180 rear tyre Vs 190.

[xrbuyer2]

I recently bought a gen 1 from a dealer which came with brand new Road 6 GTs. I'm not usually a Michelin guy but as they were brand new, it seemed a shame to change them.

I was out with a mate at the weekend who noticed the rear was 180 55 17, instead of the correct 190 55 17. I emailed the dealer not expecting much doing, but to my surprise, they sent me a brand new Road 6 GT in the correct size, no questions asked.

Does anyone run a 180 through choice on their XR, and do you notice any difference between the two? I'm off to France next month and I'm torn between swapping the rear tyre now and selling/storing the 180 or just keeping the 180 on for the trip as it's bound to get a bit squared off on the way to La Rochelle and back anyway, and stick the 190 on when I get back. The trip is a spirited ride down, avoiding motorways and then 4 days of hammering the twisties around mid-eastern France.

Thoughts?

[RyanGTXR]

180's are designed to fit on a 5.5" rim, 190's on a 6" rim so the 180 will not be sitting as designed and therefore will not have the same contact patch as either it was designed to have or as the 190, and would be putting undue stresses on the tyre. How badly I do not know but  . . . . . .
Would you put a 185 tyre on your car if the wheels were designed for 205's?

[xrbuyer2]

Originally Posted by RyanGTXR

180's are designed to fit on a 5.5" rim, 190's on a 6" rim so the 180 will not be sitting as designed and therefore will not have the same contact patch as either it was designed to have or as the 190, and would be putting undue stresses on the tyre. How badly I do not know but  . . . . . .
Would you put a 185 tyre on your car if the wheels were designed for 205's?

Yeah, I get it, but it's stretching the tyre an extra 1/4 inch per sidewall and not going to be causing significant stress. The GTs have reinforced sidewalls so I'm even less worried about that. The car tyre thing is a bit of a strawman is they're not really comparable. They're many discussions on just about every bike forum out there where people run a 190 on a 600 with a 5.5 inch rim and vice versa. I'm more interested in people who've ran both a 180 and 190 and can report on handling differences specifically on the XR. I'd wager there's negligible difference but thought it's worth a discussion as I'm not doing much else!

[smithy]

Originally Posted by xrbuyer2

Yeah, I get it, but it's stretching the tyre an extra 1/4 inch per sidewall and not going to be causing significant stress. The GTs have reinforced sidewalls so I'm even less worried about that. The car tyre thing is a bit of a strawman is they're not really comparable. They're many discussions on just about every bike forum out there where people run a 190 on a 600 with a 5.5 inch rim and vice versa. I'm more interested in people who've ran both a 180 and 190 and can report on handling differences specifically on the XR. I'd wager there's negligible difference but thought it's worth a discussion as I'm not doing much else!

It'll make very little if any noticeable difference unless you're a knee dragger or racing, profile will be different but not to any great extent. Some tyres have wildly different width tyres even when they're the same size. I had a Michelin RS in 200/55 on my XR for a while, it was only 197mm wide when fitted to the rim, so pretty close to what it should be. I now have a Dunlop Roadsmart 190/55 fitted and it's actually 203mm wide..

Smithy.

[Alan_R]

Originally Posted by xrbuyer2

I recently bought a gen 1 from a dealer which came with brand new Road 6 GTs. I'm not usually a Michelin guy but as they were brand new, it seemed a shame to change them.

I was out with a mate at the weekend who noticed the rear was 180 55 17, instead of the correct 190 55 17. I emailed the dealer not expecting much doing, but to my surprise, they sent me a brand new Road 6 GT in the correct size, no questions asked.

Does anyone run a 180 through choice on their XR, and do you notice any difference between the two? I'm off to France next month and I'm torn between swapping the rear tyre now and selling/storing the 180 or just keeping the 180 on for the trip as it's bound to get a bit squared off on the way to La Rochelle and back anyway, and stick the 190 on when I get back. The trip is a spirited ride down, avoiding motorways and then 4 days of hammering the twisties around mid-eastern France.

Thoughts?

I put new Road 6s on mine 600 miles ago and I am about to change them again. I just don't like the way the bike feels. It's almost like the profile is wrong and they don't like being tipped in to corners. Not sure what I will change them for though.

[Mareng1]

Originally Posted by Alan_R

I put new Road 6s on mine 600 miles ago and I am about to change them again. I just don't like the way the bike feels. It's almost like the profile is wrong and they don't like being tipped in to corners. Not sure what I will change them for though.

I fitted Conti Road Attack 3 on my bike before holidy in Europe, and loved the handling from the very start.  3,500 miles in - still good shape and wearing at a reasonable rate.

I'd happily fit them again.

[Winger]

Have run a Power RS on the front for a long time, think the latest version is a Power 5, went through a spell of putting a Road 5 on the back for trips out of the UK, but gave those up as well and run the Power RS/Power on 3 different bikes, more than happy to trade wear for grip, and I sure as hell wouldn’t run a 180 on the back just to save a few quid.