Am I wearing the right size rubber
 

Thought I had better check with you rubber experts out there to find out If I have the correct size.
My recent new Chariot (916) is wearing Bridgestone BT 020 on a 180 section rear tyre.
I thought they should be 190 section, the handling seems fine, are there any long term problems ?
If I have to change them what should I put on.

190 is the standard size on the 916, but a common mod is to use a 180 section as this makes the bike more flickable, I don't know of any downsides to doing this

The 916 has a 5.5 inch rear rim which suits a 180 rear much better than a 190 rear. For a 190 rear you really need a 6 inch rim. I recently changed from a 190 to a 180 and am very impressed with the improvement.

Spinoli

There's nowt wrong with using a 180, although I've not tried one.

It should make the bike turn a bit quicker but the 190 will have a slightly bigger contact patch so gives a bit more grip. Don't think grip should be a problem with a 180 and a big twin though, it'd be more of a concern on an IL4.

Having ridden 40,000 miles on a 180 Ive just put on a 190 and to be honest I can't tell the differance . 4D

I'm reality the only tyre that will work correctly is the one that the wheel is designed for. Putting a bigger or smaller tyre on will distort the profile of the tyre and mess up the handling. I have heard that some Ducati's were fitted with a variety of different width wheels depending on what the factory had in stock at the time so it might be worth double checking.

The wheel width on a 748 and 996 are the same. The 748 has a 180 back tyre as standard and the 996 has a 190 as standard.

I was once told that Ducati only fitted the 190 tyre on the 996 as a "marketing thing" as the 190 was then the biggest baddest tyre around at the time.

From everything I've heard, and been told, the 996 handles better on a 180 back tyre.

I changed from a 190 to a 180 and thought it better. You should also think of changing to the bridgestone 010 or the new 014, sticky as ****. The 020 is more for touring bikes, it does last a little longer though

I had an ST4S which I ran on both BT010 and BT020, and also for a while BT020 on rear with BT010 on front (Bridgestone recommended, put the stickier tyre on the front). I also had a 180 rear instead of the 190 it came with. It handled very well, and seemed to turn in quicker, but I was not very experienced at the time so might be imagining it.

I reckon the Bridgestone "dual rubber" tyres are really good, and I got good mieage out of the BT020 - about 5k miles. Running on Pirelli now on the 749S, and get about 2k miles out of a rear. Go figure. :)

[Edited on 31-8-2005 by HW]

But you have done about six trackdays on them Henry!