Dialing in Darkside PSI??????

[3fan4life]

Last night I took my first ride on the Darkside.
I'm running a General Exclaim 205/60-16 its V rated and a close cousin of the Altimax.
I started with 36psi but it just felt "squishy ".
So,I bumped it up to 40psi.

This felt better at speed but still felt "squishy " at low speeds.
Enough that I checked the pressure to make sure that it still had 40psi.
It did.

The sidewall says that the max pressure is 52psi.
So the question is how much is too much?

Do I keep increasing the pressure until it feels more comfortable  or is the low speed "squishiness" just the nature of the beasr?

[..]

I have no experience with that tire but the 2 different tires I've used at higher than 35 psi wore out the center tread prematurely.

I settled on 34 psi.

[Skinhead]

You can go as high as max on the tire.

[3fan4life]

You can go as high as max on the tire.

I know that the tire can handle it.

I'm not sure if I can.

I'm wondering how "bouncy" the bike might get at higher pressures?

[Valker]

I've run three car tires on my Valk so far for a total of about 110,000 miles. I've settled on 26psi as perfect FOR ME and what I want a car tire to do and feel.

[3fan4life]

I've run three car tires on my Valk so far for a total of about 110,000 miles. I've settled on 26psi as perfect FOR ME and what I want a car tire to do and feel.

At that pressure I believe that this tire would feel completely flat.

[RWhitehouse]

It's really personal preference. It takes 10 seconds and costs nothing to alter it, so just experiment to see what you like.

I'm running the ATT (austone taxi), which has pretty soft sidewalls- the weight of the bike squashes it totally flat without air (compared to a Metzeler that deforms a bit, but more or less holds its shape even flat). I ended up at 50psi (55 is the max), as I tend to ride a bit more aggressively, and found faster cornering felt pretty squirrely at lower pressures. 2up exaggerated the issue. 50psi to me feels more planted or natural. To me, the bike felt "bouncy" at lower pressures, you could feel the sidewall flex and it gave the bike an unsettling feel.

[Skinhead]

You can go as high as max on the tire.

I know that the tire can handle it.




I'm not sure if I can.

I'm wondering how "bouncy" the bike might get at higher pressures?

The higher you go it will get less bouncy, but more harsh when you hit bumps.

[98valk]

boucey? u mean bump steer.  on my first CT. new 40-42psi was too much bump steer. so ran 36-38 psi for almost 1k miles, whereas bump steer and handling degraded. reading various posts there is a break in period. So now I'm back at the org 40 psi and the handling and performance is excellent.  tread wear is staying consistent across the tread at 40psi using a tread depth gage.

[Jess from VA]

Mark, a lot of guys use less pressure than me.  

I like 40psi in my Goodyear Tripletreds.  Sure, there is likely to be some different preferred pressures between different tires, but there is also simply personal preference (in feel and handling). 40 never feels squishy to me, but 30 feels terrible.   

At 40, the tire is pretty hard, and the ride may be harder, but I want good performance in all conditions more than smooth or comfort in the seat.  Hard is plenty comfortable on good roads (but may be a bit more bumpy/bouncy on long dirt washboard roads)  .

At 40, I do get a slight bit of center wear (faster than the sides), but my first one went to 37K and I still had some tread in the center (though not a lot), so I didn't care.

I think most guys starting out with a CT tend to go a bit higher in pressure to start, then later reduce a little bit to taste.

If you have a max psi of 52, go ahead and jump up 5lbs to 45, and see how you like it.  To start, I think 5lb increments is more likely to give you better feedback between pressures, than one or two lbs (too much guesswork).

Longevity is nice, but personal comfort (with handling), and confidence in your tire, is more important than (lost) longevity.  ALL CTs will get more miles than all bike tires.

It's not huge, but a CT may take 5K or so to get really scrubbed in to the bike, and it also takes awhile for any new CT rider to get used to the different handling and the tendency of the CT sidewall wanting to stand the bike up in the curves.  Those peculiarities don't go away, but you get used to them (and ignore them) with saddle time and practice.

Asking advice is always good, but you also have to be satisfied with your own personal experience.

Try 40 psi, 45psi, or even 50 psi.  The fact the tire heats up and gains 3-4lbs when hot is within the manufacturer's specs when saying the tire has a max psi of 52.  (IE even if you run it at 52 cold, and it heats up to 56, it's still safe and within specs.  Just don't exceed 52 when cold.)

[3fan4life]

When I got home this evening I bumped the pressure up to 50 psi and took her out for a spin.

It definitely made a difference.

It now feels much more like the MC tire that I'm used to.

I can still feel the tire wanting to occasionally track imperfections in the surface.

