Availability of tires

[bicyclist]

On a long ride two years ago, I found myself in Montana with a pair of worn out BT 021s. The tires only made it 7500 miles. I'd hoped that they'd last the trip. Fortunately, a dealer had a set of Roadsmarts in sizes to fit my bike and I had to climb down off a pile of money to get them on the bike.

In anticipation of a long ride this year, I thought I'd check around to see whether any of the local dealers had tires to fit the NT. Turns out that no one had a rear tire. That makes me think that it might be tough to get a replacement on the road. You might luck out, but it looks like there's a better chance that you might be stuck. So, I'm thinking that it would be smart to have a set of tires on the bike at departure that you're pretty sure will get you home.

 

[elizilla]

I waited for three days for tires, once. I was down to the cords on the rear tire for the last two days coming down the Alaska Highway. I didn't go over 35mph the last day because the tire was so bad. I hoped that by limping into Edmonton I'd find tires in stock. But even after calling ahead, I waited three days and had to buy tires I hated - none of my preferred tires were available.

Just three weeks before, I'd left home on new tires...

 

[Warren]

On a long ride two years ago, I found myself in Montana with a pair of worn out BT 021s. The tires only made it 7500 miles. I'd hoped that they'd last the trip. Fortunately, a dealer had a set of Roadsmarts in sizes to fit my bike and I had to climb down off a pile of money to get them on the bike.

In anticipation of a long ride this year, I thought I'd check around to see whether any of the local dealers had tires to fit the NT. Turns out that no one had a rear tire. That makes me think that it might be tough to get a replacement on the road. You might luck out, but it looks like there's a better chance that you might be stuck. So, I'm thinking that it would be smart to have a set of tires on the bike at departure that you're pretty sure will get you home.

While our 120 front tire is a very common tire for sport bikes the 150 rear is pretty narrow for a sport bike so I can see how if might be hard to find.

 

[bicyclist]

While our 120 front tire is a very common tire for sport bikes the 150 rear is pretty narrow for a sport bike so I can see how if might be hard to find.

And that's exactly the comment made by every dealer I talked to.

 

[Phil Tarman]

You can fit a 160/70x17 on the rear without any difficulty. That's the size of my Metzler ME-880 (bias-ply) rear tire. It makes you speedometer/odometer read 4% low.

 

[Warren]

You can fit a 160/70x17 on the rear without any difficulty. That's the size of my Metzler ME-880 (bias-ply) rear tire. It makes you speedometer/odometer read 4% low.

Good point Phil. If a 150 is not available and the cords are showing a 160 might be available to get you out of a jam.

 

[Lorien]

For what it is worth check the thread All the tires if you need a list. It is just down the page. I shopped for tires for my NT and found after contacting at least 5 local Honda dealers that none had the set of tires for the NT. Did find a front in a RoadSmart at a Kawasaki dealer. A few shop people have talked like the rear is an odd size. The front in the PR3 was the problem to find a couple of weeks ago and this was all the way back to Mother Michelin.

Lorien