Thanks for the reply, i really appreciate it. well the Dunlop chart says the D206 170/70 R16 has a suggested rim width of 4.5", a 25.4" total diameter and 6.4" in total width. It's a radial with H speed rating as well. It seems like a fitter if I measured my clearances correctly today. I guess I may be the first. I currently have newish Micheilins mounted and It will be a little while before I need to change them. Had a great ride today. Absolutely love this bike! Best, Randy.

Hi Hardo,

Thankyou for your response. Here are answers to your questions:

"1) The Dunlop 180/60 16 is a tire for a bikes like Harleys or Honda Gold Wing. How is the handling, is this somehow save? "

I rode the bike for about 15kms at speeds up to 120kms after I had the new rear tyre fitted. At that stage I still had an old Michelin front. The bike felt stable, but I cannot compare it with an original tyre in good condition as it was fitted with a bald Metzeler when I purchased it and had no rear grip at all!
When I went to fit the front tyre I found the rim was bent. After this was repaired it needed repainting so I took the opportunity to strip the bike and have it all repainted including the rear rim. This is still being done so I haven't ridden it with the Dunlop/Dunlop combo.
I don't think the bike will be unsafe with this heavier rear tyre, but it may not perform as well near the limit as a sport tyre. I do not intend to ride the bike hard however as it is my classic. It would probably be a worse idea to fit a sport tyre to a heavy cruiser. It may not be the ideal answer, but perhaps the best compromise available to me.

"2) Colonial Boy, is there a regular technical check required in your country by the authorities? We have that here and I have doubts that they will accept clearence of about 3 mm between chain and tire."

There is a 6 monthly safety check in New Zealand and I am confident the bike will pass. It had been passed previously with the chain rubbing on the Metzeler. I would like to know how much clearance an original Michelin has. Can someone please comment?


"3) I think the dunlop (and shrinko) is easier to fit compared to the Avon 180/60 16. It seems to be that it is a little bit more narrow. Am I right? "

I had to order the Dunlop so I wasn't able to compare widths, but it does appear narrow for a 180 - which is good! All I had to get an idea of width before I fitted it was the 180/55/17 Michelin fitted to my Triumph 955i Sprint - and that is 10mm wider. The Dunlop doesn't look too wide for the rim and looks fine on the bike.

Hope this helps,
CB

Everyone, I just can recommend to call the tire manufacturer and ask if certain tire models will be fine for a Paso and not just select one just because you like size and profile.

G.

I would be interested in hearing from anyone who has contacted a tyre maufacturer and asked if a tyre of incorrect size and style would be suitable for their obsolete motorcycle.

In the meantime you could fit a tyre that is available and ride the bike according to how it handles.

Several did and I did too. If you tell them there`s no alternative tire as the original size is out of production they will try to help but still say no if they think the tire is a bad match for such a bike. I got positive feedback only from Avon and Bridgestone.

Ok, I think I have got the hang of posting pix here. This is the Metzeler that was fitted when I bought the Paso. Using the rear brake was risky!

Here is the spacer I made



As the bike is still being painted, I will start a thread and post more photos of it with Dunlops fitted when it is all back together. At least I can post photos now!

Hey guys!
I just like to let you know that I change my tires to AVONs 130/70-16 and 150/80-16 and I got the TÜV approval. I didn't do the modifications myself. I was too busy!
My dealer did them and as far as I understood well he did the following changes:

- raised the front fender by 10 or 15 mm (the tire is higher)
- didn't not change anything on the rear fork
- mounted a longer chain (one chain link more) because the tire was to high to fit.
- mounted a bigger sprocket-wheel (one sprocket more) because the chain was now too long and the adjustment for the axis was not adjustable
- mounted an electronic bike speedometer

I decided to do these changes because they are all reversible without any big efford.

