Bandit 400 recommended tires?

[Amdalthon]

The suzuki manual calls for bias ply tires (110/70/17 front and 150/70/17 rear) and currently my bike has radials on it(I bought it like this). it has a Bridgestone bt-003rs 110/70/r17 front and Bridgestone bt-016 160/60/r17 rear. Does any one else have radial tires on there B4? and if so any one have any problems on the road or track with them? there is alot of controversy all over the internet about radials instead of bias on the size of rims the bandit 400 has. 3 inch front 4 inch rear. the maximum a 4 inch rim should take in radial is 140 otherwise it will just balloon up and ruin the geometry of the tire and handling.

[pmackie]

Hey Amdalthon

Here is a link to the Bridgestone site showing the BT003RS:

http://bridgestone.com/products/motorcycle_tires/products/battlax/bt003rs.html

The 110/70ZR17 shows being acceptable on rims from 2.75 to 3.5 inch, with a recommended rim size of 3.0 inches, so you look OK here.

the BT016 shows:

http://bridgestone.com/products/motorcycle_tires/products/battlax/bt016.html

160/60ZR17 shows being acceptable on rims from 4.50 - 5.0 inch, with 4.5 being recommended, so your right, your a size bigger than recommended. The 150/60ZR17 shows as being acceptable on a 4.0 inch rim, but recommends a 4.5 inch as well.

However, you wouldn`t be the first guy to be running a 160/60 rear on a B4. I`ll let the actual B4 guys comment.

[andrewsw]

Honestly, for the B4, I don't think you need radials. I'm riding a set of Avon AM26 Roadriders which are a bias-ply tire. 110/70-17 front and 150/70-17 rear. I've put something like 2000 miles on them and am super happy with them. I've never questioned their grip in both commuting and sport riding. In fact, the first week I had them I put on 700 miles of very aggressive mountain riding and I was really pleased with their performance. They're also wearing well. I expect at least another couple thousand miles out of them.

Years ago I'm sure I ran a 160/?? Metzeler rear (probably an ME-55) and it was fine, but honestly, I don't think I gained anything from the extra width.

that's my .02

A

[AlanDog]

My B4 came with 150/60ZR-17 rear and 110/70zr-17 front Metzler M1s. No idea how they handle in twisties, as my bike died 7 days after I bought it. But overall, the bike seems to handle fine day-to-day; I'm actually wondering if the suspension has been upgraded, because it seems pretty nice (the seller only had it a year and didn't really know much).

I will likely keep using radials, although I wish the rear I have was taller. The 150mm rear certainly looks okay on my bike. The performance advantage of radial over bias ply is too enticing to pass up. They just have a bigger contact patch, which not only helps in cornering but also in stopping the bike. They run cooler, so they seems safer on long rides, and radials can last longer. I also have a ninja 250 which can't fit radials and that is a major drawback of the bike. But this is about riding at the bikes limit, I'm sure bias ply are okay 99% of the time.

Actually, do you have any links handy to articles or forums where they talk about the dangers of using radials on narrow rims?

[AlanDog]

Did some websurfing and found that the Pirelli Diablo Rosso II radial comes in 140/70-17 rear and is getting positive reviews on ninjette.org (http://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=93241&highlight=diablo+rosso)

[Nickelodeon]

I've got Continental Conti Motion Sport Touring tires on @ the factory recommended sizes front/rear and I've done about 400 miles on them so far and they work well. 

They speed up the steering just a little over old radial Michelin pilots that were on the bike, which made the bike steer like a pig w/ stock geometry, but frankly I sped it up even more by going to a 2006 GSXR600 rear shock which raised the rear a bit and then moving the front forks up around 10mm after I put on the Conti's because it was still slow for my taste.

It gets a little "nervous" at times but I spent a lot of time on racetracks in my younger days so I'm comfortable with it as I like a quick steering bike as the trade off.

Additionally though, I put in 20 wt. oil in the front w/ .90kg sonic springs...which really made a huge difference. I'd say before worrying about the tires I'd spend your time/money on the front forks and rear shock...it pays huge dividends.

It doesn't matter what tires are on the bike if the front end pogos up and down going into a turn at any decent speed...it can make the best rider feel less than confident.