Tyre advice please -190/55 v 180/55?

[Diavel]

Hi. One of my bikes is a Gen 1 XR where the rear tyre is recommended as 190/55 17 . I live in a developing country where the roads are not good....lots of potholes etc ( like the UK 😁) and the tarmac can be washed away to leave only hardened mud. So my question is...I would like to fit Pirelli MT60 onto the bike ,as I have on some of my other bikes, but the biggest size they do is 180/55 17 (not 190/55) and I am not sure how this will effect the handling etc of the bike?Any advice welcomed including other tyre choices for these conditions .TIA 😊👍🏽

[Antares]

Originally Posted by Diavel

Hi. One of my bikes is a Gen 1 XR where the rear tyre is recommended as 190/55 17 . I live in a developing country where the roads are not good....lots of potholes etc ( like the UK 😁) and the tarmac can be washed away to leave only hardened mud. So my question is...I would like to fit Pirelli MT60 onto the bike ,as I have on some of my other bikes, but the biggest size they do is 180/55 17 (not 190/55) and I am not sure how this will effect the handling etc of the bike?Any advice welcomed including other tyre choices for these conditions .TIA 😊👍🏽

I think your best bet is with the Dunlop Mutants they're a "crossover" tyre and come in 190/55, some on here have used it with the XR and claim it's very good. I'm not sure I'd want to go for something as knobbly as the MT60 on a bike like the XR.

[RyanGTXR]

180's should be on a 5.5 inch rim, 190 sits on a 6 inch rim so you would be stretching the carcass of a 180. I would not do it. The tyre would not be sitting at all how it was designed to be.

[wessie]

Originally Posted by RyanGTXR

180's should be on a 5.5 inch rim, 190 sits on a 6 inch rim so you would be stretching the carcass of a 180. I would not do it. The tyre would not be sitting at all how it was designed to be.

sounds like the OP needs a GS not an XR

 

[Antares]

Originally Posted by RyanGTXR

180's should be on a 5.5 inch rim, 190 sits on a 6 inch rim so you would be stretching the carcass of a 180. I would not do it. The tyre would not be sitting at all how it was designed to be.

This too, I'd never undersize a tyre, oversizing is also silly but at least less likely to pop off the bead.

[Mareng1]

Originally Posted by wessie

sounds like the OP needs a GS not an XR

 

I think you are correct, but sometimes what the heart wants ——

[Diavel]

Thanks for the advice both relevant 😁  and tyre related....and irrelevant choice of bike 🙄

So now I understand that 180/55 is a bad idea and have given that up and will look for the correct 190/55 size with an available appropriate tyre. The Dunlop Mutants seem to be a very good choice and I will see if I can get them from neighbouring Thailand but the choice is really quite limited and so far,  I have only been offered Pirelli Scorpion Trail II so far.