Car Tires

[zoltan57]

HELLO,
Iam thinking about putting a car tire on my valk. does anyone know whats a good tire to put on there without any installation problems or mods.. would like input on brands and prices if you know them... thanks

emrik

[tank_post142]

do a search for " darkside"

[N8171S]

J am on my second CT.  First was a Bridgestone Potenza.  I now have the Austone taxi tire.  I put 37,000 on the Bridgestone and as it aged the handling got bad on uneven pavement.  I have two valks, one with a metzler and one with the taxi tire and you can't feel any difference in the handling.  I have Bike rear tires on the front of both.  One is reversed and one is running in the direction of the arrow.  They both handle the same but the one that is not reversed growles a bit in hard turns.  I will put a taxi tire on the second bike when the need arrises.  Tom in Massachusetts

[Moonshot_1]

HELLO,
Iam thinking about putting a car tire on my valk. does anyone know whats a good tire to put on there without any installation problems or mods.. would like input on brands and prices if you know them... thanks

emrik

Buckle up. This topic is a long and bumpy road.

As stated, a search of the darkside will yield much information.

I can only state my opinion of the Goodyear Assurance Triple tread. 205/60/16
On a 99 Valk tourer. No modifications. On my 2nd one. 1st got changed out at 33k. Had more to go but wanted new rubber for a long trip.

22k on #2 give or take a few.

Like the performance. Like the handling.

Have not run any other car tire. May consider something different for the next one.

If you don't mount them yourself, be sure to find someone who will before you buy one.

[big poppa pump]

Installed a Vredestein Sportrac 3 205/55/R16 about a week back. I'm loving both the performance and handling. No nut cage mod required and no noise at all. Bike handles like a champ in the twisties.

[specialdose]

Installed a Goodyear TT on my stock 98 tourer( with 35k on the clock) yesterday. Also replaced shock bushings with Redeye bushings. Made a 200 mile trip today. Interstate and back roads. 1st 50 miles was interesting. Definitely different. I think I am going to like it. Great ride on the super slab. Personally not much for hard twistys but tried on a few and felt way more confident than on the E3. Looked for tar snakes, did not fill squirrely to me. Went ahead and did the nut cage mod. Tire looks bad a_ _ . Have a set on my truck going on 35k. It will displace some water. Right now I have 42lbs in it. Moonshot what tire pressure have you had success with?

[Brian]

I just installed the General Altimax HP, 205/60/16 out the door price here in NC was an even $100 and $20 for the Honda dealer to mount it. They gave me no grief about it. So far I am not sold on the darkside as it does not handle gravel driveways and parking lots very well. I have been trying different air pressures. The E3 handled much better in gravel. I have put about 200 miles on this tire and still not sold. The plus side, it does handle well on the highway and it a lot quieter than the cupped E3 I took off.
I did have to remove the nut cage on the right side only but did them both, the tire was extremely close to the right when checking it up on the lift. I use the Leatherlyke saddle bags so using the carriage bolt mod was not an option. I took the OEM square nuts to the bench grinder and removed about 1/3. Then with the bag mounting studs screwed into the nuts I used a dremel with a cutting wheel to trim the mounting stud flush to the nut. I do not know what equipment you have for servicing your bike so I can only tell you what I did. I use the table lift with the front chock. With the bike supported and tied down I am able to move the swing arm using a small bottle jack. With the wheel installed I used a small inspection mirror and flashlight to see how close the tire is to the fender nuts while raising and lowering the swing arm without the shocks. It appears to be about 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch. The spacing between the tire an swing arm is about 3 credit cards and has not been a problem.
Not all Valkyries are built exactly the same so do not assume you will have the clearance if you use a tire other than the Austone Taxi tire. I have read here where some that use the taxi tire had to bring all the underneath wiring to the topside of the fender as the tire hit the wiring plug cage.
Others have had no problem at all with any tire. It all depends on the bike.
Good luck.

[Bone]

My 98 Tourer is on it's 3rd CT the last 2 being GYTT. Running 35-36 lbs. cold always checked when the tire has set overnight
205/60 with the nut cage mod. They handle rain really well.

[Jess from VA]

3 Goodyear TTs, at 40 constant.  Higher and you want to check the tire for excessive center wear.  My first, at 40 constant, went to 37K with nice even wear right across the tread (it had more in it, but at maintenance time I changed it anyway).  There are probably more rider friendly CTs, but these don't bother me in the least, do it all, and last a long time (which was the whole point).

[JC]

J am on my second CT.  First was a Bridgestone Potenza.  I now have the Austone taxi tire.  I put 37,000 on the Bridgestone and as it aged the handling got bad on uneven pavement.  I have two valks, one with a metzler and one with the taxi tire and you can't feel any difference in the handling.  I have Bike rear tires on the front of both.  One is reversed and one is running in the direction of the arrow.  They both handle the same but the one that is not reversed growles a bit in hard turns.  I will put a taxi tire on the second bike when the need arrises.  Tom in Massachusetts

What Tom said! Had a Potenza that made it to 25K before developing a low speed shimmy. I'm now at 2K on an Austone Taxi tire and it feels like I'm back on a MC tire, I really love this one! The only issue was it took a little more lead to get a good balance on it, but I also run Ride-on in it which makes it smoooooth.