Has anyone here tried mounting a 23" motorcycle tire on a 27.5 bicycle rim (or 22" mc tire on 26 bike rim)?

[John and Cecil]

Well I am running out of patience using crappy bike tires on the back of my 27.5" plus ebike. When I replaced my last tires (kenda havok) I noticed that they were stamped like a motorcycle tire - I think they were 2.8 x 23. I have since went with a Super Moto X 2.8" tire but the wire bead is already shot and I have had multiple flats (I carry 35-40 extra lbs on the back of the bike at all times.

I am now considering using a 23" motorcycle tire on the rear only. The Mitas SW12 motorcycle tire is 2.75" x 23" and weighs about 5.5 lbs (I think the super moto x tire is about 2lbs). I wonder if they would fit on my 27.5 (50mm wide) bike rim though. I looked online but I cannot find anyone who has tried this yet. Has anyone here tried mounting a 23" motorcycle tire on a 27.5 bicycle rim?

 

[John and Cecil]

I think I just stumbled across a motorcycle tire that may actually fit a 26 bicycle rim if anyone is interested. Mitas SW-13 2.75" x 22 knobby tire. I believe the 26 bicycle rim is actually a 22" rim, as is this particular tire. I never saw a 22" motorcycle tire before. It is speed rated to 170kph :lol:

 

[markz]

Gotta try to find it for sale, new old stock.

Yeah you are right, 22" motorcycle/moped tires are close enough to 26" bicycle.
http://www.myronsmopeds.com/category/parts/tires/
Sheldons link in quote - https://www.sheldonbrown.com/tyre-sizing.html

Some vintage motorized bicycles had 22 inch rims, that accept bicycle size 26 x 2.125 “balloon” tires. For them, wide bicycle tires, for a beach cruiser or mountain bike, are an affordable option. Street classic tread all black is shown, but other choices exist. Whitewall 26 x 2.125 available also. Most bicycle shops carry 26×2.125 tires also. The ISO number on every bicycle tire is what tells the rim size. This tire says 57-559, which means 57mm wide (2.24″) and 559mm (22.0″) inner diameter. For more about tire sizes see Sheldon Brown Tyre Sizing. Bicycle tires are intended for low speed and low weight. They have no motor vehicle safety endorsements, like “street-legal” or “DOT” tires do. They are listed here to show what all the choices are. But they are not recomended for use on motor vehicles.

From picture in myronsmopeds link - " 22-1 tire 2.12-22 CST C121 bicycle JB111-60720 (26×2.125) special order item "

I think I just stumbled across a motorcycle tire that may actually fit a 26 bicycle rim if anyone is interested. Mitas SW-13 2.75" x 22 knobby tire. I believe the 26 bicycle rim is actually a 22" rim, as is this particular tire. I never saw a 22" motorcycle tire before. It is speed rated to 170kph :lol:

sw-13.jpg

 

[MadRhino]

Maybe it does fit some 26 inch rims, not narrow ones for sure since the bead is pretty thick on those tires.

Give news if someone can try one. Weight especially.

 

[DogDipstick]

This is one thing that I would never do. Try to fit a tire to a rim not designed for ( the tire). Failure of tires can be catastrophic and the nature of the load is all about speed and varied loads. Plus the spin the tire on the rim thing, shear valve stems.

Example: My entire front 19" wheel weighs 9.9 lbs ( Sur-Ron), only 4 pounds more than the 26" ( 5 lb) that was original to the bike. And that is with spokes, hub, axle, and rotors. Rated to 75 mph, not a place to skimp here IMO.

There are scientist rating things for a reason out there. Lol. I'm not one but I know tires make the vehicle.

Trying to stuff a 23inc tire onto a thin 700c 27.5 in. rim will be a nightmare,I bet. Let us know how it goes. I mean, someone has to be a guinea pig. Not like I have not done some crazy combos to see how they went.

 

[markz]

Yeah but IF you could find a 22" mc rim and IF you could find that mc tire to fit it then you'd have a 26" dia wheel to lace into a rear hub. And use a 26" bicycle front wheel and have a level bicycle.

