I'm in the midst of building a WR 450 to put on the street. What size rear wheel / tire combo's are being used? I see there's some issues with a 160 tire rubbing the chain, but I bet tire selection is better than with a 150. It seems the popular wheel options are either a 5.0 or a 4.25. I was thinking a 4.5 might be a better comprimise and would let me run either a 150 or 160 tire? Any opinions out there?
4.25 is probably too small. It's what my DRZ has, and 160s get a bit distorted on it. I'd go with a 4.5 personally.
5" fits fine on a WR/YZ. Gives the 160 the correct profile also. I've put together three WR's/YZ"s, two were mine and one was a buddies. The wheels have to be built with the correct offset and build some kind of slider/bumper to stop the chain eating the tire. An O-ring chain helps, even though it's wider it doesn't flail around as much. Kirk at FactoryPro for rims and Buchanan for spokes are where I bought everything. Have fun!
For street duty, put a 4.25" tire on it, then you can wun either a 160 or for a little more tire clearance, a 150. the 160 is nice because it is taller and more readily available, but a 150 shouldnt be hard to find(I believe Michelin makes one) and the extra clearance is nice. I first raced on a 4.25/150, and while not as fast as a 5"/supermoto rear, you wont notice that much unless you're at the sharp point of lap times.
I have experience with two options: The first is a 4.25" rim with a 150 Pilot Power. It's PERFECT for the street. Make sure you've got enough gearing! This setup is good with a 17" front. If you're not hell bent on 17's and you've got stock offset triple clamps here's another option I like. 19" dirt track wheels and tires. They're softer than the Pilot Powers, and the 19" rear doesn't need as crazy a gear as the 17". The biggest benefit, however, is the larger front wheel stability. With the stock triple clamp offset the front end doesn't want to tuck under as much. Brakes aren't as effective, though. Whatever you choose, ride the crap out of it and have fun! -Tom
I have a 4.5" rear on my 426, works fine for me. Havne't run either the 4.215 or the 5", but I do know that DOT's and slicks have different profiles. For example: I ran the 165 'Stone slick and had very little chain rub. I then tried a 160 BT090 and had excessive chain rub. I did build a chain/tire guide to protect the tire, but the 160 slicks are a fair bit narrower than the DOT equivalent.
Chad, you ran a 160 on a 4.25 rim? I thought it would be too small for that size tire. Pat, how much dish were you putting into the 5 in. wheel? Can I avoid that all-together and use spacers behind the sprockets? I guess if you go too far with the spacers the chain will eat the sub frame.
Buchanan gave Doug who built my wheels the # on offset. I used washers behind the sprocket along with the correct dish and it's still tight but fits fine. I just spooned on SV take offs that I got for free afterwards.
I tried it, but didnt like the feel(but for street duty, it would be totally fine). If you want to run 160's, you need the narrower rim to pinch the tire together, otherwise they rub really bad. It also allows you to run the 150, which gives you tons of clearance. On the 5", you run the supermoto race tires. Are you planning on racing it, or just street/occasional trackday thrashing? I'm not a fan of offsetting the rim nor spacing the sprockets. I'd rather let the chain chew up the side of the tire.
I run a 4.25 with a B-Stone 165 slick. Chain gets into the tire some, but it's not a problem. Tire hooks up well even though I'm not using 100% of the sides.
You still racing that steel frame YZ? I always wanted to race you(but on nuetral ground, not Road Atlanta, lol).
Yup, still have the old 4 speed, I just un-retired her after 2 years. I'm game for any track, as long as there's no dirt and no jumps!
I parted my motor out a couple years ago, but just got my hands on a basketcase WR motor that I'm gonna piece back together for a trasher/DT/TT bike. Havent decided on the WR or YZ tranny yet tho.... I feel the same way about jumps and dirt, lol. Damn I think it would have been an epic battle between us a few years ago!
i had a 4.25 on my 99 yz250 and used to run a 155? dunlop slick on it for a while. When I could not afford the slick I but a 160 street tire on it and never notice that much of a diffrence
It's gonna be a street bike for now, (so no slicks) but I was trying to give myself as many options as possible. That's why the 4.50 wheel seemed like a good compromise. Then again, maybe there's a reason not many people run it. I will say, I hate the feel of a too big tire pinched onto a too narrow wheel, even on the street. Also, should I pony up the extra cash and buy a cush hub for this thing?
I think people are split on this subject. I'll say from my experience which is a few races and about 5k street miles on a WR450 that the transmission didn't explode or do anything other than work perfectly the whole time. I didn't have a cush drive. As for the tires, I don't like the way a bike feels with too wide a tire on a skinny wheel either. Doesn't mean you can't go fast on it though!
Not sure if you picked your tires yet, but I ran the Avon Distanzias on my KTM520EXC motard conversion on the street and loved them. They had a super soft compound a few years ago specific to motard -had to look around to find it, not sure if they still do. And they come in 150 or 160 in 17" (and some others). I even ran a few ESMRA races on them and they had enough grip to start getting into hard parts touching on the track. The regular compound is supposedly a bit harder for bigger adventure bikes. Edit: And they look badass on a motard.
i've had 4.25 and 5.0 next go around i'm going with 4.5 so I can run 150 dual purpose tires or 160 RR slicks..
Hey Tom...Long time. We built three bikes on the 2007 WR 450 chassis over the last couple year. 2 Roadracers, and mine, a SM. The two Roadrace bikes were built with 5.0 wide mag. rear rims. We added chain slider blocks for lateral support, but it appears that we did not really need that. I went with spokes on the SM. These were 5.0 as well. I have only ever used the stock OEM rubber chain slide. We all use TZ250 rubber (160) which is convenient, as it fits my FZR 400. ;-) Do some searches on Super single 450. (Gavin Tripp) MUCH of what these guys are using, we have tried, and a few items, like the oil recirc system are cheap, and work REALLY well. Most of it is designed for teh YZ, but other than a few minor fitment issues, it will all go on teh WR. I have a couple video on Youtube, if you want to see the bie with Mag wheel set up. Youtube search "Motomeister13" Good to hear from you again. Rich
