I know there has been a lot of talk about using the 5.0" VFR750 real wheel. Today I got a track bike and it has this:



It is a 5.5" VFR wheel (might be from an 800). It is wearing a 165/55 Metzeler Racetek slick.

The chain and swing arm clearance looks fine:



So what is the issue with 5.5" rims?

Also, I have heard these tyres described as being for motards. What is the relevance of that? Profile?

Many thanks.

motards are for sliding like fuck while turning round corners i think?

Thats a VFR800 rim so it will be 5.5" designed to run a 180/55/17 so fitting a 160 to it is a bit risky if you ask me, your not the first ive seen using one though.

Read it properly.

The tyre is a 165/55R17 is a trackday (non-road) slick tyre.

The Metzler 165/55 is designed for a 5.5" rim so its perfectly fine on the chosen wheel.

The racing tyre is obviously no good on a public road. If your not planning on using it for the road then fitting 165/55 slicks sounds like the way to go.

Fitting standard profile street tyres might cause you some issues.

I presume the bike has been converted to 520 width chain and sprockets too?

160/70*17
170/60*17 4.00/4.50/5.00/5.50
180/55*17

These are standard tyres that SHOULD fit the rear 5.5 but check with mfg if changing that they are approved first, and your mileage may vary between brands, some may have a slightly different shape.

I seem to remember somebody using a 160/60/17 on a stock RVF rim and having chain issues with one brand of tyre and no issues with a different brand...

Ah its 4:30 am and im an hour and a half from finishing a 12 hour shift so thats my excuse for not reading properly, i wasnt aware a 165 was safe enough to fit on a 5.5 rim i seem to remember Alex changed the tyres on his PVM's because 170 was the minimum size. Didnt realise 165/55 slicks would be fine however.

Bump.

So nobody out there used a 165 'motard' slick on a 5.5" rim for racing?

The local Bridgestone guy says their 160 is for motards and "would not be pleasant" on an nc30, so I have my suspicions about motard slicks.

I am interested because the track bike I just bought has some quite trick bits and, although a bit aged and left-out-the-back-of-a-farm-shed looking, was obviously once used by someone that wanted to go fast and spent some decent cash on it. The spares I got with it included more needles/jets/sprockets/etc than I have ever seen in my life, it has a custom exhaust (I think) and custom rear sub-frame which lifts the seat and tank by 20mm (but does change rake/trail), VFR750 and 520 conversion, blah de blah.

So ... hence the 5.5" intrigue.

Greg.

Ive never seen the problem with all this talk of 5.5" rear rims, all NC aftermarket mags PVM/dymag etc are 5.5" are they not? and they all run 160 tyres with no problems.

As for the motard slicks, these work well on 400's http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/16-63-17-Mich ... 51a0e1650b

Drunkn Munky wrote:Ive never seen the problem with all this talk of 5.5" rear rims

The issue might be more with the tyres that'll fit. The motard tyres seem to have a different profile. dunno, but now I have a VFR 800 5.5" with a barely-used 165 slick on it. So, I'll do a swapsie of the VFR rear wheel conversion onto my race bike and, as they say, I'll "suck it and see" I guess.

Most 160 tyres will fit ok, even on the 4.5rim

a 165 racing slick is designed for a 5.5" rim (also most commonly a 17" rim) so the VFR wheel was the cheaper option than some magnesium after-market ones.

With the 5.5" wheel you can also mount a 170/180/190 tyre.

It is wider than 160 tyres like 170/180 that will hit the chain for sure.

Even some 160/165's depending on the wheel and make have had chain clearance issues with a 525 chain.. the narrower 520 chain might help, I cant quite remember! (I assume your race bike already has a 520 chain)

Most race bikes in Oz use 165 slicks on the standard 4.5" rim but it makes the tyre profile s bit taller than it ideally should be, though it felt fine to me. This is because most race classes only allow standard wheels to be used.

The 5.5" wheel gives the 165 a correct profile at the expense of the mods needed,weight increase of the bigger wheel and it's not legal for most race classes.