6" Street Tires

fhpe77

Active Member
#1
While I love the look of old-school Carlisle studs, they are not the best for street riding. My existing studs were well worn and replacements were needed. I wanted to improve rideability and safety. Looking at what's available in 6", I thought about getting 4-ply studs. The 2-ply tires tend to grow in diameter with RPM and have a squishy feel to them. They are not real inspiring in turns. Unfortunately the asphalt tends to chew studs up pretty fast. I thought about universals as they have an old-school look but I suspected that they would suffer from rapid wear like the studs. OldMiniBikes Warehouse lists these scooter tires:

https://www.OldMiniBikes.com/410-350-x-6-scooter-az7059.html

But I was concerned that they'd look small and wimpy on my bike. On Thursday my work duties brought me to Langhorne, PA which placed me three miles from OldMiniBikes Warehouse. I had to stop in there since they are the east coast mini bike mecca. As I pulled into their lot it occurred to me that they may be able to let me compare the universal tires to the scooter tires. The nice guy at the parts counter, whose name I cannot recall, brought out both for me to compare. I found the universals to have an aggressive knobby tread that would probably not be the best for street riding. Actually seeing the scooter tires in person eliminated my concerns about them looking too small on the bike. They have have a similar 3.5" wide cross-section and 12.5" diameter. I bought them on the spot. They are 4-ply and max out at 35 psi (10 more than my old studs). Now that they are installed on the bike I see that my concerns were for nought. They look great and fill out the fenders. The ride is dramatically improved. They are very firm and do not grow with rpm. Cornering is drastically improved as is overall stability. If you are considering these tire and are on the fence about pulling the trigger, go for it. You will not be dissappointed (again, these are for asphalt use). Here's two additional items you will want to know. The tires are directional and have arrows molded into the sidewalls. Mounting them correctly will let water be properly ejected when used on wet surfaces. Not sure why you'd be running a street bike in wet conditions, but these tires account for that. The other point of interest is they have the word "tubeless" molded into the side wall. While that may be just fine and dandy for one-piece rims, my bike has Azusa Astro's on it, which are two-piece. I simply re-used my existing inner tubes and the tires are fine with it.

-Ray

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fhpe77

Active Member
#3
Bob,

Thank you for the kind words. Frame's a little rough but it plays into the ratrod theme I was going for. Prior to purchasing the tires I had been searching the web and OldMiniBikes Forums for info on 6" street tires. Surprisingly there's not much out there. Most of the stuff I found was about running pocket bike tires & wheels or sizes greater than 6". It wasn't until I actually held them in my hand that I realized they'd be perfect for this particular application. Took it out for a quick ride after work today and it sure does ride nice with these tires. You really notice it when taking turns.

-Ray
 
#4
Tires like that are a nightmare to install on a 1 piece wheel. Took 2-3 people and a tire machine.

FWIW, I can pop on a set of 145/70-6 tires on those wheels within a couple of minutes with some spoons.

Never again.

 
#5
I have a similar tire on the front of my drag bike and I really like it but it doesn’t hold air for very long. 1 piece aluminum Douglas wheel. I’m going to try a tube
 
#6
While I love the look of old-school Carlisle studs, they are not the best for street riding. My existing studs were well worn and replacements were needed. I wanted to improve rideability and safety. Looking at what's available in 6", I thought about getting 4-ply studs. The 2-ply tires tend to grow in diameter with RPM and have a squishy feel to them. They are not real inspiring in turns. Unfortunately the asphalt tends to chew studs up pretty fast. I thought about universals as they have an old-school look but I suspected that they would suffer from rapid wear like the studs. OldMiniBikes Warehouse lists these scooter tires:

