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Cafe racer wheel / tyre sizes

G

guzzirider

Cruisin' Guzzisti
Joined
Nov 2, 2008
Messages
160
I am slowly turning my Jackal into a alloy tanked cafe racer and am planning to get the wheels rebuilt with new alloy rims and stainless spokes. The Jackal is a fine handling bike for a cruiser, but I am looking for slightly quicker steering and plenty of ground clearance.

The current rear wheel on the Jackal is 17 inches in diameter, with a tyre size of 140/80 17. I am planning to get the rear rebuilt with a bigger 18 inch rim to give her that classic Guzzi sports bike feel.

Because I am looking for grippy rubber, I will probably go for Pirelli Sport Demons, and with the new wheel diameter, the tyre size would be 140/70 18, a lightly lower profile but overall the rear of the bike will sit higher. Would I maybe be better off with a skinnier 130/80, which will give a higher profile?

The front will remain 110/90 18.

I am getting forks rebuilt with completely new internals by Maxton, and have already fitted Hagon Nitro rear shocks.

I would appreciate any comments or advice before I take my wheels in to be rebuilt.

Thanks in anticipation.

Guy
 
Guy a 30 sec stint on a calculator tells me the tyre section hight of a 140/70 is 98mm and a 130/80 is 104mm. So the ride hight would be 6mm higher on the 130/80 if the real sizes are used by the manufacturer (which they often are not).
You are just as likely to get that much difference between brands though here in Oz tyre sizes in 18" is very limited

Sounds interesting

Kym
 
After thought....Try a lower profile on the front maybe110/80 or 110/70 if they have them. My TRX turns a bit sharper with the 120/60 over the 120/70 and much better with the fork tubes pushed through the 3 clamps
 
Thanks for the reply- yes I was thinking about going for a lower profile front. I want to get the right mixture of fast steering with high stability so I'm not sure at the moment.

I wonder if anyone out there has played around with the difefrent sizes?

Cheers

Guy
 
Guzzirider,
I ride a 2000 Jackal , I`m running a 110/80 18 dunlop 205 in the front with the forks raised about 18mm above the top tree. The rear tire is a 140/80 17 with progressive shocks. The bike handles very quickly, it`s much sportier and high speed stability is excellent. It truly is a wolf in sheeps`s clothing.
If you go 18 inch in the rear, consider also the changes to your gearing. Guzzi put a 4.125 rear gear combo on your bike to compensate for the shorter 17inch rear wheel. With an 18 inch hoop, your gearing will likely be noticeably taller , giving you potentially faster top speed, but slowing your acceleration. I like the way the bike handles with the 17inch , 5th is already like an overdrive, personally, I wouldn`t change it. I have 3 other sporting tontis with 18 inchers to compare to, the Jackal smokes them all, even with the longer swingarm. Enjoy your project, sounds cool ! Cheers, Bill R.
 
5154Guzzi wrote:
Guzzirider,
I ride a 2000 Jackal , I`m running a 110/80 18 dunlop 205 in the front with the forks raised about 18mm above the top tree.
Click to expand...

Just something to think about. Apparently Dunlop has discontinued the 205 in 110/80 18 Ive been trying to get one for three weeks now. :S
 
This D205 rumor circulates once/year. I'll find out from Dunlop direct.
 
Thanks Bill- I had not thought about the gearing but of course it will make a difference. Just had a quote for the wheel rebuild- going to go ahead with it in January after my tank and bodywork have been fabricated.

I may go with the lower profile front like yourself- I guess half the fun of trying new things is seeing how it works out.

So many jobs to do........
 
Hello We are both doing something similar. I am putting together a roadster out of a LM4, California 3 and a LM3. I am trying to figuire out how to put an 18 2.5 rim on the back; 17 3.5 now. I am going to put a 18 or 17 2.15 on the front. If you would like to talk about the problems PM your contact info, maybe we could help each other

THX Robin
 
Here`s a few notes that may or may not help....

Last week I pulled my Jackal`s stock rear wheel off and stuck a mark 4 wheel on there , just to see what alignment issues there were. The spacer that is lightly pressed into the Jackal rear end would need to be knocked out and either substituted or trimmed in a lathe as it left a gap between the wheel and the drive and left maybe only 50 % of the teeth to engage the splines.

I run a Jackal swingarm on the racebike`s lemans 4 chassis and the stock mark 4 wheel fits perfect in there with the older style rear drive, a convert in this case. Also use the mark 4 caliper mount and a floating disc from the front mark 4 wheel.

Borrowed a later model 4.125 rear drive from Mark Etheridge from the illuminator, maybe 2003 ? It is a bit wider than the Jackal and when mounted on the racebike`s Jackal swingarm would only let my skinny, shorter 120 tire to squeeze thru not the other 130/80/18
that I run. hope this is useful info for you guys, Bill R.
 
I just fit checked a wheel from a cali 1100 carburated model about 1994. The 17" disk break rear wheel into a LM4, it seemed to fit perfectly and has the correct size disk for the LM4 caliper and mount. It is a 17x 3.5" and looks like lots of room. I am sure a 140 on a 18" would fitbecause it had a 130-80 on the 18" LM4 wheel with maybe a 1/4 inch clearance. I cannot find an 18x3.0 rim for the wire wheel which is what I want to use. WM5 is not a popular size any more goes from wm4 to wm6. Bummer. The LM4 final drive is tall already so a 3.5 18" rear would make it taller yet. Not sure what to do. Low profile on a 18 or high profile on a 17 ???
 
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