I’m a bike noob and this is my first bike, its a 74 CB360 with original rim and tires.
I’ve just gotten the bike running and now it needs a few things notably tires
where would I buy tires that won’t rip me off, there’s a honda dealership but I’m thinking there’s going to be a hell of a mark up if I buy from there
what do you guys think of these tires
I’ve done about 220,000 motorcycle km since 2007…
I’m a massive fan of what Bridgestone have at the moment.
Not sure what size your tyres are (and mine are all sports bikes of varying sizes), but both the profile and rubber compounds Bridgestone are using at the moment are great.
Shinkos? Reputation for being about as adhesive as rocks. They’re cheap Chinese tires and fitted as cheap OEM factory garbage to cheap Korean bikes.
I wouldn’t touch them with a 10 foot pole (but again, I’m coming at it from a sports bike rider perspective) - they’re shit.
That said… tyres are the difference between grip and no grip in a given situation, I feel they’re one of the most worthy purchases/upgrades on a motorcycle (I’ve gone through about 20-25 sets in the past 10 years of varying brands so have had some comparison)…
Confidence in your tyres is essential to riding a bike. Having good feedback and a feeling of trust is just worth SO MUCH to the riding experience.
My advice is definitely DO NOT CHEAP OUT. They aren’t all just round black things.
Tires are the biggest thing to spend money on imo on anything that have them.
(never rode a motorcycle but with as little contact as those have I can only imagine it matters all that much more)
Especially so on a bike.
Car tyres - sometimes even cheap ones can be good if they’re soft enough compound; the tyre life will just be garbage.
On a bike, there are other factors at play - bike tyres aren’t flat on the bottom and the shape of the curve, and the difference in the shape of the curve on the front vs. rear can have a massive impact on how tyres feel.
I’m not sure if Bridgestone BT92s are available in an appropriate size for that bike, but I’d definitely recommend them as appropriate for that sort of motorcycle. They may have been superseded at this point too. But definitely if Bridgestone make something appropriate, I would recommend!
Stick like shit to a blanket, give a lot of confidence even in the wet. I had some on one of my sports 250s as an “emergency” set and only got rid of them in that situation because I ran out of lean angle (sports 250 with high ground clearance will do that - they’re don’t have enough curvature for that application) - for the CB however, you won’t get that far over and they will grip all the way until you star scraping parts most likely.
Braking distance is greatly effected by tires, Being on shit bottom tier will get you in accidents medium grade tires would deff save you from, hydroplaning etc there is 100% DR on tires but bottom of barrel i would avoid at almost all costs.
Oh for sure.
But some cheaper (not total shit tier, I mean probably mid tier?) tyres actually do perform fairly well. The difference though between those and the higher end tyres are that the life will be much worse. On cars at least.
You get what you pay for with tyres, 100%. And again, on a motorcycle you’re already a vulnerable road user. Don’t make it worse.
Yep 100% thats the sweet spot if you are on a tighter budget or drive like a granny most of the time.
Yeah, but if you can afford the one time hit, so long as you’re buying within the same “class” of tyre, the pricier ones often simply last longer to make up for the price. As well as just being better.
My point with that is that over the long term, you don’t save much going cheap.
Same with motorcycle helmets in my experience. I’ve had a bunch and ended up being loyal to Shoei.
They fit me properly (I have a Shoei shape head) and simply last way longer than a helmet that’s half the price.
Half-Shoei-price helmet starts to wear out and get loose after a year for me. Shoei helmets last me years. I actually save money over the long run and have a better quality helmet 
3.50 x 18 for the rear
3.00 x 18 for the front
these?
Yup, they’d work well. Probably close to ideal for that type of bike too. Great compound, really good grip in the wet too.
edit:
I say that as someone who runs RS10s or S21s on all my bikes (they were recently superseded by RS11 and S22). The BT92s are great, they just run out of angle on a sports bike long before running out of grip.
Bridgestone or Toyo are the brands I usually end up with
110/70R17 M/C 54H TL will fit the front rim exactly
but the rear doesn’t fit exactly, also what about the OD is having different OD bad or does it not matter
I’m assuming OD = overall diameter or outside diameter. Having a larger diameter on the rear will stand the bike on its nose a bit more and give you more front end feel and grip (to a point) but make it a bit twitcher, Larger diameter on the rear will rake the front out a bit (think chopper but less extreme) and make it more stable but less eager to change direction.
its subtle, so long as the difference vs. what it is supposed to be isn’t too big I wouldn’t worry so much - and it can be corrected with suspension preload if you have to.
You may find something else in the Bridgestone range that fits better, maybe from their A or T series.
I’ll be honest here and say I don’t know. I’ve never had a non-off-road motorcycle with spokes.
I’d talk to a proper bike tyre shop and see what they have to say. I’m not sure about running tubes in tubeless tyres, again - you might be steered towards the A series tyres or Ts.
I’ll need to get a helmet too, I have one that my friend bought as a halloween costume and gave it to me, but I can barely fit my noggin through the hole, it looks cool wired up to elwire but something tells me I need something not so snug
Dont put battlaxes on that bike. Use RevZilla for tires. You cant run (or shouldnt run) tubes in most radials, so you want a bias ply tire. Avon is probably your go to here. They make stuff in all kinds of sizes which is why you’ll find lots of vintage harleys wearing them.
As for helmets, revzilla has a sizing chart so get the tailors tape out and measure your head. You want a helmet to be tight so you dont go rattling around inside of one which would defeat the purpose. It shouldnt be so tight as to cut off circulation though. I recommend the icon alliance. They’re all on sale right now because I believe icon is discontinuing the line. I’ve had a few other helmets but these arent bad. I still like mine after 5 years.
Actually these shinkos arent a bad setup, I’d say go for it.
revzilla has them for about $50 a pop plus tubes you’d still be less than that ebay listing
That works for most people, but not everyone has the same head shape.
Given that the helmet will be squeezing your head for longer periods of time, you really need to try it on in a shop. If you think it fits, wear it for 5+ minutes while discussing visor options etc with the store clerk.
revzilla covers head shape
in fact they cover a ton of information with their own youtube channel
If you dont know what you’re looking for they will educate you
There is no substitute for trying on a bunch of different helmets in a store.
Once you know what decent helmet brand matches your head, sure go nuts and order on-line for future purchases.
But buying a helmet without trying on that brand and having an idea of how they fit you is nuts.
A helmet should be fairly tight (but no specific pressure points) as otherwise it will move around, rattle, get buffeted by the wind, etc. Or even worse, in an accident maybe even come off.
Many, many people make the mistake, especially early on (including myself) of ordering a helmet that is too large. If in doubt, try on a size smaller than you think, and see whether or not it will fit; bearing in mind that they break in a little and loosen up slightly with time. Cheaper ones - they often break in a lot and become essentially useless over time.
I’ve only ever bought my helmets online without trying them on first.
Not everyone has a local shop nearby with a selection that is worthwhile.
