Darkside

[Tundra]

 I am battling with the choice to try a car tire or not. My current finances have me assuming I can save money on tire changes and mounting fee's.  I am looking for input from folks who have run them, Please, no Darkside bashers unless you have tried them. For those of you who have tried going to the Darkside, or are currently running a car tire...
  What tire did you choose?

  What kind of tire milage can I expect?

  Would you do this again?

[Ricky-D]

Ya, I'll never go back.

I'm riding on a Chinkook that ran less than 80 bucks delivered. (On-line buy)

Already have over 10k miles and there is no appreciable wear. Running it at 36psi

Best move for me.

[Grandpot]

I recently went Darkside, so I can't tell you much about mileage, but here are my first impressions:

1. Tire: Bridgestone Poltenza RE92 - 205/60/16.  I chose this tire because it has a symetric tread pattern.  There is an odd number of treads which puts one in the middle of the tire.  This tire had more arc on the tread surface than others.  It has very high traction and speed ratings, along with the price, $165.00.

2. It's a very quiet running tire.  Quieter than the Metzler it replaced.

3. Very smooth ride.

4. Very little difference in handling than a MC tire.

5. It has stiff sidewalls so it tends to stand the bike upright.  This has removed much of the top heavy feeling I had before.

Would I do it again?  I don't know.  Ask me again in a couple of months after I put on a few thousand miles.  

[Grumpy]

Running a Goodyear Assurance triple tread 205-60-r16. Second one on the bike, had a Cooper Zeon before. I love it, corners great and stopping is phenomenal,
especially when it is wet. Ride quality is good, no complaints at all. Tirerack.com was $112.00 shipped to my door.

[R J]

I have run Darkside off and on for several years and a whole bunch of miles.

I averaged about 28,000 miles per tire.

Reason I kept going back to mc tire.  Every time was when I was on a trip and run over objects like screwdriver, 1/2 a pair of pliers, railroad spike, some bone from some animal that was huge, piece of strap steel with a very sharp point, mudflap off of a semi, and of all other things was the tooth of a hog.   How do I know it was a hog, cause I hit the SOB right in the nose and sent him rolling and me into a almost handlebar tank to tank flip flop.   When this stuff happened, I only found one place who would replace a car tire on the wheel, AFTER, I took the wheel off and rolled it into their shop.   I suspect I have close to 90,000+ miles on the Darkside.  My last one is a Good Year Alliance Triple tread.   36# of air for my fat arse.....

Real smooth ride, excellent braking on both dry or wet pavement.






i

[Ken Tarver]

Goodyear Assurance TT here,  205/60-16

I chose it for the stiff sidewall,  high rating for dry, wet, and braking traction, and because an experienced darksider was using it at the time, as so many others here.

Source was tirerack.com....$130 to the door, and got it the next afternoon.

I will do it again if ever wear this one out. Probably will put one on the Gold Wing too.

One regret......that I didn't get the 65 profile for the Valkyrie.

Ken

[Tundra]

Ken,
 Why the 65 profile? Would that be a taller tire (from rim to the road)?

[Larry]

Riding a 205X60 GYTT. It is real stable but does a bit of a wiggle cornering when hitting the bumps and dips due to the softer sidewall compared to a MT, so you need to hang onto your bars. It is better with a stiff suspension, a softer ride tends to enhance the wiggle abit. Keeping the air pressure to "normal" CT pressures works good for me. I settled at 33lbs. I'm 280 on a IS and 2 up at times with a load. Just changed out my rear shocks to Progressive HD 412's and had to crank em up to the stiffest preload setting. My front end is a bit stiffer too with Progressive springs and a wee bit of extra oil. Rides great on the straights packing a load and in the rain. The price is right and it wears real good. You might want to change the tire ofter a couple years just because you are bored. You need to take the backend apart every year anyhow to check your splines.  

[Larry]

Regarding the profile, I had to stick with the 60 as the 65 would not fit even with all the mods I did (washer/frame mod and fender mod). The clearence with the swingarm is just enough. Would have liked the 65 due to the decreased RPM's for cruizing at speed but alas, that's the way the Valk likes it!

[fudgie]

I love mine. Hankook K-106. $70 and $30 to mount. I like the tread pattern, best I've seen. I had a Metz 200 for years and liked it. I think this helped when I went to a CT. The 200 had a 3" contact patch and the CT has a 4 1/2" contact patch even tho the tire is alot wider then that. 38 psi works good for me. I do get some bounce in corners 2 up if I hit a bump. Not alot. Stable tho. Excellant wet weather traction. Let ya know mid Aug about off road travel. Deep road ruts do make ya kinda get thrown but so did my 200. Great to lay tracks accross a intersection!

[Old Geezer Richard]

Hey Tundra , I don't regret going over to the darkside at all .... I mounted a 205-55-16 H series Michelin Pilot and I really like alot ... with about 8800 miles and no wear at all I'm impressed not even in the middle .... cost me $ 125.00 American money at Sam's and I have the air pressure down with 35 with me and honey and 36 with the trailer and both of us .... playing with the air pressure is the only catch , because everybody is different ... and as far as the gas mileage with the 55 tire as long as I stay at 3500 rpm's with the 6 deg. trigger wheel  I'm getting 39 to 40 mpg ..... go darkside

[SPOFF]

Worth noting: my first darkside tire was a 205-55. I replaced it with a 205-60. The 60 series feels a lot more like a motorcycle tire, especially since I was used to the 55 tire. It does follow cracks at a walking pace but it's very subtle. Otherwise I don't really notice the other car tire "symptoms."

[valkmc]

Goodyear TT here, 22,000 miles and it still looks good.  I ran over a big screw about 8,000 miles ago. Pulled into a local tire store and asked them to plug it. Thet all gathered around to look at it. They plugged it and did not charge me. I ran over a nail with my meler and was on a trip, I plugged it and rode it home but never felt good about it so I changed it

The bike does handle different than with the bike tire but I have come to like it. The wet road riding and braking are better, the bike seems to take more effort going into a corner but much less coming out. I hardly ever push her like I use to, but when I do the car tire is not a problem.

It is alot cheaper. I paid just over $100 for the Goodyear, I was paying anywhere from $170 to $190 for bike tires that lasted about 11,000 miles. So we are talking about $400 compare to $100 for the same mileage. I will not go back with this bike.

[glenh]

I put my first darkside on last Tue, a General Altimax 205/55/16. I didn't do the cage mod as there is lots of room there. I had 2 oz. of Dyna Beads dumped in. I notoced a big difference, everything for the best, haven't noticed anything yet that I could complain about.It goes down the highway smoother and straighter. It corners, handles and does everything else better than any motorcycle tire I've ever had on. It turns maybe 100 - 150 RPM's more at 65 mph, I haven't checked the gas mileage yet, but will as I'm taking off on a trip to Utah (from Minn) tomorrow. It's great at slow speeds, even over very uneven ground. I was in a long line of cars earlier today where speeds were like just barely moving for 5 or 6 miles, it went along in a perfectly straight line, more so than I couild have done with the motorcycle tire on it. Time will tell, but so far, I love it.

[Tundra]

After all your input, and input and links provided from the Florida vrcc board, I've decided to try the "Goodyear Assurance Triple Tread" This tire seems to be used by the majority of Darksiders, and I found not one negative response to this tire. I've noted some have tried other brands, then switched to this and are happy.
Thanks for all your responses...goin Darkside

[Bone]

Now I will give you my feelings toward the DS. I don't want to persuade anyone to try or give up something that could cause injury to them or others.
I'm running the Triple Tread now and really like the tire. It is my second CT and I chose it because of the popularity on this board. It fits my riding style and home climate.
This May I rode to Arizona and back to Michigan with no complaints.
Be safe and give it some miles. I would check the air pressure every morning and adjust the pressure higher or lower depending on my previous days ride.
Enjoy your trial.

