Nexen SB 802 rear tire

[BratmanXj]

23 hours ago, saddlebum said:

One should also keep in mind the different effects of a CT tire on different bikes may also have to do with the  rake/caster angle of the front forks. Because of this difference some bikes may be more accommodating to a CT tire than others.

Exactly my point.  I've been on bikes where a CT was a non-issue, but the Venture just doesn't seem to respond well to it.  I don't knock the guys who swear by it, because for THEIR BIKE its a perfectly acceptable option.  I don't tell people it doesn't work, but that it doesn't for FOR MY SITUATION.   

[Papa Fred]

I rode with a guy yesterday who has a CT on his Victory(don't know the model, but wasn't the Full Bags & Trunk spaceship looking model...still large bike tho).  I couldn't see what make of tire he had and he didn't offer to roll it forward a couple of inches to see the name.  He loves the CT on his bike, which was what got me looking at his tire.  What I DID notice was that it was a much wider tire than the Nexen and was a lower profile as well with sidewalls that were well over an inch less than the Nexen.  Those two items, by their very nature, would make the tire feel a lot more stable under the bike...a bit more tire side to side and less sidewall to flex or squirm.

Those of you who run CTs on the RSV know that the driveshaft tube side of the swingarm really limits the width of the tire.  Having said that, I might pull the Nexen off that spare wheel and take it to a tire shop in search of a similar width tire but with a lower profile.  I think I read about some guys running a BFG, with the comment that it is a smaller circumference, effectively changing the overall gear ratio to be "quicker".  Since I'm already running a VMax diff I was hoping to stay close to the OEM tire circumference ( The Avons and the Metz are a tick over 80 inches around).  If I absolutely HAVE to I'll switch back to my stock diff to accommodate a smaller tire but at this point I'm feeling mentally lazy, and I really like the way the bike gets up and dances with that VMax drive.

It's five o'clock somewhere... Cheers.

[Papa Fred]

By the way @BratmanXj...did you do the front end yourself or have it done in a shop?  I'm curious about the proceedure.

[RDawson]

8 hours ago, Papa Fred said:

By the way @BratmanXj...did you do the front end yourself or have it done in a shop?  I'm curious about the proceedure.

There is an excellent witeup of the job somewhere in the tech library I used when I did mine. The one thing I did was to hang the inner fairing from the ceiling to keep it out of the way but not completely remove it. It isn’t a bad job to get into. Getting the lower race out is the hardest part, I went from the bottom and welded a cross bar in the race and knocked it out easily. 

[BratmanXj]

I did the work myself over the course of a winter.  When I bought the bike the steering was LOOSE where you could feel a click when rocking the bike.  Added a HID headlight, GPS with Buddy Rich, and Spot Lamps while I had the whole front end apart.  

[RDawson]

Ok I can’t find a write up like I thought, guess I printed off that part of the manual. I tore it down one afternoon and finished it the next. 

[Papa Fred]

No problem, but thanks for looking.  I can always learn about it the same way I have in the past....tear it apart.  Being unable to ride it is a good motivator to figure it out.  😎

[RDawson]

7 hours ago, Papa Fred said:

No problem, but thanks for looking.  I can always learn about it the same way I have in the past....tear it apart.  Being unable to ride it is a good motivator to figure it out.  😎

I suggest printing that part of the manual, it helped having it with me. If I’m diving into something I’ve never done I like the printed pages instead of having my book there. I can refer to it with greasy hands and then toss it. Like I said earlier it’s not too bad of a job.  

[Freebird]

I think that this has been covered about as well as it can be.  I'm personally not a fan of running a car tire on a motorcycle but that's just me and I don't want this to turn into an argument.  I just wanted to mention one thing.  I've seen it mentioned several times that you should not mix a radial on the back with a bias ply tire on the front.  That may be true for the most part and maybe this has something to do with how the bike is designed but I know that there have been at least a couple of bikes that came from the Yamaha factory with a radial in one place and a bias tire in the other.  I would have to do some research because I don't remember which bikes but I remember it being discussed and referenced here before.

[ragtop69gs]

I run a BF Goodrich T\A Radial 155\80 on the rear of my 02 RSV and a 130 commander 2 up front.  After much trial and error I settled on 41 psi up front and 45 psi on the rear.  Low speed handling and mountain twisty switchbacks are no problem.  I have slid the forks up 3/4",  replaced the fork springs with sonic straight rate springs with 15W fork oil. Increased head bearing torque by 10 pounds. All this combined , my bike now handles way better than the stock configuration.

[cowpuc]

2 hours ago, ragtop69gs said:

I run a BF Goodrich T\A Radial 155\80 on the rear of my 02 RSV and a 130 commander 2 up front.  After much trial and error I settled on 41 psi up front and 45 psi on the rear.  Low speed handling and mountain twisty switchbacks are no problem.  I have slid the forks up 3/4",  replaced the fork springs with sonic straight rate springs with 15W fork oil. Increased head bearing torque by 10 pounds. All this combined , my bike now handles way better than the stock configuration.

Remember Jakester (Bill) who switched over to riding a Goldwing? He, Tweeks, Tip and I hooked up at Sturgis a few years ago. He found something very similar to you Raggie.. Here, let him tell tell ya all about it: