Tire up-sizing on 1979 900 GTS .

[PDQ Enterprises]

Hello, Ducati People! First off, my name is Paul Duda, and I currently reside in a wide spot in the road called Hurricane, Utah. A good friend of mine, Brent Westergard, and myself are in the middle of a complete restoration of a 1979 Ducati 900 GTS. I have a question, and I'll direct it to Steve. What is the maximum width tire which will fit on the rear of this bike and still clear the chain? In addition, which size of the ones available would you recommend for the front of this bike, which will be used predominately for touring? Quick steering is not nearly as inportant to me as the largest possible contact patch for purposes of speed erasure in the shortest possible time by the twin disc brakes on the front. Thank you in advance for this information. I'm sure Bevel Heaven will be an invaluable source of both information and parts in this restoration endeavor and I am looking forward to it! I have already followed your advice and had A C Plating re-chrome the original wheels then send them to Buchanan"s to have polished stainless spokes laced on. The next step is getting some rubber on these beautiful wheels. Onward and upward!

[BevHevSteve]

Hi Paul. regarding Tires, I understand what you are saying, but, stuffing the biggest tire possible on the rear is definitely NOT what you want to do, putting a larger tire on a given size rim changes the all so important PROFILE of the tire, your contact patch changes so drastically and actually gets SMALLER when you do this. Meaning, too large of a tire nets you LESS rubber on the road.

I would highly recommend you installing what should be on there, 100/90-18 in the front and 120/90-18 on the back.

For touring I would try the bridgestone BT45s, I have them listed in my store..