Riding a Motorcycle With Fat Tires: Advantages & Disadvantages

Without a doubt, a motorcycle with fat tires or a fat back tire is a head-turner. It looks very assertive, bold, and low-lean. It also looks quite powerful with a “don’t mess with me" attitude. But the fat bike tires are not only about the bike's appearance. They make it easy to ride, easy to balance, and easy to stop, depending on various factors and the purpose of riding.

This guide divides the real advantages and disadvantages of motorcycles with fat tires. It will also take a deep look into cruiser motorcycles with fat rear tires and small off-road motorcycles with fat tires. We hope that it will assist you in making a decision on whether a fat tire motorcycle is the right thing for you based on your skill levels. Let’s find out.

In stock motorbikes, the rear tires are in the 140-180 mm range.

Riders refer to a motorcycle with a fat rear when they are speaking about:

• Rear Tire: 200 mm and bigger (240+ mm is extremely wide).

• Front Tire: It is significantly broader than the stock one, with a diameter of 130-160 mm on cruiser bikes.

You see fat tires on:

• Harley Cruisers: Such as the popular Harley Fat Boy, Harley Fat Bob, and Harley Sportster S.

• Show bikes and Custom Choppers: These bikes have massive rear wheels and low seats.

• Small Motorcycles with Fat Tires: These include fat tire mini bikes and trail toys.

• Fat Tire Off-Road Motorcycles: Not fat, but powerful in sand, snow, or mud.

The secret is easy: the wider, the bigger the contact patch, the greater the rubber on the road.

A fat motorcycle tire offers the following three features:

1. Contact Patch: Increased amount of rubber on the ground.

2. Shape of Sidewalls: More flat at the center, less round at the edges.

3. Mass: Heavier to spin, to stop, and to wring.

These three factors determine the benefits as well as the drawbacks of a fat tire motorcycle.

• To most of the riders, this is the main attraction of fat tires.

• The contact patch of a motorcycle with a fat back tire is bigger.

• This comes in handy when you are riding on the gas or when you are riding on tough or loose roads.

• Fat rear tires are used on powerful bikes so that the power is sent to the ground without continuous spinning.

It works well for:

• Fat-Tire Cruiser Motorcycles: Strong torque, low revs, difficult to get going off the crank.

• Fat-Tire Dirt Bike-Style Machines: Slow, but stable in the sand, snow, and loose dirt.

• Light Trail Riding and Beach Riding: Fat tires are more of a floater and less of a digger.

When you ride with a passenger, have a load, or just want to ride sightseeing slowly, the additional grip is a good advantage.

• Fat tires make the bike feel planted in case you are riding in a straight line.

• The more rubber or contact patch, the more the straight line stability.

• The rear tire of a big fat tire motorcycle serves as a long, wide rail.

• The bike does not feel twitchy at high speeds, but is smooth and stable.

This is the reason why most of the Harley and cruiser riders are fond of motorcycles with fat back tires for long road trips. On large open roads, they desire a bike that will take a straight line and not dance on every small bump and groove.

A fat tire may seem to be a little additional shock.

• Small hits are evened out by the large tire and a greater amount of air.

• Small rocks, potholes, and joints on the road are not as harsh.

• With a rigid or still frame build, the addition of tire shock absorption is very important.

With rough roads and no fancy long travel forks on your bike, a fat tire may provide a lighter ride feel to you and a pillion.

To a few novice riders, a fat tire small motorbike can be safe and fun:

• Short wheelbase, wide tires, low seat.

• Low-speed, not difficult to reach the ground.

• Comfortable in low speed and on flat dirt.

These are not fast-track toys or small/mini dirt bikes, but they enable riders to learn how to control the bike without going to the main road. The fat tires assist in leveling small ruts and sandy areas, which would scare a new rider on a skinny-tire bike.

Much of the fat tire use in motorcycles is for style and fashion.

• A motorcycle with a fat rear tire appears mean, bold, low, and strong.

• It makes the bike look compact and complete.

• As a tradition, the right tire and wheel combo is made the center of the build.

To riders who are very concerned about how their ride looks, one of the components is the fat tire. It is especially true for cruiser bikes or custom choppers.