Street tires

[stevebro]

Hello All-

New to this forum:

These bikes are a blast, I ride my 23 CT on paved road 99.9 % of the time.
Yes, I know this is a "Trail" bike but I'm looking to put together a cool Grocery Getter, Campground/Street-Cruiser/Pit Bike.
looking to mount premium street tires now.

Question:
Can you run a Michelin Pilot Street 2 with an inner tube since this is a "tubless" tire ???
I know you can seal the rim but didn't want to go that route if running a tube is possible.
Also: will 90/80-17 tires fit my 2023 Front & Back with no clearance issues.
80/90-17 "Sold out" not available.

I understand running a tube in tubeless tire can result in more heat/friction but for a small/light bike that tops out at 55MPH.
Can I pull this off and have it be safe and reliable?

Any and all suggestions are welcome, Fire away...

Thanks, Stay Cool !!!

 

[SneakyDingo]

Question:
Can you run a Michelin Pilot Street 2 with an inner tube since this is a "tubless" tire ???

It should be fine.

@G19Tony, did you run your Michelin's with tubes? Ref: Cannonball run setup

I know you can seal the rim but didn't want to go that route if running a tube is possible.
Also: will 90/80-17 tires fit my 2023 Front & Back with no clearance issues.
80/90-17 "Sold out" not available.

There's probably a shortage of those tires right now at the supplier, tends to be the case when multiple sites show shortages. The City Extra or City Pro tire is another viable option for a street tire, but the OEM tire should also work really well as a replacement for only road riding. I'm running my way through some SR241's/244's right now, but I'm planning to go back to the OEM tire once they're done.

 

[oldskool]

Almost all my CT riding is on pavement with a little dirt road trail use. The stock tires are good for that use IME. The little bike doesn't have close to enough poop to require "better tires". In what way have you found the stock tires lacking for your stated uses? Rain or shine they never feel lacking to me. The Dunlops that came stock on my Nightster were OK until there were three drops of rain on the road ......then they were very lacking. They were replaced with Pirelli Night Dragons. Great improvement especially in the rain. They weren't cheap but worth it. The point is I will spend money to fix something that is lacking. How are the stock CT tires lacking for general putzing around on the street?

 

[SneakyDingo]

How are the stock CT tires lacking for general putzing around on the street?

I think my only complaint with the stock tires is the rear tire doesn't last very long, and I got 5k miles out of mine which was considered a very good run out of them.

The City Pro tires last longer so would be a good rear tire replacement option if you want to do lots of miles all year round and not swap tires in the middle of winter. I've definitely thought about running those for winter to avoid the rainy day swaperoony. Aside from that the 4k mile cadence is about what I hope for, and changing tires on this bike is pretty easy.

 

[Shoot870p]

I’m running a set of Michelins with tubes. I PERSONALLY have not encountered any issues. I wanted a little heavier tire.

 

[oldskool]

I think my only complaint with the stock tires is the rear tire doesn't last very long, and I got 5k miles out of mine which was considered a very good run out of them.

The City Pro tires last longer so would be a good rear tire replacement option if you want to do lots of miles all year round and not swap tires in the middle of winter. I've definitely thought about running those for winter to avoid the rainy day swaperoony. Aside from that the 4k mile cadence is about what I hope for, and changing tires on this bike is pretty easy.

4000 doesn't seem too bad compared to my Ural, lucky to get 2000 on the pusher How long have you found the front lasts?

 

[Kev250R]

Almost all my CT riding is on pavement with a little dirt road trail use. The stock tires are good for that use IME. The little bike doesn't have close to enough poop to require "better tires". In what way have you found the stock tires lacking for your stated uses? Rain or shine they never feel lacking to me.

For street riding, I agree the stock tires are okay for street use. I changed mine out for a set of Shinko's because off-road I found the stock tires were borderline dangerous (the front one kept wanting to 'wash-out' on me).

I agree with @SneakyDingo, the stock tires do seem to wear quickly, though depending on how much weight you're carrying will make a big difference in that of course.

Tires really do make the bike. I'm running a set of Michelins on my KTM Duke and aboslutly love how the bike handles with them. My GF claims I shop for tires for my vehicles like most girls shop for shoes LOL!

 

[Kev250R]

For anyone in the So.Cal. area who wants a set of Stock tires for a Trail, I have a set I'm giving away. 1,200 miles, no damage. Probably going to hang onto them for another week then they get tossed if no one wants them.

 

[stevebro]

Right On...

Decided to pull the trigger on the tubeless Michelin Pilot Street 2 tires 90/80-17, will go with tubes installed...
Hope they fit, may need to lift a fender or something, want to keep the strong stock metal front fender as is doubles as a fork brace.

Nothing wrong with stock tires, they were okay, however in my experience its always better to run premium rubber on pavement.
Tire construction, ride and performance are improved and add confidence, well worth the price of these tires for this bike.

