Tyre options

Someone somewhere will doubtless be raising their eyebrows and tutting at the very notion I’m using a brand of tyres many might not entertain but here’s the logic-bomb, folks. Most tyre companies couldn’t give a pickled pig’s fart about many of our smaller classics. Yes, sure, you can still get top-end stuff and the 500/750/900/1100 bikes are well catered for, but try coming down a few notches. The options for the ever-popular 250/350 segment of the market have dwindled somewhat, and things get even more difficult when you drop below the quarter litre bracket – but only if you want get all prissy about the names on the sidewalls of your black hoops. With our Yamaha

AS1 here, only Pirelli seemed to be readily available in the correct 2.50x18 and 2.75x18 sizes – if well-known brands were what you wanted. Simply put, the big players in the market would much rather make high-end, high value tyres than budget price stuff for small classics – and if you were in their business, you’d be doing exactly the same! Tyre snobbery is ‘a thing’ without doubt, but most of it comes from riders who have never – ever – ventured beyond the comfort of a frontline tyre. Having variously sampled Cheng Shin, Maxxis, Anlas, Mitas and Kenda rubber over the years, I’m still here to tell the tale; I haven’t fallen off and I’ve not experienced any issues. Once you grasp that all tyres sold in Europe have to be fit for purpose, safe and of merchantable quality, then a lot of perceived prejudices should be falling away. Knowing no one can now legally sell tyres like the hideously lethal stuff the Japanese fitted in the 1960s and 1970s should genuinely reassure potential buyers. Issues such as high-speed wet weather grip or high mileage potential are really incidental for many classics fans. If you really want to rag the very bejasus out of tiddler to test its tyres, then perhaps you just need a bigger bike or smaller ego. You could still ride on the rock-hard, well-beyond-their-sell-by-date, tyres with the brand name that came with your latest project or closing dealership. Or you could try some brand new ones that will grip the road better than most of us ride. Your call!