Replacing the front tire with a car tire

[oxfordhog]

I have a '99 IS that I have converted to a Super Valk with a sidecar.  The rear tire has a car tire.

Everything is running very well.

I was thinking of installing a car tire on the front.  Anyone out there with a recommendation for a car tire or maybe just leave an MC tire on the front.

Sorry no pics.  Don't know how to do it.

I also have a '97 Standard in red and white, Santa Claus colors.     The IS with the sidecar belongs to my wife.  It's a black and red, satanic colors.   

Thanks.

[Pete]

It has been a while since I have seen this done.
Usually a 3 wheeler or a sidecar rig is converted to all car tires.

In many cases the triple tree is widened to allow the extra width of the car tire and a wider rim.

Most that did it, loved it and said it was the best thing they had done for long tire wear and handling

I have not seen this done to a Valkyrie.

Good luck and have fun

[Steel cowboy]

Up date your insurance. The front fork on a motorcycle is raked, that meaning the pivot is not vertical. As you turn the handlebar the wheel rides the edge, if a car tire is used in front you will not have enough tire contact to create friction to steer the bike.

[Mr Whiskey]

you will not have enough tire contact to create friction to steer the bike.

Same thing they say 'bout goin' DarkSide,
simply not true ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

[sleepngbear]

Up date your insurance. The front fork on a motorcycle is raked, that meaning the pivot is not vertical. As you turn the handlebar the wheel rides the edge, if a car tire is used in front you will not have enough tire contact to create friction to steer the bike.

That's what people said about going dark side with your 'regular' 2-wheeler, that you supposedly don't have enough of a contact patch leaning into turns and you'd lose traction, but I don't know of anybody that's actually happened to. I've been on a number of different forums for larger bikes that owners have gone dark side with, and no one that I can recall ever went back because of dangerous cornering. The angle on the rake of the front fork in a turn is less than the angle of a lean; I would think this is a perfect application for a front car tire on a bike. In fact I've seen it up up close on a sport bike with a side car some years ago.

[cookiedough]

Never heard it done with a sidecar, but was going to buy a Michelin Active pilot REAR CYCLE tire for my front tire on my VAlk I/S as others have done, but the cycle shop I want to take it to has never done it and said he would not do install it on my bike even if meant for a rear normal cycle tire.  So, guess stuck with shinko 230 tourmaster in bias ply in front with my already installed 2 years going strong shinko SE890 journey rear tire.

Personally I would say NO, do not do it with car tire on front, but that rear cycle tire michelin active pilot will have more tread depth since made for a rear cycle tire vs. a normal front cycle tire if looking for longevity wear for a front tire.

[Alberta Patriot]

Anyone here incouraging the installation of a car tire on the front of someone else's bike should be cautious and think about the implications of what might happen at speed. The first thing that comes to mind...speed wobble. I am pretty sure that some dark siders here have experienced this with rear tires.  Dynamic Tire Balance becomes far more critical as the tire is increased in width and if on the front, could have seroius consequences if a "wobble sequence"(tank slapper) gets out of control before you can get the bike slowed down. At the very least, you would want to install a high quality steering damper. If you want to see what a good damper looks like, go to your nearest race track during a M/C track day and ask lots of questions...
Here is a Hot Rod article where they explain why dynamic vs static  balance is so important on wide tires.:
http://www.hotrod.com/articles/the-common-causes-of-shakes-wobbles-shimmies-and-cures/

I rode Darkside on my Stratoliner for a while and went back to a M/C tire and one of the main reasons...speed wobble. There was no predicting when a severe wobble would happen, but almost always above 80 MPH....and because these tires were never engineered to be mounted on motorcycles, there is no predicting which tires will be okay on which bikes and no predicting which shop will balance that tire properly...sorry Darksiders...I don't want to get into this topic in depth for the obvious reasons.

