16" tires
the original Michelin tires in the sizes 130/60ZR16 and 160/60ZR16 are not available anymore.
The production of the Pirelli MP7 was stopped in the early 90s, the production of the Michelin A59X and M59X was stopped in 2005 after only being produced in batches once or twice a year the years before.
If "new" ones are sold somewhere be aware that these are a minimum of 12 years old, probably older ! Check the DOT number (see below)
Beginning mid 2012
Golden Tyre produced the
GT 070 (130/60 ZR16) and the
GT 071 (160/60 ZR16). Golden Tyre dismissed the GT 070 and GT 071 in 2016.
Shinko now manufacturers the correct sizes. (which have almost the identical thread pattern as the GTs. Golden tyre was a distribution channel used by Shinko.) The Shinko front tire is model
SR880 and the rear
SR881. (below on the right)
In 1998 the Shinko Group purchased the motorcycle tire technology and molds from Yokohama Rubber Co., and began production of these products under the Shinko Tire brand. With manufacturing based in South Korea and design based in Japan, the company has seamlessly combined Japanese engineering and design principles with South Korean production and quality control standards. Today Shinko Tires produces approximately 200,000 motorcycle tires per month.
Other alternatives:
front:
130/70-16, common size produced by several manufacturers as used ie on Honda Fireblade. The bigger tire diameter requires lifting the front fender
rear:
150/80-16, tire manufacturers do not recommend this tire with a 5" wide rim. However in 2009 Ducati Germany issued an official approval for this size (
http://www.ducati.de/service/reifenfreigabe_paso.php ). The tire is very high so it touches the swingarm in the front. Hence you have to adjust the chain excenter as much to the back as possible and/or modify the swingarm. The remaining possibility of adjusting chain tension will be small. Longer side and center stand may be required.
180/60-16, a size produced mainly for heavy toures like Honda Goldwing and therefore not optimal for the Paso but there are exceptions for custom applications like ie the Avon Cobra AV72. Tire diameter is smaller than the 150/80 but it is wider so it`s required to offset the chain (front & rear sprocket) so it won`t touch the tire. (before the AV72, there was the AM42 and before that the AM23)
Tire manufacturers generally recommend to combine only tires with matching characteristics, meaning one should not combine a "slow/flat profile" touring tire with a with a "fast/responsive" Supersport front tire with a sharp profile. I.e. the Avon AV72 should only be combined with a AV45 front.
Not recommended are: 120/80-16, 150/70-16 or 160/70-16 (the only tire this size is out of production anyway)
170/70-16 was not done yet, but it`s very likely you`ll end up with both clearance issues of 150/80 and 180/60 as the 170/70 has the same diameter as the 150/80 and almost the same width as the 180/60-16.
Star twin Motors in the Netherlands (
http://www.startwin.com/ ) meanwhile makes an adapter to lengthen the swingarm and give more clearance for a higher 150/80-16. (Note the tire is already higher and the adapters make the rear come up even more which will change the bikes geometry). My personal guess is that you`ll also need a longer chain. Probably with 108 links like the one of the 907ie. (maybe even longer if you go for a bigger sprocket too to compensate the the effect of the taller tire)
Tire production dates:
on the flank of the tire there`s the DOT number. Until the year 2000 it had 3 digits, after that 4.
The first 2 digits indicate the calender week, the last the production year.
So ie DOT 2306 means production in cw23 2006.
To differentiate the production years with 3 digit codes symbols were added to the number.
DOT 276 would indicate a production in cw27 of 1986 while for a 1996 production year there would be a triangle behind the 3 digit code as can be seen here:
Tire markings
i.e. 150/80B16 71V
80 is the height of the tire as percentage of its width. Hence if the tire is 150mm wide the height is 120mm. 71 is the weight index. 71 corresponds to 345kg max. load (with correctly set tire pressure. Lower tire pressure will reduce max load. At speeds above speed index of the tire max load will decrease). B stands for bias belted, R would mean radial.
The Pirelli MP7, the tires the first Pasos came on: