Fitting Modern Tyres to my Honda Express Deluxe NC50

Published: 15 February 2025. Side View of a Honda NC50 Express, 1981 Model

Upgrading My Honda Express Deluxe (NC50) To Modern Tyres

I have a 1981 Honda Express Deluxe (NC50), and having ridden it for a while I found that the existing tyres were very dangerous in wet weather. They frequently slid out on corners, often at 15mph or less at very small lean angles. The tyres that were fitted were a mismatched set of Golden Boy and Cheng Shin brands, both of which were very old.

The Express originally came with 2.25 x 14" tyres, which is not a common size. It was only used on a few mopeds from that late 1970's and early 80's era. Checking for replacement tyres, only a couple of budget brands still made tyres in that size, notably Cheng Shin and Kenda. I wanted something more premium, so looked for other 14 inch sizes that might fit.

The tyres I settled on were the Michelin City Pro in 70/90-14 size. This size is a little wider than the original tyres, but similar enough to be useable. I've had good performance from Michelin tyres in the past and these have worked out well.

The 70/90-14 size is still used on a few modern scooters, mainly on the front wheels only. As a result, you need to make sure that you buy a tyre that can be used on both front and rear fitment, as some tyres on the market are made for front only. The Michelin City Pro and City Extra can be used on both wheels, but the Metzelers cannot for instance.

Another point to note is that a lot of modern tyres are designed for tubeless application. They can still be used with tubes (as the Express requires), with a slightly lower speed rating. As the Express is only 50cc and limited to 30mph, this is a non-issue! The only downside of using tubeless tyres on the Honda Express is that they tend to be slightly heavier than old tube-type tyres.

The tyre went straight on to the front without issue, everything clears with no rubbing. Front wheel removal is extremely easy, simply remove the split pin, undo the castle nut on the axle and pull the axle out. The front wheel can then be removed, no need to disconnect the speedometer or brake cables (the brake adjuster may just need to be loosened a couple of turns).

On the rear, I had to make one small tweak to remove a tab on the front left bottom of the mudguard - I just cut the tab off with a sharp knife. The picture above shows the location of the tab. Other than that, it fitted perfectly with the original mudguard. To remove the rear wheel, first remove the exhaust pipe. Then remove the split pin and undo the wheel axle castle nut, then undo the bolt(s) holding the rear bracket of the mudguard. Now that the mudguard can flop around, the wheel can be slid out.

Initial impressions are that these tyres are far grippier in the wet than the Cheng Shin/Golden Boys. The NC50 Express (like many small scooters) is still quite light on the front-end, so leaning forward when cornering can help stabilise the front wheel a little and prevent washing out. Overall, I'm impressed with the Michelins and would recommend them.