The Dark Side welcomes members with DS#'s

[Dark Lord]

Having been on extended R&R, the Emporer and I have found that Rebel viruses and other trivial matters have delayed awarding DarkSide #'s.  (Princess Laaya sends her regards.....)

The Emporer has noted that the following members have seen the Light of the DarkSide and that the Force of the DarkSide is strong with these riders.

The DarkSide welcomes new members:

engemt     VRCCDS0202
Chrispnut     VRCCDS0203
X Ring     VRCCDS0204
bigvalkriefan     VRCCDS0205
Jess from VA     VRCCDS0206
Pharmboy     VRCCDS0207
2qmedic     VRCCDS0208
hollywood     VRCCDS0209
Hoser     VRCCDS0210
Roadkill     VRCCDS0211
Dino     VRCCDS0212
mikeb     VRCCDS0213
fstsix     VRCCDS0214
valk57     VRCCDS0215
Bob E.     VRCCDS0216
Ken Tarver      VRCCDS0217
JamminJohn1     VRCCDS0218
Tigger#442     VRCCDS0219
Tundra     VRCCDS0220
vanagon40     VRCCDS0221
maelstrom     VRCCDS0222

If desiring a number, notify the email. It is now active again.  If duplicates are noted, notify email.  (Handles are in a state of flux in this club.)   
darkside001(NOSPAM)@hotmail.com     Remove (NOSPAM)


If there are any other disputes, contact the Emporer (IOW, deal with it.....)

[TJ]

AND IF YOU WANT A DARKSIDE STICKER TO GO WITH THAT #


Send me $5.00 an a Business S.A.S.E. Remind me of the color.
Black or Silver
 
T. JETER
101 BOWIE AVE
LAKE PLACID,FL.
33852

http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s106/TJRANCH/DARKSIDE002600x450.jpg

[R J]

Welcome aboard everyone, you will enjoy the change, I know I did.

TJ, your fender is off center.   The decal looks ok, just the fender.

[TJ]

Just an Illusion..... 

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

The DarkSide is strong 

[fstsix]

Cool!!..... thanks Dark Lord, 

[RoadKill]

I AM HONORED ! ! For MANY miles,the Darkside has earned my allegiance for all miles to come ! 

[big turkey]

As Luke says to his father Darth Vader, "I will never join you, the Universe must be free"

Careful you Dark siders you will anger Yoda.

Then watch out.

I do good to stay on motrcycle wheels, much less a motorcycle on a car tire.

If them car tires are so good why not put them all the way around, like on the front too.

Big Al

Star Wars - Luke I am your father	powered by Aeva

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

 

If them car tires are so good why not put them all the way around, like on the front too.

Big Al

 

That's  easy...I can't find a high performance directional that will fit 

[Doc Moose]

Welcome new DS members!  (Watch out for the "flaming death" thing!  ) LOL

[Willow]

... have seen the Light of the DarkSide

"Light of the Darkside"    Now that there is funny.    

[X Ring]

... have seen the Light of the DarkSide

"Light of the Darkside"    Now that there is funny.    

I thought I had seen the dark.

[Dark Lord]

   Well, I did'nt see my name on the list? but I'll send an e-mail to the man.

Loyal Darksider,
You indeed are on the rolls.  An email reminder with your number has been sent after verification from the Imperial Front Office of DarkSider Relations.

DV

[big turkey]

Should be dim side.

Little bit of a cult going here.

Any statistics on how many using car tires on thier motocycles have crashed.

No I guess not everything is done for a sticker.

Hope ya''ll know what you are doing.

I'll never do it and you can bank on that.

Big Al

Biker Extroidinare

 

[Serk]

Should be dim side.

Little bit of a cult going here.

Any statistics on how many using car tires on thier motocycles have crashed.

No I guess not everything is done for a sticker.

Hope ya''ll know what you are doing.

I'll never do it and you can bank on that.

Big Al

Biker Extroidinare

 

Daniel sums up the rebuttals to all that far more eloquently than I can:

http://lifeisaroad.com/stories/2004/10/27/theDarkSide.html

[Doc Moose]

An age is called Dark not because the light fails to shine, but because people refuse to see it. -James Albert Michener, novelist (1907-1997) 

[Disco]

Any statistics on how many using car tires on thier motocycles have crashed.  No I guess not everything is done for a sticker.

Al, does this count?      My crash had nothing to do with my CT.  It had everything to do with the loose nut connected to the 4 CTs on the Nissan that hit me.      BTW, never got the sticker.   

