About to try the DS

I've been reading many posts on the shadow 1100 and I think I've come to a conclusion. For my first car tire on my 1997 1100 ACE I will be a 165/80/15. I guess many of you are trying all kinds of different tire sizes but this seems to be a good starting point for most on this bike. Am I right?

My riding is mostly just cruising around at or near the posted speed. I ride any weather and often in the cold (near or even at freezing). Not too many corners where I live but I will be in the mountains for a week this month and need a new tire for the trip. I do not want to increase my cruising rpms! I value good gas mileage. I also don't care one bit what it looks like (some choose wider tires for the look it seems??). I also am not interested in modifying the bike to fit a tire.

Steer me straight if I'm on the wrong path here! Does this sound like the right size for me?

Then you will love the 165/80/15 then. It does everything well.....wet riding, curves, softness of the ride, and stopping.


Congrats and let us know how it comes out?


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

Yep. Twin knows best. Thats the tire he started on way back when. Good choice.

Jerry

I'm going shopping this weekend. I'll see if I can find any tires in that size.

I ordered the tire today. 4 local tire shops, two did not have the 165/80/15 listed. Two could order it. One showed a real interest in what I was doing. They came out to measure my tire and fender clearances and tried to figure out if they had a tire in stock that would work. Of course they got my business. They'd put the tire on too, but I like to do it myself.

I'll let you know how it goes when i get the tire.

Darn nice of them to come out and measure things for you and show so much interest and approval. A rare tire group indeed.

quadancer wrote:Darn nice of them to come out and measure things for you and show so much interest and approval. A rare tire group indeed.

Yep! That's a first for me to hear!

Sounds like you have some good people way up younder.

Jerry

Yah, I was surprised by the good service (at Kal Tire). I think it is because one of our local bike shops do a lot of those training wheel trick kits. I think they use this shop to put car tires on the bikes they put these kits on.??

My tire arrived. Before I mount it I'd like to know what some of you darksiders think. I'm a little unhappy with the tread pattern. It has rather large treadless areas. They tire store showed me another tire in the store and said the tread would be just like it but it is not. The tire cost $94 so I like the price. I'm thinking that when I lean the bike and the outside edge comes up this tread pattern might not leave as much rubber on the road as some others. I guess the contact patch will still be as large or larger then a MT but what do you think?

Forgive me guys if I get this wrong, but it's about the dynamics of rubber.
CT rubber is softer, grippier than MT's, slips less, so lasts longer, also runs cooler. No matter.
Smaller contact patch creates more heat, and to a point, hotter rubber grips more, so less can be good, but increases wear factors.
Full rubber contact has no escape route for water, so tread has advantages in the rain.
Proper inflation will leave about half the tread surface on the road, on a cruiser in a curve. Lack of treads work well for dry, fine grained roads. More treads allow better grip on coarse or damp roads.
I think the better way to judge your tire there is to look at the comments on it made by guys who ride like you do. Especially when they compare it's handling to other CT's.

can anyone see my pictures? They don't show up on my screen so I'm wondering if they came through?

no pics...

But don't install a tire you don't like. It'll be on there for 20k miles.....

mcpenner wrote:My tire arrived. Before I mount it I'd like to know what some of you darksiders think. I'm a little unhappy with the tread pattern. It has rather large treadless areas. They tire store showed me another tire in the store and said the tread would be just like it but it is not. The tire cost $94 so I like the price. I'm thinking that when I lean the bike and the outside edge comes up this tread pattern might not leave as much rubber on the road as some others. I guess the contact patch will still be as large or larger then a MT but what do you think?

Don't sweat the tread pattern...mine is like that and it hooks hard.


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

So I've got the tire on and tested:

The tire: 165 - 80 - R15, $94 from KalTire all season steel belted radial
- 85 lbs to seat one side and 105 lbs for the other
- fits in the bike, looks OK. I think it's a little narrower but good to me.
- initial ride - 32lbs pressure - can't really tell any difference in normal riding. Maybe a little softer. It does feel a little different in a 90 degree corner. Like it kind of shifts, or modulates between strait riding and leaned over.
- increased pressure to 35lbs. Went for another ride and everything seemed good.
- Packed up all my gear the next day and took off for 4 day ride in the mountains of southern BC. After the first day I just stopped noticing any difference at all. My riding technique must have just adapted. Endless corners of every description and the tire never skipped a beat. Got a little cold on the way home at Banff, -5 in my hammock at night and cold all day, but the tire didn't notice.

Verdict:
- The car tire is not better or worse in my opinion. It is a little different, that's all. I could go either way, but if the tire lasts as long as expected that will tip the balance in favor of only using car tires on the back from now on.

That's an awesome write up! Good assessment and your views will continue to change! I thought the same thing...but now!!!!! I will never go back it so much stuff better!

Again...congrats! That was my first tire also and loved it!


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

I agree with Twin...

Have you ridden in the rain yet? I think you will see a difference then.

Or emergency braking. When the tire stays behind you instead of swinging out even with the front.
Anyway nice write up. Good to hear from you.

Jerry

Yes I saw a lot of wet pavement on my trip. I suppose I don't really ride aggressively enough to notice a big difference? I'm always too busy looking at the scenery to bother dragging anything on the pavement. I do feel like the tire has more grip, especially when I hit the gas. Luckily I have not yet had the opportunity to try emergency braking.

If you guys want, I can try posting some pictures of my CT? Perhaps I should start a new thread with pictures?

Test your back brake too. Start at 20 and work your way up to 40 or so. With a mc the back end comes around which can result in high siding. With the CT, the back tire just smokes...and tracks straight. Now you have two breaks you can use. I began to use a lot more of my rear break with the CT.

No doubt the ct grips better but don't assume it will not slide out to the side with hard breaking. Did it once with my first shadow, but I had the altimax 205 on it. Maybe that would make a difference. That and using foot brake too hard.

maurice

I haven't visited this forum for a long time. I just thought I'd update my report. Just turned over 30,000kms on this tire. It has performed flawlessly. It is just now worn down to a couple of the depth gauge markers. The funny thing is, it is worn a little more on the left (shaft drive) side then the right. Is this normal, Or is something out of line?