https://www.OldMiniBikes.com/410-350-x-6-scooter-az7059.html

But I was concerned that they'd look small and wimpy on my bike. On Thursday my work duties brought me to Langhorne, PA which placed me three miles from OldMiniBikes Warehouse. I had to stop in there since they are the east coast mini bike mecca. As I pulled into their lot it occurred to me that they may be able to let me compare the universal tires to the scooter tires. The nice guy at the parts counter, whose name I cannot recall, brought out both for me to compare. I found the universals to have an aggressive knobby tread that would probably not be the best for street riding. Actually seeing the scooter tires in person eliminated my concerns about them looking too small on the bike. They have have a similar 3.5" wide cross-section and 12.5" diameter. I bought them on the spot. They are 4-ply and max out at 35 psi (10 more than my old studs). Now that they are installed on the bike I see that my concerns were for nought. They look great and fill out the fenders. The ride is dramatically improved. They are very firm and do not grow with rpm. Cornering is drastically improved as is overall stability. If you are considering these tire and are on the fence about pulling the trigger, go for it. You will not be dissappointed (again, these are for asphalt use). Here's two additional items you will want to know. The tires are directional and have arrows molded into the sidewalls. Mounting them correctly will let water be properly ejected when used on wet surfaces. Not sure why you'd be running a street bike in wet conditions, but these tires account for that. The other point of interest is they have the word "tubeless" molded into the side wall. While that may be just fine and dandy for one-piece rims, my bike has Azusa Astro's on it, which are two-piece. I simply re-used my existing inner tubes and the tires are fine with it.

-Ray

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so were your old ones 4.10 x3.50 x6 ? I was looking at the 6 ply Carlisle sawtooth burt yours look nice.
 
#7
While I love the look of old-school Carlisle studs, they are not the best for street riding. My existing studs were well worn and replacements were needed. I wanted to improve rideability and safety. Looking at what's available in 6", I thought about getting 4-ply studs. The 2-ply tires tend to grow in diameter with RPM and have a squishy feel to them. They are not real inspiring in turns. Unfortunately the asphalt tends to chew studs up pretty fast. I thought about universals as they have an old-school look but I suspected that they would suffer from rapid wear like the studs. OldMiniBikes Warehouse lists these scooter tires:

https://www.OldMiniBikes.com/410-350-x-6-scooter-az7059.html

But I was concerned that they'd look small and wimpy on my bike. On Thursday my work duties brought me to Langhorne, PA which placed me three miles from OldMiniBikes Warehouse. I had to stop in there since they are the east coast mini bike mecca. As I pulled into their lot it occurred to me that they may be able to let me compare the universal tires to the scooter tires. The nice guy at the parts counter, whose name I cannot recall, brought out both for me to compare. I found the universals to have an aggressive knobby tread that would probably not be the best for street riding. Actually seeing the scooter tires in person eliminated my concerns about them looking too small on the bike. They have have a similar 3.5" wide cross-section and 12.5" diameter. I bought them on the spot. They are 4-ply and max out at 35 psi (10 more than my old studs). Now that they are installed on the bike I see that my concerns were for nought. They look great and fill out the fenders. The ride is dramatically improved. They are very firm and do not grow with rpm. Cornering is drastically improved as is overall stability. If you are considering these tire and are on the fence about pulling the trigger, go for it. You will not be dissappointed (again, these are for asphalt use). Here's two additional items you will want to know. The tires are directional and have arrows molded into the sidewalls. Mounting them correctly will let water be properly ejected when used on wet surfaces. Not sure why you'd be running a street bike in wet conditions, but these tires account for that. The other point of interest is they have the word "tubeless" molded into the side wall. While that may be just fine and dandy for one-piece rims, my bike has Azusa Astro's on it, which are two-piece. I simply re-used my existing inner tubes and the tires are fine with it.

-Ray

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Ray, thanks for the review. Some of us do ride on pavement in the rain, sometimes more often then not. St. Patrick’s day and Thanksgiving are two that come to mind right away. Detroit weather, what ya gonna do?
 

fhpe77

Active Member
#9
Mmm...Coker tires..further reminding me why I like the look of studs. They have that pie crust slick look when viewed from the side:

https://www.cokertire.com/1000-16-firestone-dragster.html

That's one thing the "scooter" tires lack. There's definitely a lot of muscle car influence in the mini bike designs from the late '60's and early '70's. That is one of the reasons why I was so easily sucked into the mini bike madness. I loves me some old-school Detroit iron.

-Ray
 
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