I have read that changing from the stock 190/50 tire to a 190/55 tire will raise the rear and allow better turn in with the only downside being high speed stability over 130+.
Raising the rear increases the fork angle and shortens the trail a bit and those alone improve handling but decreases stability (more likely to oscillate). However, I believe the improved turn in of a 190-55 is mostly do to the elongated profile rather than the more circular profile of a 190/50.
A circular profile puts the center of the tire farther out of line with the center of the motorcycle when the motorcycle leans. The wider the tire is the more out of line with the bike it becomes as the lean increases. An elliptical tire profile behaves like a narrower tire because the elliptical profile IS narrower where it is contacting the road as you execute turning in. Picture an egg standing on end and ping pong ball. Place your finger on top of both, which one of those will roll to the side easier? The egg will and the vertical axis of the egg will also remain closer to the vertical axis of your finger. The ping pong ball will be way off the vertical axis of your finger. Get it? I'd post a picture but my pics are are filled up on the forum.
After you have executed your lean, you are riding on the flatter side that elliptical profile has. This gives you a larger contact patch which theoretically should not provide better traction than a small contact patch. In practice however, the larger contact patch (elliptical profile) definitely does improve traction over a small contact patch (round profile). A lot of factors other than surface area come into traction of a leaning motorcycle.
If you use a 190/55 to improve handling, you are probably safer to get one that is somewhat track oriented. All the 190/55s I have used were street/track tires designed primarily for track use. They all made the bike tip in easier. They all were noticeably more eliptical in profile than the stock tire. The only exception was the latest which is the Bridgestone RS10 200/55. Don't get that one, it has a very round shape like the stock 190/50. I don't know what luck you will have with 190/55s if you use a more street oriented tire. Street tires are meant to provide long life which requires harder, less grippy rubber so designing that tire for extreme lean angles would not be a priority.
I use a 200/55 and they are even better than 190/55s. The bead seats well to the rim, I've never had a problem loosing air. I also use slicks and they work great on the street as long as I avoid rain. I'm very careful about dust and gravel too but for hard leaning, I would be careful even with a DOT tire. Slicks are less expensive than DOT tires of the same manufacturer/compound. A 200/55 is heavier than a 190/55 by about 1 lb which is the main disadvantage.
I've done 180 mph on a 200/55. It's perfectly stable. I use a steering damper but I doubt it ever comes into play riding in a straight line. Not much cornering either but I have noticed a a slight whip in the steering ocassionlly with the damper off. Raising the rear 4 or 5 mm with a 190/55 is not going to affect your fork angle enough to make the bike less stable at any speed.
Would the rise in the back perhaps offset the 2" bar rise and then put me back in the forward lean position and introduce more pressure on the hands?
Not noticeable, see above. If you are tippy-toeing it with a 190/50, you will notice that when you put yout feet down, especially when the 190/55 is new.
PS1: found a nail in my rear the other day right in the center of the tire and plugged it up and its holding with no issues, but it got me thinking about tires...
Pirelli Super Corsas!!! 200/55 if they have it!!!!!!! I'm using Metzler Racetec RR Comp K Slick 200/55 on the busa right now. It's almost as good as the Pirelli slick I had and that was basically a Super Corsa without sipes.
PS2: went on a group ride the other day with a few adventure bikes and i was pretty surprised at how well those things handle and make it around the curves; one was a Duc Multristada 1200
I had the same experience with the same bike. I could have crashed chasing him, I was in over my head but I hung on his tail. I'm sure he was outpacing me. Don't think you'll ever transform this big beast into one of those bikes but if you know the road well, that will help more than a taller tire. Don't get anyone to crash their bike LOL. I'd rather just stop and talk.
* Last updated by: Rook on 7/13/2020 @ 12:35 PM *
'08 MIDNIGHT SAPPHIRE BLUE Now Deceased
