Wider Tires / Stock Rims 800 Drifter

[pcarrell]

Yeah, they borrowed the fenders off of a member of the Delphi drifter forum to make the molds for their fenders.

[jamey wright]

On e-bay there is a company called Oldies that make the front fenders for the 800/1500 drifters, and both the rear fenders for the 800 and the 1500, at about 225.00 each. Just punch in drifter fenders on e-bay motorcycle parts. All these fenders don't come with the inner braces, and are not drilled for mounting holes, but the fronts come with the caliper cover.

[pcarrell]

No, I looked at the kawi parts on line (Ron Ayers exploded parts view), and you're right.

[jamey wright]

So sorry, It's just that I have read elswhere in these forums that only the front fenders are interchangeable between the 800 and 1500. I myself own a 2000 drifter 800. I am pretty sure that is correct, but someone else with more experience than myself could prove me wrong. The chief should know for sure.

[pcarrell]

I bow to your superior knowledge my man!

[jamey wright]

It is the second set of numbers that define which it is for, the 800 or the 1500.

[pcarrell]

You know what?  You might be right.  The part numbers are misleading.  The part number for a rear fender on a 2001 1500 in ebony is 35022-5096-H8, the rear fender for a 2001 800 in black is 35022-5114-B5.  But looking at them, they appear different.  I stand corrected!

[jamey wright]

The front fenders are the same for the 800 and the 1500, but not the rear fenders.

[Troll]

Bike Bandit part numbers......rear fender 1500: 805933, price...sitting down?   $758.14
800 rear fender:
FENDER-COMP-REAR,SILV  805947    Usually ships within 1 to 2 business days    $830.31    The price is a heart stopper, but they claim they have them................Moral of the story...don't break your fender!

[pcarrell]

Who told you the rear fenders on the 1500 and the 800 were the same? They are not, because the 1500 has rear shocks and the fenders are notched out for these, and the 800 has a mono-shock underneath, with no notches in the fender so as to resemble a hardtail.

The part numbers are the exact same, except for the suffix denoting color.  (PN 35022 and then the color suffix)

***I stand corrected, see below***

[jamey wright]

Who told you the rear fenders on the 1500 and the 800 were the same? They are not, because the 1500 has rear shocks and the fenders are notched out for these, and the 800 has a mono-shock underneath, with no notches in the fender so as to resemble a hardtail.

[Troll]

A great deal of the "wiggle" you are feeling is due to the circumferential tread grooves in the tire design. Block pattern tires virtually ignore the surface irregularities, and the "rib pattern" tire follows it. You need to try out the two tire patterns on a steel deck bridge, and it will become obvious which one to choose..but new rubber is ALMOST ALWAYS better....

[CDNRatMan]

tedley what did you change to?

I put on about 5000 kms in the last part of the summer, and I am really happy with my tires and they way they handle, I did a runb from North Bay to Kingston along the back way along Hwy 41 and then the 401 and speeds were in the 120 kms 75 mph and had no issues.Never flet "loose" steering ....so it might not be tires?

[tedley]

From my experiance my 800 would wiggle abit crossing cracks and road snakes with the original dunlops but not bad. Finaly after 35000 k/m on the old skins, yes you read right, 35000 k/m, i replaced them and oh what a difference. I feel vertualy nothing  now. 100% improvement in handling at any speed.

[CDNRatMan]

  I do know that when I first bought the bike I don't know why I never checked the tire pressure, it was ok it seemed. Well I did a 70 mile trip, and I told my brother in law that I did not feel comfortable with the bike in corners, he checked the tire pressure and it was way down. So he pumped them up, made a huge difference. But not good yet, or comfortable. I kept my speeds at about 110 km, and no issues rode really nice comfortable ride. then I read the thing here with Troll and Chief about tire pressure and lowered one and raised the other and the last couple of rides awesome change, really good.
I want to keep my ride as stock as possible and so I think I'll keep the tires as per normal just use ww's because I like the looks of that. As for the wobbling when I cross the center line it is not that bad, or were I have a seam on the road, again not so bad, and we do have crappy roads up here, so it might not be that much of an advantage. But good info and a learning curve too.

[Troll]

The front wheel on an 800 and on a 1500, indeed the whole front suspension, is exactly the same. 3" wide front wheel, same as on a Harley...same size tire as an E-Glide, 130/90-16. the rear wheel on a 1500 is 3.5" wide, as is needed for the wider tire to maintain the correct tread profile. Tires make a huge difference in handling, so does tire pressure...

[hoosierfish]

If you find more info on whether wider tires would help out on this issue of bike stability @ highway speeds, please post it here for all to see. Thanks

[CDNRatMan]

  ok kind of make sense. I too have an 800 and find it fairly light as such compared to a lot of machines. Now living here in Northern Ont. I too have expereince with the lane markings and patches in the highway, and it does does have a tendency to move me around but I never thought wider tires would cure that, something to look into. I'll have to ask around an see what the ideas are. Thanks.

[hoosierfish]

better high speed control? When changing lanes at high speed, crossing the center line, i get a wooble feeling were the pavement has a seem in it (maybe just the crappy roads in Indiana), feels like the whole bike is shaking when crossing the white lines?

[CDNRatMan]

my question is why change the width of the tires? Something I am missing here?

[hoosierfish]

Are you saying that the 1500 uses a 3.5 wide rim front & back? If so, can I change a 3.5 1500 back rim from shaft drive to chain drive so it will work on the 800?. The whole idea of going to a wider tire (in my mind) is to get away from the feeling of loose steering at 70 plus miles an hour speeds. i don't know, maybe I'm looking at the wrong way of correcting this issue?

[Troll]

Here's the thing...if the rim is too narrow, it will distort the tire profile. If you put an 80 series tire on a narrow rim, it will decrease the actual tread contact area, and mess with the overall gearing. If you put a 90 series tire on, you will maintain the tread profile, but raise the rear of the bike. here are some tire specs:
DIMENSIONS
Inflated Width/Measuring Rim Width: 5.6 in./3.0 in.
Inflated Diameter: 25.6 in.
Acceptable Rim Width: 3.0 in.
Deepest Tread Depth: 9/32 in.
Balance DOT: Yes
Directional Arrow: Yes
Speed Rating: H-Rated up to 130 MPH

DIMENSIONS
Inflated Width/Measuring Rim Width: 5.8 in./3.5 in.
Inflated Diameter: 25.3 in.
Acceptable Rim Width: 3.5 in.
Deepest Tread Depth: 11/32 in.
Balance DOT: Yes-Yellow
Directional Arrow: Yes
Speed Rating: H-Rated up to 130 MPH
Research indicates there is no 150/90-16 tire currently available in the U.S.

[pcarrell]

I wasn't aware of a rim difference.

[Troll]

The 150/80-16 from the 1500 requires a 3.5" wide rim. I believe the 140/90 16 tire you have uses a 3.00" rim. Wider tires have an effect on handling...usually slowing it down.....

[pcarrell]

A 150 is stock on the rear of a 1500, so if it'll clear the chain it'll fit the fender (800's and 1500's use the same fender  ***I stand corrected, see below***).  As for the front, I wouldn't see why you couldn't step it up to a 140.