gl1200 Goldwing Darkside

Hello, Recently I purchased an 85 GL1200 Interstate. I have met a couple of gentlemen that went to the darkside.
The were using a Nankang 165/80/R15 on there 1200's.
One of the guy's name was Bob, he said he had the same tire on with 8,000 miles pulling a trailer. there was no apparent wear on the tire that I could tell.

He did say he had the rim turned down a hundred thousands of an inch though? What would the reason for that be?

I purchased another rim for my darkside adventure already, just waiting for the Nankang Tire :: CX668 :: 165/80R15 to
arrive. FWIW here's the link for the tire I purchased.
http://highperformancetire.com/product.php?productid=22861&cat=472&page=1&featured

Do I need to have my rim turned down?
Thanks

I'm thinking .001 was just smoothing to make beading easier. You could do the same with graduating grits of sandpaper.
Or it was for truing. That's not much metal.

Thanks! I know he's not taking very much off the rim. I was just trying too figure out why he thought he needed to do that.

If you do not take it off the tire well not fit on the rim. The car tire beed is metric and the rim is in inches. I had to grind mine to make fit.

Check out my post futher down the page. GL 1200 asp

Thanks for the replys! My tire came in yesterday and another just like it came today. Same oder# and everything, guess it was two for one day.
The funny thing about it was I called the company to tell them they sent me two tires for the price of one. I got a recording asking for me too leave my phone #. They haven't returned my call yet.

i mounted a 145 80 15 bf goodrich the first time then i mounted a 155/80 15 bf goodyear both tires went on with 60 lbs of pressure and a lot of tire lube the last inch i used a little axel grease on the rim i feel it went on ez no need to machine the rim maybe it depends on the tire

Has anyone been able to put any time on these since mounting? I'm just curious, seen plenty of people do it to an 1800, a couple of 1500's and know someone who did it to a Valk personally. Of video of how they handle would be great if you can.

CTDTDI wrote:Hello, Recently I purchased an 85 GL1200 Interstate. I have met a couple of gentlemen that went to the darkside.
The were using a Nankang 165/80/R15 on there 1200's.
One of the guy's name was Bob, he said he had the same tire on with 8,000 miles pulling a trailer. there was no apparent wear on the tire that I could tell.

He did say he had the rim turned down a hundred thousands of an inch though? What would the reason for that be?

I purchased another rim for my darkside adventure already, just waiting for the Nankang Tire :: CX668 :: 165/80R15 to
arrive. FWIW here's the link for the tire I purchased.

Do I need to have my rim turned down?
Thanks

How did this turn out for you? I have an '84 Aspencade and I am very interested in going to the darkside. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

pwtuten wrote:

CTDTDI wrote:Hello, Recently I purchased an 85 GL1200 Interstate. I have met a couple of gentlemen that went to the darkside.
The were using a Nankang 165/80/R15 on there 1200's.
One of the guy's name was Bob, he said he had the same tire on with 8,000 miles pulling a trailer. there was no apparent wear on the tire that I could tell.

He did say he had the rim turned down a hundred thousands of an inch though? What would the reason for that be?

I purchased another rim for my darkside adventure already, just waiting for the Nankang Tire :: CX668 :: 165/80R15 to
arrive. FWIW here's the link for the tire I purchased.

Do I need to have my rim turned down?
Thanks

How did this turn out for you? I have an '84 Aspencade and I am very interested in going to the darkside. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Well Hi all . Has there been an answer to this question. I to would love to know if I can DS a gl1200.

Not sure if it's been answered but I run the VW tire through the ringer and never wore it out. Got tired of looking at it, so I change it out. LOL It should hold up fine on the wing.


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

Those are some sweet tires. Darksides for life as my dad says

twin1300 wrote:Not sure if it's been answered but I run the VW tire through the ringer and never wore it out. Got tired of looking at it, so I change it out. LOL It should hold up fine on the wing.


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

Twin, what size did you use?

Some people have been able to mount a 15" car tire on a 15" Motorcycle rim, but you have to be very careful. The sizing is slightly different. That would be why the rim has been turned down. I am on my 3rd car tire on my GL1200 (actually now my 2nd GL, I swapped rims when I moved from an 85 to an 86) and have had very good luck with a 165 Michelin. They really last well, and handle nicely. I run about 45psi (and ride with a sidecar) I sold the 85 with about 380,000km on it, and I have lots of wear still left on the tire on the 86. If anyone is interested, I can dig out the information on how much differnet in size the Car rim is to the motorcycle rim.
Mike

