wide F tires on older 3 wheelers - anyone try a skinnier one?

[Huffa]

I'd like to put a skinnier F tire on a Yamaha 225 DX. Reason being is it should steer better being that more weight is put on the tread with it being not as wide. It also looks alot better too.

Stock they are all (F & B) 22x11X8. Instead of the 11" width (which they really aren't, if you measure) I'd like to have it a good 2" narrower on the F.

Anyone do this and will it work on the stock rim?

[Trikeaholic]

no,it wont, no it doesn't and it will not fit.

[Huffa]

Be a little more specific. Why won't it fit ??????? Did you try it?

[atckowalski]

I have a taller skinnier front tire on my 225.It is a 22-11-8 on a Yamaha rim but the tire has a taller profile even though it is the same size.I believe it is an Ohtsu of some sort. It does make it look better,though in the winter it does not steer as well in the snow as a wider tire does.So I just swap them out in the spring.

[350x'inNY]

Be a little more specific. Why won't it fit ??????? Did you try it?

You'd have to find a narrower rim that fits that bolt pattern and offset. You can't just put a 2" narrower tire on the same rim!

2nd, some on the board are "trueists" meaning that they don't mix parts on a trike. Get the right parts for the right trike, you know? Or atleast altering with old school mods, not switching parts from different trikes to make a Frankenstein trike.... because....

3rd... seems like someone once had a thread that a 200X front end would go onto the Yamaha, but don't seem to remember seeing a "end resut" pic.

Bruce

[Trikeaholic]

yea, basically I for one dont like frankentrikes. Just a personal preference. If I were to go look at say an 81-82 250R, and it had a 200X front end on it,350x headlight and cobbled up dirt bike handlebars with a twist throttle, I would immediatley take 2-300 bucks of my offer, mint or not. If you want a bike with certain charachteristics go buy one. Some people like customs, I don't. Like in the car hobby "resto-mod" is a trend I really appreciate, as long as it does'nt destroy the "essence" of the car-IE NO BILLET, spinner wheels or any of that modern stuff. I feel classic and vintage vehicles are better even if they dont perform like their modern day counterparts-half the fun is operating a vehicle with the handling quality of the "good ol days" maybe it just brings back memories, i dont know. but YES, I am a purist!

[Huffa]

Believe me, I don't mix & match parts off of differnt bike either and all my machines are top notch......no 1/2 fast work here!

Thats the only thing I would like to have different. Honda did the same thing with their ATC 250. When it 1st came out it had the wide tire on then they realized it handled so much better with a taller, skinnier one. The wide one will tend to skate & float across terrian where the skinny one will give you much more of a direct feel and quicker handling. For certain situations the wide one is better, like for instance it won't dig down in the mud near as much as the skinny one would and for snow it will stay on top more being the load is spread out more.

At the same time I road a ATC 250 with the wide STOCK tire and my 200X with the skinnier one. Even though they are 2 different machines I could feel the much slower reactions with that wide tire on the front of the 250. I'll take the skinny any day........just my personal preference.

I don't really need a taller profile as that might run into problems with it hitting the underside of the fender.

[jasonglh]

My stock tires on my 225 were much narrower than the cheap tires that I replaced them with back in the day. Looking at the yamaha pics though some show a normal looking tire and some show a more narrow profiled tire.