Changing the Shiver's rear rubber...

[Hitcher]

I own an Aprilia SL750 Shiver. I ride like a nana. I have no chicken strips whatsoever on the rear 180/55 17.

So I've been musing...

Should I change my rear to a 190/50 17?

"Goodness me, Hitcher. Why are you thinking of doing that?"

Well, I reckon that the extra width could give me the luxury of some chicken strips; the 50 profile wouldn't materially alter my gearing; and as the Shiver has a 6" rear rim, then fitment shouldn't be an issue. The 190 rear may even sharpen what is already razor-like steering precision.

What have I overlooked in this scenario?

[The Pastor]

try it and see?

[riffer]

What's recommended fitment?

What's the experience of those on the prilla forums?

I don't reckon wider tyres make you corner quicker unless you're prepared to push harder on the bars.

I'd avoid it. But that's just me. I hate what it does to front tyres (massive chicken strips).

[oldrider]

I own an Aprilia SL750 Shiver. I ride like a nana. I have no chicken strips whatsoever on the rear 180/55 17.

So I've been musing...

Should I change my rear to a 190/50 17?

"Goodness me, Hitcher. Why are you thinking of doing that?"

Well, I reckon that the extra width could give me the luxury of some chicken strips; the 50 profile wouldn't materially alter my gearing; and as the Shiver has a 6" rear rim, then fitment shouldn't be an issue. The 190 rear may even sharpen what is already razor-like steering precision.

What have I overlooked in this scenario?

Price? What's the difference in price and continuity of supply?

Nothing worse than finding a nice tyre combination only to find they stop making them!

[AllanB]

My what a big rear rim you have on the 750 Mr H!

The theory is it will slow down the steering a tad - personally for 'reasonable' street riding (ie not friggen flat out like a mad bugger) I suspect you'll notice b-all difference.

I had a GS1200ss that came stock with a 170 rear - common practice was to go to a 180 (more choices and cheaper), rim size was fine for a 180. I went to the 180, and other than looking spunkier I noticed zero difference.

Also with the kms you do if you don't like it much it will be stuffed in three months!

[F5 Dave]

So you have no chicken strips. (Actually I could go some chicken strips at the moment. Feels like lunchtime & chicken-strips sounds like a lunchtime meal).

Why is this bothering you? Do you intend to change your riding style so that you will be leaning a 'lot' more than you do now hence might 'ride off the edge of the tyre?'

Not really huh?



Leave the 'musing' to pretty young things hanging off terribly ar-tees-tic drug induced suicidal poets.

[James Deuce]

Mr F5Dave has some cool pain relief I think.

Short answer. Naaaah, not worth it. Might turn it into a hard to steer, tramlining pain in the neck. Probably won't be an issue given the Shiver has a 6in wide rear wheel, however it was designed with a 180 in mind.

Try shifting your weight a couple of inches in the seat to the side and forward on the inside of the corner you are negotiating. You won't have to lean as far at the same speed as a consequence.

[Blackbird]

Hey Brett - what sort of rubber are you thinking of putting on? With our mutual approval of Avons, I've got a set of the new Avon VP2 Sports tyres on at present to evaluate, (only 500k so far). If you thought the Storms were good, these are a whole world better being a dual compound sport. Both wet and dry grip is amazing. The only concern on the 'bird is whether the rear will last long but on the Shiver, you haven't got as much weight.

G

[SPman]

Shiver me timbers, lad - you actually "want" chicken strips!



That's heresy in some parts..........

[Morcs]

190 50 is better on a 6'' rim. go for it.

[pritch]

Kevin Cameron's "Sport Bike Performance Handbook" (all that from memory I don't have it with me) counsels against bigger than standard rubber. He even includes a nice little diagram to show how it can actually reduce the size of the contact patch.

Then again, like a lot of other things to do with tyres, there are many on KB who have better knowledge or qualifications than the engineers - apparently.

[Gremlin]

Remember that even tyres of the same size will have different profiles. Some will have a sudden drop off at the edge of the tyre, others will curve smoothly to the edge.

The different brands and models do also vary in which tyre reaches the edge first. I remember a mates zxr400. His front tyre had no chicken strips, and it would have been impossible to get to the edge of the rear.

Ultimately, are you happy with the current tyres? Did they last a reasonable time, did you like their grip etc. If you're happy, why change? Lack of chicken strips isn't too much of a major, unless you're actually running off the edge of the tyre?

[jrandom]

Taupo. Trackdays. You'll learn to corner betterer. Body movin', get your body movin', etc. It'll be awesome. Do it already! See you there Saturday 17 October?

And I don't think fitting out-of-spec rubber is a particularly great idea. Stick with 180/55s. If anything, like the others say, a 190/50 will turn the Shiver wallowy.

[Hitcher]

Hey Brett - what sort of rubber are you thinking of putting on? With our mutual approval of Avons, I've got a set of the new Avon VP2 Sports tyres on at present to evaluate, (only 500k so far). If you thought the Storms were good, these are a whole world better being a dual compound sport. Both wet and dry grip is amazing. The only concern on the 'bird is whether the rear will last long but on the Shiver, you haven't got as much weight.

Hmmm. Interesting. The Shiver runs beautifully on Storms, but I could be up for a look at these.

Thanks everybody for the feedback. I too generally counsel people against fitting tyres that the manufacturer doesn't fit, but I was just musing.

Will shifting my weight on the seat really stop me running out over the outside edge on my rear? And will such antics make my piles bleed?

[erik]

If you want chicken strips, you don't necessarily want a wider tyre, you want one with a sharper angle at the edge (that goes round further).
I had a 150/70-17 GT501 on my bandit and was getting right to the edge on the back, actually I think I rolled off the edge a couple of times at track days at Taupo, resulting in sudden lowsides both times. If my understanding of what happened is right, it seems rolling off the edge of a tyre results in a more sudden and harder to recover loss of traction than losing grip through giving it too much throttle. Changing to a same sized Sport Demon gave me some chicken strips back.
El Dopa's come off his Triumph a couple of times at Taupo also and it looked like he was getting right to the edge of his rear tyre which makes me wonder if the same thing happened to him.
I've changed the front tyre on my SV650 to a 120/70-17 instead of a 120/60-17 (standard fitment) to give me more chicken strips on the front (although I went from a Diablo to a Diablo Rosso, so tyre profiles might've helped too).
I'm wary of no chicken strips.