1981 Honda CB750F Supersport Tire problems/help
 

I am having a problem with tires for my honda. I want to put on 90% dirt and 10% road tires but only have the option to put a rear tire on the front, but may need to rig something up to make the tires stay in place rather then rotating with the rim, the rim is not a spoked rim. Any help or suggestions would help. Getting prepared for a south america trip in september. any ideas?

Tyres
 

Do you have a 19 inch front rim? If so you can use a mefo explorer brand tire that will look cool have some traction and last a while. They come in 19 inch and are sometimes hard to come by. With that big and heavy of bike you will be runing some fairly hefty tire presure to prevent smashing your rim so slipage shouldn't be a problem. If you want to use lower pressure you could run a tube and a rimlock but that would be more of hassle for repairs etcetera.

Hey Bill,
So you dont think I will have a problem with slippage? It is a heavy bike close to 500 lbs. without any panniers or luggage. Anyway, what I need is a front tire that is made more for off road then on road. It is a 19" front tire, its not the spoked rim either, so that is where my slippage comes into play. I was thinking about trying to find an old spoked rim to put on the front but they only come on the older 1970's model CB's mine is an 81 so I dont know if they fit. Also rim locks, how do they work? would I still have to use a rear tire on the front? That is what I am trying to avoid. I have heard you lose traction because of the way the knobs are designed. I will look into your suggestion, any other help would be great. Thanks a lot!

Any idea's on how to track down these tires?

Tires, black and round
 

Since you don't live in my neighborhood try 1-800-541-8904 and ask about item 010-med26 for $69.64 retail. Tell them Bill Ryder from Helena Montana sent you. You ask about tires on non spoked wheels...in 2004 I rode a honda 650 with the comstar wheels. Worked fine except for a high speed rock hit that broke the casing on the rear tire. Luckily I had a spare along. The flat happened on the dempster highway where it was 230 miles between services. Two years ago I rode a 1100 gold wing all summer here on rocky mountain gravel roads. The main thing I would invest in is rear shocks and a set of progressive front fork springs to take the bumps.

Cruthas,

I'm sorry, but 90% dirt on a CB750 ?????? :ban: I would recommend you getting some good Pirrelli RallyCross tires and putting them on a 90% OFF-ROAD bike!!!

Sorry to be so harsh. I'm sure you love the old bike. I have an old '72 Honda XL250 that I will never part with, but it has its limitations!!! :innocent:

Toby (charapa)

Thanks Bill,
Thanks for the help, I will try and get in touch with them Monday. I have talked to a few people about the tire and they say it is one of the best out there, so I am excited to get rolling on them. You had tubes in your tires, right? Everyone I have talked to said I will need tubes. The shocks and front fork, do you have any suggestions? or should I just bring spare rear shocks and try and find an upgrade for the front? I am leaving in September or October for South America can't wait!

Totaly tubular
 

Since it's snowing and blowing here right now and I can't go ride on my new to me 1977 TT500 yamaha......I have run tubless tires and then carried tubes so you can change them and pump them up with a hand pump. As far as day to day nail punctures the tubeless are great. Just use a plug without dismounting the tire and blow it back up. Rear shocks , front springs and some 19 inch tires are are available at DennisKirk - Production Website Home page. also check out KLR650.com - Kawasaki KLR650 Parts and Accessories this is one of the sites by the folks who have the mefo tires. Here is a link to a ride I took last year on my KZ650 kawasaki, mag wheel on the front with a block pattern trials tire, a Duro brand dualsport tire on the rear and some harley big twin rear shocks that refused to bottom A Monday Ride Along the Continental Divide - ADVrider. The tires made a world of difference over street tires. Here is a link to another bike of mine, it's a CB650 that I rode in 2004 http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...erweight-24941.

So shock wise, am I going to have to find shocks that are compatible with my bike or will most anything work? Will the tires still work even though they call for a tube or do they make a tubeless tire? Some nice pictures there, that KZ looks like a fun ride, what year is that and is it a 19" front tire? Oh yeah, it is supposed to be almost 70 here today, so I am going to get to fiddle with the bike. I have a feeling finding things for this bike arent going to be easy.
Thanks Bill!

You shouldn't need a rimlock on the front wheel , you could fit a Continental TKC 80 on the front and rear of your bike , a cheaper tyre could be a Kenda 761 or 276 or MEFO s or I believe IRC do a semi knobbly .
These are dual sport type tyres , if you want to go to true knobblies then you could fit a rear 19 inch on the front BUT you will have to fit it "backwards" ie in the opposite rotation direction . This will be OK for moderate speeds .
BUT knobblies will not last very long on the road and handle like shit [if the tread stays on] ,and do you really intend taking your CB 750 OFF ROAD ?
If you just intend doing rough roads and gravel then an aggressive dual sport tyre like the TKC , Kenda or MEFOs would be better .
If your bike has a 16" rear wheel , Bridgestone Trailwing 40 ,or a Duro would fit OK .

Hi Dodger, I dont plan on taking the CB off road, but I would like to get it setup in case I do hit rough road which most likely will happen. I am looking into KLR's right now, seems to be a little more realistic, but Im still not opposed to the CB. My main concern with the CB is taking it through water if need be, dont think it can handle something like that, but I imagine the KLR will do fine.

Yes I think you would be fine with a KLR or a DR650 , just buy one in good condition and fit dual sport semi-knobblies and you are good to go .
Older road bikes are fine too -BUT you have to be a good mechanic and know how to fix your own bike .
Waterproofing a bike is fairly easy - dielectric grease and silicon !!!!!!!