What happens when you use a 19" front wheel?

[sl8rxlr8r]

Just curious how the handling characteristics change when you use a 19" front wheel instead of the 18" front wheel...

I found a nice aluminum shouldered rim for the cb350t project in 19".... Besides possible fender clearance issues, any thing else i should know?

 

[vinnie]

i have a 19" up front on my kz. your steering will be a bit more slack. slower steering. what i did was lower my head angle on the fork stanchions about 1 1/2 inches. feels fine now.

 

[johnson_steve]

my cb400 has a 19" up front. I love the way it looks. One thing you have to keep in mind if you are changing the size of your front wheel is the speedometer will be off.

 

[Flugtechnik]

CB450s come stock with an 18 in the rear and a 19 of front. I haven't really ridden it enough to know how it handles. I had a bad back tire so I rode it like a scooter. Still putting the front back together so I can try out my new tire. Like Vinnie, I plan on sliding the triple trees down the forks as far as my bars will let me.

 

[cafe racer]

19's do look good on the bike and will help handling a little bit, you do alter the trail of the bike a little bit, but not enough to notice to be honest.
make the bike higher at the front by an inch and as many of you have said, you can lower the fork tubes through the trees to compensate for that.
carpy

 

[Wee Todd]

Don't use a 19" on a cb 350...........cafer racer, crack the bleeder to you caliper,and fit a grease gun to the end of the bleeder,,,,push in some grease and the piston will pop out

 

[JRK5892]

19 should also mean a WIDER front tire it will be MUCH more stable on turns and handling... plus it will look insane! i have a 19 on my TX500 looks tuff!

 

[Wee Todd]

Wide front tyres make the bike steer like a freight train...I know and it was on a 18'' rim. Avoid using a 19'',it will not enhance the handling,, all it will do is increase your rake if you don't lower it,yes that helps stability ,a cb 350 with stock rim size and GOOD tyres,,,,and suspension will rail through 80mph(+) corners,,,hey if your driving it to the 7/11 for a slurpy....who cares!!!

 

[JRK5892]

nomally i agree with you, but for bad stearing you are going to have to get into the 140's man, not anything from a 120-down, that will actually cover more surface area, keep you out of the cracks and help your bike preform! look at any rocket, any one, they all have a mid range rim size with 110 - 120 tire

 

[JRK5892]

the rake will not have any affect it is the trail of the bike from the adjustement of the rake you need to worry about... that is the main issue modify'n and customizing frames... rake is easy to fix by simply droping your tubes into your trees or lowring the front springs.. the effects going to a 19 are so minimal

 

[JRK5892]

I do however 1000000% agree with the stock wheels and good tires being able to RIP the turns at 80+ no problem! plus tires are cheaper with the smaller wheels !

 

[Wee Todd]

don't even think of mounting a 110\18 on the front,this was installed on bike I purchased for road racing,,,from a friend, some one told him to install a wider tyre to stop the front end from chattering,,,,,previous post!! it steered like shit!! and the Quote "look at any rocket",,,rockets have real frames and suspension,and are engineered to corner,,,fronts are usually 120 wide..and rears vary from 160-190 depending on horsepower,,,,they don't put wide front tyres on rockets,,,cause it dosen't work!,,,well you could put a 130 front on,,,but stick to driving to your local 7/11 ;D

 

[sl8rxlr8r]

Thanks for all the input!

So let me ask this: I have an 18" and a 19" shouldered aluminum rim, what happens when if i put the 19" in the rear, and the 18" up front?

Also, on my cb350 front end, the fork tubes are unable to slide up, because the forks are bolted through the top of the triple tree like on the one in the pic below... sorry, best pic i could find at the moment...