Going to the DarkSide

[customrodd]

Forgive me if this has been asked before.
If going to the darkside where do you get the tire installed and has any place gave you a hard time for asking them to do the install?
2000 Valkyerie interstate

[old2soon]

      Well fer starters your location in yer avatar helps as you may have members in your area. Most independent dealers MAY install it for you. Name brand dealers Will most likely cite liability for a "car" tire on a M/C and take a pass. BUT it Mostly Depends on Where you live. Some of our members mount their own tires. Or well mounting tires once you git the hang of it ain't That difficult. NOT easy by any stretch of the imagination but if you know a hammer from a screwdriver very doable. Good Luck in yer quest and WELCOME to the Darkside!  RIDE SAFE P S-bring yer own cookies! 

[..]

I use an independent tire guy.

Call around first some indies might say no as some did here.

Some may have a concern about the strength of the rim. Tell them it's not spoked.

[rocketray]

my take on that is..if you are going on a super slab all day it's OK....but if you do any turning...and ride the typical 2-3k miles a year..a motorcycle tire is much better

[Jess from VA]

Many shops will refuse if you tell them it is for a motorcycle.

So don't tell them that.

Tell them it is for a sidecar or (better yet) a trailer.  Obviously, you have to take the wheel off and not ride the bike in.

If you don't have metal valve stems, get one put in too.  Even with the factory elbow supports, the OE rubber stems can fail, and at high speed.

[0leman]

my take on that is..if you are going on a super slab all day it's OK....but if you do any turning...and ride the typical 2-3k miles a year..a motorcycle tire is much better

Rocket, many of us have ridding a lot of miles on DS tires. (I have nearly 90k miles with DS tires)  Some tires are better than others just like MT. As far as cornering, the DS tires with square corners do the worse, those with rounded corners do the best. 

I am an old man and don't need to scrap parts of my Valk with going around corners.  There are a number of our follow DS members who do.  That being said, I normally go around corners with suggested speed limits some 10 mph over that suggested limit.   Some even faster, depending on my mood. 

[Valker]

I know I’m an outlier here (and nobody out lies a Texan) but I prefer the flat tread rather than rounded. I do ride corners hard, scrape my pegs regularly, and push my bike with the Darkside tires. I have a total of about 200,000 Darkside Valkyrie miles. I’m currently running Pirelli P4 205/65-16. I run way less air pressure than most folks though. I like 26-28 psi. My local independent bike shop usually mounts mine as the owner also runs Darkside on his V-Strom.

[turtle254]

I know I’m an outlier here (and nobody out lies a Texan) but I prefer the flat tread rather than rounded. I do ride corners hard, scrape my pegs regularly, and push my bike with the Darkside tires. I have a total of about 200,000 Darkside Valkyrie miles. I’m currently running Pirelli P4 205/65-17. I run way less air pressure than most folks though. I like 26-28 psi. My local independent bike shop usually mounts mine as the owner also runs Darkside on his V-Strom.

16" or 17" ??

[Valker]

I know I’m an outlier here (and nobody out lies a Texan) but I prefer the flat tread rather than rounded. I do ride corners hard, scrape my pegs regularly, and push my bike with the Darkside tires. I have a total of about 200,000 Darkside Valkyrie miles. I’m currently running Pirelli P4 205/65-17. I run way less air pressure than most folks though. I like 26-28 psi. My local independent bike shop usually mounts mine as the owner also runs Darkside on his V-Strom.

16" or 17" ??

16" Good catch, thanks. I'll edit the post.