Install tube type tire on front?

[streeter]

I am thinking of making my 2015 FJ 09 a little better on rough roads.  Besides installing a skid plate I'd like to install a  Shinko 705 in size 120/90-17 on the front wheel..  Stock tires are 120/70-17.  The 120/90 has the same outside diameter as the 19" front tire on a V-Strom, without changing the front wheel.   The only issue is that it is a tube type tire, so I'd have to remove the valve stem and stick the new tube's valve stem through the hole in the rim.  Has anyone done this?  Run into any issues?

I'll have to raise the front fender 2", will this cause clearance issues? 

Thanks 

[betoney]

1 hour ago, streeter said:

I am thinking of making my 2015 FJ 09 a little better on rough roads.

When you say "rough roads" do you mean street? or dirt roads? 

Don't tube type tires require different rims with a 2nd hole for a rim lock like a dirt bike?  Would it be easier to use an adventure or dual sport type tire and modify your suspension for the rough terrain?

[streeter]

I mean rough pavement and graded gravel roads,  not trails.   Tube tires do not require a rim lock, that is only used on full dirt bikes to allow extremely low tire pressure, like12 psi.

I'm planning a trip to Mexico where the pavement is very rough and I want the larger front tire diameter to help roll over potholes and broken pavement. 

[Guest]

My experience with tube tires on my Ducati Scrambler which had spoke wheels and required them is that they suck. You get a flat and you can't repair it on the road. Call someone to haul bike home or even worse call a tow truck. I wouldn't want to be in that position in Mexico. It happened to me twice in Massachusetts and it was an ordeal. It was one of the reasons I got rid of the Scrambler, that and the mediocre performance and Ducati doesn't really like to honor their warranty.

[streeter]

That isn't a huge issue for me.   My other bikes are dirt bikes and dual sports, I've changed tubes on the trail many times.   In fact, I'm so old that all of my street bikes had tubes.

[Buggy Nate]

Not an issue. Only difficult thing is breaking the bead to replace the tube on the side of the road with the safety bead on the rim. Put 100k on a tenere on the road and done my fair share of tube swaps.