[DAN]

NUMBERS NUMBER NUMBERS, Well in reference to the height numbers; the rear height rise going from the 130/90-15 to the 140/90-15 is a rise of half the difference in tire diameter or in this case - 4 tenths of an inch. On the front axel the the calculated rise in going from the 110/90-16 to the 130/90-16 is an axel height increase of .75 inch. The average height rise for the GZ is just under .6 inch (.575"). Howerver there is a consideration here as to how this effects ground clearance. The left exhaust pipe drops below the frame to cross over and seems to be the lowest point of contact. The exhaust pipe is much closer to the front axel and will gain aproximately 0.7 inches of extra clearance, this being confirmed by a direct mesument. Having made this measurment while trying to steady the bike upright with one hand and eyeballing a tape measure while kneeling next to the GZ, I will state that the measurment will only be within +- 0.1 inch or so for accuracy, if that. Now the seat height increase will only be about 0.5 inches as it is closer to the rear axel.

So you gain 0.7 inches ground clearance and about 1/2 inch in seat height.

What does this mean in real life; well the biggest plus is the ground clearance as now I don't scrape the exhaust pipe when driving up over a curb. That little 0.7 inch increase made a big difference. The sitting position height rise is just noticable, but the entire bike feels bigger and when you stand back to look at it the GZ looks much bigger especially from the front quarter view, accually quite impressive from the front.

The front tire controlls the speedo and is about a 6% lower reading than the 110/90-16 which in real life makes the 130/90-16 front wheel read very close to the actual true speed of the bike.

The rear tire size increase is the equivelent of going to a mythical 15-1/2 tooth drive sprocket. --Dan--