Mikey54 wrote:Some people have been able to mount a 15" car tire on a 15" Motorcycle rim, but you have to be very careful. The sizing is slightly different. That would be why the rim has been turned down. I am on my 3rd car tire on my GL1200 (actually now my 2nd GL, I swapped rims when I moved from an 85 to an 86) and have had very good luck with a 165 Michelin. They really last well, and handle nicely. I run about 45psi (and ride with a sidecar) I sold the 85 with about 380,000km on it, and I have lots of wear still left on the tire on the 86. If anyone is interested, I can dig out the information on how much differnet in size the Car rim is to the motorcycle rim.
Mike

sidehacker51249 wrote:i mounted a 145 80 15 bf goodrich the first time then i mounted a 155/80 15 bf goodyear both tires went on with 60 lbs of pressure and a lot of tire lube the last inch i used a little axel grease on the rim i feel it went on ez no need to machine the rim maybe it depends on the tire

Sorry for not getting back on this post.
I got the tire and it was too tight to put on the rim without removing a lot of the rim.
I haven't found a lathe that can turn this down yet.

I think I will get a diiferant tire, The 165 Michelin Mikey54 used or 155/80 15 bf goodyear sidehacker51249 used.

If someone has aready got it to work its less work for me.
I assume the 155/80 15 bf goodyear is actually a Goodrich?

Mikey54 what is the numbers on the 165 Michelin you used that worked?

The one I found is Michelin XZX - 165SR15
http://www.cokertire.com/165sr15-michelin-xzx.html
$208.00!

sidehacker51249 is this the tire you used? BF Goodrich Radial T/A 155 / 80 R 15 83S SL Tire
http://stores.tirezoneusa.com/-strse-13593/BF-Goodrich-Radial-T-fdsh-A/Detail.bok
$78.00 looks a lot better.
If you guy's have or are running this tire with success I will just order the same one.
Thanks!

Well I needed a new tire and I got the CT on my rim, I will finally get to see first hand how this works on the old 1200.
I will report back when I have some time on it.

Well I am officially a Darksider now, I can definitely feel the difference between the Car tire and a Motorcycle tire.
I like seeing so much tread on the road instead of a 1.5'' strip.

I got the CT put on at 74,850 miles, ( I'm at around 75,000 now) I'm just posting my miles to see how long this tire will last.
I have a few people at work checking the CT out. The smart ones, I can't wait to see if this tire last 50,000 miles.
It's funny because they are saying that it looks good and are inquiring if one will work on there bike.
On pavement it seems to be pretty good, on concrete highways it feels like I have a flat tire!
More info in a few more miles.

I am trying to find an appropriate CT for my 1200 as well. I have been running a Michelin PA 3 ZP 195/55 R16 @ 32 psi on my 1800 and have about 17,000 miles on just this year. Lots of research went into choosing that one. I hared comments about the Kumos having a shoulder bump to them as you leaned. Not so with the PA 3, you can't tell it isn't a MC tire. My service guy rode it right after I put it on and totally skeptical was shocked at how well it did. He fully expected to find that shoulder bump but nope. He was impressed. My front is a Bridgestone Battleax BT 45 130/70 R18 MC @ 38. The great news is that they both still look brand new. My E3's wore out in 6,000 and cupped so bad I thought I was riding on mud grips when I went into a corner. IT'S ALL GONE!! I know the 1200 has a narrower frame area and enen the stock E3's were a booger-bear to get on the rear.

Just my 2 cents

got a nexes  165/80 - 15 installed on wheel then put it on bike, 20lb in rear shocks, 38lb in tire... 150 miles later... Happy Happy Happy ! cant believe the ride and the bike feels "sporty-er/ looser" if that makes sense. '85 gl 1200 interstate with open bassoni long shots (various other former Harley parts).

I wish we had a like button. Good to see such positive results and info being shared. Well done y'all

See you out there
Smokey

update on nexen tire on my goldwing 600 miles later, up about 4 miles per gallon, and lower rpm's! unless something major changes will never go back. lower price per tire, longer life per tire, engine running lower rpm's at speed and better gas mileage..... its a no brainier     

ROCK ON, Garth!!!

CTD: It sounds like too much pressure when you're on the highway, making the tire wander a little. Be sure to try 2 lb. increments for
at least 100 miles each and find your sweet spot.
I've had 3 different CT's, and they all went on with low pressure on the Harley, but I cheat a little: I used tire shine for my lube - you know,
the stuff you're NOT supposed to get on the tire treads?

I posted earlier correct info should be first mounted a bf Goodyear 145/80/15 then went to a bf Goodrich TA 155/80/15 (someone caught I wrote bf Goodyear ta I)I just ordered a nexen 165/80/15 from Walmart around $60.00 ill post more once I get it on