It's not so bad that i can't live with it though.

I've got about a 1k miles to put on it this weekend, we'll see what I think of the Darkside after that.















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[Jess from VA]

The first few times the tire grabbed a rut or hit half a manhole, and really bounced or wobbled kind of hard, it really got my attention.  It's new and a bit disturbing, but the bike does not wreck or crash (ever).  And sometimes you may feel like you have to manhandle it to control it, especially at slow speeds (more than with a neutral bike tire).  This is not all the time, just occasionally.

And, surprised, I had a bad habit of turning around in the seat to look for what bounced me.  Don't do it, it's already behind you and you need to keep your eyes on the road ahead.

But with a bit of time, you simply get used to it.  And ultimately, ignore it.   I'm not going to repeat all the good benefits of the CT that has been discussed many times before.  It just takes a little practice and experience.  After a while, you don't even think about it.

My best discription is that it is more like a manual steering car (CT) than a power steering car (bike tire).  

Of course, every rider generally makes efforts to avoid road imperfections, manholes, potholes, raised road repairs, yada.   And when you do, you avoid the worst of the CT hops and wobbles.  

[98valk]

When I got home this evening I bumped the pressure up to 50 psi and took her out for a spin.

It definitely made a difference.

It now feels much more like the MC tire that I'm used to.

I can still feel the tire wanting to occasionally track imperfections in the surface.

It's not so bad that i can't live with it though.

I've got about a 1k miles to put on it this weekend, we'll see what I think of the Darkside after that.

what is the tread width of the tire? my research indicates this will be the key to u liking it or not.   that size is smaller dia than oem, so I'm sure u will like the quicker acceleration but not like the reduced mpg. 

[3fan4life]

When I got home this evening I bumped the pressure up to 50 psi and took her out for a spin.

It definitely made a difference.

It now feels much more like the MC tire that I'm used to.

I can still feel the tire wanting to occasionally track imperfections in the surface.

It's not so bad that i can't live with it though.

I've got about a 1k miles to put on it this weekend, we'll see what I think of the Darkside after that.

what is the tread width of the tire? my research indicates this will be the key to u liking it or not.   that size is smaller dia than oem, so I'm sure u will like the quicker acceleration but not like the reduced mpg. 

Actually, the 205/60's overall diameter is within 0.2 inches of the stock bike tire.

This one does say that it is designed to have more tread on the road but it's still a 205 and the corners are fairly rounded.

It felt better riding into work this AM except for tracking some pavement seams.

   

[DarkSideR]

When I first started D/S'ing I ran higher PSI's only to find that the life of the tire was cut short by the center wearing more than the shoulders.

I'm currently riding a Hankook Optimo 205/65.

I ride a lot so for me it's a balancing act; Economy VS Handling;
- Low Pressure
 + If I run 34psi I will get the most life out of the tire, but the handling suffers. The bike wobbles over 110mph, and wallows in the curves. I'm fine with this when doing mostly interstate blasts to my destination.
- High Pressure
 + If I run 40psi the center of the tire wears fast, but the handling is great. I've run it up to 130mph to find the bike is solid as a rock, and the curves are pure joy.

So for me it's not just a set PSI, period. I have an air compressor so adjusting my tires pressure is very easy. I evaluate the type of riding I'm going to be doing and adjust as needed.

Hope this helps.

[Jess from VA]

On reports like yours, it's a good idea to tell us what CT your are talking about.

Not all CTs act identically on our bikes.

[DarkSideR]

On reports like yours, it's a good idea to tell us what CT your are talking about.

Not all CTs act identically on our bikes.

Good call. I modified my original post.

[3fan4life]

I settled on 45 psi.

The bike didn't wallow and handle about normal in the twisties (what few I found).

I put roughly 1,100 miles on it before handing it over to Serk.

For me the jury is still out on running a CT, If the bulk of my riding was flst lands or interstate I would definitely run a CT.

At slow speeds I much prefer the MC tire.

I'm not saying that I won't go back to the Darkside, but I'm in no rush to convert my other Valks.
 

 

[Led]

Yea......when I first went "darkside",  my first thought was......this sucks!!

I think I started out at 32 psi, and THAT in itself did not help converting me.  Now I run 42 to 45 psi in mine......and after feeling out all the other handling differences,  I now not even notice the difference in tires.

MY CT is probably not a first choice for darksiders.  It is more of a high performance "square tire".  I would have preferred  a more rounded tread profile........but I got it cheap, and mounted myself for free using the shops tools where I worked.  OFF the clock of course!  But the manager still didn't like it!

One needs to "tune" the tire to ones satisfaction......and it sounds like you are well on your way now!!!