My opinion after 1000 miles

After 1000 miles of trying different PSI and getting use to the Kumho Powerstar tire I am still torn. First of I will say this is not for everyone by any means. If you are a casual rider, long trips, or just a comuter then you may want to concider the dark side. However if you are an agresive rider that loves the sound of the floor boards on the road at 70+mph it may not be for you. I have found my sweet spot as far as PSI in the tire but it is 5lbs over the max sidewall rating. I am a very agresive rider so the presure others run didn’t work for me.
PRO’S
Great stoping traction, great wet road traction, great interstate ride, and you can do burn outs all day and not hurt the tire.
CON’S
Bouncy ride almost like a bad shock or low tire, when agresive in a turn I get a drifting feeling and you have to counter steer a lot sooner.
I will continue to run the C/T for now just to see how much abuse it can take. This is only my opinion and anyone wanting or thinking of trying this all I can say is take your time it’s a diferent ride and if it works for you it will save you money. If it doesn’t work for you then it was an experience and it only set you back about $60 bucks.

Heehehehehe I beg the differ from Smokinjoe and some others!...... We have quite a few riders that are NOT just casual riders and let it all hang out when we ride! If our darksides aren't wide open and scraping the pegs, pipes, and hard parts when we ride....then they must be parked..hehehe We suffer from PMS here..(Parked Motorcycle Syndrome)

We do appreciate your opinion though!










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

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I've got almost 7000 miles on the Darkside and scrape my pegs now and then.
The only time I ever felt any slip was when it was wet, but that was from my Metz 880 on the front.

It's not a slip that I feel with mine it's the side wall rolling on me. The tire doesn't break loose unless I make it break loose. I just think the Kumho does not have a strong enough side wall for me. It is better now with the 50psi but I will try the BFG next. I have not given up on the Darkside I want this to work.

I've seen a lot of videos of darkside tires in action, ridden behind a few friends. Never seen a sidewall distort in any fashion. there are several pics of a big bike leaning over above. tires are not distorted at all.

Several of us believe that the car tire has a larger contact patch and we feel a lot more road, which might explain the sensation.

I think it might be the wider tire in a lean is tracking to the outside 2" of the tire instead of directly behind the front tire as does the MC tire.
it also feels like the rear end is lifting just a little bit , like maybe 3/4" in a hard lean.
look at the first and second photos that Twin put up there of SmokinJoe on his Valks the center of the tire is off the ground and the outside 2-3" is making contact.
I don't think the side wall is what you feel , i think it is the tracking shifting to the outside and the center lifting up.
I hope this helps.
Horse

horseman8m wrote:I think it might be the wider tire in a lean is tracking to the outside 2" of the tire instead of directly behind the front tire as does the MC tire.
it also feels like the rear end is lifting just a little bit , like maybe 3/4" in a hard lean.
look at the first and second photos that Twin put up there of SmokinJoe on his Valks the center of the tire is off the ground and the outside 2-3" is making contact.
I don't think the side wall is what you feel , i think it is the tracking shifting to the outside and the center lifting up.
I hope this helps.
Horse

Now thats the best responce I have had! Thanks I'll keep on pushing it.