I got a new bike.....................

[nkbjones]

Now that I have your attention:whistling:................ I didn't really get a new bike:whistling:, but I put the smaller size Avon tire on the front and it feels like a new bike:clap2:.

 

Many thanks to member BREAKING PARTS for meeting me on a Sunday morning and mounting my new tire for me. Today is the 1st time that I have had a chance to play with the new tire in a parking lot (lots of rain here in VA the last couple of days) and all I can say is WOW, what a difference this tire makes. I didn't have long to play, but I was almost scraping floorboards in figure 8's and u-turns. With a little practice, I should be scraping floorboards soon.

 

I was thinking of lowering the front end of the bike, but no longer think that will be necessary. I have read all about this smaller tire and had high expectations for the improved handling and those expectations have been met and exceeded.

[pegscraper]

Keep it up and we'll have to call you floorboard scraper.

[AZSpyder]

I had mine down a 1/2 inch in the front when I went to the narrower front tire. For me that didn't work. It had a sort of a nervous feel to it. I set it back to normal height and every thing is great. There is still a touch of the nervousness but not bad.

 

Come to think of it I wonder if anyone else has noticed the slight hunting with a narrow tire. It seems to be from slight changes in the breese. Not really an issue tracking in strong winds just changes to the direction of slight breezes. I wonder if it's from the fork mounted fairing. Maybe the wide tire was Yamaha's method of changing that into heavy steering.

 

Jerry

[cecdoo]

I had mine down a 1/2 inch in the front when I went to the narrower front tire. For me that didn't work. It had a sort of a nervous feel to it. I set it back to normal height and every thing is great. There is still a touch of the nervousness but not bad.

 

Come to think of it I wonder if anyone else has noticed the slight hunting with a narrow tire. It seems to be from slight changes in the breese. Not really an issue tracking in strong winds just changes to the direction of slight breezes. I wonder if it's from the fork mounted fairing. Maybe the wide tire was Yamaha's method of changing that into heavy steering.

 

Jerry

 

Think I feel what you mean, front end just feels lite at highway speeds with the narrower tire, seems to get blown around pretty easy, I too thought it had to do with fairing. On my next front tire I am going to try stock size and lower the front end in the forks. Like you said the lite front end isnt a problem, you just need to adjust for it. Craig

[Eck]

I wonder if anyone else has noticed the slight hunting with a narrow tire. It seems to be from slight changes in the breese. Not really an issue tracking in strong winds just changes to the direction of slight breezes.

 

 

I have noticed this on my smaller front tire....

It felt like it wandered off the path, only for a split second, in one direction or the other, but I am used to it now, and dont really notice it..once in a while I will notice it, but not all the time..makes me think it has to do with the type of pavement Im on..

[V7Goose]

I can tell you from experience when I ran the MT90 front tire without Leveling Links that my 05 RSV was much more sensitive to any input from the rider or passenger. Before changing to the Avon MT90, while still running the horrible stock Brickstone front tire, my wife could move around a lot while on the highway without my ever feeling it - even sudden head-turns to one direction to try and catch a quick glimpse of something made no difference.

 

After mounting the MT90, any quick moves or leans by either of us was immediately felt in the bike and elicited a very slight change in direction. Before you get alarmed, understand that I am almost exaggerating this change here to make a point of how the tire change affected the handling. I want to stress that this is a GOOD thing, not a bad thing - the bike became much more responsive to rider input and body language. Slight posture changes fine-tuned the machine in the curves, and I never felt like I was having to force the bike to do something like I did with the stock tires. Although it was a surprise the first time my wife suddenly twisted around to look at something after making the tire change, even that was not dangerous or scary in any way - just different than I had experienced with the nasty stock tires.

 

I never noticed any "hunting" or "nervousness" from the narrower tire under any speed or condition, but I suppose the greater responsiveness could be interpreted that way. For me, I always felt the stock RSV with stock tires handled well at any speed above walking, even in tight twisties, but I never felt like I was one with the bike - I very obviously was the rider controlling it. After the change, I truly felt like I was one with it, and the bike and I did things together.

Goose

 

Oh, one more thought - if the REAR tire is beginning to flatten out in the middle, it WILL cause the sensation of wandering or twitching, ESPECIALLY if there is any imperfection in the road surface. The more it looses the original rounded profile, the worse this will get. A better front tire, in either size, will allow this to be felt more by the rider.