Larger Front Tire (and raise the front Fender)

[DAN]

This post is a spin off of "Larger rear Tire" Thread also here in "How To's". You may want to look at the "Larger rear Tire" subject posts as they will have more information if you are changing both front and rear tires.

The standard Front tire on the GZ 250 is a 110/90-16. You could also use a 120/80-16 and have the same diameter. My 1999 GZ came with Dunlop D-404 tires. They are only avalable from Suzuki as "original equipment" not on the general market from Dunlop. The smallest Dunlop D-404 is a 130/90-16. This is the same size as a "Harley" front tire so I call it the GZ 250 "Fat Boy". After consulting directly with The Dunlop MC Tire customer service rep, I was sent via fax the rim size tolerance charts showing the 130/90-16 is within the allowed limits for the GZ 250 rims (both the front 130/90-16 and the larger rear 140/90-15 D-404's are approved by Dunlop for the corrisponding GZ rims). I changed both the front and the rear tires to these D-404 larger respective sizes.

Here are the points of consideration you will have to take into account if you make these tire size mods.

The GZ will be 3/4 of an inch taller and the ground clearance will also be 3/4 of an inch greater (no more dragging the left exhaust pipe over the curb). There is a side effect to this though, The kick stand foot will require a point 7 to point 75 inch foot. I bolted on a 4 inch by .7 inch aluminum extrusion (half of a telescope dovetail bar) that did the job nicely. Will post kick stand picture.

The front fender will have to be raised aprox. one inch. I only raised mine 3/4 inch (as seen in picture) and recommend at least 1 inch or more.

This thread is an explanation of how to raise the fender. To be continued next.