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To each their own I say. I just bought a set of the Shinko 712 to replace my tires on my 450. I had an XS1100 which had "NEW" old style tires on it at one time (Firestone/Coker). I thought "hey I never ride in the rain why not". Made it one block from the house on a sunny Saturday and was turning in slowly to gas station that had just had a street sweeper clean their blacktop (only a lightly wet clean surface). Front wheel went out like it was a freshly oiled newly blacktopped lot. Angle+water= A MESS with The Firestones for sure. I can't speak for other brands but the The firestone "vintage" were replaced the next weekend. Never had an issue with the heavy bike wanting to wash out after that.
For what it's worth, my tire selections are very limited with dual 19" wheels...if I had more choice I'd be happy about it.
I tried more modern Avon AM26s at first, but found that under my conditions (slow, sometimes offroad, very little good pavement) the K70 seems superior at all times.
Heidenau K34 DOT race tires will likely be my next choice.
Hate those Firestone tires, might as well go with a hardtail and a springer front end. I have seen some new K81 style tires on some Cafe's . Dunlop's K81 was the hot street tire at one time, way stickier than the K70, if I remember correctly. If I wanted to stay with a retro tread I would check these out, I have seen some new ones on a few bikes, but I have put Bridgestone Battlax's on my old Airhead and SR500 and probably will on my GT500 as well. They work well for me, I will have to check for which Battlax's they are.
I would stay with the original sizes as well, maybe go up one size at the most. Your 750 is a heavy bike and you don't want to make the steering feel any heavier. Lots of guys want to go as huge as possible with tires and that is okay if you are only going for looks but you are dealing with an old style frame which was not known for great handling even back then. Don't get me wrong, these are great bikes and you can do wonders for the handling if you mod them a lot but those frames can only take so much stress.
"...if people can see your tread, you're not riding fast enough...", great quote
If you want to make a Cafe Racer, make a Cafe Racer, not a Racey Cafe.
I hope you post what you decide to do and let us know how the new tires work out.
Brian
If you are in LA and drive freeway, don't pick Firestones. Check on member SXE's 550 thread, he bought them and now can't ride his bike on the Freeway because it wobbles all over the place. I have a set of SHinko 230's on my GL and just bought a set of Shinko 712's for the CX500 I am building. THe 230's got me 5000 miles last season through everything but snow and stuck like glue at one point I was riding home from Mid-Ohio and the rain was deep enough my pegs were dragging in it and I was still doing 50 MPH without plaining or loosing grip. the 712's are supposed to be stickier. The tread is not vintage but not crotch rocket as Vonyinzer put it. They are in-expensive and made from Yokohama's old molds etc. so good deal all around. They also are currently on retarded low price sale from Motorcycle superstore. I got the 2 in 19/16 f/R for 115 shipped.
the 712's are supposed to be stickier. The tread is not vintage but not crotch rocket as Vonyinzer put it. They are in-expensive and made from Yokohama's old molds etc. so good deal all around. They also are currently on retarded low price sale from Motorcycle superstore. I got the 2 in 19/16 f/R for 115 shipped.
the 712's are supposed to be stickier. The tread is not vintage but not crotch rocket as Vonyinzer put it. They are in-expensive and made from Yokohama's old molds etc. so good deal all around. They also are currently on retarded low price sale from Motorcycle superstore. I got the 2 in 19/16 f/R for 115 shipped.
Really Toast, I bought the 230's as a large bike Touring tire. If the 230's are the stickier I would have bough them for the CX. I may have confused the research I did a while back when deciding this time. I am sure the 712's will be fine but I will keep that in mind next time I buy
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