Yamaha R6 lower profile tyres

[Mrfurious]

Hello all, I've got a wonderful R6 (2003) rides like a dream! I'm thinking of changing the profile of the front tyre from 65 to 60, I've been told this increases handling especially into bends, has anybody done this? does it increase handling round bends? what are the pro and cons?

Current tyres are stock Dunlops and I'm thinking of getting Michelin Pilot Power.

Thanks for your time.

MrF

[jimmythehat]

start out by swapping dunlops off with b stone or pirelli. dunnies have had their day. i would not change the profile either,,going to lower profile will square off your front tyre making it feel flat , personally i would got for a 120/70/17 profile front tyre and standard size rear, and run 34 psi front and 36 in rear, if you want bike to turn in faster then drop the yokes down the forks by 6/8 mm and see how that feels,

[bradley]

cheers you have answered my question to but drop yokes down forks what does that mean pls

[Spraguepsycho1]

That means loosening the triple tree clamp bolts, so you can slide the fork tubes up in them so they stick out the top of the top triple tree, which also lowers the front of the bike. Raising the tubes a half inch in the tree can make a very noticable difference in the handling, helping it turn in quicker and more responsive. I would raise them a half inch at first, then possibly adjust further in 1/4" steps. I wouldn't raise them more than about an inch, or you might start running into interference problems during maximum fork compression.

[chrisw]

Standard size should be 120/60 17 on the front. A few months ago I changed to 120/70 17 on my 04 r6 (went from Pirelli Diablo's to Pirelli Diablio Rosso's - only increased size because they don't or didn't do 120/60 17 at the time.

Personally I didn't rate that size, where I usually get the front tyre wearing reasonablly round I had a flat spot on each side of the tyre at about 45% .. never seen anything like it before.