A new Dark sider to be... very, very shortly!

Hey everybody, just wanted to jump in here and say I a new Darksider soon to be! About another day or so. I'll let ya'll know ho it comes out. I have a 2000 Kawasaki Drifter 1500, it orignally had 150/80-16 on the rear, but I had decided on a bridgestone G019 195/55-16 to replace it with. Only thing I'm not sure about, is, to seal...to go tubless... or to just go with a tube. Then again I'm guessing a motorcycle tube in a car tire?

yes you can use a motorcycle tube in a car tire I would go with a new tube and get one about 180 size.you would be amazed how big they will get.

try this when you take off your old tire and tube , remove the tube from the inside of the tire and replace the valve core then pump it up to just bigger then the outside size of the tire you are putting on. then take a photo and post it here.

I knew that they would grow to huge sizes, but just didn't know how big. Once I learn how to post a picture I'll do just that. Thanks for the info.

this will make it easier, go to photo-bucket:
http://photobucket.com/

get your free account
upload your photos into your account
as you pass your courser over a photo the box will appear:
Email & IM
Direct Link
HTML Code
IMG Code
as you pass over IMG Code click on it
and a "copied" sign will appear.
then you can go to where you are typing your message and paste the code into your text block.
when you send it , the picture will be posted .

Welcome to the best forums on the web.
horseman

Congrats on your choice to decide the car tire! Welcome.


.

04 1600 Classic with The SP Sport 5000 , Dunlop's Ultra High Performance All-Season radial. I only have about 1/8th of an inch clearance on the drive shaft so I am glad I didn't try a 205. I love the tire and love learning to trust it I have been throwing the bike around like a dirt bike just to see what the tires feel like. What a smooth ride so far its great hope I get used to the way it feels

Welcome to the darkside and the darkside site....

Jerry

Hi ya'll, Wayne here, I've just back from a short (less than 100 mile curvy road excursion) trip, after putting my new CT on my 2000 Kawasaki Drifter 1500. It is a G019 195/55-16. The very first impressions were not that great! I live down a dirt road about 1/2 mile. I was truly not impressed! I got on the pavement, took off slowly to see what was going to happen. On the dirt road and the pavement, it both felt like I was riding on ice. I slowly got up to speed and went very carefully around curves. Now I am a canyon carver, on a cruiser! I love to lay it down in the twisties. I truly know exactly how far the bike will lean before it is too late. However, believe me I took it very easy. Since where I live, I travel both on pavement, and dirt roads a lot. I went back down another dirt road to see/feel any difference. I then proceeded to stay on the pavement and get back up to speed, slowly getting a bit faster and then slowing down, and then getting faster still, every little bit. I figured that I might have to “break-in” the tire, as I have read that it takes about 500 miles, to truly appreciate the difference. That is the bad news!
Now that I am somewhere above the 50 and the 100-mile mark, (forgot to check mileage, as I am so excited about this, I got home, came in and started typing) I "will not" go back to a MC tire again! Once, either I, or the tire had gotten broke-in, it has made all of the difference in the world. It already handles better then the MC tire. I have not put it through its paces as of yet in the twist-ies. I figured that I would wait until I get about 1000 miles on the tire first. Then “The Dragon”, (Deal’s Gap), here I come!
If anyone is reading this, and considering as to switching or not…DO! However, take it easy for the first 500 miles, or so.

Sounds like another satisfied darkside convert. You've got to get some pics up, because I love the look of those drifters.

BTW, did you stick with the inner tube or seal the rim?

I have been riding on the darkside for quite a wile and i still have to watch out for the ruts in the dirt roads, it seems to me that the wide tire tries to climb to the top of the rut .
If you give me a flat hard gravel road and I'll go 60 mph down that baby .
just that there has been so much rain down here in Georgia lately that most of the dirt roads are mud and the ones that aren't, are washed out. this year is just a wet year that's all.


Welcome to the Darkside


Glad you made it and that you like it. see you at deal's gap.
Horse

My 195/55-16 has about half of a “credit card clearance,” between the tire and the drive shaft. To answer another question…I sealed the rim, both on the front and the rear. {I have about 1000 miles on the front,a nd about 150 on the rear right now}. I used 100% silicone from Lowes, and I took my time, i.e. three days to let everything set up on the curing. Oh, if anyone else wants to do this please don’t forget to true your rims first, and don’t forget to tape off the bottom of each spoke, on the inside of the rim, before you apply the sealant. This way you can still re-true the rim if needed without messing up the sealant. By the way if ya'll want to see my bike, check out my web page. It's the red and yellow drifter. Though it doesn't have a C/T on it right then. However, I do have another question...Which car tire has the same circumference as the stock tire? If this has been asked before I do apologize.

How about a link to your web page......

Jerry

175/75/16 is slightly taller ( 3/4 inch) than stock. My 03 Nomad had the same tire as the drifter. I am currently running a 175/60/16 Federal with no adverse effects. Mounting it on the 3.5 inch rim pulls the sidewalls in and effectively makes the tire narrower and taller. Mine measured 3/8 inch shorter than stock after mounting.


