New Darksider First Report

tacomagoldwing Sat Mar 19, 2011 11:39 pm

Well I mounted up a Kumo 195-55-16 Run Flat with 2 oz Dyna beads no other weight. 42 lbs of preasure
Bridgestone BT-45 130-70-18 with 2 oz Dyna beads no other weight. correct rotation. 38 lbs of preasure

I have a 05 non-abs 1800. when I went to mount the Kumo I had some difficulty getting it in the wheel well, there is a bump out covering some electrical connections, I actually had to force it past. Once in place I have ample room. Everything else in mounting went fine. Took it out for some basic PLP to rough up the tires. I could feel it stand up the bike in the parking lot nothing major just felt different. Today my wife and I took a 200 mile ride. The first thing we noticed was the tires were much quieter. We usually run with the volume in the helmet at 23 to 25 and we were able to turn it down to 17 or 18. At 25 to 32 mph I noticed a slight bounce in the front, I'm not sure if more dyna beads would help or I should have balanced the tires also. That was the only speed I noticed any balance issues and we took it to the right of 100 for a bit. The ride was smoother and it gripped well in the few twisty's we went through. I felt I had to push a little more in the curves but I'm not sure if it actually was the tire or my perception that I had to. They had a good grip. We went over two grated bride decks and it tracked no different that m elite III's. The speedo was off by 3 mph checked against my Garmin. This is better than the elite III's which were off by 5 mph. I didn't check the seat height but I have a 30 in inseam and I didn't notice any gain in reach. So after my first ride I am very happy with the results. If any one would let me know what tire preasure they run at I think I am going play with that a bit just because. So here is my observations so far. The new tires are cheaper, run smoother, run quieter, hold at least as well and if they do last as long as reported here I can't see why anyone wouldn't at least try them.

jedishon Sun Mar 20, 2011 4:22 am

Welcome to the darkside.
Every bike and rider are different. You can try going down in pressure by 2 lbs at a time and find your own sweet spot that way.
I use 3 oz's of beads in the rear tire on my bike. I have a VTX1300R. 2 oz's should be fine for the front, unless the tire was out of round from the factory,

Jerry