Darkside Conversion

I am currently on a worn out Avon but thinking about converting. I'm in Northern, VA. Does anyone know of a local shop that will mount a car tire on a motorcycle rim.

I had my first one mounted at Tire Kingdom, they said it was the first one they had done. I would suggest to ask the store you want to purchase the tire at, but be prepared to take the wheel to them and not let them dismount the wheel from the bike. I have mounted all my own after that, but know some tire shops will and some wont. I have talked to some bike shops that would, though they are not real quick to do that. Tire Kingdom said they had no way to balance that wheel, but I balanced it myself on jackstands at home so that was not a big deal to me anyway.

Loudvalk,

First of all welcome to our site and dang glad to have you sir! There are a couple of ways to do this. Because most people will NOT mount one for you because they are going to try to save your life. Bring your tire and wheel to them and tell them you will pay cash, don't want a receipt so you can't tie anything to them. Or tell it's for a drag bike and then no receipt either.

Check our vendor section and get with "gary in indiana". He sells Dyna beads for balancing your bike tires and they are great!

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

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Thanks for the responses. Good info... I checked out Costco. Only Michelin, tread patterns not impressive. No speed rated models. I ended up at Merchants. Got the Yokahama 205/60HR16. The guy who mounted tires there rides a crotch rocket so no issues. Went home and got everything back together just before dark. Rode a couple miles to get a feel for it. It's a little different. Found an abandoned back road to "break in" the new rubber. Left a 7" x 20' black stripe. It hooks up real nicely now... Took the wife for a ride and pulled pretty nice wheelie. She didn't enjoy it as much as I did. Typical... Ran throught the third tank of gas last night.

Honestly, the only time I can tell that I'm not riding on an MC tire is when I'm accelerating hard and shifting while turning. It wants to stand up a little. Otherwise, much nicer ride and I look forward to the 20k + miles to go for $140.

Just new to the forum and have been running a car tire for two years. I have a Yokohama 205/55/16 on the back. It now has 25k on it and looks like it did when I put it on. still some nubbies on it too.
The problem with Car tires on bikes is that you need to take them apart every 25k or so to grease the splines and check the seals. At that time its worth spending $100 for a new tire and $20 to mount it. I felt bad about abandoning the perfectly good tire but found someone who can use a new tire for their car. It came with 60k Warranty so there is still 40k left.
Enjoy the darkside or the cheap side which ever you wish to be
Doc832

Doc832 wrote:Just new to the forum and have been running a car tire for two years. I have a Yokohama 205/55/16 on the back. It now has 25k on it and looks like it did when I put it on. still some nubbies on it too.
The problem with Car tires on bikes is that you need to take them apart every 25k or so to grease the splines and check the seals. At that time its worth spending $100 for a new tire and $20 to mount it. I felt bad about abandoning the perfectly good tire but found someone who can use a new tire for their car. It came with 60k Warranty so there is still 40k left.
Enjoy the darkside or the cheap side which ever you wish to be
Doc832

Welcome Doc832,

Glad you check in and make your self at home. We are half the calories here and "troll free"...

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

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draino wrote:I had my first one mounted at Tire Kingdom, they said it was the first one they had done. I would suggest to ask the store you want to purchase the tire at, but be prepared to take the wheel to them and not let them dismount the wheel from the bike. I have mounted all my own after that, but know some tire shops will and some wont. I have talked to some bike shops that would, though they are not real quick to do that. Tire Kingdom said they had no way to balance that wheel, but I balanced it myself on jackstands at home so that was not a big deal to me anyway.

Draino you said you mounted your own tires? Before the Valkyrie I had a Kawa Vulcan and tried to go Darkside but the shop could not seat the bead. They would not increase the pressure beyond 45 PSI while the Kawa forums I read indicated that one might have to go as high as 90 PSI. At what pressure does a car tire seat on a Valkyrie?