While my 'wing was in post-crash limbo and strapped to a pallet, the (extremely confident in his opinion of himself) lead mechanic at my local dealership (after addressing Janet first - chicken ____) started in on me with the "I've had over 60 motorcycles and more kinds of MC tires than that..." speech.  I cut him off and said I wasn't there to convince anyone I was right and they were wrong or that he ought to try one on his Duc.  He persisted with predictions of failure.  I cut him off again and asked if there were good and bad MC tires for each application.  He said yes.  I asked him the same about car tires and got the same answer.  I asked him if he could imagine a scenario where the right CT would work on the right bike for the right application.  He said no.  I asked him if he had ever ridden a bike with a CT.  He said no.  I then informed him with all due respect that, in light of his lack of personal experience he didn't know what the ____ he was talking about.  He's obviously not used to being spoken to that way.  He hasn't said another word to me since. 

The oem rear on the 'wing worked fine, but was worn so badly at 6,700 miles I didn't trust it for a 1,000 mile weekend.  So, I took the advice of a high-mile DS friend and tried the Dunlop Winter Tread Run-Flat.  It was amazing.  I put right at 6,700 miles on it before the crash and it still looked new.  I'll buy another one if I don't like the DS tire I'm going to try.  Ah, the options presented by extra rear wheels...

[big turkey]

Any good Nascar Crew Chief would tell you that taking the bike off  it's centerline.

Is not a good idea.

The  car tire does not have the same resiliance as a motorcycle tire.

Next centerlines and tracking matter.

Any engineer will tell you that this off center push is going to place more pressure on the front tire.

It's called a over steer or push condition.

I have heard several riders wiht car tires claim wihtout the right front tire they feel the front tire

break traction in a curve, not a good time to loose traction.

Seen a few wrecks where those wiht car tires said there must have been ice in the road.



I was right behind one of these riders and encoutered no ice or slippery conditions.

Just don't want to see my friends hurt  or killed over some phenomenon that is just a fad and could get a bad result.

Being cool or looking cool ain't worth a few extra miles of tire wear.

Ride safe, but If you have a car tire in slippery conditions please slow down jsut a bit , because that's when I see a problem wiht this setup.

This response is not meant to be mean spirited , but I do care about others that ride and want to put my two cents in on this.

Big Al

[big turkey]

I guess I am right about the car tires no one commented on my post.

Big Al

[Willow]

I guess I am right about the car tires no one commented on my post.

Just cause your Loud , don't make you right/     

[houstone]

I only have 10K on my GTT, but can absolutely say there is no degraded handling in corners, even in snow!  Yes, I rode in the snow in December in Houston.  I take the same route to work much more confidently now than when I had E-3s or Avons on it.  Just sayin'....
Jeff

[Tundra]

Big Al, (I respect your opinion)  I did two years of painstaking research on this subject and a member I did not know at the time volunteered to let me ride his before I made my decision to TRY it. I am pleased with it.
  Now I don't even know it's there, don't even think about it, until I read posts here.

[Hoser]

Sorry, Darkie, Hoser is still a loyal subject of the Federation,  thanx for the offer though, but I kinda got a thing for the princess, I am the royal hair dresser, how do you like her buns? Both sets  Hoser

[cutter]

I would be glad to try and convert the princess to the dark side....... 

[fstsix]

CAR TIRE DISPUTE   

Three Stooges - Slowy i Turn	powered by Aeva

[Serk]

[wizard -vrccds#125]

your 2 cents is not mine. Over 70 K on a CT.

[Gunslinger]

Al, I think that the reason there was no response to your post is it is well understood among the DS community that you cannot change the beliefs of a zealot. You obviously have strong opinions on the matter, so what is the point of trying to change your mind?

I personally have issues with using inaccurate facts or offering personal opinion as fact, so I will respond. Please understand that this is not intended as an attack, simply a rebuttal and clarification to enlighten you on some of the things you seem to misunderstand.

These opinions are mine, and they contain facts that I have gathered through the years.

Any good Nascar Crew Chief would tell you that taking the bike off  it's centerline.

Is not a good idea.

Not that I know how much an average NASCAR crew chief would know about the geometry and handling characteristics of a two wheeled vehicle, I understand your point and while technically accurate, it is irrelevant. The transition to the DS tire does nothing to change the center-line.  The center of the tire remains on the center of the rim, the mounting of the rim to the bike is not changed or modified in any way. There are a few pics of DS Valk's in which it appears that the tire is offset. This is an illusion, the tire remains centered, but some choose to make a modification which offsets the rear fender to allow more clearance with taller/wider tires. (This one of many possible modifications and is only necessary in certain applications)

The  car tire does not have the same resiliance as a motorcycle tire.

