Any other Darksiders?

[Whoaru99]

New to the Darkside as of today. Quite a bit different, not as much different as I thought it would be though. Fair bit more countersteer effort needed but not so much more as to turn me off to it so far.

The lure of 20-30K miles per tire is strong vs. 4.5-5K per tire, and so far any difference in handling has been easy to adapt to.

Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 205/55ZR16, load & speed rating 91Y, tread life & traction rating 500 AA, on a 2008 Vulcan 2000

http://fishingminnesota.com/forum/file/userpics/2013/05/full-1214-33241-img_20130518_00155.jpg

[boatfixer]

Ill need to replace my back tire this summer. Been thinking of doing the same thing. Problem is finding someone to mount it. The " liability" freaks shops out.

[Jcup]

If I had a cruiser thats what I would do. Its not like you're out there carving twisties trying to drag a knee. Or taking it to a track day on the weekend. I'm not sure how much rear tires are for you but for me they are $180+ not installed. The savings over time would buy a lot of gas.

[Whoaru99]

A rear MC tire for my cycle is $200-$250 just for the tire (200/60VR16), then installation on top of that. So around $300 in round numbers.

I have ~$250 into that car tire installed. Considering the higher life I expect, mileage adjusted price equivalent should be about $63, maybe even less.

[VIZSLA_NUT]

I have a little over three thousand miles on a Michelin hydro edge 205/65/16 on my VTX 1800 and I love it, took some getting use to at slow speeds but after some pressure adjustments It's way better than the stock tire in my opinion, doesn't break loose on wet pavement like the m/c tire

Norhland V Twin in the rapids changed mine for me no questions asked just make sure you have them put in the dyna beads for balancing it makes a huge difference in tire life

I paid $145 for the tire online and less than $50 for mounting and balancing beads

[leech~~]

The only issue I see with this is the "drop-off" going over the sharper edge around corners at speed, unlike a rounder bike tire.

[Kidd]

Here's a little something to read on the subject: Tales from the Dark side

Motorcycle tires are built differently for a reason and I think for a lousy $65 bucks the risk isn't worth the reward.

[leech~~]

I think this show just what I was talking about above. You can loose road contact once you go over that sharp edge on car tires.

[Kidd]

You can loose road contact once you go over that sharp edge on car tires.

I agree, I'm just not understanding the logic behind putting a car tire on a motorcycle.

[VIZSLA_NUT]

Actually the car tire flexes when you go around the corners and gives you a greater contact area than a m/c tire

There are videos on the net that shows a camera mounted underneath the bike showing it in action

I did the switch because 6-8000 miles out of a $300 tire was a joke and the loss of traction on wet roads was enough to get me to switch

I can take the tight twisties just as well if not wbetter than other large cruisers with this setup and with more confidence

[upnorth]

I think I will side with the Motorcycle Designers/Engineers. I think their knowledge of how things work are a little more than the rest of us on the topic of what works how and why.

[leech~~]

Actually the car tire flexes when you go around the corners and gives you a greater contact area than a m/c tire

There are videos on the net that shows a camera mounted underneath the bike showing it in action

I did the switch because 6-8000 miles out of a $300 tire was a joke and the loss of traction on wet roads was enough to get me to switch

I can take the tight twisties just as well if not wbetter than other large cruisers with this setup and with more confidence

Huum 600lbs bike flexes a car tire as much as a 2000lbs car?

[VIZSLA_NUT]

Actually my bike is almost a thousand pounds with a 250lb rider

But who's weighing

[Dave S]

Actually my bike is almost a thousand pounds with a 250lb rider

But who's weighing

My weight plus my Concours is between the 900-1000 lb mark as well but you can imagine how stupid that bike would look with a car tire on the back not to mention the handling IS NOT going to match what it does with a properly sized motorcycle tire on the rear.

Maybe a boat would be a better choice since they don't need tires.

[Whoaru99]

The only issue I see with this is the "drop-off" going over the sharper edge around corners at speed, unlike a rounder bike tire.

I know it looks like that but it just doesn't happen. The handling does change, more counter steer effort is required, but there is no "drop-off" feeling at all, none whatsoever, even all the way down to the point of scraping the pegs/floorboards.

[Whoaru99]

Here's a little something to read on the subject: Tales from the Dark side

Motorcycle tires are built differently for a reason and I think for a lousy $65 bucks the risk isn't worth the reward.

If it was just $65 I'd still be using a MC tire, but it's not. It's more than $300 every 4500-5000 miles which is at least once per year, if not more. That is the reason people do it.

There is lots of talk about risk, but that's all the further it seems to get from a practical matter.

[Whoaru99]

I agree, I'm just not understanding the logic behind putting a car tire on a motorcycle.

As mentioned early on, the primary reason is cost savings and hassle avoidance from paying >$300 for a rear tire and having to screw around with it at least once per year/riding season.

[Whoaru99]

I think I will side with the Motorcycle Designers/Engineers. I think their knowledge of how things work are a little more than the rest of us on the topic of what works how and why.

Lots of people do and that's fine. That's the view I had for a long time.

In a year of research, for lack of better terms, I have yet to be able to find one account of an accident/injury caused specifically by using a car tire on a motorcycle. There's a lot of gloom and doom prophecy, but seems to be little if any real world evidence to support it with actual incidents.

It's kinda like this...

I'm sure from a scientific standpoint experts can explain why cyanide is toxic to humans. And, considering the supporting evidence from the real world, I have no plans to eat cyanide.

With the car tire on a motorcycle, we have the experts claiming it is a bad thing to do/dangerous, but there doesn't seem to be any real world examples/evidence supporting that it actually is in the situations it's being done.

[Whoaru99]

Huum 600lbs bike flexes a car tire as much as a 2000lbs car?

Yeah, if not more.

Probably more realistically a car is 3000-3500lbs. That's roughly 800lbs per tire. My bike weighs close to 1200 lbs with me on it, and the bulk of that is on the rear tire, so there's not a big difference in static loading. The motorcycle probably puts more flex into the sidewalls though due to the way a cycle turns vs. the car. This is one of the arguments against car tires on MC...sidewalls aren't designed to handle it. Yet, there seems to be no evidence from actual incidents that this is, in fact, a problem.

[Whoaru99]

My weight plus my Concours is between the 900-1000 lb mark as well but you can imagine how stupid that bike would look with a car tire on the back not to mention the handling IS NOT going to match what it does with a properly sized motorcycle tire on the rear.

Maybe a boat would be a better choice since they don't need tires.

There is a contingent of people that put them on sport touring bikes too and report positively.

Again, I thought the handling would be atrocious as well. Went so far as to buy a second complete rear wheel assembly off hsolist just to try the Darkside because I was sure I wouldn't like it and didn't want to be stuck dismounting and remounting tires right away. As reported, countersteer takes more effort, but in terms of sheer cornering ability, etc. I don't yet detect any loss of capability.

I know, I know...just isn't possible. I thought the same thing too, until I tried it.