140/70 18 front tire questions for a 2012

[pwhoever]

Right now I have a Bridgestone Excedra G709 tire mounted on the front that the previous owner put in there when it was a 2 wheel. It is a 130/70R18. I had decided to run that one down before replacing it. I'm seeing that the tread depth in center is very close to replacing now. I am very familiar with having rear tires mounted to front rim and that is my plan on this.

The popular choice besides the Avon trike tire (Short supply and very expensive) is the Bridgestone Battlax BT45 in 130/70-18. The load range for that is 63 and since it's now a trike, added weight has automatically been put on it. So I've been brainstorming options for a higher load range.

Looking at the 130/80-18, it ends up being about an inch taller overall so an extra 1/2" to the fender. It apparently does fit although extremely close to fender. I saw many reports though that at highway speeds, the rider can smell a burning rubber smell and that the rear front fender has taken a beating. So that rules out the 130/80. Now I have also seen some positive results with the 140/70 and that has roughly a 1/2" overall height difference and roughly 1/4" to the fender. So that sounds positive.

The load range on all the 130/70-18 tires I have found is 63 so 600lbs. The load range I am finding on the 140/70-18 is 67 so 677lbs. I like the sound of that.

In the 140/70-18 size, I have found the Battlax BT45 rear, load range 67. Now interestingly, Bridgestone also makes a radial rear tire in that size which is the Battlax BT54 140/70R18 and also has a load range of 67.

So has anyone here tried a 140/70-18 tire on the front of their 01-17 GL1800 and if so, how did you like it? And then the next obvious question is bias ply or radial, and why? I have found the radial at about $30 more than the bias ply. If the radial makes more sense, that extra cost could be worth it.

 

[pwhoever]

Well looks like I'm going to be the guinea pig I guess. I just ordered a Kenda K671 rear tire in 140/70-18 from Cyclegear and it's set to be shipped to my house. The price was pretty reasonable so if it doesn't work, I'm not out of pocket too much. It has a load range of 67 and speed rating of H so up to 130mph. I went through Cyclegear because they will mount the tire for $30 if you buy it from them. Otherwise it's $60. The closest is just over 40 miles away so not too far. And that's about as cheap as I can find any where to have a tire mounted locally.

It will be probably be a while before I receive the tire and can get it mounted but will update as I get some rides in.

Just some further babbling... Tread depth on the Avon AV91 trike tire is only 4.7mm or roughly 6/32". The BT45 shows a tread depth of 9/32". The Kenda shows a tread depth of 6mm so roughly 8/32". All the numbers for the Kenda look good as an option so fingers crossed it works out.

 

[Gorilla]

Mike I love it when you post to yourself. You only gave anyone a little over 9 hours to respond. LOL
Really I like your deductions.
As far as Bias vs Radial in a TRIKE application, the only difference because the trike doesn't lean is the side walls are stiffer on the Bias tire.
With the curved footprint and lack of leaning there should be little difference in grip and tread wear in my opinion.

 

[pwhoever]

@Gorilla sometimes I can't help myself, LOL!

 

[tourman]

@Gorilla sometimes I can't help myself, LOL!

The Bridgestone front tire is a BT46 now

 

[pwhoever]

The Bridgestone front tire is a BT46 now

That is correct. The BT46 is actually a 130/70-18 rear tire that gets mounted to the front rim. And they actually do come in 140/70-18, also a rear tire. And then Bridgestone also has a radial rear tire, the BT54 in 140/70R18.

Most tires in the 130/70-18 range are only load range rated at 63 so the same load range when it started out as a 2 wheeler. The conversion alone added some significant weight. I know that the 130/70 have proved themselves capable but I wanted to try something different to give me a bit of a buffer. It seems the only possible option is the 140/70-18 which ends up closer to inner fender by about 1/4 of an inch so I think it will work. The Kenda was cheaper than the Bridgestones. The Kenda has also gotten some really good reviews so I went for it.

Its supposed to get delivered tomorrow and then I just need to get it mounted and drive on it.