MT

Howdy ya'll, it's me, Leathersmith again. I just got back from a short 100 mile trip since I last posted. I can’t believe how much better the tire (either is…or…seems to be) getting better, and better handling. I just read the last couple of posts, and wanted to answer them. 1st. I wasn't sure if the rules allowed me posting my web page or not. www.heathersleathers.com 2nd. The 175/75 -16 is taller, and the 175/60-16 is a bit shorter, is this correct? I had rather go taller than shorter; as I'm slowly gearing up to do the Iron Butt Association “50cc” ride next spring. That's coast to coast in 50 hours or less, Jacksonville FL to San Diego CA. So I don’t need the engine revving the RPM’s, any higher than necessary. I would actually prefer just a bit lower than stock RPMs, for highway speeds. But, I’ll settle for stock for this trip. Just need to find the correct tire size

LeatherSmith237~ I know you asked the question a couple of years ago, but if you're still looking for an answer, the 195/60/16 will be almost a perfect match with your stock 150/80/16. That's the stock size of my Vulcan Classic 1500 too, and I just ordered the 195/60/16 Hankook Optimo H426. Can't wait to try it out. Hope you're still happy riding the DS.

Thanks for the heads up. I have since went to California on a 205/65-15 Hydro Edge. Man that was a trip. Outran a tornado, run through hail 4 times, snow twice, and the absolutely hardest rain I have ever been in. Man what a blast! Then you had all of the long boring straight Interstate 40, with the 18 wheelers blowing tires right next to you "twice", throwing mud flaps at you at 70 miles per hour, and then, and then....you have Needles Arizona, with its 115 degree blast furnace heat and wind. (Oh, did I mention the high gas prices right there in that area? ) Total round trip mileage, 5200! My rear tire now has approximately 7500 -8000 miles on it, and it still looks good! Easily another 8000 and more left on it. Wish I would have done this years before I did.

Wow, sounds like a hell of a ride to remember. Obviously the Drifter is a different animal than my 1500 Classic. I have a 16 wheel, and I have been well informed that a 205 won't fit my swing arm, hence why I'm going with a 195/60, which should give me an accurate speedometer reading ....apparently.
My Hankook H426 should arrive sometime this week, and I can't wait to have it installed and test driven. Any advice you may have would be deeply appreciated.
Ride safe.

leathersmith237 wrote:Thanks for the heads up. I have since went to California on a 205/65-15 Hydro Edge. Man that was a trip. Outran a tornado, run through hail 4 times, snow twice, and the absolutely hardest rain I have ever been in. Man what a blast! Then you had all of the long boring straight Interstate 40, with the 18 wheelers blowing tires right next to you "twice", throwing mud flaps at you at 70 miles per hour, and then, and then....you have Needles Arizona, with its 115 degree blast furnace heat and wind. (Oh, did I mention the high gas prices right there in that area? ) Total round trip mileage, 5200! My rear tire now has approximately 7500 -8000 miles on it, and it still looks good! Easily another 8000 and more left on it. Wish I would have done this years before I did.

That sounded like a trip to remember!!!


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

I'd bet you didn't wait until 1k on the tire before doing some canyon carving, did you? I didn't.

Yea, it was an awesome trip to remember. I told my wife before I left, “that at the end of your life almost everybody without exception, as they lay dying, regrets the things they didn’t do, but wanted to, not necessarily the things that they did do. I still want to go on the 50CC trip, from Fort Jackson Fl to San Diageo CA, in 50 hours. I have got to get a cruise control on the bike first.

Oh, the first canyon carving was about 550 miles on the C/T. That’s 300-350 miles down here in the flat lands, in Clover SC, and then roughly 200 miles to the Dragon! Three times the first time. Boy the Dragon will show you just how bad of a rider you are! No accidents, but close.

If anyone wants any info about sealing their rims, going to a 205 on their Vulcan, (or equivalent), putting a Harley FLH fairing on a Drifter, or even wants some advice, of the things I’ve learned about long distance driving, 800+ mile days by all means contact me and I’ll be happy to go over anything you want to talk about.

leathersmith,

Have you got caught in the rain yet?? I know you out run a tornado, but the car tire really shines and shows you what it can do in the rain.


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

Bobby, Yes sir, it was the worst rain storm I have ever been in was while I was on that trip to California. I couldn't even see the traffic/cars on the other side of the interstate. It rained so hard that I could only see the taillights of the one and only vehicle on the interstate, (besides me), that kept going and there was nothing but a grey sheet of water all the way around me. It was a solid wall of water. I actually thought that I almost needed a snorkel! It held extremely well! I was actually more worried about the front tire than the C/T. I a normal summer rain, I stayed 60 mph up and around a curved interstate bridge overpass in Memphis, on Hwy 40.

The only time I have ever had the tire to slip/give was when, (this was a different time than the California Trip), I was pulling a trailer up to WV, and the temperature was in the mid 30’s, but above freezing, I have been riding all day on interstate 77 N, to deliver M/C seats to a customer, when I hurriedly tried to make a quick stop/turn-in, from 45mph. When all at once the back tire just decided to let go. My self examination of this event, led me to figure that because the tire was hot, and the asphalt was right at freezing, it created an effect of trying to stop on ice, even though there was none. Though it was cold and humid. I still ride when it’s cold, (32 and up), but I am way more careful of stopping suddenly,