Car tire with the most room under st1300

Question. If 170/60ZR - 17 is the standard size for the rear, why do we push it to 205 and then worry about clearance issues and/or sanding down the edges? Wouldn't a 195 in the General Altima suffice? Only asking since I'm ready to place an order with Tire Rack

TIA

If you can find a 195 that will fit the ST1300 let me know!

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195 would be wonderful if someone made it.

145/70R17 (available) is probably just a hair under the OEM size.
155/70R17 (available) is just a hair bigger the the typical C/T we use and would get the speedometer closer to correct.

Unfortunately, the 155 and the 145 are only available as a temporary spare - very little tread and questionable speed rating.

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Like several have done here... I too went dark. Also went with the General Altimax RT43. Amazed that it fit. Took the bike out for a bit tonight. Definitely can feel the squirm at 32PSI. I'll even get around to putting a beefier rear tire on the front but for now I still have enough of tread. Thanks for this thread!

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greg_in_npvl said:

Definitely can feel the squirm at 32PSI.

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Haven't tried the Altimax.
I could feel the Hankook squirm at 32, bringing up pressure took out the squirm but then gave uneven tire wear.

ST-V4ever said:

If you can find a 195 that will fit the ST1300 let me know!

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What about a 195-45-17? It's a little lower profile. They are available here in NZ.

So darkside nube questions: What are the "twitch" and sidewall flex on tip-in/tip-out that have been mentioned? Is it related to leaning the bike and having the tire up more on an edge vs the roundedness of an MC tire? I'm aware a car tire isn't designed to incurr the forces in the same way a MC tire is.

[QUOTE="ST-V4ever, post: 2021387, member: 38514"
Also, you should go with Bridgestone Battlax BT45 on the front (130/70 -18) - it helps the handling. Its a MC tire made for the rear, so it has deeper tread - so it will last as long as the rear Car Tire.

It's good to know the BT-45 in 130/70-18 fits on the ST! I wore out 8 of those on my 2003 GL1800 before It got totaled last Oct. I still have one hanging in the garage with lots of miles left.

I was getting about 15-20K miles on them on the Wing. What do you get on them on the ST?

Tct said:

Thanks for the info st-v. Did you put the battle on backwards or same as back.

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I wore out 8 BT-45's on my GL1800 mounting them both ways and never found much difference in handling, feeling, cupping or wear.

Universal (front/rear) tires always specify reversed direction between front and rear, so I would do it that way.