[SPOFF]

Here's an amusing story. I was on my first long ride with my latest car tire and I was getting a vibration that began a bit of a wobble on a 35 mph sweeper. It was subtle -- only noticeable on very smooth pavement -- but unnerving. I got the bike home home and looking at the front wheel, a set of weights had fallen off! So I need to pull the front wheel and rebalance it. Not a darkside problem at all.

[2qmedic]

GoodYear TT 205-60-16
the only real down side of this tire is that running 36 psi the bike will begin to be unstable over 100mph. increasing to 45 psi took care of it. it took me about 1200 miles for the tire  to seem to settle in, or maybe it was just me? Give your self a good 1000 miles of adjusting to the knew feel.
Anyway, I see no reason to go back to a mc tire.

[humshark]

Tundra -
Looks like you've made your decision - So we need feedback once you have some miles on it. 
I had over 20k on my Goodyear F1 - (early adopter)  Since I put my DS on many other tires have come to light as good alternatives.  EVEN so - here was my take on the F1 Zrated tire...

RPM increase extremely noticeable - it was a smaller tire originally bought for a wing.

RIDE TWO UP - smooth as silk and is where the car tire REALLY shined

Bridge grates, Tar snakes and other road imperfections - At speed, Car Tire handled better without "tracking". 

Parking lot, WATCH OUT, "bump steer" was a problem due to the F1's profile.  This made parking a tedious chore, and one in which I had to always be alert.

High Speed - Did i say it was Z-rated?  AWESOME

Corners - Handling was great.  I never felt the bike "wiggle" or come unglued, however it was never as intuitive for me as the AVONS were going INTO and OUT-OF the corner.  I say intuitive because i can't explain it any better.  Some talk about "forcing" her into the corner with a CT -  and i never felt like i had to "force" my gal into a turn, it was simply different.

Clearance - lower due to the flat profile and the shorter sidewall.  scraping has nearly taken my peg retaining bolts off!

I went back to MC tires this round to re-evaluate and research my next possible trek into the dark world.  I'd say your choice is a solid one with MANY members reporting positively on the performance of the III tread.  I'm interested in your take when you get the chance!

[Larry]

Seems like 45 lbs of pressure is lots of pressure? One reason I have a CT is the softer ride as I ride heavy most of the time. I keep mine down at a normal CT operating pressure of 33 lbs and that seems to work well for me. The softer sidewall in a CT helps with cornering and absorbing the bumps but also increases the wiggle factor in corners, stability on straights is phenominal. Higher pressure would stop the wiggle factor, but also drastically increases center tread wear which is one reason I went CT, more tread depth. It's a trade off I guess. Safe riding.

[Gunslinger]

We are using BF Goodritch Traction TA tires on 3 valks. (Interstate, standard and tourer) No problems with any of them with the exception of tank slap at high speeds (110+) This has been corrected by increasing tire pressures to 44psi.

Last tire change was over 35000 miles. Admittedly this was only mileage for two of the tires as the new interstate came with a Blizzac D/S tire (Which sucked at any speed or pressure compared to the goodritch)

The key to D/S IMHO is a good stiff sidewall. we have tried many speed ratings and weight ratings with mixed results.  everything that has worked has had a stiff sidewall, that is the only common denominator, and I know of no way to find a sidewall rating.

(BTW, 63 delivered for the BF tire.)

[Larry]

That is interesting. Never had an issue with tank slap, but have never maintained high speed for too long either. My front tire is slightly out of wack and vibrates too much. If you have kept the pressure that high for the life of the tire you can't argue with that milage. Several in the past have talked about excessive center tread wear at higher pressures. BFG Traction radials work real good on my car.

