New to Darkside - first impressions GL1800 w/ContiPro SSR 195/55/16

Hi Folks. I am new to logging onto the board (been lurking for about 6 months) and a brand new darksider.

I had a ContiPro SSR 195/55/16 All Season put on the back of my '06 GL1800 and wanted to give my impressions after the first 200 miles.

A little background before I get to my impressions:
My Goldwing has had the full traxxion dynamics upgrade (front and rear) except for the frok brace. I have an air bag model & at the time I had the traxxion update done, there was no fork brace available for that model.

I have about 25K on the bike now (bought in spring of '07) and ride a fair amount every year.. A couple of years ago I did the SCMA four corners tour (shown here: http://www.usa4corners.org/ ) and have riden in all the lower 49 states on this bike.

I am NOT a "peg-dragger", usually traveling on city roads or the highways when actually going someplace. If I am just cruising, I usually take the smaller state roads. I seldom purposefully ride in the rain. I do not have aq trailer, and my only usual rider is my 8 year old daughter.

I am still in the testing phase, but am currently running at 39 PSI. I started at 45 PSI and am working my way down, testing handling, looking at the tread pattern on wet cement, etc.

My imprssions on going to the darkside:
First iof all, it was a real pain finding someone who would actually put on a car tire for me (I am not mechanically inclined). None of the dealer bike shops would touch it and neither would three other local places. They all said that their insurance prevented them from using anything other than the exact tire size on the bike. This also applies to using a 70 series tire on the back of a GL1800 (some people do this for wear and to correct a spedometer error). I did eventually find a smaller (and significantly cheaper) Harley parts & service place that would put it on. They had me sign a waiver saying they would not be held responsible.

The mechanic ssaid that he had to drop the left muffler in order to fit the tire into the well. Anyone have an alternative method I should tell him the next time he changes one for me?

The price for the tire was about the same as that for a decent rear tire on my bike. If I get better mileage, then I have actually saved some money ;-).

There are a few differences that were noticable to me in the first few miles I rode:
A) While the "normal" motorcycle tire "wants" to tip over, the new tire "wants to stay straight up. This is shown in 2 ways: 1) Wile turning (at other than "dead slow" speed), I now have to maintain counter-steering pressure to continue through a curve.
2) When I am "dead slow" or even stopped, the bike is much easier to hold upright.

B) The noise from the tire seems to be less than with my old tire (Dunlop E3).
C) This tire is much smoother on the road at all speeds from a stop up to about 90.
D) The tire feels like it is holding better. When going over sand on the road that would have made my old tire "squiggle", this one stays right where it is.
E) There is a tendancy for the tire to "want" to lay flat on a road that is slanted to the sides for water drainage. This is small, but it IS there. Therefore, I am using a bit more pressure on the left bar while riding straight than I did before.
F) Rough pavement is much, much improved. The back end has less of a tendancy to move around in reactyion to the road surface.

Just thought I would let everyone know my first impressions. Thanks to everyone who has written their experiences in the past - it convinced me to try it.

Also - please feel free to throw me your opinions on what is the longest lasting front tire the the goldwing.

Mark

Mark, welcome and congrats. Nice writeup. Something else to keep in mind is that the tire will also "fall" into tire grooves on the roads. I have a section of interstate that I run regularly that has grooves from semi's and my tire will fall into them. It is no big deal I just let the bike go where it wants to most of the time and it takes very little effort to make it "climb" out of the grooves and it does it smoothly. Welcome to the darkside and enjoy the ride. Can't help you with a front on the wing. Try www.gl1800riders.com its a really good forum with a great bunch of folks.

See you out there
Smokey

Got no ideas about a honda, as I ride a Triumph Rocket,
but, the three guys who ride Hondas with me have all ridden on my rocket.
At first they were initialy skeptical of a car tire on a bike,
after riding it, they're all changing over.
For the cost, the mileage and the handleing in the wet,
a car tire is the only way to go IMHO.

Thanks for the tip about tire grooves. I haven't run into any noticable ones yet, but will keep it in mind.


I was out riding earlier and noticed soething else.

The goldwing is afected a lot by cross winds. Today was pretty windy and noticed that the bike will resist leaning duie to wind than it did before.

Mark, you have brought out most of the good qualities of riding a car tire. I have a 475 pound Honda VLX cruiser with a Federal 165/80/15. Puting that tire on my bike was the best move that I ever made. You talk about handling better in crosswinds, absolutely. I noticed that I don't get pushed around on the interstate by passing trucks, and heavy crosswinds don't make me nervous anymore.

Nice writeup and welcome. I'm in Kissimmee. If you know that you're coming this way, PM me and we'll meet up for some food or something.