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

Anyone here incouraging the installation of a car tire on the front of someone else's bike should be cautious and think about the implications of what might happen at speed. The first thing that comes to mind...speed wobble. I am pretty sure that some dark siders here have experienced this with rear tires.  Dynamic Tire Balance becomes far more critical as the tire is increased in width and if on the front, could have seroius consequences if a "wobble sequence"(tank slapper) gets out of control before you can get the bike slowed down. At the very least, you would want to install a high quality steering damper. If you want to see what a good damper looks like, go to your nearest race track during a M/C track day and ask lots of questions...
Here is a Hot Rod article where they explain why dynamic vs static  balance is so important on wide tires.:
http://www.hotrod.com/articles/the-common-causes-of-shakes-wobbles-shimmies-and-cures/

I rode Darkside on my Stratoliner for a while and went back to a M/C tire and one of the main reasons...speed wobble. There was no predicting when a severe wobble would happen, but almost always above 80 MPH.

I doubt I'd run one on the front however I mounted my first CT way back in 1999 and I've never looked back .... Never a wobble

[Moonshot_1]

I have a '99 IS that I have converted to a Super Valk with a sidecar.  The rear tire has a car tire.

Everything is running very well.

I was thinking of installing a car tire on the front.  Anyone out there with a recommendation for a car tire or maybe just leave an MC tire on the front.

Sorry no pics.  Don't know how to do it.

I also have a '97 Standard in red and white, Santa Claus colors.    The IS with the sidecar belongs to my wife.  It's a black and red, satanic colors.  

Thanks.

I have no professional experience in this matter so I'm looking at this from cheap seats.

Performance wise, a car tire mounted on the front of a motorcycle with an attached side car, would not seem, in my mind, have any performance issues save a couple.

Obviously being a bike with a sidecar, the rig would not be capable of leaning into curves and turns. At least not in a practical manner. So the use of a car tire on the front would seem not to be problematic.

But the question would be what is the performance qualities of such a setup in non-practical events?

If you were to take a turn too tight bringing the sidecar up off the ground, what are the dynamics with a car tire up front? Can control be maintained in such a presentation?

Does the front end take a car tire without any mods? If there are mods, the previous question comes into play with even more concern.

Handling while stopped. Turning the bars may be difficult and slow speed maneuvering will likely be compromised with the large contact patch. Parking lots and slow traffic may be difficult to navigate with such a large contact patch.

Get past those and I don't see any real major issues but the real concern is not how the bike would normally handle but as I mentioned, how it handles when things are not the norm. That is when it counts.

So from my perspective, I would not be inclined to do it.

[Alberta Patriot]

Messing with the "Engineered Dynamics" of any vehicle needs to be done by Pros who test their modifications on tracks where they are in a controlled space without the risk of injuring others. A simple thing like putting fancy rims on a car with a "non-factory offset" changes everything about that car's designed in geometry...and bikes are different...how??.

[Pete]

Gloom and doom bull$hit aside, this is not a new idea and was done successfully 75+ years ago and many times since.

Do a little search and you will see lots of examples.

A good current example would be racing motorcycle sidecars of today, while their tires are smaller in diameter that are car profile.

[The emperor has no clothes]

Gloom and doom bull$hit aside, this is not a new idea and was done successfully 75+ years ago and many times since.

Do a little search and you will see lots of examples.

A good current example would be racing motorcycle sidecars of today, while their tires are smaller in diameter that are car profile.

I've never done it, but I've seen many old pics of Harley's and Indians with what sure looked like a squared off car tire.

[ridingron]

Have you visited any side car forums? Ask side car dealers or manufacturers?


There is a lot of real world experience here but it would seem to me the place to ask is on a side car site.

[PJR]

I have a Gold Wing with sidecar, haven't gone dark side yet. Had Valk I/S with sidecar, dark side on rear. All the sidecar rigs I've seen with car tire on front had Earls type forks on them.
Which I believe changes trail, and is also wider fork.
I am running rear M/C tire on front of Wing, getting good mileage. As with everything, YMMV.
ENJOY

[Alberta Patriot]

Common sense and reason.. otherwise known as  gloom and doom bullshit.
Car tires on the front of  motorcycles...it is such a good idea that MotoGP has switched over to them this year...who knew!!