Any real advantages of a directional tire

Been lurking for a while...but thought I ought to sign-up and join the gang.

I'm throwing down for a darkside tire this week, but have a slight concern over whether I should get a directional tire, or whether it really even matters much. I really like the Falken ZE912 (especially like the $66 price I found), but it's not a directional tire. Should I be overly concerned? I've noticed some of you guys aren't real fond of the Falken line due to problems getting the bead to seal. Was that a fluke or is it more common than not? I'd appreciate your comments.

Also, I've observed that several of you guys run with various sizes. I have a stock '02 Retro, and from what I've been reading, I should go with 205/65-16. This seems to be the size of consensus for maintaining speedo accuracy and not having to do any grinding or mods. Are there other sizes that meet these specs?

Check the bead width of the tire while it is standing on the floor. If it is one inch or less wider than your rim, it should seat okay. If it is over an inch wider you could be in for a long day trying to get it to seat....Other than that I like the looks of the tire, but have had no experience with it.

Jerry

it wasn't so much the beads seating as it is the flimsy sidewalls they seem to have...

The narrower 1300 wheels have the bead seating problems. Good tire size dhoice, the tire

Thanks for the info...I think the one thing that I'm hung up on the most, is whether or not a directional tire recommended. If so, why? Is using a non-directional tire that big of a deal?

Mike

Not to me.....

A lot of folks are running nondirectional tires. My first was non, dont really see much handling changes with the direcional tire, coolest thing is the 30 foot rooster tail riding in a frog strangler.

See you out there
Smokey

walker944 wrote:Thanks for the info...I think the one thing that I'm hung up on the most, is whether or not a directional tire recommended. If so, why? Is using a non-directional tire that big of a deal?

Mike

No, it is all on what you are looking for. i like the looks on a directional tire , and others like the looks of a regular tire.
It is all on what you want.

from what I have seen (take that for what it's worth) either seem to work, but IMHO the directional tire is a lot better looking...

Some things I've found out through the years, Hydroplane, be it car or bike, now I run a GYTT directional tire for that reason. I had found that I could hydroplane the rear tire on my bike running a BatAxe 200 at 65+ mph. The contact patch on the 200 is about 2 1/2 inches,,,,, the contact patch on my GYTT is almost 7 inches, as in snow the narrower the tire will slice through the snow better than a real wide tire, now think of skipping stones on water ,little round stone nada, wider flat stone and away we go. When it rains there are puddles of water on the highway, so wider tire hits puddle, bike weights around 700 and up lbs or less and away it goes. I choose the GYTT for that reason, the rain vents direct the water out from under the tire, to a certain extent, In my case and my bike, I can get the bike up to around 90 to 95 mph with some fair amount of safety before it hydroplanes, you say then don't go that fast, well my 94 Ranger cab extra will hydroplane at 55 to 65 mph, and it weighs a hell alot more than my bike, theirs my safety margin, plus the fact that the narrower front tire cuts a slight track through the water for the rear tire to go through, just something to ponder about.

Doug