Ask The Editors: Can I Make These Tire Sizes Work?
New meats needed.
Hey everyone – I have a 2002 Yamaha Blaster 200cc and I’m thinking about upgrading the stock rear tires to Kenda Bearclaw tires. The stock rear tire size is 21 x 10-8 and I’m looking at the 22 x 12-8 size. I’m wondering if this change in size could potentially harm the quad in any way. Additionally, I’m contemplating getting Kenda Bearclaw tires for the front as well. The available sizes are 22×8-10, 23×7-10, and 23×10-10. If these sizes aren’t suitable, I’d appreciate some recommendations for front tire sizes that would work well with the 22 x 12-8 rear tires. Looking forward to your advice and suggestions. Thanks!
It sounds like you already have a handle on how the sizing works with ATV tires but as we see this question on a weekly basis, we’ll reiterate. 21 x 10-8 would be 21″ high, 10 inches wide and designed for an 8 inch rim.
Your move to a 21 x 12-8 would keep the height and rim diameter spec the same but offer two more inches of width. This breaks down to roughly an inch over on either side of the wheel. Will it work? Yes, we have seen stock Blasters run this spec but we normally recommend matching up all three of the wheel size specs to be absolutely certain concerning proper mounting.
We get the feeling in your case that, as seeing how the Blaster is a long out-of-production model, tiring sizing inventory will be limited and force you to settle on what sizes they do still have in stock. In that case, that extra inch on each side shouldn’t cause you clearance issues. Though do keep in mind the hotter setup for Blasters for many years was not to go wider with the rears but to go lower profile – which means stick with the 10-8 numbers and run 18s or 19s rather than 21s. What this cost in ground clearance was made up for in cornering stability.
Up front your stock tire size is 21 x 7-10. You’re going to want to stick as close to these metrics as you can. We’d have to say the 22 x 8-10 would probably be the best bet of the three options you are considering but, again, the closer you can get to the stock numbers in these instances, the better.