[SANDMAN5]

I'm on my 2nd Goodyear Triple Tread, 205-60. It has about 14,000 on it and you
can't even tell it. My first had about 17,000 when I got into a fight with a Monte
Carlo and lost. I should get at least another 15, 000 out of it. I run at 36psi and
mostly "normal" riding, although I drag my pegs a few times a year. Next tire might
be  a Michelin Hydroedge 205-65. I won't say I'll NEVER go back to a m/c tire, but
I can't imagine why I would. Let us know how you like it.

[SPOFF]

I'm also using a BF Goodritch Traction TA 205-60 and so far I really like it. I'm also running about 45 lbs, which I usually run on a new car tire to "round off" the edges of the tire. Based on your comments, I'll probably keep the elevated pressure. At $74, I wouldn't much mind if it only lasted 10,000 miles since I have to disassemble and regrease the rear end that often anyway.

[Dan Manko]

My Goodyear TT is just about worn out. I will not go back to a MC tire. I need to start looking for prices on another goodyear TT.
Smooth, quiet, great handling. Just don't forget to pull it to lube the splines.

[Tundra]

Ok I'm done, Darkside complete. I've enclosed photo's of this process, first I've got one more question. I ordered my tire from tirerack.com after 3:00pm on Thursday, arrived before 1:00pm on Friday . I did the nutcage mod. and reinstalled without checking the clearance (bad move  ) Still rubs, my fender appears to be off center to the left 1 inch. NOW I understand what Thunderbolt was talking about, (washer mod.) I should have asked, so I only had to do thid job once.
    Question...I installed without loosening the final drive bolts, as EXPLAINED in Shop-Talk, (guess I got excited). Do I have to do this ? Can I just loosen them now, and re-torque?? Will it have the same affect ? What should I do ?
  Thanks to all who responded and contributed that made it possible for me to do this   Pics enclosed
         

[Tundra]

I had to shim the fender rail (washer mod) along with the nutcage mod. My fender was off center 1". It is perfect now, dead on. I love this tire, really handles great, excelerates well, brakes well. I have no problems in the corners at all. What was different for me was a straight road with a crown in it. I have settled with 33 psi, feels right.

[Larry]

Got a piece of a 5/16 wrench in the tread of my first one after about 100 miles. Don't know how that managed to get jammed in the outer tread almost by the sidewall, but it did. Three plugs later and I was back in business. The tire shop where I bought it wanted to hedge on the road hazard guarantee but with the expressiion of some frustration, they did and tire #2 is still rolling along just peachy. Have fun and hang onto those bars. Wonder if it's easier to do a wheely with a CT? 

[Gunslinger]

Wonder if it's easier to do a wheely with a CT? 

Much Easier, Better traction (Just don't tell Firestarter, I'll get in troubleagain!)

[mikeb]

Ken,
 Why the 65 profile? Would that be a taller tire (from rim to the road)?

drops rpms by 200 at 70mph  i did that with no nut mod  12000 miles on the tire no wear as of now running 35psi  will never go back to an mt

[SPOFF]

Hey Tundra,

Since no one else has answered your question: Yes, you need to loosen and retorque the four bolts on the rear end pumpkin. Otherwise things could be misaligned and this could trash your wheel splines. (Don't ask me how I know this.) Get the back wheel off the ground, loosen the axle nut a bit, loosen the 4 pumpkin nuts. I usually spin the wheel and mash the rear brake to align everything. Tighten the axle and then torque the pumpkin nuts.

[Tundra]

Thanks SPOFF

[asfltdncr]

I had to shim the fender rail (washer mod) along with the nutcage mod. My fender was off center 1". It is perfect now, dead on. I love this tire, really handles great, excelerates well, brakes well. I have no problems in the corners at all. What was different for me was a straight road with a crown in it. I have settled with 33 psi, feels right.

OK, now it's time to think about that rear tire installed up front.I put a dunlop 404 up front.I don't go three figures but have not felt anything negative up to 80mph.The tread is about a 1/4" deeper and maybe because of that, seems like a softer, quieter ride.