Reemo wrote:I just bought, after 6 years of negotiating, 2) '79 CBX's. Both need tires. I've looked thru old CBXpress's. Fall '03 had a writeup on 130 width Rears. I see Avon Roadriders in a 130/80-18 AM26 for like $116.
Has anyone used these?
Hello Reemo and welcome to our site.
AM23 Avon 130 Rear Tire Designed for Narrow Rims
The AM23 in that Xpress article is a race tire with a unique a double sidewall that allows it to be fitted to narrow rims like ole brit bike racers...and ofcourse this applies to the CBX ...esp 79s. Here is a link to a "road" test of this tire and the companion front tire so you can judge for yourself.
http://www.motorcycle.com/products/avon ... -3519.html
I think I found these tires by checking out a MV500 roadracer at vintage days long ago...so I sorta figured if they worked on the MV...they should work for a CBX. I was
very happy with the results and it is a nice path to have the wider 130 look in the back vs the 120. Being a race tire, I always gave the tires a few minutes to warm up, esp the sport rides at the rallies, though I am not so sure this is necessary, but why take chances.
These tires were hard to find back then...many of the volume tire discounters do not stock them, but I would give this a try first for best prices which will be higher than "street" tires. Also ask for the date of manufacture sionce race tires can sit on the shelf a bit longer than fast selling street tires. Google Avon and talk to them where to buy the AM22/23 Avon race combination tires if your dealer or web discount store does not sell them, but dont expect Avon to recommend these tires for the street.....lawyers and all you know, but many riders run them on the street without issue and great success.
Tire Prices
If tires are
reallllly important to you personally ...you should buy exactly the tires you think will work for you and the main reason is not price at all, but simply not wasting quality CBX riding time
thinking about tires -or- tires prices -or- if the lower price tires you fitted will work the way you want. This is especially true if you like to "ride the ride" in the twisties because the CBX is not a bike when riding like this that you can spend time thinking about anything else...including tires. $50 - $100 a tires set more to get the tires
you want only adds up to $10 - $20 a year to have the exact tires you like and not have to be thinking about it all this time.
On The Other Hand
I believe most tires from reputable manufacturers today are far better than most of us can or want to ride CBXs. Support for this is in the replies to your post.... and more is in our Technical Library (light blue area above on this page view)...."Tires/Rims." I can support this and it goes back to when the Dawgie was new/near new/young and running stock rims .....I went through maybe ten sets of different tires and only one set was no good ....there were free set of Dunlop prototype radials that never made it into production for obvious reasons.
Of Note
I cant tell you about putting a standard 130 on a 79 since I never had a 79, but it does have a narrower rim than the other year CBX so this is a item for those here to help you.
Nomatter What.....
My "rule of thumbs" on CBX tires sizes that has always worked is ........the front and back tire should be near the same diameter
Again, welcome to our forums and you have come to the right place....CBXers here have the answers you want, so dont be afraid to ask...we are here to help you.
Mike