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Tire Question


Retired At LAst

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Retired At LAst

I have been running 160/60/18 on the rear of my 1100RT.

 

What is the effect of switching to a 160/60/17 on the rear??

 

Exactly what do these numbers represent.

Thanks

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I have been running 160/60/18 on the rear of my 1100RT.

 

What is the effect of switching to a 160/60/17 on the rear??

It will be Very Very hard to fit! The last number is the diameter of the wheel the tyre is intended for, so a one inch smaller tyre really won't work.
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160 -- Tire width in millimeters

60 -- Tire profile height expressed as a percentage of tire width (60% * 160mm = 96mm)

 

18 -- Tire Diameter - in inches

 

As expressed above, moving from 18" diameter to 17" diameter in the tire (tyre for those using the Queen's English) is not a realistic situation.

 

Regards,

-RFC-

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Thats a good question. My friend with an 'S' thinks his rear is a 17. Would it work? Only a swap with someone who will let it go would tell.

Sure would open the door to more tires available is small comunities.

It would change your overall gearing, not necessarily a bad thing. It would make the bike quicker in corners too.

Let us know what happens when you get to try. wave.gif

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ShovelStrokeEd

There are quite a few other aspects to this as well. Most important being that without changing wheels you can't change tire size, at least as far as that last number goes.

 

Other things to think about are the rim width. That is tied into the first number as well as the aspect ratio (the second number).

 

In loose general terms, a tire like a 160-60 are mated to a 4" rim, a 170 to a 4.5, 180 to a 5, 190's to a 6 und so weiter. A 160/60/18 and a 170/60/17 have about the same rolling circumference but need to be mounted on an appropriate width rim to obtain the contour desired. Too wide a tire on too narrow a rim, the most common mistake, will yield poor performance in both handling and tire life.

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My friend with an 'S' thinks his rear is a 17.
I believe that's true. According to the manual, the front and rear's are reversed on he S - 18 on the front, 17 on the rear.
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There are members on this board that have replaced the stock 4.5"wide rear 18" rim of the 1100RT with 5"wide 17" rear rims with great success. Maybe someone will jump in and tell you which BMW model 17" fits. That said, others and myself have run 170/60/18 tires for years with no problems, and better wear than most riders get with 160's. Run my first 170 back in 96 when I had a blow out and couldn't find a 160 anywhere while on a trip.

 

 

 

pic attached of a 170/60/18 with about 9k on it.

934358-170.1.jpg.a2b4ceca7cc3a6c2dd1fc2510d6fbbff.jpg

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ShovelStrokeEd
My friend with an 'S' thinks his rear is a 17.
I believe that's true. According to the manual, the front and rear's are reversed on he S - 18 on the front, 17 on the rear.

 

As I recall my S came with a 120-70/17 on the front and a 180-55/17 on the rear, mine was the "prep" model which was fitted with a 5" wide rear. Regular R1100S come with a 170-60/17 on the rear mounted on a 4.5" rim.

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