Darkside newbie

Well.....I made the jump. First let me say as a guy with a lot of years of tire experience, the thought of switching to a CT for the rear of this motorcycle didn't scare me. Knowing how tires are made and their characteristics helped assure me that with the right size and profile this could work.

So it was time to change my rear tire....found a local tire store with a 165R15 tire. Nanking I believe is the brand....really didn't ay attention to that. I was interested in the size and profile. Look at it and it looked perfect. I couldn't get the local shops to put it on my rim though, so I did it myself. They did dismount the old one so all I had to do was put on the new one. Only tire iron I could find in town was a piece of crap at best, but thankfully, I had enough experience and tricks to get it on without too much hassle. Though it was freakin hot yesterday! Lots of sweat from this fat boy! So I got it mounted, aired up (with my little air compressor, that was a challenge) Back on the bike, all buttoned up and time for a test run.

You all boast about how much better it is....all I gotta say is.......holy crap! I'm not sure if it's the tire or I just became a better rider! hahaha. Seriously this thing is much smoother riding than what I had. I did not notice any change at all in hitting the corners as far as what I do in riding. I did notice however that it freaking corners like a dream!

Thanks to all of you who did alot of original leg work in finding right size and such on these tires. Made my work pretty easy in selecting what I needed.

Anyway......I guess now I am what they call a "Darksider"....I'm ok with that.

Dave

Oh and thanks to Bobby for answering the questions I did have.

Awesome Dave,

I knew you would love it. Hey, I'm just a beggar telling another beggar where to get bread!

We do love ours and thanks for posting your experience. Darkside Rulz! Just wait till you get caught in the rain or ride two up, it's really going to show you something!


..............bobby

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Welcome to the world of why didn't I do this a long long time ago.....be sure to give us a report after you get some miles on it.....What are you riding?....You can post any pics you want anytime you want....

I'm riding a 2006 1300R. Yeah we are going on a run through the redwoods this weekend. 4 day trip.....I expect good things!

Dave97402 wrote:I'm riding a 2006 1300R. Yeah we are going on a run through the redwoods this weekend. 4 day trip.....I expect good things!

BITE ME ....... ummm ..... I mean welcome to the darkside. It really is everything we say it is. Dave enjoy the ride .... i want to get out west so bad I can taste it ... and when I do.


Enjoy the ride and welcome to the site

See you out there
Smokey

Know what ya mean about going out west, it is driving me nuts that I have not been yet but, oh but when I do, :bom: :bom: whooo!!

Yeah I feel pretty blessed to be here where any direction you go is a nice ride with awesome roads!!

Hey wait a minute .... you mean there are roads that dont start out with 200 miles of corn and bean fields? Yall got to be joshing me. I have been east and loved it. I want to go back and there are a few areas in the notheast i want to ride .... but right now my soul is calling me out west.

See you out there
Smokey

man oh man, you should put 205 wide side and enjoy your ride even more, lol,

dino wrote:man oh man, you should put 205 wide side and enjoy your ride even more, lol,

My old heart couldn't stand if it was better! LOL

I figured the 165 is obviously a exact replacement for what the bike was designed for. In my case, side by side, there was no difference. (other than profile.) For me, as I said before being a tire guy, looking at how the 165 mounts or sits on the rim, I wouldn't be comfortable with a 205 on the same rim. I am sure it works and isn't a problem, but if it causes in my mind a doubt, then I am not riding comfortably. You know? I thought about it though! LOL

Don't be silly man.. you're here, that there's the important part! Welcome! Enjoy. Try to not crash, burn and die in a horrible accident caused by your stupid tire choice too many times a week... it gets tiring hearing about it... LOL

Yeah I have been getting a little of that already even here at work. My wife is a little worried, but she says if I think it's safe, she is satisfied. Oh yeah, she's a keeper.

Guys I just wanted to report back now that I've taken a little ride with the new setup. Wow!! We went on a 1235 mile ride down the Oregon/Calif coast, through the redwoods, at the coast on winding roads, around crater lake...what a beautiful ride! The CT handled like a dream!! The only thing I noticed different about it is that what you do up front makes a immediate difference in the back. In other words, and I believe I have seen someone mention this, if you hit a lined groove in the pavement, it seems to react more and quicker than before. It isn't really a minus on overall performance, but more just something I noticed. Of course the quicker reaction to what happens up front is two fold, cause when you steer into a corner it just flows!! Sweet. Didn't break loose once.....I even buried it in the sand/gravel! LOL We went down a little gravel road to stop by a beach we saw, all of a sudden, the front goes squirrrely and womp....stopped with the back tire dropping into the thick loose sand gravel.....I thought oh crap, now what am I going to do....well first let's just see if it will drive out of here.....yep, didn't even slip, just pulled me out of the hole and on down the road! Whew.

So yeah, if you wanna see some nice pics of our ride....check out my photobucket at: https://s90.photobucket.com/albums/k279/dave97402/Ridin/?start=0h


Like this one from the "Avenue of the Giants" in the redwoods!!

Awesome Dave,

Glad the darkside did you well. I has some grip don't it!!!!!!!!! Nice trip also.


...................bobby

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Man, this picture is awesome. Almost need nothing, just a few touch and would be a winner.
great pic man, great.
Like this one from the "Avenue of the Giants" in the redwoods!!

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Welcome and I too am jealous of that ride.