 

[pwhoever]

Halfway there. Tire got delivered today but probably won't get it mounted until early next week. I ended up getting recruited by my daughter to solve a check engine light on her 14 Honda Pilot. A misfire on cylinder 3. And of course Murphy's law kicked in and it hasn't been going as smooth as it was supposed to...

 

[HDUSA1]

Following, please keep us posted!

Regarding your daughters Honda Pilot, some interesting info here to investigate if you haven’t found it already: P0303 No 3 cylinder misfire

 

[pwhoever]

Following, please keep us posted!

Regarding your daughters Honda Pilot, some interesting info here to investigate if you haven’t found it already: P0303 No 3 cylinder misfire

Ugh... I was afraid of that. Unfortunately she is under the gun and needs a car to get back and forth to work. I did swap the spark plug coils from 3 and 2, same misfire. I changed out the #3 spark plug, same misfire. The next suggestion was the #3 fuel injector but that dives in a little further than I'm comfortable. Looking at the spark plug, I think that link probably describes what is happening. And for the money to repair the leaking rings, I could buy a used engine for less than what it will cost. I do like the S-VCM (VCM disabler) idea and wouldn't mind giving that a try. Unfortunately I would have to order that online and it has to come from Canada. With the current political situation, it could take a while to get. She doesn't have that luxury and needs her car and with the Check Engine light on, it is a big risk to keep driving it.

And to top it off, when I was going through the troubleshooting, I had also pulled the #2 spark plug to compare it to the #3 plug. When I reinstalled it, I didn't realize the rubber stopper inside the socket had come out and was stuck on the plug. And these plugs are seated down inside long tubes. So not realizing the rubber stopper was still on the #2 plug, I tried reinstalling the coil. It wouldn't go in all the way so I gave it a hard push. Well that rubber stopper pushed down past the face of the spark plug and is now stuck there. I tried everything under the sun including pick set. Nothing, I can't get it out. Luckily it is now down far enough that the coil fits onto the spark plug just fine. The spark plug tube will probably have to come off and that probably involves pulling the cylinder head. Big UGH!!! At least I can ignore that for now until plugs need to be changed again. I kind of hope she decides to trade it in and get something else...

 

[HDUSA1]

Know what you are going through….

Our daughter had a Chevy truck with a 5.3l V8 with AFM (active fuel management) that deactivates half the cylinders. It started acting up and I had to tear it down to fix it. Then a few thousand miles later the valve body in the transmission started leaking and put it in limp mode. Fixed that. Then it started having problems with the servo motors opening and closing in the heater/air conditioner plenum box. Fixed that. We ended up giving her some money to help her get a newer vehicle.

I know it would ruin it, but on your rubber stopper, can you take a couple really long wood screws and screw them in to it on opposite sides? Then use both hands to pull it out?

 

[pwhoever]

The problem is that tube is barely wide enough to get the 5/8" socket down in there for spark plug changes. The faces of the spark plug are very close to the wall of the tube so I don't think I could get wood screws down there far enough to do any good. And the spark plug sits about 6" down that tube. And to top it off, cylinders 1-3 are on the firewall side of the motor and you kind of have to work blind with limited space. I need to use 2 3" extensions because a 6" is to long to maneuver. If it is the rings leaking oil, it probably isn't worth the amount it's going to cost to fix and I've relayed that to her and to be prepared that she may have to just trade it in and buy another vehicle. Then I wouldn't even have to worry about the #2 spark plug.

And I really apologize to the members for taking this so far off topic, I didn't mean to.

But funny you mention a Chevy truck with 5.3l motor because that is my other ride. So far, no major engine related issues except for an injector that had to be replaced because of, wait for it! Misfires! That and the starter went out. But I am aware of the potential AFM issues and have been using a Range AFM disabler faithfully which has worked so far. But on my infamous 6 speed transmission, that failed me on a back road down in Alabama about 2 years ago and had to be replaced. Luckily it was still covered by the GM protection plan and a GM reman transmission was installed at no charge to me. I still have a little over 1 year left on the reman warranty but so far so good.