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Could be ??? I have a 140/70/17 on my rear . Also many ppl race 150/60'17's . I can't say either way 
I agree that the OEM size tires will generally give the best handling in the same class of tires which would be sport touring bias ply tires for the EX500 or GS500 bikes. However the much better handling sport touring radials and the supersport radials don't come in our sizes and it is necessary to go to the 150 size to use these tires.
I've used the 150/70 tires that fit the GS500 but not the EX500 and I don't go beyond the 150/70 sport touring tire class because of tire life, I'll probably never try the 150/60 supersport tires commonly used on both the GS and EX because of their shorter tire life. They are pinched down a bit and do have a somewhat rounder shape on our 3.5" rear rims but not as much as some think. Both the 150/70 and 150/60 tires are shaped for a 4" preferred rim width and putting them on a 3.5 rim pinches them down about 5 mm or .2 inches in width.
I'm currently using a 150/70 Conti RoadAttack sport touring radial rear and took a pic of it a while back and you can see it's nicely rounded on my 3.5 GS rim and the chicken strips are probably about as narrow as they should be for a 74 year old semi rider.
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I've used the 150/70 tires that fit the GS500 but not the EX500 and I don't go beyond the 150/70 sport touring tire class because of tire life, I'll probably never try the 150/60 supersport tires commonly used on both the GS and EX because of their shorter tire life. They are pinched down a bit and do have a somewhat rounder shape on our 3.5" rear rims but not as much as some think. Both the 150/70 and 150/60 tires are shaped for a 4" preferred rim width and putting them on a 3.5 rim pinches them down about 5 mm or .2 inches in width.
I'm currently using a 150/70 Conti RoadAttack sport touring radial rear and took a pic of it a while back and you can see it's nicely rounded on my 3.5 GS rim and the chicken strips are probably about as narrow as they should be for a 74 year old semi rider.
The 150/70 fits my GS500 but is said not to fit the EX500, will hit swingarm towards front. Not as much clearance on the Ninja because it started with 16" wheels before changing to 17" in 94.
I log in here to follow the tire threads since the GS and the 94 and later EX have the same size OEM tires and wheels. My next ride could be the Ninja since they have the GS's wraped in plastic now.
If I did get an EX, I'd look into putting a two link longer chain on it and shifting the wheel back 5/8" so I could run the 140/80 and 150/70 sport touring radials on it. They've been my favorite tires of the many I've tried in 120K GS miles.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v443/jcp8832/GS500tirelog.jpg
I log in here to follow the tire threads since the GS and the 94 and later EX have the same size OEM tires and wheels. My next ride could be the Ninja since they have the GS's wraped in plastic now.
If I did get an EX, I'd look into putting a two link longer chain on it and shifting the wheel back 5/8" so I could run the 140/80 and 150/70 sport touring radials on it. They've been my favorite tires of the many I've tried in 120K GS miles.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v443/jcp8832/GS500tirelog.jpg
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