Well since I got the bike last weekend have spent quite a lot of time reading articles here regarding replacement tyres as my 1999 michelins, while black, round and with plenty of tread, are horrid to corner on. I'd welcome anyones advice on this, to check that i am seeing things correctly!

Discounting a 17" wheel conversion at this point in time, it appears there is one real option for the front and three possibilites for the rear

Front - fit a 130/70 tyre and raise the mudguard

Rear

1) fit a 150/80 designed for a narrower rim and live live with the almost vertical side wall and potential rapid drop off the edge, accepting that there might be mounting problems to get the beadds to fit the rim

2) fit a 180/60 and use spacers to move both front and rear sprockets out a bit to clear the tyre. Somne references to this in postings sound like it is a simple job, others make it sound very complex

3) fit and 180/60 and shave the side wall of tyre to give adequate chain clearance

It would seem that some tyre brands are wider/higher than others so choice of tyre make here might be crucial

Option 3 seems to be the most straightforward, or am I missing something? The German recommednation by Avon is for option 1. Does anyone have any clear pics of a shaved tyre to show how it looks once done?

Any advice VERY gratefully accepted, especially if you live in the South East of England and can point me in the direction of tyre supplier or mechanic who can help with the different options

Graeme

Hello

personally I'd not be too bothered about the drop off the sidewall as frankly if you've got it that far over I'm pretty sure there'll be a stand on the deck first or even the exhaust system (got mine down before 2 up).

The best tyre place I've ever found is motorcycle tyres UK - also known as motocare just off junction 28 of the M25 in Harold Wood. What Del doesn't know about black round things isn't worth knowing. I've not taxed him with the Paso problem but they are all a nice bunch in there

Getting the tire to mount shouldn't be too much of a problem either as effectively you are doing the old drag racer trick just not so extreme (those guys regularly go down 3 or 4 sizes and up a rim width to get a tyre profile thats effectivley flat in the street based classes (where they can't run slicks) Whilst they may not trouble the tyre going around conrers they sure as hell load it up when the christmas tree lights go out !

Thanks for the info. Is particularly useful to hear from someone who has actually ridden the 150/80 option. I think I've had it easy up to know on the Beemer.. Fit Bridgestones, ride them until they wear out, fit more Bridgestones... 5 years of being a no-brainer Did you have to do any spacer/chain mods at all when you fitted that size?

I converted my rearwheel to 150/80 last summer.

Had to do the following modifications to the original in order to have enough room for the wheel to rotate and still be able to adjust the tightness of the chain.

- Buy a longer chain (108 links instead on 106)
- Buy a bigger rear sprocket (40 teeth instead of 38)

I think it was a real upgrade to the bike to get fresh tyres, instead of the worn-out and hardened old michelins in any case. Rideability is fine for me, haven´t had any problems with the new tyre size.

http://public.fotki.com/loki1957/1987-ducati-paso/

Here are some pic's of my new tires. There are 2 that show the side wall ground.

Hi Loki

Thanks for the info and the pics (bike looks great!) It doesnt look as though you had to grind too much off side wall to get the tyre to fit

Graeme

To be fair aswell up 2 teeth in the back is no bad mod anyway as the 750 is a little over geared at best!

the fit with the avon azaro av 45 / 46 is very easy:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4463

i think it is a very good combination.

all the best, hardo

I fitted a 180x60 x16 Mettzler in january we didnt change anything had enough clearance and chain lenght to fit We chose the metzler because it was all that I could get in adelaide when I needed it "alsowas told they are very narrow for their sizes"
I had read here about all these adjusments etc and the tyre guy just fitted it to see what we needed to do. turns out nothing was needed. We dont have MOT inspections here so minimum clearance doesnt apply
was talking to another paso owner yesterday running a dunlop 180 his just touches the chain and he had to grind the chain guard slightly
we both think they are not very grippy good for cruising both tyres are for honda goldwings
I dropped the bike 4weeks ago and am thinking about the 17 " option but it sems an expensive exercise given the value of pasos
so i might park it and a ST2 and do it as a project
PS the dropping was not the tyres fault a piece of metal flicked up and jammed my wheel and fork cracking the fork leg and dumping me.

Please add your location to your profile that will make it easier to help !
I recommend none of both, specially not a 13 tooth sprocket.
Finding bigger rear sprockets is not so difficult.
Here`s one if you`re in the US:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/JT-Rear- ... ccessories