Tires are just one of the things I was looking to improve on.
This is a work in progress, half the fun is tricking out to suit your style, preference and needs.

Any input for:
1) Evatek : Oversized brake rotor 220mm rear/ 260mm front
2) Swage-Line: Steel Braided brake lines.
3) SBS: Street Ceramic brake pads

Great to have a group to share ideas with.

Tnx!

 

[SneakyDingo]

4000 doesn't seem too bad compared to my Ural, lucky to get 2000 on the pusher How long have you found the front lasts?

If the front wears out, I haven't determined how long that takes, and I'm at 10k miles.

 

[G19Tony]

It should be fine.

@G19Tony, did you run your Michelin's with tubes? Ref: Cannonball run setup


There's probably a shortage of those tires right now at the supplier, tends to be the case when multiple sites show shortages. The City Extra or City Pro tire is another viable option for a street tire, but the OEM tire should also work really well as a replacement for only road riding. I'm running my way through some SR241's/244's right now, but I'm planning to go back to the OEM tire once they're done.

Yes I did.

 

[Kritou]

Hello All-

New to this forum:

These bikes are a blast, I ride my 23 CT on paved road 99.9 % of the time.
Yes, I know this is a "Trail" bike but I'm looking to put together a cool Grocery Getter, Campground/Street-Cruiser/Pit Bike.
looking to mount premium street tires now.

Question:
Can you run a Michelin Pilot Street 2 with an inner tube since this is a "tubless" tire ???
I know you can seal the rim but didn't want to go that route if running a tube is possible.
Also: will 90/80-17 tires fit my 2023 Front & Back with no clearance issues.
80/90-17 "Sold out" not available.

I understand running a tube in tubeless tire can result in more heat/friction but for a small/light bike that tops out at 55MPH.
Can I pull this off and have it be safe and reliable?

Any and all suggestions are welcome, Fire away...

Thanks, Stay Cool !!!

You really don’t have to seal the rim to make a wheel tubeless. The ‘split tube’ conversion continues to seal the spoke nipple ends and the tyre itself forms the top part of an airtight chamber. I did a year ago and two thousand miles later the tyres are not losing air. I did in fact fit Continental tubeless road tyres but will be reverting to the oem supplied rubber at the next change. The whole conversion takes less than hour and a couple of slightly smaller tubes - and the whole conversion can be reversed instantly if you keep the original tubes

 

[dmonkey]

Right On...

Decided to pull the trigger on the tubeless Michelin Pilot Street 2 tires 90/80-17, will go with tubes installed...
Hope they fit, may need to lift a fender or something, want to keep the strong stock metal front fender as is doubles as a fork brace.

Nothing wrong with stock tires, they were okay, however in my experience its always better to run premium rubber on pavement.
Tire construction, ride and performance are improved and add confidence, well worth the price of these tires for this bike.

Tires are just one of the things I was looking to improve on.
This is a work in progress, half the fun is tricking out to suit your style, preference and needs.

Any input for:
1) Evatek : Oversized brake rotor 220mm rear/ 260mm front
2) Swage-Line: Steel Braided brake lines.
3) SBS: Street Ceramic brake pads

Great to have a group to share ideas with.

Tnx!

Is there an issue with the stock brakes that you're looking to address, brake fade or feel? If you're looking to go overkill and spendy, Evatek have a Brembo front master cylinder kit.
1) Takegawa also have a big front rotor kit and there's this front kit that uses a PCX rotor, but if you're doing both front and rear then I think that Evatek might be the only matching option other than something DIY. There are some install videos and reviews of the Evatek rotor kits on YouTube in Japanese. Some might offer closed captioning translation to English.
2) Those look really nice for dress up and longevity. If you do go with them I'd be curious if they result in a brake feel difference over the OEM ones. I haven't had the OEM lines off, but trying to pinch and bend them it's obvious that they're reinforced in some way. I don't expect that they're braided stainless coated in vinyl like some other newer bikes come with though.
3) The OEM rear pads kept squealing and drove me nuts, IMO it's worth upgrading just to be rid of that problem even if you weren't to gain any braking performance.

 

[m in sc]

i run tubeless tires all the time with tubes on the vintage bikes. its fine.

 

[Dallasdude]

I would stay away from pilot street 2 tires. I have them in 14 “ on my other scooter. They were a let down and not as good as city grip 2 and I know those aren’t available in 17” so the next best thing is Michelin city extra. These are probably the best street tires for the trail. The pilot street 2 tires ride too rough and need higher 40 plus psi. Also they puncture easy. I was suprised how easy they puncture. And after they puncture it’s hard to get green slime to seal since they require higher 40psi. Anything less and they drag. Definitely go with city extra. I regret buying pilot street 2 tires.