Car tire installation recommendation?

It is not hard to take wheel out and reinstall it. Search Goldwing sites and you can find several ways to do it.
Most of shops will not work on sidecar rig. Most of shops will not install automotive tire on motorcycle wheel.
They will not do it for liability reason. Sorry.

I don't have a Wing but I'll second the difficulty of finding a tire store willing to work on a rig. I have, however, found motorcycle friendly independent car mechanics more than willing to help me out. Might be an option.

I don't know of anyone out that way, but I have had better luck with small. independent motorcycle shops then larger ones. A friend uses an independent, small car tire shop that he buys all of his car tires from. You may need 2 shops, one to remove and reinstall the wheel, and one to do the mounting.

If you can find a buddy to jack up the bike and remove the rim, you can bring the rim and new tire to RMC Moto in Santa Clara. Tell the owner you will pay in cash and don't require a receipt. Many shops are reluctant to put car tires on moto rims due to unknown or unknowable legal issues which may or may not exist. Do your research to make sure you buy the right size car tire. If you want any help with that, post up here the size of the tire you have now and I'll see if there is a specific tire I could recommend. Once you have the tire, you should be good to go.

Thanks everyone - the OEM tire size is 160/80-16 and a lot of people are recommending a Bridgestone Drive Guard 195/55R-16. It's a bit wider than OEM but they say it fits. I have a feeling I'm going to have to try and remove the wheel myself - I may be back here asking for hints on how to fix things later!

Don't want to offer advice where it's not needed, but my experience with Gold Wing riders is that they are a very friendly, collegial group who are generally more than willing to help a buddy out. You might consider contacting, or joining, your local Gold Wing Riders club. Specifically, the Silicon Valley Wings which is your local chapter of the (National) Gold Wing Road Riders Association. Here is a link to their website. -- http://www.ca2s.org/

No doubt there are a half dozen guys from San Jose who'd be happy to come over to help with your wheel in exchange for pastries and a cup of coffee!

Regarding the Bridgestone Drive Guard, that is a type of car tire called a "run-flat" tire. I'm not going to go into a big discussion of why you don't want a run-flat on your rig, but you can read a good intro about these tires here -- https://www.edmunds.com/driving-tips/run-flat-tires-a-primer.html

More importantly, the installer I recommended above will not mount a run-flat tire. They are really difficult to mount and often can't be mounted at all unless the installer has a multi-arm tire changer. And if you get a flat somewhere out on the road, it will be hard enough finding someone to repair it with a regular tire much less a run-flat.

There are lots and lots of "regular" tires in that size (195/55-R16) that will give you great traction, excellent mileage, and a nice ride. For instance, if you want to stick with a Bridgestone, there's the Ecopia EP422 Plus in that size with a UTQG of 640AA. (The run flat Drive Guard is rated 500AA). It's an all-season tire. Not to be confused with the Ecopia E422. The EP422 PLUS.

If you want to try a different brand, General's Altimax RT43 has a 700AA rating and a nice symmetrical all-season tread pattern. I run General Altimax tires on my BMW rig and think they're great.

Thanks, Drone - We're already members of the Silicon Vally Wings group - great bunch of people! Between them, other friends, and the instructions found online in some Wing forums I think I'll be able to make an attempt at doing it myself. As for the tire, I haven't made up my mind yet. The Driveguard seems to be well received, but people do admit that it's a tight fit. I might try something a bit narrower, I just need to find something about the same diameter as the stock tire. I've seen the General Altimax mentioned as well - I'll be investigating it!

We've got a trip scheduled to ride up through the Avenue af the Giants in Norcal in 2 weeks so I'll probably look at replacing the tire after that - the existing tire is good for a couple of thousand more miles.

As far as i know 195/55R-16 will not fit GL1500. It will fit 1800 but not 1500. I have 175R16 installed and clearance in swing arm is minimal.

Several folks I know run 165/60-14 on the back of their Burgmans. No problems that I have heard of. My local shop will replace and balance for $20 if I bring him the wheel.
J.R.
USCA Sec.
Tex Rep.

VLAD - 4/26/2018 8:14 AM As far as i know 195/55R-16 will not fit GL1500. It will fit 1800 but not 1500. I have 175R16 installed and clearance in swing arm is minimal.

In this thread, one of our members reports that he's using 195/55-16 on a 1995 GL1500. http://www.sidecarist.com/mbbs22/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=15389&posts=23&highlight=austone&highlightmode=1#M96809

He got the wheel mounted and balanced then, to install it, he let out all the air first. Ha! Pretty tricky! Once installed, he re-inflated. Pretty good trick.

There's also this thread where a member says a 195/55-16 fits, but he saw where a tire made by Yokohama in that size that was too wide and rubbed the swingarm. http://www.sidecarist.com/mbbs22/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=14891&posts=25&highlight=austone&highlightmode=1#M93802

Of the three tires I mentioned yesterday, the Ecopia E422 Plus is about 3mm wider than the other two, which would suggest maybe the Altimax might be a better choice.

Caveat--VLAD actually owns a GL1500. I do not, and never have. I'm just going off Post #6 above and stuff I've seen on the web. If you want to try VLAD's Austone tire, it looks like they are in stock at Universal Tire-- https://www.universaltire.com/175r16-austone-taxi-black.html The Austone tire is pretty close to the size of your OEM 160/80-16 tire. It's about one centimeter taller and about a half centimeter wider, so almost a perfect match size-wise. As an alternative, Universal Tire also sells the Dunlop Taxi Tire in the same size.

So far bentleyssq is only one who saying he install 195/55-16 on 1500. Everybody else saying his brother in low best friend sister knows somebody who did it. I did install 175/55-16 , 175R16 and other one on my bike. All of them have 3/8" to 1/2" clearance in swing arm. I see no way to install 195/55-16(20 mm wider more then 3/8" on each side), but if bentleyssq saying he did install 195/55-16 on 1500 I trust him. Some tires is little smaller or little bigger then they have to be. I did not like 195/55-16 it is smaller diameter then OEM so your bike will be lower - smaller ground clearance. 175r16 is little taller and i like it better.

Remember to readjust your rig after you install lower or taller tire. Otherwise you will replace it soon.

Online

Here is my post on the install of a 195/55/16 Federal Formosa on my 1995 Goldwing. I installed it myself on the rim, inflated it , then deflated it to install. Just some wiggling and it went in with plenty of clearance. I have over10000 miles on it. No problems. See the pics. I have an extra rim and another tire I bought same type and brand that I have in the garage as a replacement when this one wears out. I will fit, I don't know about other brands. I saw and article on "Goldwing Docs" about a person who installed that tire on his wing (with Pictures), his bike was Green Search the Goldwing docs site for "Car Tire". It fits, no mods to frame or swingarm.
Regular

Posts: 81

Location: Englewood. Florida
Positive about the size You can see it in my pics and I’ve included a few more . No issues with rubbing or anything. 195/55/16.

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Some reason I copied and paste and photos not showing . Rewiew my post, in SEARCH, type in Federal Formasa and it should pop up. Thanks.