Vulcan 500 as a darkside candidate?

The OE Bridgestone Exedra 140/90 R15 tire is 5.5" wide and 25.2" Outside Diameter. I'm looking for something that might fit. So far potential tires are:
BFGoodrich T/A Radial 155/80R15 has 24.7 OD and 6.1" CS
Firestone F560 145 R15 this tire is a "classic car" tire manufactured by coker tire under license from firestone. It's specs are 24.3 OD 5.6" CS 4.1" tread
F560 155 R15 is 25.1 OD 6.1" CS
I'm leaning toward the BFGoodrich tire. Anyone know of another tire that might fit?

A 165r 80 might be a good choice

Hey Triangles,
I know you and I have discussed this on another forum since you posted this, but just for others information, I am currently running that BF Goodrich TA Radial 155/80-R15 on my 09 Vulcan 500 and it seems to be doing fine. Got about 1200 miles on it now. It was aggravating to get the bead to fully seat though. Finally took 110 PSI to get it on all the way. By the way, even though the CT 155 should be wider than the stock MT 140, it measures up exactly the same width when mounted and aired up, not sure why but both tires are about 5 5/8" wide at the widest point installed on that rim.

I wonder if a 165/80 might fit. how much clearance is there between the brake "torque bar" (or whatever it's called) and tire is there? I would think that would be the limiting factor on having a wider tire fit.

I'm not sure. The 155 should have been pushing the limits, however, once it was mounted on the rim, it wasn't any wider than the 140 MT. So, not really sure what will happen to a 165 when mounted on that small rim, but it might fit since the 155 wasn't any larger, I'd almost bet that the 165 wouldn't be more than 155mm wide mounted on that rim. The only way to know for sure is to try it. I had several people telling me that the 155 would be to wide and not leave enough clearance but that didn't prove to be the case. I measured the narrowest space inside the rear fender and figured I had a 1/4" clearance on each side of a 155mm wide tire. If the 165 "narrows up" like the 155 did, I'd bet you will have about that clearance with that tire.

I'm getting ready to put a 165/80 on my 750, but that's been done before, nothing new there. I'd try something wider if it was available but the options are severely limited until you get way up there in width.

Triangles, I'm certainly interested in the outcome of your findings. We've several Vulcan 500s on a Vulcan forum that I admin, and in my VRA Chapter, and it might be interesting to these folks.

I know a bit about most of the Vulcans, the 500 is not one of those, so I can't really be of help to you, but hope that you can help our users with any information that you might discover. Even though I hesitate to push our forum on others, in this case I hope the owners of this forum understand.

Vulcan Riders Association

When you get that 165 tire on your 750 could you please measure the width of the mounted tire? I'd imagine the 750's wheel is similar enuff to the 500's that it will be pretty darn close if not the same width as if it were mounted on the 500's wheel. No hurry since I won't be buying a tire until sometime next summer.
Thanks!

Go with the tallest you can possibly fit under your bike! JMO


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

Fly wrote:Triangles, I'm certainly interested in the outcome of your findings. We've several Vulcan 500s on a Vulcan forum that I admin, and in my VRA Chapter, and it might be interesting to these folks.

I know a bit about most of the Vulcans, the 500 is not one of those, so I can't really be of help to you, but hope that you can help our users with any information that you might discover. Even though I hesitate to push our forum on others, in this case I hope the owners of this forum understand.

Vulcan Riders Association

FYI click this link to go over to another forum where Burkbuilds is running 155/80 it is no wider than the stock 140/90 mc tire.

Hey Triangles, I will definitely post the measured width mounted once I've done it, but it may be a month or two before I do it.

Thanks. I'm in no hurry especially now that I lost my job last Friday so it will be several months before I consider tire replacement.

Hey man, sorry to hear about your job. bummer. Hope you are able to find something even better really soon. I'll be thinking about you, let us know when you find something new.

trianges,

Have a look at this thread: https://mcdarksiders.forumotion.com/t4364-darkside-on-vulcan-500-ltd

This is my first foray into 'Darkside' territory but after almost 7,000 miles with it I can say that it works for me. Do understand that the feel of the bike is *very* different but mellows with age.

Good luck to ya.

'Biker' Bill

I've put about 2,000 miles on the car tire now and it seems to be working really well. When I first put it on, I could feel a definite "flat spot" in the middle when I'd come up from leaning one way and then lean over the other way. Somewhere around 1,500 miles I stopped noticing that feeling. Now it pretty much has the same feel to it as the MC tire did, just a smooth roll. I've read a few posts on here that indicate it takes about 1,000 miles to fully "break in" a car tire on a bike. Maybe it just took a little more mileage on my 500 because it is not a very heavy bike, or maybe I've just acclimated to the tire and that's why I don't notice a "flat spot" anymore. Either way, I'm very pleased with the change and I'm hoping to double or more the mileage I was getting out of a MC tire (about 12,000).

Yea the 500 is a light bike. Just a guess, as I've not ever heard it discussed, a lighter bike might allow the flat part of the tire to be more easily felt than one heavier one.

I've not idea if this is true, as I've only had a CT on relatively light bikes like my Concours and Vulcan 900.

Anyone here that's experienced riding on a light vs heavy bike with a CT?

I've got about 5,000 miles on the tire now. 6mm of tread left , so I'll be interested to see how many miles I end up getting from this compared to the 11,000 or so I was getting from the MC tire. I can't tell any difference in the handling at all anymore compared with the MC tire. I still am not sure if this is because I've just gotten used to the differences or because they went away as the tire "broke in". I'm happy with it and that is what matters to me.

Update: I've got between 9,000 and 10,000 miles on the TA Radial now and amazingly, I've still got 6 mm of tread depth. The tire is doing well even though I've put two screws through the tread already. My Ride-On-TPS seems to have done a great job of sealing up the punctures. I just finished running from Marietta to Panama City Beach and back last week and the tire performed flawlessly on a long trip, (about 7 1/2 hours ride time). I'm very pleased with the way this tire is handling and wearing.

burkbuilds wrote:Update: I've got between 9,000 and 10,000 miles on the TA Radial now and amazingly, I've still got 6 mm of tread depth. The tire is doing well even though I've put two screws through the tread already. My Ride-On-TPS seems to have done a great job of sealing up the punctures. I just finished running from Marietta to Panama City Beach and back last week and the tire performed flawlessly on a long trip, (about 7 1/2 hours ride time). I'm very pleased with the way this tire is handling and wearing.

Good luck trying to kill the car tire!!!! LOL

Have you wore out that tire yet?

I'm up to over 14,000 miles on the T/A Radial now and it still has 6mm of tread depth on it. Since I transferred back home and I'm not running back and forth to Atlanta every week anymore I don't put nearly the miles on it I did last year. At the rate I'm running now I may never wear it out. My guess is that it will probably last between 24,000 and 32,000 miles. It's kinda crazy, but once I hit 6mm of tread depth it just seemed to stop wearing down any. I've been at 6mm for over 5,000 miles now.