97 - 900ss - Ducati Carbon hugger I have been offered a pair of Pirelli Diablo's at a very good price but the rear is a 180/50/17 - I am sure I have seen threads about wider tyres than the stock 170/60 on the forum but it may have been on Ducatisti and the search on this forum has not found me anything. Anyone using 180/50's - any issues Cheers Andrew
Having a good old trawl around the net it appears that the width may not be a problem as the 5.5 wheel can take a 180 but the profile at 50 is a tad low and that 55 is the min for the suspension to cope with feel and feedback wise. Is best advice stick with the 170/60 as Ducati intended - its not as if its not wide enough for a few over 70 air dried Italian ponies. Think I have answered my own question with that one :smile:
if you're running the standard hugger rather than the carbon option, its a pretty tight fit and might cause rubbing also. It's literally down to the rim width, 5.25 rim, stick with 170, 5.5 and carbon hugger will accomodate 180. the problem comes when people use the rule of cool and shoehorn the big tyre on the small rim, and that causes the profile to distort, affecting 'andlin'
I've seen a few running the 180. I run one on my injected SS to. The hugger can be an issue, although not much of one. A bigger problem can be chain clearance...... Some brands of 180 tyres are wider than others and the edge can rub the chain. Use a hefty chain like Tsubaki Sigma and the issue is exaggerated.
I ran a Dunlop Sportmax 180 x 50 on my 750SS rear wheel (4.5") for about 1000 miles......it is now on paulk563's 750 4.5" rear wheel and has been for well over 1000 miles.............neither of us had any problems with it....no clearance issues etc etc. Before I used it I cut a cardboard template to fit the cross section and compared it with the profile of a just about legal 160 / 60 rear fitted on my spare rear wheel..............virtually identical. Mind you, it is now worn on paul's bike where it has gone square, probably more so than the 160/60 would have done. AL
As Al said above i have an over sized rear tyre 180 it makes no difference to my bike at all. Plenty of room :wink:
Well - that 180/50 you thought you used says 180/55 on the tyre - perfect placement :wink: - So no likely clearance issues by the sounds of it with the SS 5.5 rim and the Carbon hugger - only question is the profile and its effect.
Typing error......having done 'SS' and not re-read, I thought I had put '55'...........We reckon by being on the tighter rim, the tyre was pulled into the 160/60 profile. AL
And wouldn't you know it, I have just had a mail telling me that it is actually a 55 anyway so may as well give it a punt as I am not greatly impressed with the Bridgestones
My 900ss had Avon 180 section rear, when I replaced with new (Avon Storm) I found it was rubbing on the original hugger so had to fork out for a carbon hugger which had extra clearance. The apex of tyre had actually worn an arc into the original hugger it was that tight!
