air pressure

Great to be here!! came through from the "Other" board... I have a Toyo Proxes TPT 205/65/16 going on today. Need tire pressure, and I have 11inch progressives on the rear, do I need to cut the inside fender bolts down? Mostly ride one up, weigh about 210lbs.. Soon to qualify for a Darkside Sticker!!! REAPS

vtxreaper wrote:Great to be here!! came through from the "Other" board... I have a Toyo Proxes TPT 205/65/16 going on today. Need tire pressure, and I have 11inch progressives on the rear, do I need to cut the inside fender bolts down? Mostly ride one up, weigh about 210lbs.. Soon to qualify for a Darkside Sticker!!! REAPS

Well vtxreaper,

Dang glad to have you sir. And welcome home... You going to love it here. Congrats on the Darkside and we add you to our official darkside list if you would like.

On to your question........ Run what the manufacture suggests. It's always the best starting place. I have found and so have a lot of others, that try all kinds of other pressures usually ( I said usually ) go back to what the manufacture suggests or with in 5 lbs. (Remember, the leading cause of any tire failure is low air pressure) So, we recommend running what they say. Me too, I feel the same way.

The second question....what model do you have of X?????? That will determine what or if any cutting or trimming needs to be done.


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

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Thanks for gettin back so soon, 2004, 1800r. Will start with manufacturers pressure. Always ran a couple of pounds under on the Metzlers, felt like they stick a little better!! We shall see, out the door soon to get her done!!!! And please add me to the list, I will wear my new badge proudly!! CLIFF

vtxreaper wrote:Thanks for gettin back so soon, 2004, 1800r. Will start with manufacturers pressure. Always ran a couple of pounds under on the Metzlers, felt like they stick a little better!! We shall see, out the door soon to get her done!!!! And please add me to the list, I will wear my new badge proudly!! CLIFF

Cliff, I will add you to the list.

Just so you know.....the car tires have softer rubber than any motorcycle tire out there. I have done the durometer test on a bunch of car tires and motorcycle tire and the car tire beats the motorcycle tire by at least 15 points softer on any I tested. So, making a car tire stick by lower air pressure is not an issue. It's going to stick whether you like it or NOT...even in the wet conditions better than a motorcycle tire.

I am not sure if you have to cut anything on the R model.....our 1300's are running 205's and we so far have not had a rub issue on the R's. But with your lower shocks, I am not sure on a 1800. If any one doesn't come on here with an answer for sure....just ride and and stop often and keep and eye open. You only will have to watch the side or edges of the tire for rub marks. It should even come close to bottoming out. When you mount the tire on the bike and set it down, use a flashlight to check your clearances...........

..........bobby


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Thanks, Bobby... Tire is mounted on rim, gonna do the install now, then to bust the Darkside cherry. Will post up later. CLIFF

you may or may not need to take a grinder to the little lip up in the fender.... if it's not too late, do Like Bobby was saying and check to see if it looks like it will make contact... that will save you from having to remove the tire in a few miles to grind that lip down (if it's required)...

congrats and let us know how it goes!

You are up! Officially Welcome to the Darkside. I hope you love it as much as I do.


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


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Drum roll please.............. bounce

Name (new darkside name) [bike]
1. nordakbassmaster (Nordakdarksidemaster)
2. joe mama (A nice big cup of joe darkside)
3. PopsVTX (A Darkside as big as Texas)
4. 1800VTwin (He's "One Big Darkside")
5. jakson200368 (Sooner Darkside)
6. VTXjosh (McDarksides)
7. badmoon (Darkside of the Moon)......held in reserve for my friend so he don't call me punk!
8. vtxreaper (the Darkside of the Apple)

Took me a minute to figure that one out. .....................Thanks Vicodin!

I like it "Darkside of The Apple" Install is complete, piece of cake, no grinding needed as best as I could see and feel. I don't know what the big deal is about the Darkside!! Did a few miles on the Toyo, realy no issues. Different feel but you are still just ridding on two wheels!!! Had it up to 50mph in the neighborhood, took a bunch of turns at speed and slow, no problems. I Likesssss it alot. Now I will be on a mission to convert all naysayers. What could be bad, mileage, handleing, softer compound, I am ALL IN..... Thanks to all
Lets keep the dialog going, I always enjoy chewing it with people who have common interests!!! That be our Darkside..
REAPS,, AKA, Darkside of The Apple,, AKA, Cliff

vtxreaper wrote:I like it "Darkside of The Apple" Install is complete, piece of cake, no grinding needed as best as I could see and feel. I don't know what the big deal is about the Darkside!! Did a few miles on the Toyo, realy no issues. Different feel but you are still just ridding on two wheels!!! Had it up to 50mph in the neighborhood, took a bunch of turns at speed and slow, no problems. I Likesssss it alot. Now I will be on a mission to convert all naysayers. What could be bad, mileage, handleing, softer compound, I am ALL IN..... Thanks to all
Lets keep the dialog going, I always enjoy chewing it with people who have common interests!!! That be our Darkside..
REAPS,, AKA, Darkside of The Apple,, AKA, Cliff

Darkside of the Apple,

That's what we are here for. We don't sell anything or get profits from this knowledge. We just like helping people get their money's worth out of the tires that they do ride and make riding friends. Glad you love it. Glad you are here and Welcome to the wonderful world of the the Darkside. Riding is believing, so don't get upset if they don't warm up to your excitement.......hehehehe

My twin brother loves his Toyo and I haven't heard nothing but good things. Oh, yea! If you think you like the car tire now....just wait till you get caught in the rain. No more whoa! from the motorcycle tire slipping. Under normal wet conditions not doing anything stupid, it should never slip on you. That's when I knew I had something the first time I got caught in the rain and all the way home it never slipped and no more tip toeing around when it's wet.

