This is from a magazine article so I consider it fairly legit. I'm trying to decide if there is any reason not to go with a lighter and better turning 180/55 tire. I has virtually the same profile as the 190/55 just not as tall.

I have never tried a 180 on a big bike, 190 may have a little more of a patch ? in relation to
the front tire geometry ? I don't know a lot about this, just my 2 cents

Yes the 190 has a bigger contact patch and would theoretically wear better and provide more grip. But it's a tradeoff carring that extra weight and bulk. The 190/55 is a massive tire!

I'm not hurting for grip on the street, espcially with traction control. I'm pretty close to trying it.

Good to see a pic where you can visualize the differences

Thanks.

I know that's a popular, but there's more to the tread area than that comparison. That might be one brand and model of tire. But not every tire has that exact same profile, so it's only valid to a point. Keep in mind too, 50/55 refer to the % of side wall, not the width of the thread. 190mm is 190mm, so really that picture, which again, I see everywhere, doesn't even make sense

Not all 55s are exactly the same in height but generally in cross section they are shaped more elliptical, less circular than a 50. They should be about 11 mm higher but I guess it varies. The image above must be exaggerated to show what the difference might be between the 3 sizes.

Rook here's the only way to compare tire to tire, and sidewall profiles. Other than this, it's all guess work. So unless someone really understands and knows how to measure different tires to validly compare them it's all guess work that 55s vs. 50s is making that much of a difference, and it's not the profile itself.

red is M5, blue is M7 RR. Yep...definitely ordering some M7s today. Ordered from Chapparal Motorsports, and another motion pro tire iron.

* Last updated by: VicThing on 4/24/2015 @ 4:29 AM *

All I know is chicken strips are more prevalent on bikes I look at with 55's rather than 50's...
When I first started out I know it was much harder to get to the edge of the tyre on a 190/55 compared to a 190/50.

* Last updated by: yannih on 4/24/2015 @ 5:25 AM *

All I know is chicken strips are more prevalent on bikes I look at with 55's rather than 50's...
When I first started out I know it was much harder to get to the edge of the tyre on a 190/55 compared to a 190/50.

All I know is chicken strips are more prevalent on bikes I look at with 55's rather than 50's...
When I first started out I know it was much harder to get to the edge of the tyre on a 190/55 compared to a 190/50.

weird that you say that because when I installed the Angel GT's in a 55 profile, I found it to be the opposite. My chicken strip where gone in the first ride without even pushing it hard. On a side note, has anyone ever looked at the ground while laid over hard in a 100 mph sweeper? Scary shit....

Did you guys not bother to read my post? Have you not figured out if one of you is talking aobut Michelin PR4s and the other one Angel GTs it's a pointless comparison? The only way you can really tell this is by ordering two rears of the same tire, one 50 and one 55. Again, I'm going to say that the whole "quicker turn in" thing is more of a tread profile issue than a 55 vs. 50 issue.

Again, in case there's any confusion at all, not every 190/xx tire has the exact same tread profile.

I haven't ried as many tires as most but the 190/55s I've been using look more egg shaped from the rear. That explains the quicker turn in. Its a bit pointier on the center and flatter on the edge tread. I don't see why it would be impossible to make a 50 mm tire with this kind of shape but the couple I had were pretty round rather than tall in the middle.

Point taken Vic. Rook, I've noticed in the past few tire threads that you refer to the sidewall as a Mm measurement, but actually as Vic already pointed out its the aspect ratio of the tread width. 50 or 55% of the tread width would be sidewall hieght.

Hi! I am trying to figure out if a change from my 190/50 Angel GT on the rear to a Supercorsa 190/55 would be unwise in the sense that it interferes with the traction control.

Does anybody here has had issues with tire profiles other than the standard 190/50 on a 2013 ZX-14R?

Thank you.