Car tires.......What the..

Ok....HI Im mat 60..... I signed on to this fourm because I looked it over and it seams like a great bunch of guys.....I had never heard someone say ....Im going to put a car tire on my bike........Mabe I dont get out much but why the bygeasems would you want to do that?? I will say it looks good....You must also half to do a lot of work on the bike to make it fit.........Also.....I no my spelling stinks...stanks and stunks....

Hey Mat, we started doing it mainly because we hate replacing tires every 4k -8k , for some if us that is three it more tires a year. What we learned is that the car tires not only last a hell of a lot longer they also out perform a mc tire when ran on a cruiser, sport tourer, or touring bike. Better in every aspect.
Granted it is different and is not for every one but the vast majority that try it stay on the darkside
Welcome to the site,

See you out there
Smokey

Hey Matt,

Welcome to our site and great question! Smokey is spot on with why a car tire on a cruiser! I could only get 6,000 miles out of MT and I am on 25,000 with the same tire! Handles better than and with more confidence in all kinds of riding conditions than a MT. Especially in the rain and two up riding! It's the bomb.

It sticks like glue in the turns, just requires a tad more countersteer for the turns but after a week or so you don't notice it. JMO


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

Welcome Mat

On what Smokey and Bobby said.
Actually the counter steering effort is not much different than if you
went up to a phat 240 or 300 series motorcycle tire on your bike.
The car tire has about a 30% larger footprint than a motorcycle tire when leaned over
and it does stick!!!
My front Metzler will slide before the rear Michelin will. I did that several times on my last trip to the Smokeys.
On my VTX a 205/70/15 fits with no problem and plenty of clearance.

I went to a Run Flat Car Tire after a Blowout on the original MT 4800miles. The tire caught the fender and bent it inwards and locked up the wheel sending us sliding at 65mph. I will never trust a MT on the rear again. I have only about 2K mi on the car tire and i can hardly tell the difference anymore and i feel alot safer now than i did before. I cant imagine having the same problem with the run flat CT. . Next comes the trailer outfitted to haul Buster the MC Dog with us. I'll put up pics when i get them. hes gonna have a 16 X 36 cockpit with full wrap around wind shild. Now he's gonna be called "Buster Vader Jr". atleast till he gets a couple thousand miles under his belt. MHMM (Many Happy Motoring MIles). Tshirt Vader Jr. Ha

Everything every one else said ... PLUS .... wait till you ride one in the rain ..... holy frijoles mi amigo .... talk about sticking to the road! I can't wait to get one on the new Wing!

All I can add, is there are no modifications needed on aa VEX 1300 R/S model other than turning the exhaust bolts around, when you use a 205/70/15 tire.

Welcome to the site. As you can see questions are answered here.

Jerry

Wow...Thanks guys.. ...This is something I will think about and look in to.....We have to get inspections on bike every year...I wonder if thay can give me a hard time about running a car tire??...Thay give us a hard time with pipes up here..Is it just the back tire we are talking about ? Also thank you all for making me feel welcome....

Darkside is the rear tire only,double darkside is the rear CT and the back MC tire mounted on the front.In reguard to the inspection,they proubably would not notice it if you didn't tell them.

Yes I didn't even mention it and brought my Honda to a Yamaha shop that was offering free inspections I had just mounted the GYTT and they just brought the bike back out and gave me the inspection sticker and paperwork no problems. All they really look for inspections is tread depth. if you have good looking tread you pass.

That tire looks great on your bike.....or.....your bike looks great with that tire on it.....Thanks again guys...

mat 60 wrote:Wow...Thanks guys.. ...This is something I will think about and look in to.....We have to get inspections on bike every year...I wonder if thay can give me a hard time about running a car tire??...Thay give us a hard time with pipes up here..Is it just the back tire we are talking about ? Also thank you all for making me feel welcome....

The tire is DOT approved. Never mentioned it with my inspections it Texas.

Jerry

I haven't had a problem with annual safety inspection in NH, and the mechanic that inspected my bike certainly knew the CT was on the back, he put it there

he's even getting some confidence in CTs after test riding mine a few times when its been in for service, he told me the first time he was real nervous, didn't know what to expect, now, while he sez he still wouldn't put one on his bike, he won't heckle those that do anymore

One guy I recall had problems with a bike shop inspection, but won out in the end. It appears that
there simply is no law against tire type choice - only that they be DOT approved and have tread.

Good thing too, because these are a LOT safer than a MT in every way. Strength, grip, longevity,
price, wet traction and in our opinion, looks. They can be run at wrong pressures though, causing
some odd effects, but we really don't try to push the idea, and ALWAYS defer riders to find the spot
in pressure where the bike handles properly. After that, it's fantastic.

All the DS forums constantly instruct "new" riders about the sweet spot and how to attain it for
their bike, weight, and riding style.

It looks like you're ridin a Fatboy. Keep readin the older threads--There's a ton of info here on choosing tires, mounting, balancing, sealing spoked rims, troubleshooting, run on flat vs non run on flat, double darksiding, riding experiences, etc. Also read the Harley Davidson site. Don't hesitate to read the other cycles threads either. You'll gain a real appreciation for the number of cycles that have gone darkside. There's also a lot of good info on the other forums, but you have to put up with all the negative crap from the uninformed naysayers. Here's a link with a lot of useful info:

http://darkside.nwff.info/

Question on that link, what is the S-PSI on the database? Is that install pressure or just max the tire is rated for?

Milerider, you will find with the shadow and the 165-80 that right around 40 psi will be where you end up.
Happy hunting
See you out there
Smokey

S-PSI is the pressure at which the tire Seated