I wouldn't paint myself into a corner like that. Say your traveling and you require a new tire or tube, be hard to get, maybe not the tube but def the tire or rim if you needed it.

Finding a local tire 19x2.00-2.50 took a little extra effort but I just lucked out, with a direct link from online search, on the Kimplex website that dealers use. Not sure if I could find the rim (19x1.40) I have on any dealers connections, Kimplex, PartsCanada, Motovan, Gama (or Goma) I am sure theres more, those are the ones the parts guy at the dealership spouted off. Though the rim is from a '03-?? Honda so its more then likely easy to get. Though that 2.75" tire would be good for WM0 or WM1 (1.60) or WM2 (1.85)

 

[John and Cecil]

Yes those 22" tires are hard to come by, up until I found that one I did not even know they existed. It looks like they use them for track racing. I was really interested in the 23" tire for the 27.5 plus width rims, they still make those tires as they fit the front wheel on older honda 550xl. Unfortunately I am in Italy and due to the freaking plague I decided to get a regular bicycle tire for now as the ebike is our only transportation. I believe the motorcycle tire weighs 2 to 3 times as much as a bike tire, and it will have a thicker bead. My rims have a 44mm internal width though so I suspect they would fit if I could get the tire on the rim without trashing the rim. I would probably need to bake the tire in the oven at 120 degrees though to make it easier to install.

I really wanted to be the guinea pig this time but I have to be prepared for whatever might happen in the future. Hopefully the pandemic will go into remission and we will try a motorcycle tire on our next tire change. We bought a cheap Chaoyang tire for now so it probably won't last us very long.

Everyone be safe out there!

 

[John and Cecil]

Trying to stuff a 23inc tire onto a thin 700c 27.5 in. rim will be a nightmare,I bet. Let us know how it goes. I mean, someone has to be a guinea pig. Not like I have not done some crazy combos to see how they went.

That is not what I suggested, you misunderstood. Putting a mc tire on a 700c rim is probably not possible as the bead is too thick. I have a 27.5 plus bike with boost spacing and 50mm wide rims. It is basically a mid-fat bike. My bike was one of the first 27.5 plus bikes and the tires that came on it were actually stamped as motorcycle tires (2.80 - 23 M/C) but they were thin and light as bike tires. I was not suggesting mounting a motorcycle tire on a 700c 20mm+/- wide rim, I suggested mounting on a 27.5 plus or fat bike wide rim.

 

[markz]

I wonder how much it would cost, per tire, to get a custom run of tire. Problem is everyone would want a different tread design and the cost would be too high to justify.

 

[MadRhino]

Manufacturers are going to produce the custom tire that you want at competitive cost with existing similar construction and size, if you supply the molds. So, you have to divide the cost of the mold by the number of tires that you order: to add to the usual tire cost. Some bike manufacturers have some of their own branded tires made once in a while. Some racing teams too.

 

[John and Cecil]

Perhaps a tire manufacturer may start making heavy duty tires since there are an awful lot of ebikes out there now. A 3" wide tire in 22 and 23 inch rim sizes (26 & 27.5 bike wheels) with heavy duty beads and thicker sidewalls and carcasses as well as deeper treads and maybe 2-2.5 kg weight. I think there could be a market for something like that. I would certainly buy one since I have fat boy Cecil sitting right over my rear tire. An extra 1-1.5 kg of tire wont kill me and perhaps these heavy duty tires would make good tubeless tires so the weight of the tube could be removed. I just want it for the rear tire anyway, my front tire has very little weight on it so a bike tire is fine in the front.

 

[Electric Earth]

What air pressure are you running on the Super Moto? Maybe under pressure is causing premature wear? Or if you don't mind my asking, what's your weight? I've found Schwable tires to be tough as nails, but I admit I only weight ~150, so I'm on the lighter end. I used Schwalbe's on my delivery ebike which was a full suspension MTB conversion that got beat on pretty hard daily and my Schwalbe City Jets took it with no problem. I'd think the Super Moto's would be even more robust, but maybe not? Anyway, beyond looking into tire pressure and weight carried, if you need to run a motorcycle tire, I'd have a shop lace a motorcycle rim to your bike hub. Problem solved, and safer than running a moto tire on a bike rim.