Really? What do you base this empirical statement on? I do not recall in my last search for tires (Car, motorcycle, trailer, wheelbarrow, or other) that quantified the tires "resilience"

http://www.merriam-webster.com/netdict/resilience[/url]]
Main Entry: re·sil·ience
Pronunciation: \ri-ˈzil-yən(t)s\
Function: noun
Date: 1824
1 : the capability of a strained body to recover its size and shape after deformation caused especially by compressive stress

I would argue that the Avon, Dunlop, and Metzler probably have different "resilience" and I will bet money that I can find car tires which offer more and less "resilience" but I challenge you to show me where the manufacturer quantifies the tires "resilience".

Next centerlines and tracking matter.

Any engineer will tell you that this off center push is going to place more pressure on the front tire.

It's called a over steer or push condition.

Again the center-line does not change, and if it did the problem would be worse in one direction than the other, the issue to which you refer I will deal with next.

I have heard several riders wiht car tires claim wihtout the right front tire they feel the front tire

break traction in a curve, not a good time to loose traction.

Seen a few wrecks where those wiht car tires said there must have been ice in the road.

I was right behind one of these riders and encoutered no ice or slippery conditions.

The issue is not ice or oil or anything else, it is a side effect of the increased traction offered with a wider tire offering a larger contact patch and is irrelevant of Car Tire vs. Motorcycle tire. The increased traction allows the rider to maintain traction with the rear tire through a larger velocity change (the velocity in this case being sideways directional in the turn) than they would be able to with the standard tire width and contact patch available. In the standard setup the rear tire (all things being equal) tends to slip before the front in hard cornering. The 'slip' factor of the front doesn't change, the rear increases. This would be the same with a wider rear motorcycle tire, it is a traction issue. Inexperienced/inattentive riders will ignore this fact and ride harder/faster and eventually find that the front tire begins to lose traction before the rear. (although at speeds/forces which are much higher than they could experience with a stock tire) This may cause them to panic and dump rather than react and recover.
(Honestly I don't know anyone who has laid a bike over this way, I found the issue by trial and error learning the differences with the setup but never laid the Fat Lady down in this manner, that took a drunk college girl who was more interested in her cellphone and grabbing a bite to eat than seeing me. I honestly believe that had I been on a standard tire I would have ended up parked in her passenger door. I thank god and the Dark Side that I had the braking and traction to be able to aviod her. All I did was dump the poor girl and hurt us both, my bones are still intact and she has been rebuilt. Bigger, Meaner, Faster)

Just don't want to see my friends hurt  or killed over some phenomenon that is just a fad and could get a bad result.

None of us want to see friends (or anyone else for that matter) hurt or killed.
As far as the DS being a fad, I got my first taste of the DS more than 10 years ago when I talked Roadkill into putting one on his Tourer (Didn't take much convincing, and I think he was already planning on it) Since then I have been through several car tires, on the Standard (converted to Tourer) my wife now rides and my I/S. This setup has seen hundreds of thousands of miles, in all types of weather and conditions by hundreds of riders of all experience levels on this board alone.

Being cool or looking cool ain't worth a few extra miles of tire wear.

I will admit that the "Cool factor" and my desire to be "different" were the initial reasons that I went to the Dark Side, but I would not trade the increased traction, handling, ride, and load capacity that I have with the car tire. It isn't for everyone, and like anything new or different there is a learning curve to understand the differences, but it is a short one. I wouldn't hop on a Triumph Rocket and expect it to handle exactly like a Valk, it is a different setup. I also wouldn't change from my front Dunlop to an Avon and assume they would handle the same.

Ride safe, but If you have a car tire in slippery conditions please slow down jsut a bit , because that's when I see a problem wiht this setup.

Ride safe, and if you find yourself in any type of adverse conditions please slow down just a bit. But I would encourage everyone (DS or not) to find out how you and your bike react in different conditions so that you are prepared when they occur unexpectedly.

This response is not meant to be mean spirited , but I do care about others that ride and want to put my two cents in on this.

I appreciate your feelings, just understand that you are speaking on a subject which you seem to have little knowledge, experience or facts on.  

As has been stated before the issue has been dealt with in a much more eloquent manner by our own Dan Meyer. If you would like some factual information I encourage you to take a look. I am not trying to convert anyone to any particular setup. I know what I like and what works for Me. Your mileage may vary, just offer me the same respect and don't try and force your opinion on others by trying to condemn a proven and tested setup simply because your ignorance on the matter will not let you look at the facts.

Brian Huntzinger
Gunslinger
brian[AT]wamego.net

[fstsix]

Umm....Big Al ? seen some pictures of you riding with Smokin Joe, why are you always behind him ??LOL....too funny..he has a car tire or 2..just stirrin the pot. oh i am 6.2 272  just how big are you LOL 

[Ferris Leets]

I'm new to this car tire thing but, my experience is that the first time you ride it feels very weird.  Not bad just weird.  After maybe 5 rides it seems completely fine & normal.  The only thing I notice is at low speeds, under 15 mph that it tends to follow any grooves in the road.  More so than a MC tire would.  I hop back and forth between my Nomad and the Valk. Which are very similar in size and weight.  Nomad has MC tires,  the only difference I feel is the better handling and power of the valk that I was used to before the CT.

[RoadKill]

Al,I respect your opinion,I love reading your posts. HOWEVER...Dark side tire will be the ONLY tire for me! Already have one ready to mount on my old shovelhead hardtail. Handling is a loose term and there are MANY aspects of handling.  Living in deer country and riding back roads in deer season will change ones outlook on what aspect is most important. The added stopping power/traction of the larger contact patch with car tire has saved my life MANY times. not only with sudden stops and deer in the road. sand trucks loosing their load in the middle of a blind curve,A-holes backing out of driveways,Tractors appearing out of a hedge row crossing to the other pasture ECT....

My 40 thousand + miles on car tire have had as many different dangerous encounters as you could imagine. The same ones that one would experience with a MC tire, and in EVERY one of them I would have rather had the increased stopping ability even if I chose not to use it in that particular circumstance. And the ONLY ones that ride away from me in the twisties are young ZIPSPLAT riders but no one on a cruiser of any kind has (Probably because I have not ridden with SmokinJoe..YET! ) Every one must know their limits,and for some,the dark side is just out of their grasp.

Ride safe,what ever and however you ride.   

[roboto65]

Oh Darklord we have hopefully done you proud we have done 5 Valks in one day gone to the Darkside and we even got our cookies!!!  Here is proof!!!

[Gear Jammer]

That rascal Wizard is just a bad,bad influence       Thanks for the impromptu wrench party Wizard. We done good today !

[Super Santa]

Dear Big Al,

Have you ever considered the 'possibility' that there MAY be something you are firmly convinced about, that you 'might' be totally wrong about?

For an historical point of reference I would ask you to check the New Testament and consider a man named Saul who really thought he was right, but turned around and the Apostle Paul changed his behavior 180 degrees.

Just for consideration.  Love ya, man.  Keep the faith.

[big turkey]

New Dark Lord Here

I am your father LUKE  is what I sound like with my CPAP on at night. LOL

Welcome DarkSiders Live Long and Prosper

I bless thee with massive traction and long mileage.

May you ride long hours and have fun.




engemt     VRCCDS0202
Chrispnut     VRCCDS0203
X Ring     VRCCDS0204
bigvalkriefan     VRCCDS0205
Jess from VA     VRCCDS0206
Pharmboy     VRCCDS0207
2qmedic     VRCCDS0208
hollywood     VRCCDS0209
Hoser     VRCCDS0210
Roadkill     VRCCDS0211
Dino     VRCCDS0212
mikeb     VRCCDS0213
fstsix     VRCCDS0214
valk57     VRCCDS0215
Bob E.     VRCCDS0216
Ken Tarver      VRCCDS0217
JamminJohn1     VRCCDS0218
Tigger#442     VRCCDS0219
Tundra     VRCCDS0220
vanagon40     VRCCDS0221
maelstrom     VRCCDS0222

Big AL is Taking Over Hah, have not seen these posts in over a month or so.


But a fresh post has brought it up again.



Happy motoring.
 Big Al

About 6" 3" and 265. This was asked earlier.

Weigh one more gram more though due to the metal screen implanted in the Heart.

Big AL

The officail MASCOT



Official Slightly Balding Leader



Yes Early Bird Paul was sent to the Gentiles and I have been sent to the Valk Riders, That I might be all things to all men , that through the foolishness of  Preaching some might be saved.

To one to sow, to another to water, and to another, to reap the harvest.


Still Kicking and breathing



Big AL

[Tropic traveler]

OK, here's my problem...... Three Valks, one DS- Michelin HydroEdge. Not sure if we will keep the DS equipped '99. I have no intention of replacing the DS tire with a Federation Avon that grace the other two Valks.
So exactly where do I stand on this???
Sure could use a nice silver DS sticker to cover up the chipped paint on the fender.

Ya listening there TJ????

[TJ]

You or anyone else that wants one can

Send me $5.00 an a Business S.A.S.E. Remind me of the color.
Black or Silver

T. JETER
101 BOWIE AVE
LAKE PLACID,FL.
33852

[bigdog99]

Question:: is it against the rules to get a dark side sticker if we dont have a number?
just a question, no matter what you call it, putting a car tire on my valk was the best thing i ever did next to buying a Valkyrie.

[TJ]

Not that I know of.....  I been on the Darkside since 99 ... Don't tell
anyone but I don't have a # ....

[Gear Jammer]

I guess I am right about the car tires no one commented on my post.

Just cause your Loud , don't make you right/     

LOL,,, as said a long time ago,,"The sting in the rebuke, is the truth",,