165 tire on 5.5" rim?

Yet 90% of them run it.

 

165 on a 5.5 - 250 2-stroke ( a 180 would never fit them for sure ) all day. I think Dunlops were 160's till they quit bringing them stateside or what ever their problem was.

 

Really? Wow. I would have thought 180/55 like what the kramer comes with. I barely ran those on my 600...

 

180/55 does not have as good compound choices as 180/60. Not sure if all brands even make 180/55. MotoAmerica runs dunlops and if club racing on Pirelli 180/60 over 180/55 any time.

 

I see. Interesting. Thanks for that.

 

Remember that the aspect ratio is important to look at too. Or you can look the actual tire specs to help understand suggested rims, fitted width, and diameters. And diameter is very important.

No one makes a 165/60R17 that I know of. And a 170 marked/size race tire hasn't been around since the 90s.

Metzeler and the D offer slicks in 165/55R17 size. The Metz is a Supermoto only tire and the D is a road race product. Bstone offers the 165/630R17 which is a different way to mark race only tires and the second number refers to the diameter. So a Metz 165/55 has a diameter of 631mm, and the D is 629mm.

Those 3 are actual race tires and were designed without the DOT sizing limitations in place. This means you can tweak the construction/size/specs to work on larger rims. And it's interesting to see that Metz specs their tire for a 5.0 to 5.5 rim while D suggests a 4.50 to 5.25 rim range but I can't find the Bstone rim range.

 

Now you are onto a logical path, but the Feds will find your missing tags I'm sure. And the Pirelli specs are always updated and listed by myself on the tech thread Pirelli tire selection.

 

Yep, I would agree that a bigger tire could compromise the flick ability. But which 180, and which brand? You really have to look at ALL of tire specs to quantify which tire would be best from a width and profile standpoint.

 

There's a rumor that Pirelli will offer a 180/55 slick in a SC1 compound for the Kramers but not sure when.

 

The hot set up in the 90s when all of the 600s had 5.0 rims was a 170/55ZR17 DOT race tire. The 165 slick which was designed FIRST for TZ/RS250 GP bikes that were around 230 lbs or so. Not a real optimum fitment for a 350 lb 600 production bike. And before everyone starts freaking out, construction methods, compounds, and materials in the 90s were much different than what's used today.

 

Yes, I have tried it many, many times. But that 160/60 on a 5.5 rim has a very fat and ugly profile because it was designed for the 4.50 rim first and foremost.

 

Oops flat not fat profile

 

Ok OP and TWF2 good news is here. The 180/55R17 slicks are available NOW in either SC1 or SC2 compounds and your tire vendor can get them from the GA warehouse.

And here's tire sizing
160/60R17 rim is 4.50 and width is 165 mm and diameter is 631 mm
180/55R17 rim is 5.50 and the width is 181 mm and diameter is 641 mm

 

Pirelli makes a 180/55. I run them on my endurance SV...

 

As mentioned above.

 

We are on dunlops now. Used to run SC0

 

What's the work around for the 180/60 Pirelli rubbing on the inside of the swingarm?

 

There was a thread last year about fitting a 180/60 to an SV. It can be done easily with the right pieces/parts. I can't remember what the thread's title was though

 

OK so to clarify things. If you're riding a 690 Kramer with a 5.50 rear you can fit the 180/55 slick SC1 or SC2 slick. If you have an SV with a 5.50 rear you can run a 180/55 Superbike slick SC1 or SC2 and if the SV is properly set up you can fit a 180/60 on a 5.5o wheel in SC0, SC1, or SC2.

 

the thread is called tire weight
http://forums.13x.com/index.php?threads/tire-weight.361950/page-2#post-5574540