K657's, which would be fine for commuting, IMO.

[Baggey22]

+1 on Pirelli Sport Demons. I had them on my 93 EX500 and they were great for both my track day and commuting. I ran a 130 rear

["Dangerous" Dan K]

My buddy Roland also track days his ex250. He has actually raced it and done well. He is using the pirelli MT75. He is also on this forum as Rolker. Maybe he will chime in.

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[SHOTIME]

Thanks for the comments all. Second time I've heard about the Kenda's. I think that might be a good option so I can put some cash towards other fixes as well.

[gregp]

I recently put a set of Pirelli MT-75's on my Ninja 250. MT-75's are/were OEM tires for the Buell Blast. They stick very good, and handle great, but they are very short in the sidewall - reducing cornering clearance and effectively lowering the gearing a bit (enough to actually feel). They are very good tires for the price (a bit more than the Kenda's), but the Kenda's are still a good bargain.

[SVRACER01]

the newer EXs came with 17s. i thinks its just a swap and better tires might be easier to find.
ask TheIglu

[rolker]

Take-offs might not be the best idea for commuting. I'm guessing that rain performance is more important than maximizing your cornering ability, so assuming that the take-offs you could get are race compound, they'll probably not warm up to their operating temp in the dry and will just be dangerous in the wet. I picked the MT75's for my EX250 because they had good reviews for both street use, including the rain, and track use. I paid about $100 for the set about 3-4 years ago and they are still working fine for me.

[Expat .JR]

Hey im the 16 yr.old that Dan was talking about i run (like he said) Pirelli sport demons and i find them phenomenal for the street and track.