Anew darkside VN900

Well, after about six months of deciding whether or not to make the move, I've finally switched......Now for the observations, caveats, and down right disappointments......NOT however with the switch......First....What the hell is wrong, when you have to go from shop to shop to get a tire mounted ? Second....Why would you have to sign a document waiving legal rights just to get the bloody tire balanced ?....Third....Do mechanics or shop owners really think that you are as daft as they "perceive" you to be ?...Truth is they "think" you are as stupid and daft as possible, because you DARE to step outside the accepted....or at least what they accept. It is completely unconscionable to me how these people work.......No problem to mount the tire...Then a problem....The tube is not big enough because the tire will not seat properly........get this.........the tube is not pushing the tire "hard enough" at this particular place to seat it. Now IF I remember my "high school" physics regarding the properties of a gas under pressure.....I do believe that that gas tends to exert the same pressure in ALL directions. Apparently this is not the case...according to the chap doing the work.....the tube is NOT expanding enough....So, with a wallet almost $85 lighter, I take the wheel and get a tube and inflate it myself...ALL without problem.....A good lubrication with straight liquid dishwasher soap, a 100lbs, and a slight pop and we have a tire seated all around...I deflate, adjust the stem and re-inflate to 40 lbs......The next day I take the tire to the same shop to get it balanced.......leave it for the day because I have things that my work demands done or I don't get paid.....I head back at about 4 in the afternoon, tire is done and an invoice for 20 bucks to balance......the invoice states.......I have to waive because the tire is NOT A MT and that there "could" be problems.....If I had to take the same stance with my marriage I would NOT be married...I digress.....That is the BS I endured at the hands of the "informed"!!!!
Those are the disappointments...
The caveats......If you listen to others who seamingly "know" everything that there is to know, you'll be forever in an unending circle and never have variety in your life.......
The observations.....
I have never entertained this idea before......I should have! It is a complete transformation....I could not have been more approving. There are some things that have to be said..the installation was a 195/65/15 Altimax RT....Why the RT?.......Well I couldn't get the HP.....the RT was a softer rubber....so I was told...?????? Estimated mileage was 70,000 applied to a car, which is considerably heavier than a motorcycle......so that's the tire I used.....OH MY!!!!!!
Let's just say that a MT is supposed to be quiet.......well so is this tire.....just as quiet.....If I had a MT inflated to 40 lbs it would be a harsh ride.....not so the CT.......smooooooth and predictable.....I had read that there were several riders who had "squirrelly" reactions and an unpredictable tire, especially on rutted or channelled roads....didn't find any of that.. What I did notice was that with MT and the channelled roads( where the ruts were care tire wide in the roads) Tracking was better, as the MT "hunted" all over the track. The CT was better in that it tended to track "true" and not weave..
Now here's the thing....The g702 tire I took off has a wear width of about 3 3/8 -1/2" and just about at the end of its usable life; the CT installed has about 3 3/8" to about 3 1/2" width OR BETTER but does not exhibit ANY of the so called lifting properties as described by some.....All I can say is that IF the MT is worn at this stage and the NEW CT is measured the same, then it is safe to say there will be no ill effects from using a CT applied to a motorcycle...particularly since it has the same properties ......relatively.....
Now for the GOOD stuff....I took the bike for a a 100km run.......my reaction????? OHHHH! MYYYYY! Endorsement????? DO IT!!!!!! You will NOT regret it....
The caveat.....IF you do this, do it yourself....Breaking the MT and removing it is not hard......mounting the CT is easy and you don't need special tools....the main item you will need is a compressor, and IF you want to balance ...which in my estimation is a no brainer.....a balancer, or use Dyna Beads.....but let me tell ya....once you do this, you'll never go back to a MT again.....trust me!!

Wow! Awesome write up! Thanks and welcome to the wonderful world of the darkside. From now on it will impress until you get your next one.


Thanks...................bobby

Welcome to the darkside. That was a great first post. Now wear the mold release off. Put some miles on it and do another write up of what you think. I'm willing to bet you will like it. Enjoy your first ride in the rain without fear.

Jerry

Thanks fellas for the welcome and good words........have to say I am so far more than happy with the "change"...cheers

thewizard wrote:Thanks fellas for the welcome and good words........have to say I am so far more than happy with the "change" so far....cheers

Wiz, it only gets better. Hell of a write up. Too bad you had to sign away your first born just to get a tire mounted.

Welcome to the site and the darkside.

See you out there
Smokey

Hey, Smokey!! Yeah man.....Well as my old man used to say, If you don't take control of your life, someone else will...........So yes, I thought it strange but then when you try to take 3 or 4 hundred bucks from someone in sales and service I suppose you could be told "fibs" wink, wink....Any way just fine so far and I do believe you're right ....better...Thanks for the welcome...Cheers

Well fellas, I've taken the invite to post a reevaluation of my "second" impressions of a CT verses a MT..........OK....where to start??

There is about 6000kms put on this tire so far. The initial inflation was 40psi and I am now at about 36+/- a bit....The tire spec was 11/32...where that was measured is a mystery, so I made my own. At start, there was about 8mm of tread at the centre of the tire and today there is about 6.6mm, a ware factor of about 1.4mm for about 6000km.........So all things considered I "should" get about 30,000 +km on this tire..
Considering I was getting about 6000km on a "quality" MT I would already be about if not already changing to a NEW tire at $250+ installed.....There has been some speculation OR observation, that there is wobble at speed.....Not absolutely correct...Here's the thing...In "turns" IF you have not adjusted tire pressure to "best inflation" you will experience some "weave" in turns........NOT wobble...This is a longer frequency, similar to a normal dribble of a basket ball(sic).........And yes, some would equate this with instability........Being objective, I have experienced the same condition with MTs.......And I can say that there may be some off centre issues with the rear tire that causes "jacking" when turning, but being a seasoned rider I think it lies with the steering head tightness....OPINION!!!!!!!

