180 or 190

[PiZdETS]

Originally Posted by azoomm

To illustrate the difference between the 180 / 190

Nice find, here's the same type of illustration from this article.

Here's a stock 180 tire on an f4i' rim, notice how round it is


Now compare that with the flattened look of a 190 put on the same rim. It looks wrong because it is wrong

Effectively, the wider tire will give more rake and trail when the bike is vertical, while keeping close to the original geometry when the bike is leaned over. Accounting for one (by changing ride height) will unduly affect the other.....
With no changes to suspension or geometry, the F4i felt substantially different with the wider tire. With the bike straight up and down, steering was slightly sluggish in comparison, but just off vertical, the F4i was quite tippy and darted into corners. The light, neutral steering of the Sportecs was completely changed and the bike lost its balanced feel. The sensation was very much like riding on a tire squared off from too many freeway miles. At higher lean angles, performance was less affected, although making transitions from side to side was unpredictable. And, contrary to the popular myth that the wider tire puts down a bigger footprint and gives more traction, we felt no improvement in that department from the properly sized tire.

My suggestion? On a 2000 R1 a swingarm stretch and 400 series tire will seriously improve handling.