Just got off the phone with a person from Yamaha's customer service dept. (from the company web site, in Cypress, CA). I had some questions about putting the 240 rear tire on the new Max.

This person had me on hold and came back, stating that they just talked to an engineer and that they 'highly discourage' putting a 240 on the new Max and that they were told 'it would be a very dangerous thing to do with this bike, and Yamaha absolutely does not recommend doing so'.

WTF?!?

They stated that they "hoped I didn't hear that it was ok from some blogs that are circulating out there". I was a little miffed at that comment, and said that I learned it from a very reputable site with folks that are very informed, etc.

I was basically told that it would be foolish to put a 240 on the back.

Comments, folks?!? I'm a bit stupefied.

Well, for my Kind of Riding Style i wouldn't recommend a 240 on the rear either. One could easliy say it's foolish when your seeking for intense Curves and Mountain Passes.


But if Street dragging or mostly straight Streets riding is your Style, i don't see any Reason for not mounting a 240 . At least nothing what would make it dangerous.

Did they specify the Reason why it's very dangerous ?

You need to be VERY specific when asking these questions. They might have understood you want to mount a 240 the the stock rim. This is in fact NOT recommended at all. You need a special 240 rim (like the one Yamaha might be offering) if you want to put on a 240 .
Either way it will never be an official configuration for Yamaha, as the 240 rim would be for off road use only (liability).
As with any fat tire you loose some handling. I bet the Dunlop 240 (again on a proper rim) will be close to stock, the Metzler will be much harder to roll into turns and will limit your lean angle.

Thanks for the comments...

Squeeze, they didn't specifically say 'why' - and I would say that something was lost in translation, because the purpose of my call to them was to check out the possibility of their offering a specific rim to accommodate the 240 . They probably didn't "hear" that and just assumed that I wanted to slap a 240 on the stock rim.

Thanks to you and fxstein for your comments!

I was under the impression (falsely and totally my fault) from earlier posts that the stock rim would be "240 ready", so that's why I ordered one. Duh.

I'll hang onto the tire and see who does what, whether it be Yamaha that offers a special rim, or someone else that is successful through other means.

Thanks again and Happy Thanksgiving!

I doubt that you'll get any positive input from any factory employee about modifying the drivetrain of a new motorcycle.

Sorry, it didn't came to my Mind that anybody would try to mount a 240 on a stock Rim Width. Stock Rim will be 6" or maybe 6.25". That qualifies for 210 at max, but nothing more. For a 240 , you need a 7.5" or 8" Rim.