Rear tire Brand ? Dark Side

[Rowdy]

  Oh - they put a disclaimer on my bill  they have never herd of having car tire placed on a bike before today - they had lot of questions    I told them I'd get back with them and give a them report on how I thought it handled.    I assured them it was comon practice

[Farther]

I have to admit that the Dark Side has a strong pull.  But if you could get the mileage out of a motorcycle tire would you ever consider the Dark Side?

[Earl in Pensacola]

Rowdy__ I'd take them a case of their favorite beer!!!   Here the charge to just remove from the bike, R & R including balance the tire is a MIN. of $75..  The bearing work would be added on at $90.00 per hour. 

[fudgie]

I have to admit that the Dark Side has a strong pull.  But if you could get the mileage out of a motorcycle tire would you ever consider the Dark Side?

Good question! Yes, I would stay with the CT. It handles so much better.

[X Ring]

I have to admit that the Dark Side has a strong pull.  But if you could get the mileage out of a motorcycle tire would you ever consider the Dark Side?

Good question! Yes, I would stay with the CT. It handles so much better.

I agree with Fudgie.  The handling, traction and mileage smokes any of the bike tires.  That is enough for me.  

Marty

[Rowdy]

I probably would have stuck with a motorcycle tire and not tried going to the Dark Side
Since I'm semi retired and on a tighter budget I have to give it try 

I would have prefered to have picked up a second Valk and did the experiment on that bike, along with few other modifications I've been seeing from other owners 

[Ricky-D]

Good question! Yes, I would stay with the CT. It handles so much better.

I think it's a stretch to say a car tire handles better than a motorcycle tire.

A car tire is a different ride and handling is a difference, not necessarily worse, but definitely different.

I think my car tire makes the bike feel heavier and turning is different a little.

My riding style is conservative and ride both one up and double, urban and interstate with very little twisties.

Finally, with the large difference in tire price (compared with m/c tires) and the huge increase in gained mileage I will stay with my car tires.

Just sayin'

***

[fudgie]

Good question! Yes, I would stay with the CT. It handles so much better.

I think it's a stretch to say a car tire handles better than a motorcycle tire.

A car tire is a different ride and handling is a difference, not necessarily worse, but definitely different.

I think my car tire makes the bike feel heavier and turning is different a little.

My riding style is conservative and ride both one up and double, urban and interstate with very little twisties.

Finally, with the large difference in tire price (compared with m/c tires) and the huge increase in gained mileage I will stay with my car tires.

Just sayin'

***

I dont know. Going from my 200 mm Metz to the Hankook CT I found no differance. It was a month before I found a differance. Maybe cause the Hankook has a rounder profile then others.  I'm more of a highway man then a twisty man.

[Ricky-D]

Yeah, the last was a Hankook.  I'm waiting on the new one to arrive. Getting a new FALKEN ZIEX ZE 502 205/55-16 R16 89V.  $87.95 delivered. Might be a good deal, I don't know!

I hope there isn't much if any difference from the Hankook.

Whatever, I'll just have to go with it regardless.

***

[fudgie]

Yeah, the last was a Hankook.  I'm waiting on the new one to arrive. Getting a new FALKEN ZIEX ZE 502 205/55-16 R16 89V.  $87.95 delivered. Might be a good deal, I don't know!

I hope there isn't much if any difference from the Hankook.

Whatever, I'll just have to go with it regardless.

***

What did you get out the Hankook? I assume it was the K-106. I'm at 8k on mine and see no signs of wear.

[Pastor John]

I'm in the camp that PREFERS the darkside handling over the "round" M/C tire handling.

I like the active countersteering. The bike leans very predictably and proportionally...exactly as far as I tell it to. I always felt like I was "hunting" on the bike tire.

On the superslab, you can't beat the darkside. Mine is the Goodyear TT Assurance. In the wet it has never slipped and in the dry, I find it nearly impossible to lock up the rear wheel (braking).

Your mileage may vary, but my next darkside tire is sitting in the garage waiting fo be installed.

[clintsdivco]

I just changed my rear tire.  I've had a Goodyear Assurance Triple Tread 205-60R-16 for the past 21,400 miles.  I took the rear off to service the splines and almost put the old one back on as it looks like it would make it another 15,000 or so, but decided to put on another Triple Tread since a new season was starting. 

Here is a picture of the one I just took off at 21,400 miles.


I also took this picture comparing it to the new one.


Clint

[Bone]

Clintsdivco looks like you had the air pressure just right. I'm on my second GTT. My mileage is in the garage but I also changed tires early before a cross country ride last year.

[SANDMAN5]

I have to admit that the Dark Side has a strong pull.  But if you could get the mileage out of a motorcycle tire would you ever consider the Dark Side?

An emphatic "YES"!!! I agree that handling is "different" between c/t's and mc/t's, but to
me the car tar is just plain better. IF (and that's a big IF) you could make an mc tire for
less than $100 that lasted +/- 30,000 miles I'd still stay with the Darkside. I like the looks
better, in most situations it handles better (for my riding) and it's a great attention getter
and conversation starter. LOL, once I did the nickel trick for some riders in Hot Springs, NC,
and they barely raised an eyebrow....all they wanted to talk about was THAT tire!!  

