Thinking about switching to the DARKSIDE!

I am gonna need tires this spring on my 1300R I am currently running the factory tires and would like to switch to a car tire but I am concerned about a couple of things.
1)How will it ride in the corners? My bike is a cruiser and I enjoy driving it that way.
2) Can I put a radial tire with a tube on my spoke rim?
3) What about the front tire? What matches with the front?
Does the front have to be a radial or can I put on a bias. I have really enjoyed the pirelli big brute tires that I had on my Suzuki intruder. I really dont want to put that expensive of a tire on the bike every year. Your thoughts and suggestions are welcome.

Bill

Bill ... First welcome to the site.....Second if you go to the VTX 1300 Tech area you will find a Twins wideside mod ..205 on a stock rim.....it will answer a lot of questions for you......people have been trying different brands of tires and reporting what they find there....
I'm sure Twin will check in in a min and give you more info...I have never seen a R with wire wheels, must look pretty sharp.

Jerry

Capac Kid wrote:I am gonna need tires this spring on my 1300R I am currently running the factory tires and would like to switch to a car tire but I am concerned about a couple of things.
1)How will it ride in the corners? My bike is a cruiser and I enjoy driving it that way.
2) Can I put a radial tire with a tube on my spoke rim?
3) What about the front tire? What matches with the front?
Does the front have to be a radial or can I put on a bias. I have really enjoyed the pirelli big brute tires that I had on my Suzuki intruder. I really dont want to put that expensive of a tire on the bike every year. Your thoughts and suggestions are welcome.

Bill

CapacKid,

Thanks for coming by and asking questions. Just so you know, up till this site was started (1300's) we only were able to run 165's, but now the wideside 205 is the bomb!

Here's a thread that will help you with a lot of your questions. Click this thread.
Answers to a lot of your No.1 question. https://mcdarksiders.forumotion.com/general-discussion-f6/not-a-stupid-question-t396.htm

No.2 question. Check our 1300 tech area. Wayne has pics of sealing his spokes with 100% success as well as "motorcyclereb" sealing his rims also. Of course you can always just use you stock motorcycle tube to mount your darkside. Click this link.
https://mcdarksiders.forumotion.com/vtx-1300-tech-f11/sealing-rims-t68.htm

No.3 question. As long as you have a radial on the rear, you can run bias ply or radial up front. I run a bias ply upfront for over two and half years now. No issues.

Ask all the questions you want and get educated to the ways of the darkside. The more data you got the more you can make a educated decision.

Remember this.....If this stuff didn't work or forum would have already died by now. But we are growing at a extraordinary rate with new members all the time. Every thing you do is a risk and we who ride motorcycles risk it all every time we get on the road. So, every mod you do on here is at your own risk, but no more than riding.

I hope this answers a lot of your questions. Please start reading and catch up on where we are at.


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


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Im running a metz. 150-17 radial up front. They are a little $$$$ but I think they are worth the extra.
I see you have a 13R not the spokes so you are already tubeless, and dont have to worry about that.

Welcome

Yes I have spokes and am concerned about the sealing of the tire. I would rather have cast wheels but thats how it goes.

by Capac Kid Today at 4:28 am

Yes I have spokes and am concerned about the sealing of the tire. I would rather have cast wheels but thats how it goes.

Capac Kid, there is a way to seal those spoked rims here is the link https://mcdarksiders.forumotion.com/vtx-1300-tech-f11/sealing-rims-t68.htm

It works very good I have over 7000 miles on my sealed rims with no problems. Wayne came up with it, and has even more miles on his.

Are yall using dynabeads with the spokes ?

I use Balance Plus in my tires. It does the same thing but gives you puncture protection as well.

It said 13 R up above. That good I like the spokes better any way.
You cant use the beads with a tube, it will ruin the tube, from what I hear.
Sealing the rims is not hard to do, and it works really good, I guessing I have about 15,000 on my sealed rims. I feel so confident with them, wife and I took off on a 3,000 mile plus trip last Sept.

Welcome Capac Kid, I went to the Darkside just this week. My observations are all's good, rides a little different but not even a challenge. After the first five minutes I was pushing it like a bike tire. Turned just fine a drop more lean and a drop more counter steer, but not enough to even think about not doing it all over again!! You will pay well under $100 for most good car tires, and ya gonna get 30,000 miles out of it. That's like saving four M.C. tire changes!!! M.C. tires at $200 a pop, major savings... Hope ya make the switch, no big deal... If ya don,t like it You can always switch back... By the way I bought my tire used on E-Bay for $39, Toyo Proxes Tpt 205/65/16. Low investment to check it out. It had 80 to 90 % of the full tread!!! REAPS