Eric

Exellent write up Mark (and welcome to the club!) I think you covered just about all the bases. The only other thing I noticed was handling in the rain. I'm one of those insane people that rides in it by choice, and I can tell you that with my old MT, I was riding very cautiously and gripping the seat with my butt cheeks. Thanks to this CT, I ride the same rain or shine. If you ever get caught in rain, you'll see what I mean.

Thanks for the write up and welcome to the family.

Welcome to the darkside. Nice write up. Glad your enjoying your new tire. I agree with everything you mentioned.
I am going to assume you have ABS because you didn't mention the improved braking.

Jerry

jedishon wrote:Welcome to the darkside. Nice write up. Glad your enjoying your new tire. I agree with everything you mentioned.
I am going to assume you have ABS because you didn't mention the improved braking.

Jerry

Yes, I have anti-lock brakes. They are also linked between the front and the back with a proportion valve. So, I can't test what locking up the back brake feels like.

I had a bmw with antilock brakes. Really miss them.

Jerry

Welcome Mark from another mark,

well written write up , you've come to a good place for info, and fellowship.

mark f

Mark: I can second your observations as far as the c/t on the GL 1500 also. My experiences have been essentially the same ( although you have expressed them much better than I can) I too have noticed that the bike seems to be much less wind sensitive with the car tire. Same observations re; road surfaces. I think you will find that its much better in the rain if you happen to experience that. ( I have not ridden through any really deep water, but even the water pooled in the tire tracks seems to be handled better with the c/t.) Also quieter, and smoother, and my son and I agree handling is pretty similar for the most part.
Welcome to the "darkside." If you experience is like mine, most of our goldwing friends will throw their hands in the air, and pray loudly for your repentance, and tell you your hair will burst into flame while you are riding down the road. 2 of mine however, have looked at the bike, and listened to me, and said that there's something to this, and are thinking more openly now. Helps that they know I'm normally pretty cautious, and level headed (mostly.)
By the way, my bike is in the basement now. I am envious of all you southern guys who dont have to shovel snow in the next several weeks. Think of me. I have a 750 ft driveway, and at some point before Christmas, part of it will have probably 18 inches of snow on it.
Mikeyrx

Hey Mark, welcome to the board. You didn't have to lurk so long, I know moon looks scary but he's actually quite nice .
Glad you like the tire.
Doc

moparmandjh wrote:Hey Mark, welcome to the board. You didn't have to lurk so long, I know moon looks scary but he's actually quite nice .
Glad you like the tire.
Doc

Moon looks scary? Wow, pot and kettle there!

simpleman77 wrote:

moparmandjh wrote:Hey Mark, welcome to the board. You didn't have to lurk so long, I know moon looks scary but he's actually quite nice .
Glad you like the tire.
Doc

Moon looks scary? Wow, pot and kettle there!

Hey guys. Thanks for all the encouragement.

And thanks for all the kudos on the write-up. I do need to confess that I write for a living, so it just seems easy for me to put things down "on paper".

BTW - I just ordered a new tire for the front - a BAX4530 - Bridgestone Battlax BT-45 H-Rated Rear - 130/70-18. I will not have it uinstalled until after tThanksgiving, but will update when I have a few miles on it.

We have recently had some rain here, so I have formed some opinions on how the CT works on the rear.

On wet pavement this CT is MUCH better than the ME880 I previously had on the bike.
1) I can now do a wheelie on wet pavement - previously I would either break loose the back tire or just go like a crazed rabbit.
2) Doing a burnout is now very hard due to the added traction- previously, it was very simple.
3) The roads here in Florida are terrible when they have been baking in the sun & then have a light coating of rain. Someone once told me that they use sea shells as filler in the asphalt, which contains a lot of oil which releases onto the surface when water is added. Anyway, newly wetted roads here feel like black ice feels up north. The new tire holds without a complaint at times I would have been praying on the old tires.

Am I a happy camper? Extremely. Anything I wished I had done differently? Yes - Gone to the darkside 2 years ago. ;-)

I will update after I try the "double darkside" per DS-wing-nut's posting here: https://mcdarksiders.forumotion.com/goldwing-tech-f8/double-darkside-t1696.htm

It was a dunlop E3 I had on previously, not an ME880. I became confused after having to change the tires so much ;-)

Sorry

Mark,
In reference to an easier way to install the rear tire. Deflate the tire first and it will go in without removing any parts. I used a sears lift to get the bike in the air because I have a trailer hitch. I also put a floor jack under the tire to help get it into place and used soapy water to help it slide in. I also have a BattleAx for the front and am very pleased.

Thanks for the tip. I will tell the mechanic the next time I have one changed.

Mark

P.S. I don't do my own tooling on the bike because they have still failed to make a bolt that I can't strip/ ;-)