Has any one tried a 190/55ZR17 in place of the stock 190/50ZR17 rear tire on their 14 and how did it handle? I'm trying to stock up on spare tires and having one tire that fits the rear on all my bikes would sure simplify things.

definite improvement but still not quite right. my next tyre will be the 180/55. I did that a while ago on my Yamaha R1 (switched 190/55 for a 180/55) and it was perfect. Strongly recommend the 180/55 as a standard

Russty

The 180/55 is designed to fit a 5.5" rear wheel, mounting it on a 6" wheel results in flattening the profile a bit.
The 190/55 also has significantly more side wall than the 180/55- if you see tires used on the track
the bubbles are usually pushed way outside of the tire lip and on the 190/55 (or 190/60) you might even not
see wear all the way to the edge, especially pronounced on a narrower 5.5" wheel.
I would rather have a larger lean and drive rubber contact patch with the significant power that the 14 makes.
I had the oem 190/50 rear on mine for about a week and hated it unconditionally.
You can't pay me to put a 190/50 rear on any motorcycle. The profile of that tire has been left behind
and forgotten awhile back.

I would go only 190/55 on a 6" wheel and it would be arbitrary b/n 180/55 and 190/55 on a 5.5" wheel IMHO.

You can't pay me to put a 190/50 rear on any motorcycle. The profile of that tire has been left behind
and forgotten awhile back.

If you enjoy cornering your 14, once you go 190/55, you won't go back. You will notice immediatally the profile difference. You feel the bike "drop in" much quicker. You also get the added benefit of increased rear ride height (quicker steering) and larger contact patch on edge (at lean.) Remember, you'll need to compensate with a +1 rear gearing change to be back at previous overall gearing ratio.

Remember, you'll need to compensate with a +1 rear gearing change to be back at previous overall gearing ratio.

I'll try the 190/55 on my 14 and CBR and leave the gearing alone. Actually, that change in overall gearing might not be a bad thing as it would tend to partially correct the speedometer error on these bikes.

* Last updated by: Kruz on 8/18/2010 @ 7:21 AM *

The speedo will be on the money (never GPSed it but I can tell from pacing other traffic I'll get 65 mph highway). I imagine there is a small dif in power delivery since the motor needs to turn a larger diameter tire. It is also a larger tire, overall and that has to be a bit heavier. I have never noticed any change in power of the bike since changing to a 55. It's only a 5.5mm increase to tire radius. I noticed the cornering improvement even at very low speed but I do not recall having the impression that the bike lost any get up and go.

As the tire wears down on the center, the speedo starts going back to stock error.

Don't bother staying with stock gearing. if the bike can't pull redline in top gear, the gearing is too tall. virtually all stock bikes come this way.
I think most riders base their bikes on a front -1, rear +2 or 3 set-up. stock front and +1 thru whatever rears fill out their kits.
Stock gearing and a 190/50 rear tire is certainly a waste IMHO.

^^^For hot & heavy sport riding maybe but i don't know about touring. Lots of extra gas used and higher rpm cruising.

High rpms are my thrill zone.
For a commuter bike and/or high mileage touring,
oem gearing might just be spot on, much like almost everything else oem on the 14.

Question for you guys. I getting ready to get to new set of tires for the 14 and I've been looking over the forum at all the tire threads and I'm totally sold on going from a 190/50 to a 190/55 but what brand of tires do you guys run?

Out of all the bikes I have the 14 is the only sport bike I ride my girl on. So I deed advice from you all.

* Last updated by: Black1 on 8/18/2010 @ 9:49 PM *

I may be in a minority here but I've gone to BT-016s on everything I own. I can't say one bad thing about them, steering is light and nuetral, turn in is sharp without being nervous and they offer tons of grip especially when leaned way over. I have not had one scary moment on these tires, cannot say the same thing about BT-014s and Dunflops.

i love the 016 and tend to put them on everything, but i have to say ive just put a set of pirelli corsa 3 on the superduke and they are brilliant, maybe they just suit a lighter biker coz they squirmed all over the place when i had them on the 14!
for my trip to the pyrenees i put the new pilot pures on but i dont think they are as good so im going back to the 016 next! i might try the 190/55 to see what difference it makes!

I run the pilot road 2's and highly recommend them.

Those are the two top contenders. Pilot Road and BT016. I've been happy with BT 016s but I
ll try Pilot Roads next time if they are cheaper.

http://www.zx14ninjaforums.com/messages.cfm?threadid=8440C675-1372-66AE-3B74400EFE77D4F4

Mass,

That's interesting about the rim sizes. I experienced this difference (190/50->180/55) on a 1998 Yam R1. I can't find any data on its rim width. But the difference in tyre profile was profound. When I got the ZX I switch to a 190/55 hoping for similar results and only made a modest improvement. It's better but still not right.

Has anyone tried the 190/60? Does it even fit?

fwiw, I only use Pirelli now. I've tried others (oem) and always love Pirelli. These things are too expensive to be bothered experimenting with others. I am using the Corsa III as it is a dual compound rear, with harder rubber when upright and chewing gum sides :)

Has anyone tried the 190/60? Does it even fit?

That's race rubber. It will fit well on a 6" wheel though.

I only use Pirelli now

At the track- Pirelli slicks and race dot only, although a very costly preference.
Michelin for street is the other choice, Pure being the best overall tire IMHO.
For both street and track duty I'd say bt003rs race dot, more track and far less street that is.

I usually run a bt016 195/55.... has been a great tire... better than the crappy stoker.
Only problem with the 016 is tire wear.... gives up the ghost for me around 2700 miles... both front and rear.

Switched over to pilot road, feels great.

As far as the 55 vs 50, you'll love the 55 for the turn-in, awesome!

I've got the BT-016s on the ZX-6R, the 10R, the 14R and the CBR and so far I haven't worn one out. Punched holes in a couple with road debris but juries still out on how long they last. The OEM -016 on the 10R has 1700 miles and the center is holding up well. I doubt I'll get 3000 miles but maybe 2500. My Last Dunnie was smoked in 1900 miles by comparison and didn't have near the side grip at full lean.

Well, I have ~5000 on my rear and looks like there is another 500-1000 miles to go. Front has 8000 miles and is just about on ware markers.

Well, I have ~5000 on my rear and looks like there is another 500-1000 miles to go. Front has 8000 miles and is just about on ware markers.

So is everyone who is running the 190/55 on the back also changing the gearing? And if so is it just +1 for street?

I still have stockgearing and haven't noticed the accelleration to have reduced at all. Ask Kruz. he'll be chaging to 55s on a 3 of his bikes soon.

I stayed with original gearing. love the long legs and infrequent gear changes. Its got plenty of grunt for my needs. Any improvements will come from tuning. First step is to sync the butterflies, then mess with the PC. dunno when that'll happen yet

^^Sidenote for russty: I also have an 08 flies out. Just accepted my first fuel trims from Autotune. Smoothed the take off out very nicely. Idle through 3500 rpm range feels right. No burst at 3500. As I suspected, the increased air from flies out required an increase in fuel at low rpm.