Another Newbie on the block

Well, I am offically "in" the Dark(side) now.

I have 2,000 miles on my Goodyear TT. There are still a couple of small things to work out, but I am here to stay for sure.

For the breakin run my son went with me to the hill country of west Texas. We did 400 miles of highway (some in the rain) getting there and back. 800 miles was out in the back country on every twisted road we could find. We ran out of pavement twice and spooked more than a few deer.

First, I started with 38 psi. Let's just say I was feeling SOS, as in Stuck On Straight. She was real happy going straight ahead or turning. Transitions from straight to a turn were hard to start and sudden when they happened. Not a problem knowing it was that way, It was just something I wanted to make go away. Bumped the psi to 41 and it was better. At 44 psi the SOS feeling was 100% gone. You could forget it was not a motorcycle tire back there! Not realy as there is way too much traction and way too smooth!

I am going to ride at 44 psi for now. But later I will try going the other way. I am afraid that 32 to 35 psi might be too soft. However, I am going to give that a try to see what the feedback to my seat feels like.

Second, I had one chance to do a speed run and picked up a slow wobble over 110 mph. This was at 41 psi. I have since gone with Dyna Beads. Hopefully, 44 psi and Beads will cure that little issue as well. It is not every day that I can test at those speeds. It might be awhile before I report back on this one.

Other than that, I am very happy to be on the Darkside. Thanks for all the insight gained here before I came over.

Later,

Welcome to the darkside. Once you find your sweet spot it's great. Nice write up. Check the pressure in your front tire for the wobble.

Jerry

yea, great write-up, thanks.
I turned 15k on mine today, and
am kinda looking forward to shopping
for another c/t....
sick huh???
Craig

Thanks. Front tire is nearly new ME880 and was 41 psi, same as before going dark. It got a dose of Dyna Beads as well.

This was a relativly slow wobble side-to-side, not a normal high-speed tire vibration from out of balance.

I thought the back tire might be getting on and off the flat, brand new tire and all. So I ran it up to speed again and then did a gentle lane change. The wobble was not there when turning even a little bit. Considering how big of a change 44 psi made the "SOS" feeling, adding 3 pound could easily have been the fix.

I will not pass on a chance to "test" at speed again!

Had 35 in my Riken Raptor when first installed.
Rode like a wheel barrow.
dropped it down to 30,
Whole different bike,
rides like a dream now.

xhdskip:

... And we could both be right.

I started at 38 and went up to get off that SOS feeling. You started at 35 and went down for the same result. If I am thinking about this right (remember, Newbie here!), I inflated enough to round out the tire while you deflated enough to soften the sidewall. Either way, we got the result we were after.

For that reason I want to try going lower on the pressure to feel the difference. Your "dream" ride might be too soft for me. But I will sure give it a try.

Thanks,

ps: Where did you find a speed rated wheel barrow tire?