Okay, so what's the deal? Every time I go to buy tires someone has a different idea of what tire is "right" for a Hawk. The manual says: 110/80-17 and 150/70-17 The place I get 'em doesn't have those sizes. They have 110/70-17 and 150/60-17 and that's a just slightly lower profile, right? Cool, right? The guy that sold me some race take-offs at Putnam said "This is what you need" and gave me a 120/70-17 front. Yet another guy that was suppposed to be an expert suggested (and I bought) 110/70-17 and 160/60-17. Any help would be appreciated.
Stock front wheel: 110 is recomended F2 front wheel: 120 is best I always ran a 160 series rear, easyer to find, easyer to sell when done... /60 *VS* /70 series - not much difference in real world useage.
I raced with a 120 in the front (an F3) wheel and a 150/155 in the back. I ran 160's before, but I really liked how nice the bike turned in with the smaller rear tire. I ran mostly the 155 because that was all they had available in a slick. - eddie
hawk tires the stock front rim is 2.5 inches wide. the only race tire that's an appropriate fit is the 110. The 120 (60 or 70) is for 3.5" wheels. if you are running an F2 or F3 front end (or wheel). the rear rim is 4.5" wide. The most common size used for racing is the 160/60. You can fit the 150 on there and it would fit fine but it's hard to find a race tire in a 150, so I've always run the 160/60. Some companies have a specific 160 for 4.5" rim's vs. 5.0" (avon in particular for their street tires). just my $.02 but I"ve run michelin pilot race tires, pirelli, and bridgestones and have been happy with all. All are available in 110's and 160's.