The roads I ride are a "nightmare".....The heavy traffic leaves "channels" in the surface and tracking CAN be difficult......The trough, is hard to stay out of...even WITH MTs......But once you get to appreciatively "flat" pavement, tracking seems to be as good if not better than MTs.....I have ridden two up on this tire on a number of occasions and truly have NOT felt anything that would be concerning......It handled well in corners and was as predictable as MTs when stopping........

It was said I would appreciate the "rain" aspect........Well.............Let's just say, being caught in a thunder storm, with rain drops as big as cherries, a road with channels, and water that would drown, the most settling was drive ability.....At reduced speed(for obvious reasons), the ride was solid.....no light feeling and no hydroplaning..

Twisties.........IF you want to ride fast, and scrape pegs, and generally "tax" the performance of a cruiser......DON'T..... They're not meant for that......go for it on a sport bike, where lean angles can be best equated as being 1/2 of the BEST educated's IQ!!!!! The CT will deliver as good performance under moderate(sic) conditions as a MT on any cruiser.......

The MOST comfortable ride I have ever had is on this tire........It feels smooth, solid, and is "quiet"!!!!

Before anyone damns the CT over the MT.....application has to be entertained, and what performance is sought......If you want to race, achieve high speed, break records................CTs are NOT the application.....But then to anyone who rides and enjoys bikes, and looks for an alternative, you cannot dispute that CTs on bikes of cruiser linage is the "cat's meow", or the "bee's knees".....

Nice write up. As for the twistie part. Don't really have twisties here, but we do have a 5 mile stretch of road with a couple dozen 45 mph curves. I find myself taking them at a comfortable 60. I don't think the pegs would scrape until about 75 and at that point I would be wondering if I would make it. I don't consider that fun riding. What I have found is that I can take curves about 10 mph faster on my ct with the same stability feeling that I get from a mt. Thats just me though.

Jerry

I think you're totally wrong about cruisers. MANY of us LIVE on the floorboards; the lean angle isn't all that much compared to sportbikes, so the CT actually INCREASES your lean angle by way of a.) initial height (mine is 1/2" taller) b.) lean height (squarer profile lifts the bike a bit) c.) traction (you can be pretty fearless with these) and d.) temperature (CT runs much cooler than MT)
Mine proved itself the other week in the Chatahoochee Nat. Park chasing a Nomad a friend rides with his MT's on. He couldn't even outrun my Heritage; now he wants to get a CT on there because of it. NO WAY should a Heritage keep up with a Nomad in the twisties, but I did, and he's a dang good rider; both of us RLAP trained. I couldn't have with my stock tires, no way. I'm also geared UP 4 mph with this tire.

quadancer wrote:
Mine proved itself the other week in the Chatahoochee Nat. Park chasing a Nomad a friend rides with his MT's on. He couldn't even outrun my Heritage; now he wants to get a CT on there because of it. NO WAY should a Heritage keep up with a Nomad in the twisties, but I did, and he's a dang good rider; both of us RLAP trained. I couldn't have with my stock tires, no way. I'm also geared UP 4 mph with this tire.

Ahahahaha Awesome!!!!

quadancer wrote:I think you're totally wrong about cruisers. MANY of us LIVE on the floorboards; the lean angle isn't all that much compared to sportbikes, so the CT actually INCREASES your lean angle by way of a.) initial height (mine is 1/2" taller) b.) lean height (squarer profile lifts the bike a bit) c.) traction (you can be pretty fearless with these) and d.) temperature (CT runs much cooler than MT)
Mine proved itself the other week in the Chatahoochee Nat. Park chasing a Nomad a friend rides with his MT's on. He couldn't even outrun my Heritage; now he wants to get a CT on there because of it. NO WAY should a Heritage keep up with a Nomad in the twisties, but I did, and he's a dang good rider; both of us RLAP trained. I couldn't have with my stock tires, no way. I'm also geared UP 4 mph with this tire.

No, man I'm not.....It's nice to wear down the rub bar on the boards and all....BUT...You'll never attain the lean angle that a sport bike gives...the rake is different than that of a sport bike and that makes the turning radius larger...add to that some speed, and dollars to doughnuts, you'll run out of road surface a damned sight faster than any sport bike will at a FASTER speed.....My old cb750F blows the 900 right off the road, acceleration, speed, and cornering...The whole ergonomics of the two is completely different...One is solely designed for "cruisin', the other for tight fast curves........I don't dispute you can get decent lean angles but you are totally limited by the floorboards..The "lift" you have acquired does not translate into adequate angle compared to what you experience on a sport bike....My OPINION""
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Re: Anew darkside VN900

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quadancer Today at 7:05 am
I think you're totally wrong about cruisers.

I think we're in agreement using different words. I'd never compare a cruiser to a sportbike - but I WILL ram this big mutha hard into the twisties like my butt was on fire (using tactical placement and discretion, of course...) with the CT on it, where I'd have been a little more queasy about the hold on the MT. As I said, our lean angle isn't much - and a sportbike is a whole different world. I find the Heritage to be the best of both worlds in a way. Somewhat flickable, but able to haul 2 heavy people loaded with camping gear up mountains easily and comfortably.