[dipstick]

I have to admit that the Dark Side has a strong pull.  But if you could get the mileage out of a motorcycle tire would you ever consider the Dark Side?

Yes my bike handles better in EVERY situation with the car tire than with the MC tire. I do ride what you might cal spirited most of the time and I'm sure that makes more of a differance than if you ride like you were on and HD 

[bigdog99]

9,000 miles on a Hancook. still takes corners that will spark the pegs. i did take the rear wheel off to do gear lube this fall. i set up and balanced my own tire this year, it does take some weight. you actually have to push it into a corner and then accel to stand it back up. Neatest ride i had.

[Friagabi]

Not the subject matter I will spend much time on. Only because it took several years to decide do I offer my choice. Yoko A048 has by far been the best car tire yet. It gave me 6K ran soft compound. Crossed eastern Washington one summer with a Gold wing on my tail and my buddy kept complaining about the black rubber dust stuck on his windshield. But I would pick it over a bike tire. No question.

Have a Goodyear triple tread on it now and it is alright. But only alright.

Will go back to a BFgoodrich Traction T/A in a 205/65R16 when the triple tread is gone. Run a Avon front with it and both wear out within 2K of one another.

I ride a 2KIS and it crosses the scales at over 1500# when fully loaded and two riders on it.

[RUDE DOG - Steelers]

Not the subject matter I will spend much time on. Only because it took several years to decide do I offer my choice. Yoko A048 has by far been the best car tire yet. It gave me 6K ran soft compound. Crossed eastern Washington one summer with a Gold wing on my tail and my buddy kept complaining about the black rubber dust stuck on his windshield. But I would pick it over a bike tire. No question.

Have a Goodyear triple tread on it now and it is alright. But only alright.

Will go back to a BFgoodrich Traction T/A in a 205/65R16 when the triple tread is gone. Run a Avon front with it and both wear out within 2K of one another.

I ride a 2KIS and it crosses the scales at over 1500# when fully loaded and two riders on it.

I run the Yoko A048 also, but in the medium hard compound.  Im more of a straight line guy but love the look and stable feel of the car tire.  Most people are surprised when I tell them its a car tire, because of the rounded look.  

[deadvelvet]

i run a 205 55 16 douglas wal-mart tire i really like it only had alittle rubbing did the right side nut mod on fender and everythings finehttp://c3.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/91/l_ce576e18b0d44578942979a061505db2.jpg

[Friagabi]

First choice A048 Might as well have been a bike tire. Not that good of mileage. I had soft compound. But it was a fine tire, never did find its limits.

Second choice and my every day riding tire BFGoodrich T/A T in a 205/65R16 for highway use and 55 series for quick short runs. Still looking for its limits.

Have a hydro edge on it now (read to many posts) Looking for a couple of BFGoodrich to put away for the next couple of tires. Just in case hey go out of production. It just OK I will go back to BFGoodrich.

Look for a uniform tread pattern, side wall reinforcement (adds will say responsive in the turns) DO NOT pick a tire with a broad flat face no matter hw well it looks in other aspects.

Then embark on the best tire up front. It does make a difference in how well the bike falls into turns. Some make you work at the job others do most of the work for you. It will always be a little more work than a bike tire on the rear.

I have a Dayton Daytona in a 205/55R16 if anyone wants it (free) you pay the shipping. Less than 500 miles. Never been abused, light duty in a bike. 

[deadvelvet]

205-55-16 DOUGLAS WALMART BRAND

[Duct Tape]

Not much to add.  I went through a similar process as what others have described.  I narrowed my list down to the GYTT and Mich HydraEdge.  I went with the GYTT -- 205/60.  I really like it.  I know I've got better rear braking.  Tested it on some wet pavement a couple of times with hard braking at 40 mph and could not lock it up.  I've locked up MC tires in similar situations.  Seems to handle the twisties fine all the way to the peg drag.

I did remove the rear nut cages.  But, I just used the OEM rear bolts and reversed them.  I found chrome nuts, spacers, and washers at ACE hardware.  Acorn nuts stick out too far and interfer with the bag lids.  But they look good when I've got the bags off.   I haven't changed the front bolt yet because I haven't found studs with the right thread pitch.  But, I'm going to because lining up the front bolt to get it started is a pure pain-in-the-ass.

QOTFU is telling me she wants to go darkside on the SHE-TWIN when the Metz is time to go (the tire, not me).  She's got a little over 10K on it.  I need to let her ride the HE-TWIN so she can see the handling difference.  If we go through with it I think I'll go with the 205/55 for her.  The slightly lower profile will gain her a little more leg.  She still can't quite flatfoot it.  Besides, losing the rpms might slow her down enough that I can keep up.

[X Ring]

By putting a 55 series tire on SHE-TWIN, the rpms will go up by about 300.  I put a 65 series tire on Sandman and the rpms dropped about 300.

Marty