Avon AV72 Cobra 180/60-16: diameter 630mm, width 182mm
This is from the Avon website (on a reference 5.00" rim). The width corresponds to what I just measured on my bike.

Thanks paso750. So far we have:

Dunlop D250 183 x 615mm

Bridgestone G704 179 x 620mm

Avon AV72 182 x 630mm

Would still like to know dimensions and chain clearance on a Michelin please.

Thanks Colonial Boy

You real did a great job. I think this could be the solution for us 906 owners.

I am planing to go in this direction (180/60) next winter whenever my michelins are gone.

I will measure the size / clearance etc. next weekend and put it on the forum.

However, I guess this information is right:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=3905

160-60-16.....590mm high and 157mm wide

But I will doublecheck.

many greetings from Switzerland, hardo

For any UK 906 owners following this thread and thinking of going this route you may recall my earlier post regarding the supply of Dunlop D250's here in UK; my local tyre shop who specialise in tyres and support the BSB teams with rubber, informs me that his Dunlop contact states the D250 has been replaced by the D419 and is fitted as original equipment on some cruisers (Honda / Harley) so supply should be fine; he further stated that Dunlop have not made the D205 for over 2 years. The front Dunlop qualifier 130/70/16 is still being made and no problem re supply. The question now - is the D419 the same profile as the D250 in the same size(180/60/16)?? quoted £145 rear and £101.50 for front fitted / balanced etc.
His concern was the mixture of the two styles / types / compounds of tyres but as these are not full on race bikes i don't think it will be an issue but it would be nice to get some feedback from colonialboy when he finally hits the road with his new boots! cheers jon

I send a email to dunlop germany, they told me that the D 250 F had been produced for a while and production is not stopped. however, it is rather a tire for heavy tourers like the Goldwing 1800 and not sold in europe.

however, I could easily get the tire in germany or switzerland. e.g., i talked to these guys:

www.reifen-direkt.ch

and they said, they could deliver the D 250 F within 5 days. it is also listed online.

I also talked to metzler: the 160 / 70 16 is out of production and will not be produced again. In addition, they are not happy wit using a metzer 150 / 80 16, even though ducato germany gave a okay (this tire is made for a 4,5 rim). more or less dunlop and metzler (for the marathon 180/60) say the same thing: 180/60 tires from all manufactures are not particular made for a bike like a paso. however, giving the situation we have to face, 180/60 would be the better solution (compared to 150/80 16), differences in the brand type a rather smal. tests regarding a paso 906 or 750 ot 750 sport had not been made by the manufactures and hence it is up to the bikers and to the local vehicle inspection authory (or how it is called). however, the guy from metzler said, he personally belives that a set of new tires (130/70 16 and 180/60 16) would be better than using a tire profile like the Michelin which has been invented 25 years ago. In particular, if you do not want to do any special things (race track), such a combinations should be okay gibving the background, that our choises are very limited.

For german and swiss 906 paso fans: there is a 906 paso driver on www.duc-forum.de who got an okay from the german tüv for using a 180/60 avon. this ducument could be helpful when doing a conversion and you would like to get an approval. also the swiss mfk rather gives an okay if german authorities already said yes.

alls the best and keep on riding, hardo

there was a company here in Germany that did the 180/60 Avon conversion incl. TÜV approval already many years ago just as a sidenote.
Did you talk to Avon, too ?

thanks for the information; however, the Tüv approval could be helpful for me here in order to discuss with the people from the swiss MFK (like tüv in germany)

i did not talk to the people from avon. from your threads I got the impression that they are a bit more positive regarding Paso and two Avon tires. Still from the discussion with dunlop and metzler and from talking with two ducati dealers I rather got the feeling that non of this tires are really made for a paso, but it is still the best solution (better than using 2004 michelin for the next 100 years or using a 150/80 16). no company including avon did test a paso 906 with some 180/60 tires, hence we simpliy got no "empirical evidence" what is best.

the people I talked to rather told me that clearance issues are important (the Avon tire is very high, I do not like that too much because that could really cause additional problems: it is 15mm higher compared to the dunlop) and that you might push more pressure on the gear box when outspacing that part for 10mm. they told me that this is not really a problem, if you do not go on the power limit all the time.

do you know the company in germany that did the conversion?

I did ask because I was curious if you got the same feedback as I did longer ago which you basically got.
The height of the Avon is not an issue. If the excenter is in middle position you still have enough space in front. I had posted some pics.

The german company was:
Moto Helmut Thomé
Wersch 37
53804 Much
Tel. +49(0)2245-3850, Fax +49(0)2245-5275
That was back in 2002/2003 or so.

G.

thanks for the fat reply

i will ask avon and come back to you. it would be interesting to see if i get the ssame information.

regarding the size of the avon: i believe the rotation beviour at higher speed should be different and hence being close to the orignal size would be an advantage. you are right (i have seen your pictures, thanks!), front clerance to the swing arm should not be a problem.

in addtion: (side)stand and thinks like that should work better if the tire is not too high. in addition, a high tire like the 150/80 really chances the looks of the bike (ugly)

@ Colonial Boy

"Can anyone supply dimensions of the original Michelin and original chain clearance please?"

I did some measurements (based on my 906 Paso, 1990, original tires from 2004); I am only focussing the rear tire (because the front should not be much of a problem)

the 160 / 60 16 tire has the following size (approx.): diameter 585mm, width 164mm (acctualy different than I tought)

chain clearance is 10 mm

clearance tire to the side of the swingarm (minimum): side to the chain: 20mm; other side 23 mm

clearance to the front of te swingarm (min.) 25mm

the excenter is in the 6 o'clock position

distance between rear sprocket ans swingarm 13 mm; with the caps max. 10 mm (cf. your thread with the pictures)

with the dunlop D 250 F we should get no problem to the side of the swingarm (10mm should be left)

also 10 mm to the front of the swingarm (in the 6 o'clock position); this is a little bit narrow since the tire may get widder (max 5 mm) at high speed - moving the excenter could be a choice

between chain and wheel should be at least 5mm; hence, front and rear sprocket need to be set to te left for min. 5 mm (I think at max., 10 mm are possible with the 906 paso), I would go for 8 mm)

the bike will be higher for 15 mm (with the excenter in the 6 o'clock position); I do not expect the bike to stand save on the central st. (but that is not a real problem)

I am very curious to here how the dunlops behave on a 906 paso. If it feels okay, I will go te same path.....

All the best + keep on riding + many greetings from Switzerland, hardo

Thanks Hardo - your information is very useful for comparisons to 180/60/16s.

I apologise for not having the information on how the bike feels with both Dunlops fitted. I am still doing restoration and repair work while the bike is dismantled (and riding my other bikes instead!).

As mentioned in a previous topic, I rode the 906 for 15kms with the rear Dunlop fitted and original front Michelin. It felt stable so I rode to 120kph. I was testing to see if the tyre would grow and rub but there was no evidence of this. I too will be interested to see how the bike turns in and exits corners with Dunlop front too.

When it is assembled, my first ride will be to a garage who is certified to issue a Warrant of Fitness. This is a 6 monthly safety check. The inspector is a motorcyclist of many years riding who has experience with Pasos and has a fondness for them. His opinion on its handling will be of much more value than mine.

All the best from NZ, CB.

I fitted the Bridgestones just before taking part in a track day at Philip Island last year. 190 kph was the fastest I could get it up to down Gardner Straight. It felt very stable at that speed as well as through the corners, the steering felt good.It did however highlight to me just how bad the brakes are on these wonderful machines.
Had a great time though.