Newbie Question - Tire Width/Wheel Size

[ninety8problems]

Hey All,

I have a newbie question regarding tires...

What is the maximum width rear tire that can fit on a stock Rebel (2002) frame? And, what is the maximum width rear tire that can fit on a stock wheel? Does anybody have any experience with putting fatter rear tires on their Rebel?

Thanks,

Christian

[GearJammer]

Welcome aboard, Christian.......and I'm guessing you might be the same Christian who recently bought that SWEET 250 Reb from Big J ? ;)

The "fat tire look" question comes up a lot & I don't have the answer for you, but some input to please keep in mind. As always, someone else might have the specific info you seek & hopefully they'll chime in.

On one of my Triumph chops, I'm running a 19" on the front, 16" on the rear. One thing I like about the 250 Reb is that it already has the relative aesthetic in that regard with an 18" front/15" rear.

But here's an important reality to consider. Fat tires look cool, but they also rob horsepower. They weigh more & have more contact patch area (rubber to road surface) that needs to be moved to overcome inertia.

On a bike with a huge powerplant of say, for example, 100 hp, the horsepower sacrifice would be less noticeable & that bike would still have plenty of ponies to rock on down the highway. With the 250 Reb starting with roughly 18 hp, that horsepower sacrifice could have very undesirable effects on general performance.

If anything, one might try the widest tire available for the stock rim & see if they're content with how the bike performs.

[ninety8problems]

Thanks for the reply, GearJammer. And, yes...I am the proud new owner of Big J's custom Rebel.

I love the work that Big J has done with it. That is the reason why I decided upon this Rebel versus others that I had seen. He was able to really put some cool mods on it. I was hoping to put just a couple of my own touches to it, though, so I could pretend that it was my customization! The more I look at it, though....the more I think I might just leave it be.

Once again, thanks for the reply. I hope to be a contributing member one day, myself.

[Big_J]

I think the stock is 130, might be able to do a 150 without issue, but, as GJ said it would rob some of the ponies.

[sox]

I think the stock is 130, might be able to do a 150 without issue

If stock is 130, then you won't be able to go above 140. A 150 will have issues with the width of the swingarm....

A 140 will give you that "phat" look without losing too much hp IMHO

sox