Riding on the Darkside
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At Last !!

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Post  shaw351 Sun Mar 29, 2009 12:48 am

I was scratching my head until today about car tires. I got the Darkside HydroEdge 205/65/16 to squeeze in there and took it out for a 50 mile ride. My initial feeling is you will have to get used to the very different feelings that the bike gives you. After leaning into my first turn and straightning out I was startled by the bike snapping up straight, spooked me out!! Turning at slow speed will take some practice, but when I got on the highway it handled great. It seemed two-folded in handling, on one side it seemed to intensify movement in the straight-aways with less leaning or bar movement and on the other side required more bar input to turn, pretty much what I expected from reading 40 plus hours of posts and PM'ing lots of darksiders before I decided to try a CT.
Only issue installing CT was that I had to deflate it to get it to fit in there, as others have said there is about 3/8" on right side and 3/16" on shaft side. I took a close up look of tire on the stand which is similar to a hard left turn and was impressed with the amount of contact patch on the ground.
So take it easy out of the gate and practice low speed manuevers, which is what I plan to do in the next few weeks. Very Happy Joe Very Happy


Last edited by shaw351 on Sun Mar 29, 2009 12:49 am; edited 1 time in total (Reason for editing : spelling correction)
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Post  Badmoon Sun Mar 29, 2009 8:10 am

With a little time you will forget it is back there. I dont even think about it anymore. It is like riding a new bike. You have to learn the characteristics of it and you learn the bike, the more you ride the better it is.

Relax and enjoy.

Post some pics when you get a chance.

Moon
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Post  jedishon Sun Mar 29, 2009 11:04 am

Welcome to the darkside..... it only gets better....

Jerry
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Post  nodakbassmaster Sun Mar 29, 2009 1:15 pm

cheers cheers
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Post  shaw351 Mon Mar 30, 2009 2:08 am

shaw351 wrote:I was scratching my head until today about car tires. I got the Darkside HydroEdge 205/65/16 to squeeze in there and took it out for a 50 mile ride. My initial feeling is you will have to get used to the very different feelings that the bike gives you. After leaning into my first turn and straightning out I was startled by the bike snapping up straight, spooked me out!! Turning at slow speed will take some practice, but when I got on the highway it handled great. It seemed two-folded in handling, on one side it seemed to intensify movement in the straight-aways with less leaning or bar movement and on the other side required more bar input to turn, pretty much what I expected from reading 40 plus hours of posts and PM'ing lots of darksiders before I decided to try a CT.
Only issue installing CT was that I had to deflate it to get it to fit in there, as others have said there is about 3/8" on right side and 3/16" on shaft side. I took a close up look of tire on the stand which is similar to a hard left turn and was impressed with the amount of contact patch on the ground.
So take it easy out of the gate and practice low speed manuevers, which is what I plan to do in the next few weeks. Very Happy Joe Very Happy

This is A close up of the contact patch...At Last !! Tirecl13
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Post  ttexastim Mon Mar 30, 2009 8:29 am

You may find that playing with your tire pressure will help you get the feel you are looking for. Awesome news for you! Now just keep the rubber side down! Smile
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Post  Morgan Buchanan Tue Mar 31, 2009 5:47 pm

I don't find it at all hard to switch between my two babies tho.

At Last !! 100_1965s
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Post  shaw351 Wed Apr 01, 2009 1:26 am

Went out for my second darkside ride today, still do not know what to make of it. Most people have the pressure at 40 and that is where it is, but so far the bike has not given me the ride that I expected. It seems as though the rear tire will cause the whole bike to " shimmy " so to speak and is really felt in the bars, kinda un-nerving when it is not expected when you go over a small road condition. Has this situation happened to anybody or is this part of the learning curve?? I have about 150 miles on the tire right now. Shocked
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Post  Dan Wed Apr 01, 2009 8:27 pm

Welcome Exclamation That tire should handle rock solid, and ride smooth as glass. Suspect Have you done anything to balance it Question Closely check the bead indicator line where the rim meets the tire to be sure it's completely seated properly on both sides. The wide rear contact patch wil sometimes amplify other problems, like a cupped front tire, loose fork stem bearing, or front wheel bearing. Also, don't be afraid to lower your air pressure, try it at 35 and 30. I run mine at 25 and it rides and handles great. Keep us posted, a little shimmy on a nice deriere is cool Cool but not on a MC, good luck.
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Post  Steve-O Wed Apr 01, 2009 10:24 pm

shaw351 wrote:Went out for my second darkside ride today, still do not know what to make of it. Most people have the pressure at 40 and that is where it is, but so far the bike has not given me the ride that I expected. It seems as though the rear tire will cause the whole bike to " shimmy " so to speak and is really felt in the bars, kinda un-nerving when it is not expected when you go over a small road condition. Has this situation happened to anybody or is this part of the learning curve?? I have about 150 miles on the tire right now. Shocked

I know the feeling. You "feel" the road a lot more. You have a HUGE contact patch down there now. You'll get used to it. Play with the pressure a bit...this worked for me. Higher pressure made this feeling go away.
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Post  shaw351 Thu Apr 02, 2009 1:22 am

Dan wrote:Welcome Exclamation That tire should handle rock solid, and ride smooth as glass. Suspect Have you done anything to balance it Question Closely check the bead indicator line where the rim meets the tire to be sure it's completely seated properly on both sides. The wide rear contact patch wil sometimes amplify other problems, like a cupped front tire, loose fork stem bearing, or front wheel bearing. Also, don't be afraid to lower your air pressure, try it at 35 and 30. I run mine at 25 and it rides and handles great. Keep us posted, a little shimmy on a nice deriere is cool Cool but not on a MC, good luck.

Tire bead is seated all around, have 3oz of dynabeads in there. All rear bearings were fine, also checked the rubber dampeners. I put the bike on the stand and front end has nothing loose or strange feeling. I will try different pressures this weekend to see what changes, it may be nothing more than getting used to this tire. Will see what happens with pressure changes. Thanks, Joe
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Post  shaw351 Thu Apr 02, 2009 1:25 am

Steve-O wrote:
shaw351 wrote:Went out for my second darkside ride today, still do not know what to make of it. Most people have the pressure at 40 and that is where it is, but so far the bike has not given me the ride that I expected. It seems as though the rear tire will cause the whole bike to " shimmy " so to speak and is really felt in the bars, kinda un-nerving when it is not expected when you go over a small road condition. Has this situation happened to anybody or is this part of the learning curve?? I have about 150 miles on the tire right now. Shocked

I know the feeling. You "feel" the road a lot more. You have a HUGE contact patch down there now. You'll get used to it. Play with the pressure a bit...this worked for me. Higher pressure made this feeling go away.

Thanks Steve, will try different pressures this weekend. Joe Very Happy
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Post  shaw351 Mon Apr 06, 2009 12:28 am

Well I upped the pressure to 50psi and did not like it, it felt like the rearend was wanting to bounce up at times. I have my shock preload set to 5 since that is where it needs to be when im 2-up with the wife back there. Today I dropped it to 45psi and it seemed a bit better, on the highway @ 75 it was great, at 25 - 35 it still felt strange. Im guessing that it is a normal feeling that I have to get used to, at times I would ride one handed but not on this tire since it sometimes has a mind of it's own. From what iv'e read the feeling is just more road contact and the bike " Follows " minor inperfections, or whup-de-doos so to speak. Looks like a week of rain comong to MASS, hopefully will get more break-in miles if possible, up to 200 so far. Joe Smile
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