1st Heritage gone Darkside!

70 lbs. air popped the old tube. Put a new one in and they had no other problems, again took
70 lbs. to seat beads. I now have a working back brake!!!
I'll be used to the different feel in about a day, I think. I've been scraping boards in the neighborhood
to buff off the mold release and even off the bat, she don't slip any at all! Left-right crossover is
virtually nonexistent and I get the "running on rails" feeling cornering over 30 mph.

I tried some object avoidance and the bike handles the same. Weaving has a tall feeling in the center, but of
course, the bike is 1/2" taller for real. I like the gearup of 4mph from the larger tire too. The tire looks like it
belongs in there, with the size of the bike as it is:


HEY MODERAYTAHS!!! TIME TO START A HARLEY FORUM!!!

The rain finally went by and I couldn't just sit here and DREAM about it...hit the I-75 and some backroad twisties. Curves she just locks in on, but will take a little experience to adjust to the different way of entering. (slightly more aggressive)
I got just a teeny bit of wiggle at speed, like going down a grooved highway, but less noticable. Took her up to about 90 and it was like sliding down a giant stick of butter! Smoooooooooth...and I notice the bumps thru the front end but the back just swallows them.
It's actually slightly better than I expected, and I took some mountain curves on the floorboards (under 50) just for fun. Wow.
What's this thing gonna be like when it breaks IN??? WOOT!

Told you you were over thinking the whole thing. Welcome to the darkside. Enjoy it.

Jerry

excellent!

Excellent and Congrats on your darkside. Darkside Rulz!!!!


Now just play with some air pressures like 4-5psi up or down until you get the feel you like from the car tire. Then ride it like you stole it!!!!


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

jedishon wrote:Told you you were over thinking the whole thing. Welcome to the darkside. Enjoy it.

Jerry

Exactly what I was saying......quit thinking and just do it!!!! LOL Some things just can't be explained and have to be experienced!


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

What size tire is it? and what year is it?

Hot dang, I'm glad you asked: I checked and the number is 0910, or Nov. 2009, so it's new!

Well today we put 115 miles on with some more twisties - (I'm outta work anyway for now) and the wobble seems to have gotten less, is basically unnoticable and only happens on the interstate. Scraped some boards today on both sides and formed a better opinion:
What is taking me a little getting used to is the lean initiation. Once you lay her over, it's rock solid at 35 lbs. air, riding solo. I just have to remember until it becomes automatic to simply be slightly more aggressive when diving into a turn. Slow speeds have proven easy: I could cone exercise right off, if I assume from turnarounds in 17' and full lock takeoffs. Will try double up later, after I get more used to any new feel.
Attempting to get on the busy interstate this morning had the ramp jammed up: I started to go down the shoulder and saw a cop with the disco lights at the bottom and hit the brake - the tire said "LOURCH!!!" and pretty much impressed me - the MT would have just silently slid without slowing me down.

Welcome to the darkside Quad,I started a HD forum for yall.

See you out there
Smokey

Can you go ahead and move this thread to the Harley forum so that there's something in there for folks coming in? Today we ride to the SCRC rally in Commerce Ga. Hope to see some DS riders there besides the 4 of us!

I think we have a convert!!!!



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

Man, I was a convert in the second month of study!

quadancer wrote:Can you go ahead and move this thread to the Harley forum so that there's something in there for folks coming in? Today we ride to the SCRC rally in Commerce Ga. Hope to see some DS riders there besides the 4 of us!

I'd be happy to move it, but the man won't give me the power! Or I don't know how!

I know it can be done - where's a mod when you need 'em?
I put Deb on the back yesterday and my bud Jeff behind us to watch the tire. I ended up with 36 lbs. as our sweet spot. I was also surprised that it got even smoother with her aboard! It feels like a bike tire now 2up, and the dive force is a little less than when I'm solo. I painted a stripe across with shoe whitener and I see that we never get on the sidewalls at all; the tire just adapts to the road. I have about 90% tread contact when going straight.
It's fun to watch cracks and bumps get hit by the front tire disappear at the back, like they never existed. The comparison makes the front end feel a little rough!

It's done! I thought Smokey had done it...sorry!


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

I just knew DA MAN was around here somewhere! Thanx again![b]

We ran the Chatahoochee national forest today with a lunch run up to TWO (Two Wheels Only) with the hammer down. With storms predicted, there was little traffic when we went up, and I chased our lead bike (big Kawasaki)that had a MT still on - he couldn't get away from me. We both were throwing sparks at nearly every other turn and full-throttle blasting to the next.
I did this before with the Pirelli Night Dragon and I have to say, I can corner better on the CT, just ramming it in and holding the line. Some of this may be the slight additional height, but that wouldn't be much up front, so it has to be the tire.
I'll need new floorboards soon enough!
I still feel like air pressure is not optimal, but I really can't decide wether up or down would do. I may need a controlled envelope such as some interstate cloverleafs where I can compare pound by pound.
Heheh...another excuse to go ride...

I have been using car tires on Harley's for a long time. Just sold my FLH with a lopdun car tire on it. They work great by the way.
rockenrobert
gotta see the world, it will only take a minute

I had a VTX 1300S with a CT and I really liked it. Now I have a '09 Harley Ultra Classic and wil need a rear tire soon. Anybody have brands and tire sizes they are using?

Hi,
Just learned yesterday about Riding the Dark Side. Great timing as I was going to buy next weerk front and rear tires for my 2001 Electra Glide Classic. Can some one advise the brand and sizes I need to purchase?

Thank you

Hmmm...guess I didn't include the links - I used a Vredestein Comtrac Van tire, 175/75/16. You can read of the entire saga here:
http://www.hdforums.com/forum/softail-models/538419-first-heritage-darksider-afaik.html
and the tire can be bought here:
http://www.tiresbyweb.com/p-8480-vredestein-comtrac.aspx
There are other valuable links in the thread, if you want more info.

My riding buddy has an 08 Ultra Classic (beautiful bike) and would LOVE to come over to the dark side. Has anyone had any luck finding a tire that would fit an UC? He gets about 4 grand out of the tires he is using now so it is getting expensive to ride as much as he and his 'ol Lady like to.

Here ya go:
http://darkside.nwff.info/database.php We've been locked out from putting new info in, except for the mileage database on the main page. No one knows when they'll have it up; been down for months.

Thats great news!! I'll tell him in the morning, thanks for the response.