As I said above I got the T’V approval for this changes. Which also included a high speed test and several test on a roller bench…
Please don’t remind me about the costs… it wasn’t funny at all…

One day after I got the approval Ducati ( the famous Mr. Liedmann) called me back: They wanted to tell me that they have approved the Bridgestone tires on the PASO 750 and were looking for a 906 to do the approval… but my bike was too far away and so they will obviously take Vee2duc’s Paso. If I understood well…

From driving performance I can not tell you much. My Paso is my first Paso. I did 30 km on the old tires and it was worse that my cross-bike. From my feeling the AVONs give a good ride, but honestly speaking I am not Mike the bike. For me this solution is sufficient and I really enjoy the ride on my bike...

As you might already know the PASO 750 got the “Unbedenklichkeitsbescheinigung” (innocuousness-certificate) from Ducati Germany for the following solutions:

Front Metzeler Sportec M3 130/70 ZR 16 (61W)
Back Metzeler Lasertec 150/80 VB 16 (71V)

Front Bridgestone BT016F 130/70 ZR 16 (61W)
Front Bridgestone BT045R 150/80 ZR 16 (71W)

Front Bridgestone BT016 130/70 ZR 16 (61W)
Back Metzeler Lasertec 150/80 VB 16 (71V)

Mr. Liedmann recommended that from performance would be the best with the Bridgestone(front)/Metzler(back) combination.

I hope that this will help you all keep your Paso running. But if anyone has a solution to get the original dimension I would be highly interested to know, because from visual point of view the PASO looks much better with the 60 tires than with the fat 70 and 80 diameter ones.

Best regards,
Pasomator

I would like to read a comment of Mr. Liedmann about the usage of a 150/80 on a 5" rim as no tire manufacturer recommends that.
Even Mr. Kaufmann the resposnable guy at Pirelli/Metzeler Germany was very surprised when I told him that Ducati had issued a document of compliance some time ago as he didn`t know about that and he would not have given any approval. He said if Ducati takes responsability for such an approval it`s their decision. Pirelli/Metzeler will not do so. Weird.
It will be interesting to read how the tires behave as in german Duc foums I read not so good comments about that size on the 750S. One guy specially complained that handling became rather odd as the tire stretches on the wide rim giving it a flatter profile.

What dealer did your conversion ?
greetings from Rosenheim

G.

Well!
The conversion was done at a Kawasaki dealer in Braunschweig, called “Popko”. He was Ducati dealer in the past and new the Paso very well. When he had a beer with one of my friends, he promised to get a solution with TÜV approval for me. That was the deal… so, I was lucky that it worked out. In the end I am very happy, that I can run my bike. I didn’t realise in the moment when I bought the bike, that the tires would be such big problem. If I would have known this, I would have bought a 907i.e. but I prefer the design with the smaller rims of the 750 and 906.
For the performance I won’t be very helpful. As you can see my Paso is the most modern and sporty bike in my garage… So, I am looking forward to start next week, when all the snow has gone… :-)

Greetings from Munich… :-)

I can confirm what paso 750 said. I talked to metzler for at least 1 hour. the responsible person (I can check his name if this is important for you) was very familiar with all the paso problems. Hi told me the following:
- resposibility regaring the 150/80 solution is now by ducati germany. they are very suprised and are not happy, because these tire are not made for a 5'' rim.
- the metzler 160/70 16 me 1 used to be a solution (not a real good one), but will not be produced again.
- he personally would always recommend a 180 / 60 with 130 / 70 solution. he mentioned, that this always means a combination from a sport front tire (made for the honda fireblade) with a cruiser tire. he told me, that the way such bikes (more than 20 years old) are driven today, this should not be much of a problem. performance on a race track might not be very good, but the said, that the tire design of the X59 is 25 years old and hence he doubt that this works so much better
- because the chain has to be tranfered for about 10 mm (this seems to work on a 906; however as far as I understood, there are more problems with the 750), he believes that there is more presure on the exit of the gear box which may cause some problem (bearing) some day in the future. As long as you are not driving with max. power too often, that still might last for quite a while. In addition, this solution is much better in respect to the looks of the bike

all the best, hardo