Small Wheels, Big Decisions

The DLX and DLX GOLD run 90/90-12 at both ends. The EZ runs 90/90-10. Those two digits at the end are a philosophy.

Ninety millimetres of section width, an aspect ratio of ninety percent, on a rim of twelve or ten inches. Same width, same profile, different wheel — and the wheel is where the argument is.

Bigger wheels roll over things

A twelve-inch wheel meets a pothole edge at a shallower angle than a ten-inch wheel does. It climbs instead of colliding. On Indian surfaces that difference compounds — it is felt as comfort, but it is really about how much shock the fork and the rim have to absorb over a life.

It is also why the faster machines get the larger wheel. At 55 and 65 km/h, the consequence of an unseen edge is larger, so the wheel that shrugs it off is the correct wheel.

A tyre is the only part of the vehicle that touches the road. Everything else in the specification is a proposal; the tyre is the negotiation.

Tubeless, everywhere

Every tyre in this range is tubeless, and this is one of the least glamorous and most valuable decisions on the vehicle. A tube that is punctured deflates immediately. A tubeless tyre pierced by a nail usually holds pressure around the object long enough to get you somewhere useful.

It is also repairable by the roadside without removing the wheel. On a hub-motor scooter, where the rear wheel is the motor and its cabling, that is not a small convenience.