It's been told that people don't like the feel of the car tire. But it never felt bad to me...just different because it stuck so good. I never looked back or had doubts from day one of the darkside.

Congrats Cliff.................bobby


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One more thing,, as you can tell i am a man of few words,,LOL From the signature stamps I see we are all spread out a bit.. Let's try to make a summer meeting place for a few days of family ridding, Darkside of course... I never have a problem traveling, If I gots to go very far I do. Can just put my bikes in the pickup. Oh yeah, my wife rides also. Hers 2004 VLX600. She just started ridding last summer, only has about 2000 miles under her belt. I think I'm gonna put her on the Darkside also. Since she hasn't ridden that much, she will never know the difference.. And I will save on MC tire changes!!!! REAPS

vtxreaper wrote:One more thing,, as you can tell i am a man of few words,,LOL From the signature stamps I see we are all spread out a bit.. Let's try to make a summer meeting place for a few days of family ridding, Darkside of course... I never have a problem traveling, If I gots to go very far I do. Can just put my bikes in the pickup. Oh yeah, my wife rides also. Hers 2004 VLX600. She just started ridding last summer, only has about 2000 miles under her belt. I think I'm gonna put her on the Darkside also. Since she hasn't ridden that much, she will never know the difference.. And I will save on MC tire changes!!!! REAPS

Reaps,

Some of the 1100 guys have joined us and they are running the 165 VW tire. I ran mine for over two years and didn't wear it out, till I just tried the 205 to change the scenery of it. I have over 15.000 mile on mine and 1/4 of the tread left. Oh, yea! I didn't tell you how many burn outs I had on it either.

Go the ride section. We got our first ride coming up in April in Arkansas. We are hoping for a good turn out of maybe 20 guys and girls who ride the darkside.

Hey Reaps!!!!!!!! Post some pics of your darkside so others can see it. Post some pics of the wife ride too! We are a riding forum that happens to ride a car tire. We don't discriminate....

.........bobby


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Thanks for everything Bobby, will check on the Arkansa ride.. If vacation alows, I will be going fur sure. Never ridden down your way. Do alot of riding in Upstate New York, Catskill Mtns., Aidorandack Mtns. Just love it up there. Twisties galore no lights. Up and down, speed up, downshift, brake, swing weight, uh another turn, same thing over and over.. Where I live on Long Island, it is a very flat beach town area. Gots to ride almost 2 hours to find the hills, but well worth it. Hit Laconia last summer, stayed 5 days, camping on the bike. That is great country up there. Climbed Mt. Washington, pretty cool!!! I really feel like i have found a home here, good vibes.. May God be with you all.. You can be sure I will keep posting.. Cliff

I've ben running my Toyo Proxes 205/65-16 around 41-43 psi, but I'm not sure that's the right pressure for me. I think I get a "wobble" in higher speed turns because of the higher pressure. I'm going to try closer to 38-40 to see what kind of difference it makes -- not a big fan of the "wobble".

If you find a pressure that works for you, by all means share it with the group . . .

mytee_hercules wrote:I've ben running my Toyo Proxes 205/65-16 around 41-43 psi, but I'm not sure that's the right pressure for me. I think I get a "wobble" in higher speed turns because of the higher pressure. I'm going to try closer to 38-40 to see what kind of difference it makes -- not a big fan of the "wobble".

If you find a pressure that works for you, by all means share it with the group . . .

Mytee,

Hey, I am not a fan of the wobble either!!!!!! But, I got some questions for you. What pressure are required by the manufacture of the tire? Did you change out your worm shock bushings? This is the biggie....Do you still have the stock dunnie up front? Have you tried DynaBeads?

I hope you are not offended by the questions....just I don't know of any people having your problem and it NOT characteristic of a car tire to wobble like that. If it is...no ones has ever voiced it to me or they have one of the problems above caused it.

twin1300 wrote:1. Did you change out your worm shock bushings?

2. This is the biggie....Do you still have the stock dunnie up front?

3. Have you tried DynaBeads?

4. What pressure are required by the manufacture of the tire?

1. Yup, and a nice product, too.

2. Nope -- Metzler, and the difference was noticeable (That was when I ent from spokes to cast wheels, also.)

3. I have them, but when I got my tire installed, the guy balanced it perfectly with zero weights.

4. The maximum pressure is 44 psi. That's why I'm asking you guys if you know a better pressure to ride with and how a lower pressure will help/hinder the handling . . .

Good questions to ask. I agree that those could be a factor . . .

I would rule out everything I could, by using the balancing beads...check out what some guys are saying. That their tire rode great before the beads, but even better afterwards. Most say they can tell a difference on the + side with the beads.


Then go down 5 psi and see what it does. I would not exceed the psi rating or go any more lower than 5 psi to make a difference.

Please let us know how it comes out and what the problem was, because it isn't a characteristic to wobble like that. It is concerning. In almost all cases other than one, it was something else wrong besides the tire. Only one that I know that it was the tire, he had a belt separate and caused his wobble and he had bought the tire locally, so they took it back and he got another one. It was a 165/80/15. Now it's fine. Just thought you would want all the data to look for things. He put his tire on the jack and spun the tire, that's how he found the belt seperated. He could see the movement in the tire as it rotated.

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