Tyre choice

TStanb

TStanb

Full member
Hi, I'm new.
The tyres on my 1979 180 Jota are both Continental 120/90V18 Rear and 110/80V18 Front.
Unless it's me, they feel very scary going over cat's eyes.
Are the tyres.....incorrectly sized, too old and hard, the wrong make, or a combination of all three?
Please can you old Laverda sages recommend your preferences?
Many thanks,
Tim
 
TStanb said:
The tyres on my 1979 180 Jota are both Continental 120/90V18 Rear and 110/80V18 Front.
Unless it's me, they feel very scary going over cat's eyes.
Are the tyres.....incorrectly sized, too old and hard, the wrong make, or a combination of all three?
Please can you old Laverda sages recommend your preferences?
Click to expand...

Welcome, Tim.

I've never gotten on well with Continental bike tyres... on the other hand, their car tyres are fantastic!

Check the sidewall for DOT no. and age, might explain a thing or 2.

Size is OK, but personally I'd go for a 100/90 at the front.

For normal road use, try Bridgestone BT45s, you'll never look back!

piet

 
Thanks Piet.
I've extrapolated all the markings I can from the tyres and they are....

TKV 11 FRONT  DOT CPXE  064  110/80 V 18
TKV 12 REAR    DOT CPID  414  120/90 V 18

Is this any use?

Cheers
Tim
 
Here's how to interpret the three digit code - whether or not there is a triangle after the code, your tyres are (far) too old.  Replace them.

The three-digit code was used for tyres manufactured before 2000. So for example 1 7 6 means it was manufactured in the 17th week of 6th year of the 1980 decade. For tyres manufactured in the 90's, the same code holds true but there is a little triangle after the DOT code. After 2000, the code was switched to a 4-digit code with the last two digits indicating year.
 
Thanks for that. I bought the bike in 2006 but have not ridden it much until this year. I don't think it got much riding before that either and the tread patterns do look a little old fashioned!

So they are from 1994 then!  Ooeer!

Piet, why do you prefer the 100/90 to the 110/80 on the front or is it just a "feel" thing?
 
get rid of old tires asap. This year in SPA, a Belgium (or french?) 750SFC Owner droped his bike in La Source due to 15 years old tires. He said to me when i asked him what happened and after I looked at the DOT numbers: "I thought about changing them before SPA, but then I thought they are still good enough for some rounds."  expensive savings, as we say here...
 
TStanb said:
Piet, why do you prefer the 100/90 to the 110/80 on the front or is it just a "feel" thing?
Click to expand...

The 110/80 is more suited to a wider rim, at least a 2.75", 3.00" would be better.  Tyre profile is too "round", you'll never be able to use half of the tread... after all, you paid for all of it! 

The narrow 2.15" stock front rim suits the 100/90 far better, tyre profile is more usable, you won't find much of a "chicken strip" after spirited riding.  Not much difference in actual diameter, so not much difference in handling to be expected.

I currently have a 110/80 on the front of my RGS, fitted to a 2.50" rim.  Had it laying around so decided just to use it up, definitely not a tyre of choice.  Does not work very well and wore extremely quickly, perhaps because the contact patch is smaller than that of the 100/90?

piet
 
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