205/60-16 Potenza and Trailer hitch is NO PROBLEM--Self mounted on VTX1800c

Well, I've been darkside lurking since I got an '03 GL1800 Goldwing about 3 years ago. I never rode it enough to need a rear tire so I didn't darkside it. But about 6 months ago I got an '02 VTX1800c and the rear tire was still in pretty decent shape.

A 30 second burnout took care of that.

I found the Bridgestone Potenza G009 205/60-16 at Sam's Club for $79.36!!! A lot of folks have used the Potenza tires in a different series but I thought I'd try this one out because I could not pass up the price. The side wall still felt just a stiff as a lot of the other more expensive tires so I think it should be fine.



I have my own motorcycle tire irons so I thought I would try to mount it myself. That and the Sam's tire machine could not grasp the motorcycle rim, but at least the tire tech was willing to consider mounting it after I told him it was on a "sidecar" setup.

First thing was to buy a new motor cycle lift rated for 1500 pounds from the local Harbor Freight ($75) and have my daughter help me pick up the bike.



Then, what's always the hardest part of a tire change for me is breaking the bead on the old tire. I use plastic rim guards and a large C-clamp to squeeze the beads from both sides untill one pops loose. Then I remove the loose side of the tire from the rim and use the loose bead (which is on the outside of the rim now) as a cusion for the C-clamp to pop the bead loose from the other side. Real pain in the bottom, but without a proper bead breaker or tire machine this is how I do it.



The car tire went on fairly smoothly with soapy water but it did take a little more work than a regular motorcycle tire. Use 2 or 3 of the longer tire irons. I had 1 long one and 2 short 8" ones and next time the 8" ones will not be used. Much better leverage with the longer ones and they have a better "grab lip" on them. I only needed about 50 psi to seat the bead with a little soapy water as lube. Popped on very nicely!



Putting the tire back on was tough. I had to raise the bike pretty high to clear the trailer hitch and then had to let the air out of the tire to sqeeze it between the swingarm and the gear drive unit. I had my son sit on the bike because the upward pushing almost knocked the bike forward off the lift. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE AN ADULT HELP YOU STABILIZE THE BIKE WHEN RE-INSTALLING THE REAR WHEEL!!! I love my kids but they just couldn't help much on this.



My trailer hitch is by HitchDoc.com and I love it. Very strong and very chromed. I was really REALLY concerned about the square tire shoulder rubbing on the curved part of the trailer hitch, but as you can see there is PLENTY of clearance left.

So go ahead and Darkside it if you have a Hitch Doc trailer hitch for the VTX 1800 bikes. There seems to be no problems other than having to raise the bike much higher on the lift than I'd like to, just be sure to have help holding the bike steady on reinstallation, that was very scary seeing the bike rocking back and forth on the lift.

I've only put about 15 miles on the tire so far, but I think I like it.

Good luck and keep the rubber side down!!

Total cost was less than the cost of a "proper" rear tire. $80 for the tire and $75 for the lift plus tax. Cheapest I found a 180/70r16 Dunlop Elite 3 was $179 plus $20 to mount/ballance.

Now, to order some Dyna-Beads.

Great write up and good looking tire. Thanks. The Pics made the whole thing.

Peace.
Moon

Sam's also had a Dunlop rear tire in the "Signature" line that was a 205/55 for $86, but it was not a "directional" tread pattern. I'm sure it would have worked fine, and it would have been great to still run Dunlop's front and rear, but I wanted to stick with a directional tread pattern, it just looks better.

I have to put more miles on her now, I guess I know what I'm doing this week!!!

Nice! Thanks for the write-up and pics! Remember to wear off the mold release..

SAY! ...Thats IS a good lookin' Trailer Hitch!

That was a great write up, thanks! And a great looking tread pattern! I love the wide, flat contact patch down the middle. But I disagree on not having children help with dangerous projects. Its natures way of weeding out the useless ones.

And I DID notice that your hitch is curved to accept a more rounded mc tire, but in the pictures you can really see how much more rounded the car tire is than we give it credit for. Your gonna love it more as you ride it more!

GREAT pics, thanks!

And I have that same tire in a 205/60/15 out in the shed, if you know anyone on a 1300 that needs one!