New Valkyrie Darksider

Well I did it. After months of asking questions, getting soaked by another Darksider in the rain and seeing Dag's videos on youtube, I succumbed to the Darkside this weekend. Installed a Toyo Proxes TPT in 205/65HR16 on Sandman, my 97 Red & White Tourer. Took it for a 30 mile ride this evening and it feels like I'm learning to ride all over again, only faster. Curves I took at 20-25 on the way out, I took at twice that speed coming home. I'm going to put about 200 miles on tomorrow and should have over 500 by the weekend. I'll give you another update them.

Marty

Well its on now. Welcome and ride safe. Looking forward to the review. Post a pic for Unk Jer and Horse. They like pictures. I guess they cant read. Just playin yall. Another beautiful day down south and I am stuck on the big pond. Rats.....

Peace yall
Moon

Welcome to the daarkside. Amazing isn't it.
Pictures are good for us guys that are getting old and having trouble seeing.
Either that or text like this.
Thanks for tipping every one off Moon.

Jerry

OK guys. Here's a pic of me and Sandman on the Valhalla Voyage before I saw the light (dark? ).

Here's a pic of my Darkside.

Here's the entry I put on the VRCC Board last night, minutes after I got home.:

I LOVE the Darkside. Leaving the house today, I hit those curves I talked about in my original post and thought I was going faster than normal. Glanced at the speedo and I was doing 65, 15 faster than usual. So I took the curvy way to the coast. Nothing I did could upset the DS. My speeds down those roads were 10-15 faster than normal and my confidence in Sandman's abilities grew. I was leaned over way more. Had to do an emergency stop, Man!! What a rush. The Valks have excellent brakes but the added traction on the rear was incredible. Felt myself launching harder. Lines through curves where I would have to re-adjust with the MT, I didn't have to with the DS. She held the roads like she was glued there. I'm still jazzed. To quote Moonshine, WOOOHOOO!!!!

Marty

Glad you are enjoying, welcome to the site and the light lol.

See you out there
Smokey

I promised you guys a report and here it is. Yesterday, I left the house at 5 a.m. and rode to the New Orleans suburub of Harvey for the funeral of a 20 year old Soldier, who made the ultimate sacrifice in Afghanistan on October 27. If I was going to have any problems, this was it. New Orleans is not known for having the best streets. I was taking the offramp from I 10 onto the US 90 bridge across the Mississippi River to the West Bank. 80 mph, bumper to bumper traffic and I was still getting passed. I was leaned over dealing with abrupt surface elevation changes and the DS didn't fail. It held its grip through all the bumps and dips. I couldn't have been happier considering the reason I went there. Had a couple of issues but nothing I couldn't handle thanks to reading the threads on this forum and the others. One of the issues was ruts. I was cruising down MS Hwy 63 when I felt the Valk get dragged to the left. Then I saw something I had never seen before, twin ruts on each side of the right lane. Thanks to the angle of the rising sun, it cast shadows in the ruts. Something I had never seen later in the day. Also, in Harvey I was in the left line of the MS Patriot Guard Riders as we left the funeral. We were in the left lane on a divided four lane road. I saw depressions in the side of the road along the curb and as I passed one felt the DS slip into it. It was for road drainage. Again, I didn't panic but adjusted my line to be a little farther away so it wouldn't happen again. Thanks for letting me and all the other new guys of the tendency of DS tires to slide into and follow ruts. That knowledge kept me from panicing and losing control of the Valk.

When I left the house yesterday, I had 292 miles on the DS. When I returned as 11 p.m., the odometer showed 700 miles. The tire has been inflated to 40 psi since it was installed. Tomorrow I will drop the pressure to 36 and start trying to find the sweet spot.

Thanks again for all the advice in the threads.

Marty

Here's a pic of Sandman dressed to honor this fine young man and all our Military Members

I too have went to the darkside,it was the best thing I ever did.

Congrats Huntsman. Start you're own thread so you're not lost in mine.

Marty

Congrats on your darkside.....look me up some time! I live in Denham Springs!


Awesome review...very well written and subjective!



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