What is the widest rear tire I can mount on the standard rear rim on a 2001 Softail Standard?
I’m hoping I can find someone with some experience with choosing the proper brand of tire for the rear wheel and still not rub the drive belt. Someone told me who makes a slightly wider tire than Dunlop but of course I can’t remember who told me or what brand I need. Thank you for any help.
This entry was posted
on Sunday, February 28th, 2010 at 8:38 am and is filed under Atv Tires Categories.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
The belt is not the only problem you will find when going with a wider tire. You also have to watch out for clearance issues up in the rear fender.
IIRC your bike came with a 130 width tire stock. I have seen some people fit a 140 but it was close.
The Metzeler ME 880 Marathon in 140/90B16 is a popular tire for this.
http://www.us.metzelermoto.com/web/default.page
The Avon Venom is also another choice.
https://www.axiomcycles.com/pages/item/itemdetail.asp?item=80-128-0003
The factory spec calls for MT90-B16-74H,… That translates into slightly smaller than 150B-16-77H (the difference is not very much)
Unfortunately a 170 would be way too wide. It would probably be fine to mount a 150. Look around at every aspect of the rear,.. now find the smallest clearance you can find(swingarm, brake caliper, even at the belt) if you can get the tip of your finger up to the first knuckle in that space that’s about 12 mm. Now, the 150 tire is going to occupy about 6-8 mm more on each side. That should be enough room to mount up…
The Michelin Commander is working out well for me. Alot of guys are really getting off on the Metzlers. They are too soft for me. The Dunlops are kinda fading in popularity. The Continental tires are a very hard compound and will give amazing highway life but would possibly lose traction in town unless they are up to a high operating temperature. There are many import tires of inferior quality. The J&P catalog has a good selection as well as American Motorcycle tire does too.
Metzler ME880 Marathon size- 72H-MT-90B16 M/C TL will fit.
( a 72H is a better quality tire than the 74H )