Hitchcocks Forum

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17 x 3.25 tyres

Kevin may new tyres as I have so far forgotten to check the age of the installed ones. The trouble is, he has 17 inch rims.










Crying a river here. The choice seems to be Avon Speed Masters, or unbelievably, something made in Shandong, China of which the minimum order is 2000, and even worse, they can also sell me something called a "GOOD LUCK TUBE FOR MOTORCYCLE 3.00/3.25-17" to go inside it. Just the name is worrying the hell out of me!



Somebody please tell me that there is more choice than that, and that I have just not found it yet. I am trying for something that would be in keeping for a somewhat refined 1959 RE, NOT a set of 'ton-up flash burn-ups' please.



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REOC 15084

Tabellarius de verbis. Ostensor gaudium

Hi



well the world has moved on a bit since Avon brought out the Speedmaster and Safety Mileage MkIIs, but sadly no-one has thought to make performance 17" tyres in a narrow enough section for '59 on Meteor Minors Bullets, Clippers or BSA C15s.



If the Avons don't float your boat, I did find these universals on ebay from the Stourbridge Motorcycle Centre:



http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/C180-3-25x17- ... SwHQ9WZEQY



but you would have to check with them about ratings, in more modern tyre terms I guess you'd want the equivalent of an "S" rated tyre.



Or there are these universal K70 lookalikes from Cheng Shin, a bit cheaper, from a dealers in Cornwall:



ay.co.uk/itm/Triumph-Tiger-Cub-Bsa-C15-Etc-3-25x17-3-25-17-Tyre-Free-Uk-Postage-/281725682108?hash=item419828c1bc:g:RMIAAOSwRLZUKaAD



You'd think our hosts would stock 17x3.25 tyres as various '59 on RE models used them.



If there is enough clearance under mudguards and around the swinging arm you could get a spare set of hubs laced up with 18" rims (flanged alloy would look nice!), and find your choice of tyres has improved considerably, while keeping the original wheels to one side for originality's sake.



Should I ever get around to restoring my '59 Clipper, it's definitely getting a 19" rim on the front and an 18" at the rear.



A.

Hi Scaly, only a year or so ago, I put new Continental tyres on, suitably enough, a 250 Continental GT, with 18" front and 17" rear wheels. I don't have that bike now, but I think the tyres were 3.25 front and 3.50 section on the rear. We bought the tyres from M&P, Swansea. They do mail order, if this helps. Regards, Paul.

These are they ... http://blobs.continental-tires.com/www8 ... 5-data.pdf

Thanks Paul, they are nice but I am not sure about the looks. Our hosts do the Avon SM of course... I havn't had any problems on them, and I have been off roading on them! ho ho ho!



well thanks all for you ideas. That cheng shin tyre might be ok, Anybody have them on their bike?

Thanks Adrian, too. Will have to check if the current ones have date codes, otherwise check them very carefully.

Tyre sizes are a bit of a can of worms. First we have to go metric but the rims haven't changed, they're the same diameter in inches. 3.25 appears to be a 90/90, its also a '360'. A 3.50 is a '410' which will be around 110/80 or 110/90 thereabouts. Dunlop list a huge number of tyre sizes here http://www.dunlop.eu/dunlop_euen/mc/tyr ... 0ar&rim=17 but that's only one type of tyre.

Don't believe the skidmaster tag it's just like the oilfield, Avon use a modern compound to make them now and the rear profile is more rounded than it used to be. I use them on my Super Meteor and my tuned B31, they are a darned good tyre you can wear the footrest ends down in the twisties with no fear of slipping.

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Tornado seems to be ok on Avon's and they are both solid motorcycles. I really don't think there will be a problem with them.


Thunderbolt had those universal trials tyres which were knobbly, and rode a little unusual until you got used to them. The knobblies would bend, making it seem like you were cornering on nearly flats, but I had no problem with that although others on here, Sofiaspin with a Woodsman and same tyres gave up on them.

Also the Chinese stated 50% latex in their Shin Guard tyres, I have no idea if that is normal?



I guess I will go for the Avons! Will be interesting with a suitcase, a large bergen (Backpack) and two tyres on the Eurostar! I should check to see if they have them in France!







Avons are ok for skid stopping a bullet on shale, although this manouver is not recommended!







REOC 15084

Tabellarius de verbis. Ostensor gaudium

You could always get your tyres shipped over to Europe from the UK.