Is a 150/90-15 rear tire too wide?

[Dickey]

I found a few posts where someone said in passing that they had such a tire on their gz250 but a question was asked and there was no follow up in the thread. I thought I would bring attention to the matter directly. I want a wide wall to go on my bike and from searching the only tire I found any real confirmation that worked was an AM42 140/90-15 Venom tire. Upon ordering said tire, I received a black wall 140/90-15 tire of the same make and it appears that they have run out of the white wall deals. Dunlop sells a white wall that is 150/90-15 but that puts the difference from stock at 1/2" instead of 1/4" and I was hoping to tap the experience here before placing an order to find out first hand if such a tire would fit, and if so, what kind of modification might be necessary if any.


edit - grammatical error

[blaine]

A 150/90-15 is to wide to fit the G.Z. The tire will rub on the torque link (bar bolted to the brake drum).Will also rub on the frame rails on bumps. A140/90-15 is the widest you can use without clearance issues.

:cool:

[geezer]

if you go up ANY kind of hills i advise you dont do this mod!! just listen to me, i have the 140 on my bike and it just sucks balls man, you loose all torque this bikes got. 5th becomes worthless unless its flat and your going over 50 with no wind. but if your doing NOTHING but flat highway riding maybe go for it

[Dickey]

No worries. I got this bike for looks and mileage, not performance. It is mostly flat around where I live and where there is a hill it is nothing like what can be found in north Georgia. Thank you for the heads up on the dramatic affect of the 140 tire. I had no idea the adjustment was that extreme.

[blaine]

Originally Posted by geezer

if you go up ANY kind of hills i advise you dont do this mod!! just listen to me, i have the 140 on my bike and it just sucks balls man, you loose all torque this bikes got. 5th becomes worthless unless its flat and your going over 50 with no wind. but if your doing NOTHING but flat highway riding maybe go for it

I had the 140/90-15 on mine,as well as the 16t sprocket.I lost a little top end,but not to the extreme that 5th gear was useless.I rarely had to down shift on hills or in the wind.But I also had intake,carb & exhaust mods.
:cool:

[geezer]

youll see

[Dickey]

So I'm guessing that no one currently on the forum has attempted a 150 tire on their 250? I'm fairly certain that the tire pictured below is an Avon AM42 Venom in 150/90-15 since they do not make a 140mm white wall:



This is gzrat's bike and I pm'd him several days ago but I suspect he's moved on to other interests. Another forum member pablush, who I also pm'd, posted different pics of the same bike to which I gathered that he purchased it from gzrat. No where do either members post the actual specs on the tire so far as I could tell though.

Blaine, do you recall where you came across the knowledge that a 150mm tire would rub on the torque link and frame rails?

[blaine]

When I installed the 140/90-15,I had to put a 1/8 spacer behind the torque bar so it would clear the tire.It would just clear the upper frame rails under the fender.The 150 tire would be 10mm or 7/16 wider.The one pictured is on a bike with the upper frame rails cut off,so clearance is not a issue.
:cool: