D/S question

[old2soon]

Looked at what was available on the d/s option.      I have the general ultimax hp 205-60-16 h speed rated.  Read all that is available on the subject here at the vrcc board. What i would like to hear is FIRST hand accounts of a really BAD situation that happened to YOU. And if it put you back on a m/c tire. A lot of you know what a first hand account is. For those that don't-it happened to you directly. I am not interested in second or third etc etc hand info. If it happened to you directly-i would like to hear about it please. The reason i'm asking-i like what i'm feeling with my choice-but with only a little over 330 miles experience i'd rather not get to cocky and overlook something and put myself into a bad situation. That is 330 miles on the d/s on a valk. Again first hand information only please. Thanks in advance ladies and gentlmen. RIDE SAFE.

[X Ring]

I'm running a Toyo Proxes TPT Sport Touring Tire in 206/65HR16.  Installed it Halloween '09.  In December '09 and about 2K miles on it, I was riding through a really bad rain storm  and entering a left hand curve.  Crossing the road in the curve is a Rail Road track with a cement crossing.  There is no way to get a straight shot at crossing the tracks as it is angled from left front to right rear.  As I rode over the crossing the rear end kicked out to the right.  Probably due to a build up of oil and grease that hadn't washed off yet and it had been raining for over 2 hours.  When the Valk contacted asphalt on the other side, it straightened out inline with the exit of the curve.  I've told several people this story and they are of the same opinion I am.  If I had been on a m/c rear tire I probably would have low sided into the ditch.  That crossing was the only problem I had but the wet weather traction was phenomenal.  As long as I can find excellent tires that fit the Valk, I'll never go back to a m/c tire.

Marty   

[Novavalker]

I'm on my second general ultimax hp 205-60-16 h with a Avon Cobra up front. I run it at 42 psi for the first 500 miles to brake in the tire and then drop it to about 33 psi. I was actually surprised on how similar it felt to a MC tire on the first ride.

[Mo Lee]

Love my Goodyear TTs I can not see myself going back. Yea sometimes uneven pavement will through you a little and down there in my hometown where you live there may be more uneven pavement than up here around the Fort, however the +s way outweigh the -s in my opinion. I put a friend on mine Sunday who mostly rides choppers and had never rode a Valk before and he liked it a lot said he could not tell the difference if I had not told him.

[csj]

I run a hercules 205/60/16. There's one intersection where
I live that has the worst rutty/bulgy pavement.
Coming to a stop at the intersection there always almost
knocks me off the bike. That's the only problem.
Everything else is better than a bike tire. Got 42k kms (26k mi)
and the car tire looks new.

Had two guys looking at my bike at a bike hang out last week.
Goldwinger and harley guys, never saw a car tire on a bike,
they said it could not possibly corner properly, said it Must be
dangerous. Uh-Uh. Wouldn't listen.

[Ferris Leets]

Long story short.
   I got into a panic stop situation at 65mph.  Both tires were screaming.  I stopped 20 ft from my intended target.  Went back and there was a 5" wide 80' long black stripe, with a couple of blank spots where I came off the brakes to regain control.  I do not believe That I could have stopped in time with an MC tire.
   You should have seen the eyes on the bystanders.  Those tires were really making noise.

[SANDMAN5]

The ONLY negative I have about a 'car tar' is pulling up to a
stop in rutted pavement. Seems to want to climb the rut.
M/c tires do the same thing but a 'car tar' seems more pronounced.
Other than that the 'car tar' is equal to or superior to m/c tires
in EVERY situation, IMHO, YMMV, etc.

[Daniel Meyer]

Some light reading...
www.lifeisaroad.com

[X Ring]

The ONLY negative I have about a 'car tar' is pulling up to a
stop in rutted pavement. Seems to want to climb the rut.
M/c tires do the same thing but a 'car tar' seems more pronounced.
Other than that the 'car tar' is equal to or superior to m/c tires
in EVERY situation, IMHO, YMMV, etc.

Have to remember the car tire's contact patch is a LOT wider than a m/c tire's.

Marty

[bigguy]

My cousin has a friend who read on a board that CTs will get you killed.  

I love mine. ONLY real problem is the tendency to lean with the crown. There is an intersection with a stop sign on my way home from work. I usually make a right turn at this spot and have gotten into the habit of stopping close to the right hand side of the road. This spot has excessive crown for drainage reasons. The fist time I stopped here, I almost went over.
I'm used to it now, and it doesn't bother me very much. I'm still aware of the tendency, but easily allow for it.
I still have an MC tire on my Magna. I was afraid that switching bikes would give me problems, but they are so different, that I seem to just automatically switch driving profiles when I change bikes.

My last darkside blog

[X Ring]

bigguy, the tendency of the bike to lean with the slope of the road is the wide flat contact patch.  After you get roughly 1K miles under it, the sidewalls will be broken in and be more pliable.  You can start dropping the pressure until you find your sweet spot.  The S curves will be better then.

Marty

[2qmedic]

I have a GY TT with H rating (will be V rating next time)

Neg:
Follows ruts worse than MT, dirt road is more challenging (but doesn't bog down)
Possible high speed wiggle above 90mph
 (need V rating for stiffer side walls, increasing to 38 psi took care of the issue for me)
Takes 1200 miles to settle in the tire (for me, but thats fine....)
Has a little more bump steer (increased psi helped negate this for me)
Slightly more counter steer (so... no issue here)


Positives:
Rear tire is glued to the pavement on cornering,
Stopping distance is dramatically reduced,
Wet pavement - You know you have rubber on the ground and it does not leave you with that edgy feeling of riding on ice. If you do lock it up on a wet road, it's not going to slip out from under you like the MT will.
Considerabally reduces the chance of a rear wheel lock up in emergency braking
Bonus: CT last longer than MT - have 23K now and expect 30K plus life span.

Only negative experience-last week I rode over a freshly milled area of pavement. The bike wiggled under me. Just took me for a suprise, I should have payed more attention prior to that work zone.


The CT handles differently. I adjusted to it and know what to expect now. I will get another CT when this one needs replacing.

[Westsider]

oldtosoon me too...i tried the c/t for about 500-orso miles..i myself could tell quiet a bit of differance,,on a couple occasions i had to pull over and make sure i wasnt having a flat..tried mutipule pressure settings ,,,, best i can descibe is ,felt to loose for me,,,the "pushing" in certian conditions just pissed me off,(jmho ) would recomend doing the double row bearing mod on the left rear to anyone ,especially if you are running the car tire- thats just my line of thinking/i think i wish i could get the mileage out of my metzlers but oh well....im am going to a 200 series mettz..ride safe ,,watch out for the g@#dA** cell phones...

[bigguy]

bigguy, the tendency of the bike to lean with the slope of the road is the wide flat contact patch.  After you get roughly 1K miles under it, the sidewalls will be broken in and be more pliable.  You can start dropping the pressure until you find your sweet spot.  The S curves will be better then.

Marty

Thanks for the feedback.  I have planned to start playing with pressure this summer and see how I like different pressures.

[Oss]

put on a toyo proxes T1R after a very low speed dump on oil in a turn near home that broke ribs

No doubt the traction was way better than the metzler and dunlops but I could not get myself comfortable on any kind of twisty road so I am about wearing out this avon cobra, next up is a Battleaxe 200     I do have a spare wheel and will be putting the altimax on that one for whenever I feel ready

For 2 up riding with the wife and pulling a trailer I do believe the car tire is safer. It has a higher weight rating and more contact with the ground and wont lock up as easily as the cobra

Also in NYC the CT absorbs the impact of the potholes better than the cobra or metzler did
Ruts is worse with the CT  Wish  they had a tire that would not slide on oil or antifreeze

to each his or her own  

[old2soon]

Guys i really appreciate all the responses this ? of mine generated. A lot of ya'll described what i'm already feeling. A little different at first but coming along nicely. I'm still at 42psi front and 44psi rear. Keep em that away fer a bit til i get more miles on the combination i'm running. Last ride had some fair to middlin twistys involved and so far so good. She ain't tried to high side me or nothing-just easing up on it. I thought the transition m/c tire to darkside would have been more difficult but the e3 i took off was worn flat in the center anywho. Again this board is the best. Paraphrasing scully-the answers are out there. RIDE SAFE.

[Walküre]

I have the same General Tire Altimax.

I like it for everything.........BUT.........

A pea-gravel road. My bodywork/painter guy lives about 2 miles down a dirt/gravel road if I go the back way, asphalt if I go the long way around. The first time I took the bike there, I wasn't thinking, and took the back way. I had heard about a little rough handling with the C/T on dirt/gravel.

Little? LITTLE????? I hate to say it, but it was all I could do to keep the bike under me. I run about 42 psi in it. For the entire 2 miles, I never once felt totally in control. Nothing bad happened, but I was VERY uncomfortable, and didn't seem to matter whether I sped up, or slowed down. Just squirrely as hell, and all over the road.

From now on, I will avoid that type of road, if at all possible! And if I encounter one, I will weigh taking the long way around.

Just my $.02 worth - and just for the record, I learned at 12, on dirt bikes, and rode a LOT of dirt bikes, on both dirt and deep sand - and I have ridden my Wings on MANY a dirt and gravel road. I have never felt so uncomfortable on a motorcycle, in my life...

Enough to contemplate changing to a M/C tire? Not on your life.

R

[R J]

Only comment I'll make is, I run 36# in my GoodYear TT.

[Ricky-D]

I have the same General Tire Altimax.

I like it for everything.........BUT.........

A pea-gravel road. My bodywork/painter guy lives about 2 miles down a dirt/gravel road if I go the back way, asphalt if I go the long way around. The first time I took the bike there, I wasn't thinking, and took the back way. I had heard about a little rough handling with the C/T on dirt/gravel.

Little? LITTLE????? I hate to say it, but it was all I could do to keep the bike under me. I run about 42 psi in it. For the entire 2 miles, I never once felt totally in control. Nothing bad happened, but I was VERY uncomfortable, and didn't seem to matter whether I sped up, or slowed down. Just squirrely as hell, and all over the road.

From now on, I will avoid that type of road, if at all possible! And if I encounter one, I will weigh taking the long way around.

Just my $.02 worth - and just for the record, I learned at 12, on dirt bikes, and rode a LOT of dirt bikes, on both dirt and deep sand - and I have ridden my Wings on MANY a dirt and gravel road. I have never felt so uncomfortable on a motorcycle, in my life...

Enough to contemplate changing to a M/C tire? Not on your life.

R

That is not unusual for a big bike such as the Valkyrie.
I think most of that can be attributed to the road conditions.
The front wheel wants to push and plow because of the weight of the bike.
I found the wider flat rear tread actually gave a little (not much) more control than a m/c tire.

All my experiences with the car tire have been positive.

***

[Daniel Meyer]

I have the same General Tire Altimax.

I like it for everything.........BUT.........

A pea-gravel road. My bodywork/painter guy lives about 2 miles down a dirt/gravel road if I go the back way, asphalt if I go the long way around. The first time I took the bike there, I wasn't thinking, and took the back way. I had heard about a little rough handling with the C/T on dirt/gravel.

Little? LITTLE????? I hate to say it, but it was all I could do to keep the bike under me. I run about 42 psi in it. For the entire 2 miles, I never once felt totally in control. Nothing bad happened, but I was VERY uncomfortable, and didn't seem to matter whether I sped up, or slowed down. Just squirrely as hell, and all over the road.

From now on, I will avoid that type of road, if at all possible! And if I encounter one, I will weigh taking the long way around.

Just my $.02 worth - and just for the record, I learned at 12, on dirt bikes, and rode a LOT of dirt bikes, on both dirt and deep sand - and I have ridden my Wings on MANY a dirt and gravel road. I have never felt so uncomfortable on a motorcycle, in my life...

Enough to contemplate changing to a M/C tire? Not on your life.

R

Heh heh...did ya speed up enough?

[old2soon]

As of today 5/11/2011 i have 1156 miles on my d/s choice. Have been in some serious twistys-some flat land running and like that. Have (traffic permitting of course) done some hard panic stops  changed my line in curves and just tried to upset the apple cart. Still liking what i'm feeling with this setup!! This past sunday(done deal-don't wanna hear i shouldn't have done it-already did it) i went over a bridge that had water running over it from my left to right. The only repeat only reason i did the fording trick was because i had watched a four wheel drive ford crew cab go over said bridge. He doubled back and came over it again and told the driver of the s u v ahead of me he could make it-looked at me and said you i don't know about you. He said if i wanted to try it he would wait until i got across the bridge. (Sorry-my bad-no camera) The s u v ahead of me said they would wait on the other side for me. They did and i rolled across just idiling in first feet on the pegs. The soles of my boots were wet and they were leaving their own wake. Started over to the left and my phat ghurl never moved sideways from the water. A good thing for the d/s choice?? Draw your own conclusions. I know what kinda tire is gonna be on this old farts ride. If i come upon anything negative-i'll repost. I will do the same for a really good positive. To say i'm happy with MY choice is an understatement. Your results may vary. Those on the fence-make a choice. Me and me alone responsible for these statements. Just do not take my word for it. Read-lotsa d/s info here and other places. B T W-had to buy my own dam cookie!! I'm not bragging here but the learning curve wasn't that steep. Guess all those years moto crossing helped!! RIDE SAFE.

[X Ring]

Have you sworn your allegiance to the Dark Lord and received your Dark Side Number?  If not, it's no wonder you haven't received your cookie.  The cookie is a reward for your obedience.   

Marty